July 20 - July 26 Prentice Cooper State Forest

We left the rest area near Athens TN after casually having breakfast and doing our Wednesday stretching before leaving for Ellijay. According to the navigation application we only had about 2 hours left to travel to Ellijay GA, the location of Jane's brother's family vacation home. The event at the vacation home was a major family gathering of Jane's mother and her sister's families. The matriarchs (Jane's mother and two sisters) and their spouses were given first dibs on staying at the vacation home. One of Jane's sisters and husband also stayed at the vacation home since Jane's sister's husband has limited mobility. The Ellijay area is quite hilly and not conducive to moving about easily. One of Jane's brothers and his wife also stayed at the vacation home since they were willing to dwell in a closet (it is a very nice, roomy closet) inside the room of their parents. Since we were somewhat self sufficient in our truck camper we also got to stay on site in the driveway. Other family units stayed at nearby vacation home rentals.

The family gathering was scheduled from Thursday July 23 through Saturday July 25. Time was spent Wednesday getting reacquainted with family staying at the vacation home and then the next day for the major wave of additional family arrivals. Small trickles of other family arrivals occurred on Friday and Saturday. On Friday we signed up for white water rafting on the regulated flow Ocoee River. Most days the river flow is diverted in flumes to generate hydroelectric power, but on some days of the week, the river flow is increased for recreational activities. One section upriver of where we rafted was the site of Olympic kayaking in 1996. The temperatures, both water and air, were comfortable for rafting and the sun was shining. We had plenty of excitement, water dousing and rowing. I don't remember having to work so hard on previous white water rafting trips I've been on. Only one person fell out of our raft. That person almost got run over by a trailing raft but luckily a quick thinking passenger on the trailing raft grabbed the personal flotation device of our fallen comrade, to avert a possible run over, and then pulled our comrade into their raft. We did a transfer of our comrade back into our raft in more calm conditions. In fact, they were so calm we ended up getting stuck on some rocks after the transfer for several minutes. Our raft guide was a lean 20 something female and trying to dislodge a raft full of several hundred pounds of human cargo was quite the challenge. For presumable liability concerns, she did not accept offers for assistance. Just to give an idea to the power of the rapids, one of the rafts from our outfitter's group, Rolling Thunder River Company,  had all but the guide ejected from a raft as it got caught in an undertow and the raft was thrown in one direction and then another.

On Saturday, there were family games and then a concluding campfire with s'mores. The vacation home is on a 58 acre lot that includes a large pond/small lake. The campfire was held on the lake's island. Various non-motorized water crafts were available to traverse the lake surface like paddle boats, canoes and stand up paddle boards. We helped with clean up and pack up on Sunday then hung around until Monday early afternoon. We took that time to get prepared for our next travel episode. I decided the Chattanooga TN area would be a good place to get the oil on the truck changed.

While at the vacation home, I called a Ford truck center for an appointment. In some cases we have had to wait weeks for an appointment, so I had my fingers crossed a one week-ish lead time would be ample. On the phone, I was told the week after the family gathering was available for an oil change. I was expecting the appointment time to be dictated to me due to limited availability and was a little stunned my options were so wide open. Since I wasn't prepared, I tried to beg off and say I'd call back after I talked to Jane about firming up some plans for that week. The male voice took that opportunity to say they do PM (I assumed preventative maintenance) with two dedicated technicians on a first come first serve basis. He told me if we met the greeter at the door Monday or Tuesday morning at 7 AM, he could guarantee we would be taken care of with same day service. So that became our plan/appointment.

On Sunday afternoon, after the group packing and cleaning up concluded, I looked into a place to stay in the Chattanooga area. I found two campgrounds available in Prentice Cooper State Forest just outside Chattanooga's city limits. The campground fee met my requirement (free!) and it was first come first serve. Since we would be staying a weekday night, I considered availability a gimme. I didn't research directions extensively which ended up coming back to bite me. Not the first time; will I ever learn; I think not. We usually use the truck's on board navigation system and the Waze application for our navigation tools. When they coincide, the world is a wonderful place, when they don't, then not so much. If one of them was always reliable that would make things easy, but since that isn't the case we use both systems. On our way to the state forest, we experienced the situation where the two systems didn't agree. I decided to follow the on board system. As is true with travel to many of our destinations, we proceeded up a winding steep hill. We got to the top and when the on board navigation system notified we were at our destination, I was disappointed since we clearly were not. Jane, on the other hand, who experiences third level panics on steep winding roads was closer to the irate. Why she ever agreed to this lifestyle eludes me, but I'm glad she did. My oversight of not extensively reviewing directions to the campground prior to our departure was viewed quite negatively at that moment. On the fortunate side, we had cell service and I was able to easily pull into a nearby church parking lot so directions could be reviewed more extensively; this time it was a team effort as Jane was in a mood to help almost to the extent of taking over. The conclusion we came to was to follow Waze until the route became questionable. Admittedly, questionable was not well defined. The route Waze directed us was fairly mild with a gentle climb and gentle curves. We did encounter two road sections where they were doing construction and traffic lights were used to regulate the flow of traffic where the road became one lane. All in all, just another excursion to an off the beat campground.

Although we had the choice of two campgrounds, we decided to stop at the first campground. Reviews of the other campground said the 5 mile drive down the road from the forest entrance seemed to take forever and that they closed the gate after dark. Since we were supposed to meet the greeter at the Ford truck center at 7 AM, we didn't want to be trapped behind a gate the next morning. I would think being trapped would be a safety issue but after examining the gate soon after our arrival I didn't see an obvious mechanism to open the gate from the inside like a pressure pad switch. On the positive side there was a vault toilet in the first campground available where reviews said there were no sanitary facilities.

We pulled into a sight near the entrance of the first campground. Again, I expected it to be dark in the morning and I wanted to make our morning departure uneventful. Here is the camper in the background, at the Hunter's Check Station Campground:

I think the campground name is based on the nearby hunter check station inside the forest. At the actual station were pictures of successful hunts including large deer bucks and tom turkeys. Hunting calendars were also on display.

After checking the hunter station and gate we went back to the camper to set up. Nearly immediately, Jane informs me the slide won't open. This has occurred before, a quick power cycle usually clears the issue but fails to do so this time. It is getting late since we left the vacation home after lunch and then getting misdirected. It is also hot in the camper and it would be nice to put the air conditioner on, but such is life. Since it is somewhere between difficult and impossible to work on the electrical wiring with the slide in. We are in a bit of a pickle. There is a hand crank for manual operation of the slide. An obstacle to manual operation is that the hand crank is in a storage bin below the slide and therefore difficult to access. Teaming up so that I hold the lid to the storage area open from just outside the camper door while Jane lays down on the camper floor to reach under the slide and into the storage area, we successfully retrieve the hand crank. After manually opening the slide, I find the 60 amp auto reset breaker for the DC circuitry. By the way, the AC circuitry is working normally. I find the breaker is not tripped so that is why the power cycle did not solve the issue. The breaker is designed to automatically reset when power is removed or at least that is my understanding. Also, there is no power reaching the breaker. I haven't traced all the DC supply wiring but I have modified it and studied it to some degree to install the inverter and solar charge controllers of my off grid system. I decided to run a cable from the DC bus bar I installed directly to the breaker. To create the cable I used some bulk cable, lugs and tools leftover from the off grid system installation. The added cable provided power to the breaker and we have been able to use this set up for several weeks now. I have good intentions to find the underlying DC circuitry problem with help from or by the camper dealer when we get back to NH in the fall.

On Tuesday morning, we get up early to meet the greater at the Ford truck center. We get there in plenty of time. At some point the large shop doors start opening. I don't know if the greeter side stepped us or if the person opening the doors is not the greeter. I decide to approach the office entry doors and while I was looking around someone comes out and asks me if she can help. I tell her my plan for a same day oil change and she looks at me like I have my head on backwards. She tells me, they are not a Jiffy Lube type of service. I explain I had called last week and was told to come in early Monday or Tuesday to get the same day service. Eventually, after making sure we understand we are in uncertain territory whether or not the oil can be changed that day, which includes notification the technician expected to do the work was out with CoViD immediately prior, she takes us to the trucker waiting lounge in a golf cart. So much for calling the truck center ahead so there aren't any surprises. The lounge is a walk-able distance down the road but I guess as a customer service promotion they give customers a ride. This is the second oil change, so our second experience waiting in a trucker lounge. These waiting lounges are quite nice compared to those at car service stations. This one is nicer than the first. There are complimentary drinks, showers and a laundry area. Various TVs are also spread about. Close to lunch time, the service counter lady comes to tell us we/the truck are all set. At her request, we pay by check instead of by credit card. Needless to say, if you are ever in Chattanooga for truck service, contact me so I can steer you away from this establishment.

We leave the truck center hungry for some food. We hadn't eaten breakfast. We treated the truck, which had our food stock, as off limits during the service waiting period. Jane had brought a couple of modest snacks into the lounge. So once we got in the truck, we replenished our snacks and headed toward a grocery store and then the Chilhowee Recreation Area in the Cherokee National Forest. My next post is planned after our stay there.