August 24 - 26 KOA Cleveland, TN Ocoee Whitewater Rafting

2nd Outing in the MOUSE-KE-T@B and my first solo outing. I picked up the T@B from storage on Thursday evening, loaded her up and was able to leave work at 1100 on Friday, so was on the road by noon. The Boy Scout Troop I volunteer for was going Whitewater Rafting on the Ocoee, so as their BSA Lifeguard, I tagged along. Instead of tent camping with them at the National Park, I decided this was a great opportunity for another T@B outing. I booked the KOA in Cleveland, TN and met the Troop at the Outfitter for rafting. The KOA was OK, actually kind of bland, but it met my needs. http://www.koa.com/where/tn/42111/ I had a pull through site, so I didn't have to back in. The site had electric, water, and cable. It also had wireless internet which I didn't use because I have a Verizon Air Card provided by work for my laptop. I didn't bother with the cable as I brought a good book and a couple of movies. The pool was quite nice for a refreshing dip after setting up. The laundry room and bath house were both quite nice and everything worked well. Once nice touch is that the host actually leads you to your site in a golf cart. So on to the pictures.

All hitched up ready to go.



All set up at the site. Lots of gravel, and very hard to get a stake in the ground.

Just a general shot of some of the layout of the campground.

We used Quest Expeditions as the Outfitter for the Whitewater Trip. We did the upper Ocoee, also known as the Olympic Run. That was really fun. Several Class 4 Rapids and 1 Class 5.

I don't have any pictures of the actual river as my camera is not set for water, and they wanted an arm and a leg for trip pictures. After the rafting, I followed the Scout Troop to their camping area, and had hamburgers with them. Cherokee National Forest actually has some nice group camping areas and a few water/electric sites. They charge $20 a night for the improved areas, however the site they stayed at was 7 miles up a very windy and steep road. Really glad I decided to stay at the KOA. Not quite ready to pull the camper up a road like that.

A picture of the inside all made up for 1 person.

All packed up on Sunday.

I stopped at a scenic Overlook off of I-75 near Chattanooga





I stopped at a Rest Stop off of I-24 near Pittsburgh, TN with a view of the Tennessee River.

I also had an opportunity to weigh the T@B on my way home. I kept it hitched and got 4940 for the truck and 1680 for the T@B for a total of 6620. I think I probably should have unhitched, but at least I know my total gross weight is well within my vehicle limits. If I get an opportunity next trip, I'll get it weighed again, and actually unhitch.

Thanks for reading!! Well, we have a flying/hotel vacation scheduled for September, so don't know that we'll be able to also take the T@B out for a weekend, so the next update should be my two week camping trip at Ft. Wilderness at Disney World in October!!

(300 miles)