Tennessee Adventures – Greenway Park and Edgar Evins State Park

I made it to Georgia to check out another climate control option and (hopefully) found a solution.

It’s not exactly the solution I was planning on but, because of my MCS, my options are more limited than I’d like and I had to consider it.

At the moment, there’s not much to share about the solution other than it will take several weeks. I will certainly share more as time goes on.

After my Georgia excursion I wandered around for a day or two as I headed towards Tennessee.

Camping In Chattanooga?

I booked a night at the Chattanooga North / Cleveland KOA.

I told friends I was camping in Chattanooga but I was wrong!

It wasn’t until later that I figured out this campground is not located in Chattanooga or Cleveland.

The campground is actually on the outskirts of McDonald TN. It’s name is a bit misleading but, I suppose, the campground serves the Chattanooga and Cleveland areas.

Greenway Park in Cleveland TN

My KOA check in time was 1pm but I arrived in McDonald around 10:30am.

With 2 1/2 hours before check in… I headed to the nearest Publix for a couple of veggie wraps from the deli and a few groceries.

Rather than eat lunch in the Publix parking lot… a quick Google search told me where the nearest city park was.

Several minutes later I arrive at Greenway Park – a cute little park just off of busy highway US-11.

There were a few cars in the parking lot but I didn’t see any people in the park.

The park has a long walking path and, I assume, the people who belonged to those cars were just galivanting somewhere along the pathway.

I chose a parking spot on the end, under a tree, facing the playground.

After lunch I hop out of the van and begin strolling down the path.

As I walk the cement pathway, invisible birds sing somewhere above my head. I look up to see what kind of birds are singing but only see freshly sprouting greenery.

The peaceful sounds of a rolling creek harmonize nicely with the joyful songs of the invisible birds.

Just above the creek is a small strip mall on Keith street (also known as US-11). If you look between the trees you can see vehicles in the parking lot.

US-11 is very busy. The sounds of traffic attempt to join the harmony but the sounds of nature and the sounds of traffic simply don’t mix.

As I intently focus my attention on the peacefulness of the little babbling brook… the sounds of traffic temporarily diminish.

Spring has definitely sprung here as the trees and shrubs are sprouting bright green leaves. I also smell flowers but, as I look around, I can’t see where they are

Further down the path, I walk past a bush and encounter a mallard duck standing in the creek preening himself.

The duck looks up at me and a brief staring contest ensues.

I take a small step towards the duck but, apparently, he doesn’t see me as a threat and goes back to preening himself.

He must know I’m not jumping in the creek after him!

Leaving The Park Early

After a leisurely stroll I head back to the van to decide how to fill my remaining time before checking in at the campground.

It’s a warm day so I open the windows of the van before I sit down in my backwards facing passenger seat.

Soon after I sit down… a car pulls up beside me… on the passenger side of the van… where there is NO parking spot… even though the parking lot is almost empty and there are lots of “real” parking spots available!

I watch as the two ladies in the car begin to eat their lunch.

The bad thing (for me) is… they have the car running.

Needless to say, through the open windows, the fumes begin to congregate in the van and I decided to leave rather than have an MCS reaction.

Tennessee Backroads

I guess sitting at the park was fruitless anyway so I can’t blame the ladies for unknowingly “making” me leave.

It’s time to turn the GPS off and simply drive around the backroads of Tennessee to see what I can see.

As I drive, I imagine how B E A U T I F U L this must be during the autumn season!

Down the road and around the corner I spot a rustic barn (or some sort of building).

There are so many twisting, turning roads but the country scenery doesn’t disappoint.

I often just hold the phone pointed out the side window and click – while keeping my eyes on the road ahead of me.

When I look at the pictures later… sometimes I get a nice surprise!

Some of the narrow curvy backroads don’t allow much leeway. In a few spots there are no shoulders along the roadside and the ditch begins where the pavement ends.

The only traffic I encountered on the backroads was a big, wide, brown UPS truck coming towards me in the other lane.

Thankfully, it wasn’t in one of those narrow, edgeless parts of the road. I was able to move over so the UPS truck could pass by.

Edgar Evins State Park

After leaving McDonald, Tennessee, I spent the weekend at Edgar Evins State Park in Silver Point Tennessee. The park is about 2 hours east of Nashville.

When I came through Tennessee last fall I wandered through Edgar Evins State Park. I tried to get a campsite but it’s a popular place and there weren’t any openings.

I can definitely say I’ve never camped in a campsite like this!

The campsites are wooden platforms (aka decks) built around the slopes of Center Hill Lake. The platforms extend out from the side of the slope.

It was a little creepy backing my van onto a deck that hangs over the edge of a slope.

This was definitely outside of my comfort zone but it’s also what drew me here. I had to conquer the creepiness!

The wooden platforms are very secure. They are reinforced with steel and concrete pillars.

I get the whole deck to myself and no one should be cutting through my campsite.

I stroll around the back of my campdeck to gaze at my back yard.

There are several levels of camping on the slope. I’m camped on the top level.

In the picture above: The blue spot is a tarp at a campsite on one of the lower level’s.

It’s late afternoon and the weather is perfect.

Wandering around the front of my campsite I look up among the trees. The sun has begun it’s afternoon descent over the mountain.

I haven’t eaten since breakfast – but that’s nothing new.

It’s time to go inside and grab some grub!

As I sit and eat my simple meal I ponder the view out my back window.

Soon, the darkness of night will bring this day to a close and I’ll spend the next couple of nights sleeping on an overhang off the side of a slope in Silver Point, Tennessee.