Retirement - Finally

[Gl111349]

Retirement is finally here. After 34 years of going on camping vacations only to check my Blackberry every hour or so, we are ready to head out. We live in a small town just out side of Des Moines. Our plans are to head south through St. Louis and down into southern Illinois. We are then going to travel east through southern Kentucky and settle in over around the Great Smokey's in Tennessee.
Due to the fact that I just turned 62 this year and have the coveted Senior Pass we would like to use Corp of Engineer campgrounds as much as possible.
Once we leave Tennessee we are heading north to Ohio and then back west to Des Moines.
Our plan is one month of uninterrupted camping in our Flagstaff 5er.
I would welcome ony information from any of you out there that may have camped along the way we are heading. I find corresponding with fellow campers refreshing and honest. Also wonder about the mountains around the Tennessee/North Carolina area. Some things I read talk about how hilly they are and others not so much.
Any help would be appreciated.

[Oakman]

Congratulations on your retirement and you’re gonna love having the America the Beautiful senior pass.
Depending on what roads you drive, you probably will encounter some mountain grades in the Smoky Mountains. You might consider buying the Mountain Directory East for truckers and RV’ers. It contains information about the mountain grades and where they are located. I have both the East and West directory.

[Gl111349]

Great idea, never knew such a thing existed. Will search on the internet today and see if I can get my hands on one.

[Janet H]

Congrats on your new status! I have only once taken an extended trip camping (6 weeks) and have to say that sometime into week two, I was more relaxed than I had been in the preceding several decades. You'll have a blast.

In eastern TN and Western NC be sure to check out the smaller (many) state parks and especially county parks. Many counties and townships have small campgrounds in out of the way and lovely places. They are undiscovered gems.

[Steeljag]

Good for you.......hope you enjoy every minute of it !

[Itsthetwoofus]

Congratulations on the retirement. In about a month if not sooner you'll wonder how you ever had time to go to work.
Have fun in your travels and welcome to a very enjoyable lifestyle.

[acadianbob]

Good for you!! I retired 2 years ago and have never looked back. Enjoy your new freedom! And reduction in stress! My blood pressure has literally gone down 25 points since retirement.

I'm just north of you about 3 to 4 hours in Mpls, MN. We're headed down to Arkansas/Mississippi/Louisiana the first week of April.

Enjoy your trip. And remember you don't have to be anywhere at any specific time. It took me a good year to learn that lesson and to slow down and enjoy myself more. Hard to de-program yourself sometimes after years of limited time and rush-rush. HA!

[Linnemj]

We also love COE campgrounds and there are some great ones in TN and KY. We love Dog Creek on Nolin Lake near Mammoth Caves and Seven Point near Nashville. We just bought a book from Amazon that lists all COE parks. We start with the book for ideas and then check the rvparks review website.

We retired 8 months ago and are amazed how busy we stay. Best of luck on having a long and healthy retirement!

[Earth Station]

Congrats on your retirement!! We hope to one day get to where you are and be healthy enough to wander about the country!!! Enjoy!

[OldCoot]

We live in Concord, NC a suburb of Charlotte and have pulled a Flagstaff 831RLSS with a Silverado 1500 Ext Cab west on I40 and never had a problem. It does shift down to 2nd gear if I want to maintain 55mph, but usually just keep it in 3rd and speed drops down to 40. The truck has a 5.3L v8 and a 3.23 rear end. We have towed around 25-30,000 miles with it and have never had a problem. Very seldom do we ever tow over 60 or 65 on level ground. Have come out your way a couple of times to go to the Knoxville Nationals and visit our home town of Trenton, MO.
Enjoy your retirement.

[jimh]

if u make ur way into louisiana, u will find the st parks are half price to seniors. they usually ask for the senior pass but it is ur age not that the pass that gets u the discount. they have some nice parks here.

perhaps u can give me some suggestions around Des Moines. we occasionally find our way up that way.

[Gl111349]

jimh, losts of great camping around Des Moines. Saylorville Lake has four great campgrounds. It is just north of Des Moines about 12 miles. Red Rock Lake is 25 miles southeast of Des Moines and it has 4 great campgrounds as well. These are all COE campgrounds. If you come this way in the summer make reservations or make sure you get there early to mid-week for a good spot.
We will most likely not make it all the way down your way this trip but my wife really wants to visit the gulf states and east some great seafood.

[acadianbob]

Originally Posted by Linnemj

We just bought a book from Amazon that lists all COE parks. We start with the book for ideas and then check the rvparks review website.

Thanks for the tip. Just went to Amazon and bought the book; or at least a similar one!

[Mountainmanbob]

Originally Posted by Gl111349

Retirement is finally here.

congrats on the retirement
been enjoying mine for a while now
maybe down the road a little
you all may be heading out to so calif
if so drop a line
some real nice open spots out here
Mountainman

[RalphieAdie]

Congratulations on your retirement. Be sure to check out the Corp of Engineers campground at the Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky. Beautiful campgrounds and the lake is beautiful.

Also, Rend Lake, just south of Mount Vernon, IL has a great campground.

Good Luck.

[GASPEDDLER]

Congratulations on winning your release....hope to join you in 9.4 years. Make everyday count.

[wayne anthony]

After being retired for 14 years from a place I worked at for 30 years, still have stupid dreams about the place. Hope that doesn't happen to you. Wayne

[jimh]

Originally Posted by jimh

if u make ur way into louisiana, u will find the st parks are half price to seniors. they usually ask for the senior pass but it is ur age not that the pass that gets u the discount. they have some nice parks here.

perhaps u can give me some suggestions around Des Moines. we occasionally find our way up that way.

my son lives there. we have stayed in a campground on the west side of town and a trailer park on the south side (i think).

if u make it in to arkansas, check out mountian view. have a really nice cave there and an old time singing on the square.
in tn, we usually go around hohenwall (near us 64 and natchez trace). wife enjoys visiting with the Amish.
wva, i like Cass. there is a old train pulled by a Shea (or something like that) engine. there is also a radio telescope near by. Buckley has an exhibition coal mine. new river isn't far from there.
should u make it to louisiana at some point, i would recommend the central south; Lafayette is heart of the Cajun country and that extends on down to the gulf. they do a good job seasoning food in that area. new orleans has good restaurants but that is a different world.

i retired 2 yrs ago but we have done very little. would like to go back up ur way when i have more time on my hands.

[Wildwood Danny]

We went to Franklin NC and The Great Smokey Mountains last Sept. We stayed in private campgrounds, Corps campgrounds were not located at our stopping points, we have a Corps campground about 65 miles from us that is nicer than a great many privat campgrounds and we use it several times a year.

The roads and hills and mountains should not be a problem, the grades are long and if you use your TV and brakes as needed you should not have any issues. I had not towed in mountains other than one time in Colorado, North Carolina mountains were easier tho steeper and longer grades. Going down I learned a lot, coming back it was like driving here in the Midwest.

Enjoy your retirement, we are.

[Mark and Linda]

Congratulations on your retirement...I retired a few years ago from the Tennessee Air National Guard and I was a full time technician. I spent almost 30 years going to drills and working, plus pulling alert on weekends. I know you are glad to be retired, enjoy the roads, campgrounds, and the scenery...Seven Points is a nice one in the Nashville Area, plus Cages Bend, Cedar Creek, and then Defeated Creek near Carthage, TN. I received my coveted Senior Pass also last November, my wife said that she had never seen anyone turn 62 and be proud of it. Hey....it is something we earned...Hope to see you on the road somewhere.....