1107 July 22, 2024 Topsy Turvy

The morning was cloudy and the slightest bit cool. I began my walk with the scent of campfire smoke and freshly cut grass in the air. The big old trees in the park granted me shade as I went; first to the park entrance and then down to the lake. I hiked the Lakeview Trail along the water’s edge. There were lots of hills and it was good work.

Today was another moving day. It was a shorter distance and an easier drive; a straight shot down 81S. We traveled from Virginia into Tennessee. We saw this reminder several times today.

We arrived at Warrior’s Path State Park before noon. We did not know that check-in was not until 4pm. We were sent to a large parking lot to wait. I made my sandwich and sat outside on a rock to eat my lunch. I walked down tot he meadow planted especially for pollinators.

I went into the RV and read and took a nap. A little before two, we got a call to say that our site was ready. I put some chicken into the crockpot for dinner. Tim went to walk the Bluffs Trail and got some nice pictures of this pileated woodpecker.

Later in the afternoon, the power to the campground was out after a transformer blew. We needed to make a new dinner plan. We searched restaurants in the area and found Raffaele’s Italian Restaurant. It was close and had good reviews. As we were leaving the power was restored. There were also loud claps of thunder. We drove to town and had a great dinner with fresh salads and chicken marsala and chicken piccata. It poured while we were eating.

After eating, we decided to drive into Kingsport. I put it into GPS and it gave me directions for Kingsport Town Center which was not downtown Kingsport but rather a mall. We did find our way. We parked and took our bikes off and went to explore. Tim was intent on finding his way to the Riverfront Park. We meandered our way across town on sidewalks and streets and at the park, we discovered a bike path that lead us directly back to the center of town. It began to rain again this evening after we had returned to the campground. Not everything went smoothly today but we continued to adapt and modify our plan and we made the best of it and still had a very good day!