Day 17: Last Day of Camping

Heading toward Knoxville on 75 N.  We arrived at Harrison State Park (just outside of Chattanooga) last night around 10 pm.  We forgot about losing an hour going from CST to EST.  Still in a New Orleans haze, we pitched our tent in the muggy, buggy dark accentuated by distant flashes of lightning and the low rumble of dissipating thunder.  Drenched in sweat, we caught our breath in the tent and reveled in the purchase of a small, usb-powered fan and two, cold Topo Chicos (Mexican sparkling water compliments of Dan in Austin) that we had stuffed in the cooler earlier.  Trying to sleep in the heat to a symphony of crickets became redundant when the distant, severe thunderstorm finally rolled in across the lake and put our tent to its first, severe weather test.  With the tent being blown up like a balloon but holding to the ground, the high winds, blinding lightning, deafening sound of collapsed air and torrential rains lasted for about 20 minutes.  Somewhere toward the beginning of the ride, the campsite next to us packed up and high tailed it out of there.  This was not a storm for the timid camper.  Eventually the symphony returned and we slept until 10:30.  A quick stop at the Tiger Mart for booster coffees and a bag of ice catapulted us on our last, long driving day to our last campground stop: Mathews Arm Campground in the Shenandoah National Park, VA.

#GetDownTonight