Observation Knob Park - Sisters on the Fly event - July 13-16, 2017

I attended the Sisters Afloat event with Sisters on the Fly this weekend at Observation Knob Park in Bristol, TN. It was SUPER laid back and a nice, relaxing weekend.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Thursday was arrival day. We left home around 10:30 and arrived at about 4pm. It was about 91 degrees when we got there & we needed to set up. Mom & I unpacked the car & got to setting up. This was the first time using my CINCH! tent and I was super excited to finally have it and get to use it.

After setting up, we went to the host's site and hung out for a bit. When everyone decided they were getting into the lake, we decided to make dinner & eat facing the lake at our picnic table. Perfect ending to the day!

The marina across the lake was pretty loud & didn't stop making music until about 11pm. Not a huge issue, but definitely something I forgot about tent camping!

Friday, July 14, 2017

We woke up at some ungodly hour on Friday after not getting a lot of sleep. Between the heat, being in a tent (less noise masking), and the sun coming up, it just wasn't going to happen. We both got dressed, cleaned up ourselves a bit, and then made breakfast.

After breakfast, the other ladies were up and moving around, so we went over to the hostess' site and hung out for a bit. We all decided to get in the water and swim, paddle, or float around. Mom brought her blow up kayak, so we had a bit of fun with that.

We walked around and looked at all of the campers & tents the SoTF group had. Some of them were really cool!

We got out & reheated dinner leftovers for lunch. After a while, it started to rain - and POUR. Thankfully, they were just a few quick-passing afternoon showers. The Cinch! did really well. Only one of the poles for the little awning collapsed during the wind/rain. I didn't have it pegged out very well, so that was on me. It stayed dry in the tent, which was a win for sure!

Once the rain cleared up, everyone got started on their offerings for the potluck dinner. I've forgotten what cooking for a potluck is like on a little Coleman stove. Ah well, it was a learning experience!

The potluck was good fun. It was nice getting to know people a bit more. Mom went to bed a little earlier than I did so that she could read and wind down a bit. I woke her up at one point because she was face down in her pillow & I couldn't tell that she was breathing. Gotta make sure she's ok!

I ended the night with the other ladies at the campfire.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Another early-ish morning for us! The music from the night before went until about 11pm again, so there was no use for me trying to sleep before then. I think I got a couple of hours of sleep each night. #tentlife

We had breakfast and got ready for the pontoon boat ride that we were going on with the group. Mom and I decided to drive over so that we could go grab lunch after. We were air conditioning seeking missiles! But before lunch - pontoon!

After boat, we pulled up the "Find me Gluten Free" app and decided on Mellow Mushroom for lunch. It was wonderfully air conditioned and with cold drinks! It was everything we wanted it to be. We also stopped & gassed up the car so that we didn't have to worry about it the next day.

After lunch, we went back to the campground & relaxed a bit. We also packed up a few things that we didn't need to use between then and when we left. We were headed out to a local marina for dinner with the group. It was interesting, to say the least. The company was good - the music was just ok... and LOUD. We left after about two hours (and multiple others did too).

We got to bed & finally figured out the temperature thing a bit more and got a bit more sleep.

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Our original plan was to leave by 9am. We were both up around 6am, so we started packing up. We were ready to get on the road right around 7am, so we started out. We got home just after noon. Jon's sister & her kids were there getting ready to head to the pool & mom headed out not too long after.

Following the Trip

I forgot one other thing about tent camping... airing everything back out! I popped the tent back up on the screened in porch & let it air out. Then, I laid everything else out over the next few days. Not a big deal, but definitely something I don't have to do with the RV!

Gettysburg Campground - Rebs vs Yanks 2 - Sisters on the Fly Event - May 4-5, 2017

I almost feel bad writing this trip report. It was the trip that I should've just bailed out of before I went. This event was supposed to be May 4-7. And then it rained. And I got sick. And it just wasn't meant to be. Also, we had just moved into the Winnebago Brave at our seasonal. And Jon had just returned from business travel (just in time for the move). Needless to say, it just wasn't the best time for a trip.

The week of the trip, the weather was just looking bad. I was seriously contemplating canceling since I'd be in the tent, but decided to check to see if there was a cabin instead. They had one last primitive cabin, so I sucked it up & switched my reservation.

On Thursday, I drove from our seasonal spot to Gettysburg Campground. It was about a 2ish hour drive, so not too bad. I stopped on my way and picked up a Thetford Porta Potti 550P. Friends of ours raved about their porta potti for dry camping & it seemed like the perfect addition to this trip. I also completely forgot my camping chair, so I picked up one of those too.

Once at the campground, I got everything into the cabin, got the bed made, set up a few things, and wandered over to the other sisters campsites. There was a dinner that evening, so we all went & got to know each other a bit. There was also a campfire at one of the sites. It started raining during the campfire, so we all packed it up and headed back to our sites.

Best last minute purchase EVER!

I had a rough night. Between the bed not being incredibly comfortable and my body not being thrilled about dinner (thank goodness for that last minute porta potti purchase!), I was up a LOT.

Friday morning, I woke up, got showered, had breakfast, and then walked over to where the other sisters sites were. Most people were up and trying to dry things off. Many of the tents were soaking wet, some people had lost their easy-ups near their trailers, and the creek waters were racing by. At this point (around 10am), the water was still inside the creek bed.

Just a bit of standing water around the cabin

We were supposed to do a tour of Gettysburg National Park on Friday and then have lunch at a local restaurant once we were done. Because of the rain, we decided to push the tour back to Saturday.

A few of us decided to go into Gettysburg and walk around town a bit. It was still sprinkling off and on, but nothing major. I drove over & got a call from the campground around 11:30. The water was rising and they needed everyone to come back to the campground. They weren't sure if they were going to end up closing the campground or not. So, we got back to the car as quickly as we could & got back to the campground around noon.

By the time we returned, I was driving through water I probably shouldn't have been just to get into the campground and then drop the ladies off near their trailers. I packed up the cabin as quickly as I could (thankfully, there wasn't much I had unpacked) and got to a place where it was dry. I stayed long enough to figure out where we were all meeting up to decide what the plan for the rest of the weekend was.

At this point, I was starting to feel the effects of the little sleep from the night before, the head cold my husband so kindly brought home and shared, and the "excitement" of this trip.

I went to the nearby parking lot that the business let us "borrow" for a bit and joined the ongoing discussion of "what's next?". Several of the ladies were on their phones with nearby campgrounds trying to find space for the group. We had close to 50 units with us, so that was causing some issues. There were several campgrounds in the area that aren't that big to begin with (or we would've been renting out the entire campground) OR they just didn't have the availability. Little Drummer Boy ended up coming through & saving the day. At this point, I wasn't going to worry about trying to get a cabin. Given how I was feeling, I was going to do lunch (we had decided to push back the time but still go) and then head out.

As soon as we figured out the campground, one of the ladies got a call from a sister who went down a road that crossed the creek. She found herself in a situation where she couldn't back out (because she wasn't confident enough to do it), alone, and with rising water in front of her. I was the only one not attached to a trailer, so I drove & had another sister with me who could back the sister out. We literally had a road name and that was it. It was quite the time trying to find her. We eventually did find her and I figured out why she was on the road (she put the restaurant name into her GPS and blindly followed it - something so many of us do!).

After she was rescued, we all headed to the restaurant and had lunch. Several sisters offered their extra spaces in their trailers or motorhomes, but since I had started coughing quite a bit the night before (but was fine during the day), I declined and headed home. I felt bad about declining since they were just trying to be nice and I wasn't giving them all of the details of why I was bailing on my first sister trip.

I headed home & was outrunning rain storms all of the way home. I was happy to be "home" at the Brave and back with Jon, doggie David, and kitty Wendy.

Notes:
* The campground refunded all nights that we weren't there since they were closing. They really didn't have to do that, but I was happy they did.
* I felt HORRIBLE about leaving, but I would've felt worse if someone else got sick because I took them up on their offer. As it was, the cough that came with that cold lasted me a good 8 weeks.
* The Sisters on the Fly are serious about helping each other out!