(EP66) COVID Hits Nashville!! TO THE MOUNTAINS!

#covidroadtrip #headingtothemountains #danielboonenationalforest
“It’s like it’s Christmas! Everything is closed.” Due to the coronavirus outbreak, it’s becoming a challenge to find places to camp and get work done. All of the Starbucks locations are closed to dine-in customers, and the National Parks and campgrounds are closed as well.

We decide to make our way to Nashville, Tennessee, and get some work done on the way. After our crazy night getting stuck in Shawnee National Forest last night, we decide to cave for a $35/night campsite at a campground. It’s worth it, since we get hot showers and a comfortable place to stay during a crazy thunderstorm.

The next morning, it’s a work day, but after 10 hours of sleep, we’re feeling up for it and Panera Bread is still partially open to dine-in customers so we spend a couple of hours there to get through the tasks on our lists today.

While there, we’re thinking it might be a good idea to head into the mountains. After we’re done with work for the day, we head to the Nissan Stadium (https://www.tennesseetitans.com/stadium/) in Nashville where there’s free overnight street parking when there are no stadium events going on. Due to the virus, there definitely aren’t any of those happening right now.

After Nashville, the plan is to go back to Norelle’s friend Synthia’s home in Oak Ridge, but we might have to delay a few days because Synthia’s 7-year-old has come down with a fever. We don’t want to compromise our immune systems and get sick, even if it’s just a typical winter flu.

As we pass through Nashville and Lebanon, TN, we notice the destruction from a tornado that came through recently. People can’t seem to catch a break!

We drive into the hills, and start looking for a place to camp. After some bad luck finding free camping with cell service, we finally find a good spot at Edgar Evins State Park (https://tnstateparks.com/parks/edgar-evins).

The next day, Norelle goes for a jog in the woods at the park, but she trips and twisted her ankle. Once back at the car, Danny assures her that it can’t be a sprain because she’d be in more pain, so that’s a relief. We get caught up on some stickers we’ve collected.

It’s been two nights at Edgar Evins, but Synthia’s son is still a little sick so we decide to stay a little longer.

Once in Oak Ridge, we decide to only stay one night at Synthia’s. The next morning, we go with Synthia to scope out some campers because they’re thinking about putting their house up for rent and living in a camper on her parents’ property in Georgia to wait out the virus.

It’s time to go to the woods!

We drive into Daniel Boone National Forest (https://www.fs.usda.gov/dbnf/) to find our self-quarantining spot. There’s a ton of garbage and other gross stuff in a few of the first few camping spots we find, and Norelle is feeling a little discouraged.

We take a break from campsite hunting and stop at the Cumberland Falls (https://parks.ky.gov/corbin/parks/resort/cumberland-falls-state-resort-park).

The options and the coronavirus situation has us - Norelle, especially - feeling a bit worried, but Danny’s optimistic that we’ll find a place to camp out safely for a couple of weeks.

We finally find a good (garbage-free) spot within the forest at the Beaver Creek Wildlife Management Area (https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/dbnf/recarea/?recid=72122). We put up our big tarp to set up a more permanent campsite for the first time ever on this trip, since we’ve never stayed in one spot for more than a couple of nights.

Hopefully, this will be a good place to quarantine and wait out the virus for a couple of weeks!

Видео (EP66) COVID Hits Nashville!! TO THE MOUNTAINS! канала Norelle and Danny