We have decided to stay in the Smoky Mountains for June and
hopefully July and maybe even August if things go well for us, all depending on
how far we can stretch the funding. I was fortunate enough to get called back
to my old job for some contract work and was able to save enough money to pay
for the first month’s campground rent, a whopping $600 including electricity.
Yes, it’s far less than some people can swing but far more than I would want to
pay. But at the same time, the campground is in a major tourist destination and
it beats the neighboring campgrounds’ prices by no less than a couple hundred dollars
each month.
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| Cades Cove, Smoky Mountains National Park |
There were two considerations for us when selecting a
campground in the Smoky Mountains. The first was location, and for us location
was absolutely non-negotiable. We need to be on the Townsend, Tennessee side of
the Smokies because Kat is supplementing her homeschool studies on a local horse ranch there where
she will be learning to be a trail guide.
The second consideration was price. We could have done
better on the campground price if we could have been flexible on location.
There were a couple cheaper options in Pigeon Forge, but an hour both ways is
just too far to drive as often as we’d need to, and we only have one car.
Pigeon Forge would have been a great place to stay for us, since Dollywood is
there and they hire an army of seasonal workers. That would have solved the
money issue for us, but alas, it was not meant to be. I’ll need to find temporary
employment on the Townsend side.
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| Cades Cove, Smoky Mountains National Park |
We did a ton of research, well not “we” so much as “I,” I did a ton of research and visited
every website of every campground in the area multiple times as well as
checking out the finalists on Google earth. The family finally picked one and
booked it, and while visiting a friend near there, we recently drove through it
just to make sure we’d chosen the right place. It got the kids’ stamp of
approval when they saw the pool, and then it got their second stamp of approval
when they were able to access the campground’s wi-fi as we were driving
through.
June can’t get here fast enough.
