So we made our 10 day trip to The Ridge and got back home safely.
https://theridgeoutdoorresort.com/
Sleep-T - The place is brand new and was/still is a church. The church ran out of money - did not know that was possible! - and sold the property to this guy who already had a campground in the area. They still lease out the events center to them for services.
It's in a good location, has a nice pool, but is basically a hotel for your RV. Absolutely awful place for dogs. Would not stay there again, though other people seem to love it.
Have no idea how crowded that area gets during normal times, but it was absolutely crawling with people from all over the country. Our tried and true National Parks routine of "done by one" had to be revised to "done by 10" if you did not want to get stuck in bad traffic. No social distancing and hardly any masks - it was elevated to a "hot spot" the day we left.
The mountains are pretty, but we both feel it has been our least favorite National Park and most likely won't return. As far as Pigeon Forge - it's like they transplanted Myrtle Beach in the mountains.
Regardless - we had a blast and it was really nice to get out of the house for an extended time. Overall we felt really safe, but we worked at being safe.
We did have our first mechanical issues on the trip. The gearbox on the slide blew up on the way down. Would go out, but not in. Also had the awning motor go out. Both were fixed by Rickey's RV in Sevierville - great guys and I think very fair, too.
I could not find anywhere on the net on what to do about the slide. So I found another big guy and we just pushed it in as Phyllis toggled the switch. Do any of you guys have another solution? Our slide has the four cables on it.
As an aside - we do have a couple overnight or maybe overnight an extra day campgrounds on 81 if anyone is looking for such - Ft. Chiswell and Shenandoah Valley Campground in Mt. Jackson - both in VA. Like the former better.
Safe Travels!
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