Tennessee Cumberland Plateau Campground

  Tennessee has not disappointed us at all, but then again I have always wanted to live near the mountains.  Our current location is at an Airstream park near Crossville, a town located equidistant to Chattanooga and Knoxville.  It is a sizable neighborhood, with almost 135 sites situated on over 350 acres on the Cumberland Plateau.  There are numerous, short trails on the property, a seven acre manmade lake that is in need of repair because it has "sprung a leak," a community garden, a clubhouse with commercial kitchen, a library, a media room, and modern bathrooms with showers.

Snapshots of the shrinking lake

  Most of the sites have ports that cover the Airstream and a covered porch area that usually doubles the living area of the RV.  Randy and I first thought it odd that these huge structures were built to cover the Airstreams, but then we were told that the area gets frequent hail and ice storms. Many sites are landscaped and some even have charming spaces tucked behind the trailer that are "secret" gardens. The "campground" is laid out very much like a subdivision of patio homes, except that it is heavily wooded with many mature trees.  Overall, it is a very lovely setting that I could imagine us staying at often during the spring through late autumn.
  The town of Crossville, itself has an interesting history. During the Great Depression, the federal government created a project to provide farms for hundreds of impoverished families called Cumberland Homesteads. The homes that were built for the farms have a distinct architecture incorporating local stone that is quarried in the area.  Many of the homes still stand today and continue to add to the beauty and charm of the area.
  My Airstream neighbors here are extremely friendly and have taken me under their wing when Randy leaves for his assignments.  I was invited out to a normally "resident only" day trip because I was here alone and for some reason, there is an interest in keeping us happy here.  We ventured out to the Lodge Cast-iron Factory store and then had a pleasant, but not especially tasty lunch at a restaurant, The Cookie Jar Cafe.  There are hundreds of vintage cookie jars on ledges above the dining area and on shelves throughout the room.  It is a very popular dining destination that serves country style home cooking. They also sell cakes, pies, cookies and cupcakes.  You get the feeling that things prepared there are from scratch, but my taste buds told me that that was not the case :-( .

  Cumberland Mountain State Park is within a 15 minute drive. It has some great camping sites; numerous day hikes; a lake for fishing, canoeing and paddle boarding; and a restaurant overlooks the scenic lake serving decent buffet-style meals.

Byrd Lake at Cumberland Mountain State Park

This bridge was the largest project the CCC built during the Great Depression

A glimpse of the backside of the bridge during a hike at Cumberland Mountain State Park

The outdoor seating area of the restaurant overlooks Byrd Lake

  

We have joined a local mycology club to learn about foraging for edible mushrooms. The focus of the club forays emphasizes the science of mushrooms, but there is plenty of education about what is safe to eat.  There are several fellow Airstreamers that also have our passion for gathering edibles and last week we were given a sample of Chicken of the Woods. It is a shelf mushroom, more scientifically named laetiporus sulphureous. It is supposed to resemble chicken in taste, but to me really just has the texture of chicken and the ability to take on flavors of other foods it is cooked with- much like chicken.  The large plate of mushrooms I was given was a little more mature than I would have personally harvested, but I was able to salvage the outer edges that were still tender.  I sautéed them in olive oil and then briefly cooked them in chicken stock before adding them to a homemade chicken pot pie. The results were really delicious! 

A mushroom found on one of our club forays

The pics don't show it very well, but this mushroom has a baby blue cap and violet blue gills. Believe it or not, it is
completely edible!

Chicken of the Woods