Divermarv

Stella! Stellllllaaaaa!

Well, friends and neighbors, here is a wee post about my (finally) camping glamping preparations for 2026. I now have my rig and basic gear for my home away from home.

It did wind up raining most of the night. A downpour at times. And guess what? I did sleep well. A little over twelve hours! I guess I needed it. It does speak volumes to the comfy-ness of the little single bed.

This site had an electric hookup, but with the power cube and a pretty nice folding solar panel setup I should be good at most any place. Potentially even boondocking, if I get a portable loo.

I have the bunk, a low side-table, a folding chair and such. I intend to buy a small folding writing desk and wooden chair, and I have a folding wooden hanging rack, which I’ll take to Colorado when I go in July. I expect the weather to be dryer and an order of magnitude hotter though.

Nerd alert. More specifically, geology nerd alert.

Now what glamping trip wouldn’t be complete without my signature latte? I call it… Chocolate? What chocolate? (Okay I might change that name.) One of my sons gifted me a manual espresso press, and a hand whisker to froth the milk. Worked. Like. A. Champ. I’m glamping alone, so couldn’t video the process, but here’s a gallery of photos so you can get the picture. (Ohhhh, that one hurt to even type.)

Here is something that’ll not be typical for glamping, but my rustic campsite is about fifteen minutes from Erwin TN. So why not truly glamp?! (I say not typical, but if I can figure out the ice situation it may not be atypical. [I call this spaghetti writing.) Note this pic was taken at the Red Fork in Erwin TN. Great menu, and downtown Erwin is really cool. I say this everywhere I go, but I could live there.

Rock Creek Recreation Area campground was nice. There are some good trails nearby, and I intend to head down and check them out sometime. I did take a relaxing stroll along rock creek.

The last full-day of camping was great. The sun was out, and the temperature was nice. As the sun went down it did get a bit chilly though. Time to put the cardigan back on. As the sun sank through the trees I tried to capture a stunning stellar picture, but I’m just not a great photographer.

I awoke around 8am the last day and was anxious to take everything down. This being my first date with Stella, it was all new to me. Plus everything was still wet. The inside of the tent was dry mind you, but the instructions said folding and storing it wet and dirty (umm, okay I’m just gonna leave that) was verboten, so loose fold and cram into the storage of the trailer and home I went. By the way The night before leaving I had a great dinner at Dara Ace, great little diner in Erwin. One of the best burgers I’ve had. There were tons of pictures of old cars and motorcycles on the wall, and then there was this…

And now home. But the fun isn’t over. Oh no. Drying, sweeping, and cleaning before folding and storing. Ugh.

And with this I believe I’ve taken enough of your time. In just a hair over a month I’ll be heading out to Colorado for some more Hoffman family time. I’ll be camping during my stay (seven days) at Terry Bison Ranch just across the state line in Wyoming.

For now though it’s back to the daily grind of retired life. Though with a twist… I’ll be back in the groove of writing my next novel. I’ll make a post about that soon.

As always stay cool.

Peace and love
Marv