River Valley Campground, Cherokee, North Carolina

 (That's a photo borrowed from the WWW, but it's representative of the sites against the river.)

We just returned from a week's stay along the river in the photo... the "Oconoluftee" in Cherokee, NC.
The water there flows fairly rapidly across rocks. It ain't no "babbling brook"... the "white noise" it made was so loud Sara Jean could not sleep in our bed, which pretty much hung over the bank of the river. She vacated our bedroom and slept in one of the bunkbeds in the garage of the toy hauler to deaden the sound.

This was our second stay in our new RV, and we're still trying NOT to screw things up too badly. I'm surprised and pleased that the 28' trailer follows behind our 3/4-ton truck like a shadow. It reduces our fuel mileage from 21mpg to 14, but that number surprises most, (including me). The only disconcerting thing about towing the trailer is being passed by 18-wheelers...
As they are abeam the rear of the trailer the "Venturi Effect" sucks trailer and pickup toward them. Then when the tractor gets abeam the cab of our truck the wake of the semi pushes the whole shebang toward the road shoulder. This phenomenon keeps me on my toes.

We initially planned to take the most direct route to the campground from our home. That drive would have taken us through Knoxville, then Gatlinburg and the Smokey Mountain National Park. We've driven that route in our car in the past and found it beautiful. But in one hour at work two friends separately cautioned, "Have you considered what it will be like to pull that RV over that road?"
One of 'em even commented that he had seen rigs pulled to the side of the road with brakes SMOKIN'.
I thought about it, then decided on a different, not direct path. I'm glad I did. The route we took was still hilly and turny, but there were no uphill hairpin turns. We arrived without incident.

My sister and I rode the scooter half an hour to Maggie Valley and walked through the "Wheels Through Time" museum there. This was a "Bucket List" item for me.
I'm glad we went, but for me it was a bit of a disappointment.
I should have remembered that the founder of the museum was, for years, a Harley Davidson dealer. ALL of the motorcycles on display were American made. Virtually all of 'em were Harleys.
No examples of my first Harley... an Italian made "Sprint" by Aermacchi Harley-Davidson were to be found.
No Triumphs. No BSAs. No Italian scooters. No Japanese bikes.
Oh well.

We attended a showing of "Unto These Hills", a portrayal of the Cherokee Nation from their encounter with DeSoto, through the trail of tears, and up to fairly recent history. I was surprised that much of the play was devoted to the fact that SOME white men tried to avoid the tragedy that unfolded.
I felt the portrayal was more than fair.
Recommended.

We met my sister and Bro-in-law there and had a nice visit alongside the river. The campground is beautiful; the bathhouse is clean; and the campsites are more than adequately sized.
If you want to stay I suggest you make reservations.
If VERY LOUD white noise bothers you, pick a site AWAY from the river!