Our last night at a KOA was relatively close to home.  (Compared to Colorado, of course.)

We wrapped up our KOA lodging experience near Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Or Georgia.  The road to reach the KOA went back and forth between the states.

A wooded campground, this felt a lot like campsites we have visited over the years of our family camping campaign.

Our lodging here was a cabin – but one without a bathroom.  (I’m telling you, deluxe cabins with a bathroom are my favorite, if you can afford that option.)  This cabin was cute though and I loved that it faced the woods.  Your front porch and porch swing faced trees instead of the campground driveway.  That really added to the feeling of privacy even though the cabin spot wasn’t really all that private.  Plus – it felt like the classic camping experience that way.  The fire ring was back there too by the picnic table so the kids could chase fireflies into the woods and explore a little while still being near the cabin.

The Lookout Mountain/Chatanooga West KOA is off the road and quiet, but so conveniently close to loads of fun attractions.

At this point in our journey, personally we were All Eyes Toward Home, but this would be a great repeat destination.  You could hike and explore such cool places like Lookout Mountain and Rock City, Ruby Falls, the Incline Railway and even the fun town of Chattanooga itself.  (They have a fantastic aquarium we visited a lifetime ago.)

Every KOA has felt uniquely original with a touch of familiar – which I think is the best selling point for the KOA brand.  This KOA’s camp store here was probably my favorite.

It was stocked with more than the usual supplies plus movie rentals and there was a cute table and chairs in there to play games or whatever.  The store had fun souvenirs and a cute decor that the kids really enjoyed.  (Especially their mounted jackaloupe.  The mysterious jackaloupe was the topic of many a conversation on our journey – particularly since one of the Okee Dokee Brothers’ songs features a jackaloupe.)

There was a large and well maintained swimming pool and an extensive dog run.  I love how pet friendly the KOAs are if you are traveling with your pet.   The playground was large with a fun web climbing feature that of course my boys adored.  There was a jumping pad and a game room too.  Once again, we faced the same bathroom dilemma.  There was no family bathroom.  And the bathroom was a decent little stroll away from our cabin.  (Which I like, actually, but it makes it even more difficult to send kids to the bathroom alone.)  It’s just straight up tricky to decide what to do in these situations.  Generally, I choose being dirty and safe over being clean and feeling unsafe.  Not that the campground has an unsafe vibe – it truly does not.  But I just do not care for sending my young kids into showers without a parent with them or to have them waiting outside a bathroom alone while I shower.  Family bathrooms – that’s the most convenient option I think.

The campers across the road from us gave us their stack of firewood on their way out, which was a score for us and the boys set out to build a fire right away.

Let me emphasize again how tired we all were.  At that point, I couldn’t recall my original plan for feeding my family dinner that evening.  But the KOA campground map rescued us.  A few local restaurants were listed on the back of the map.  I called one that sounded local and tasty. And guess what?  They delivered!  Yep.  I ordered in food at the campground.  And I didn’t feel the least bit bad.  As the fire was roaring, our delivery fella pulled up and we basked in the glory of burgers and mashed potatoes and banana pudding and sweet Georgia tea.  It was fabulous.

I will definitely include this KOA in my travel plans in the future — for us the location is just a great one.

I’m al little sad to see our KOA partnership and journey end for now.  Although, I feel confident this will not be the last KOA trip for our band.

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