My first night sleeping on the road was at a Cracker Barrel in Knoxville, Tennessee, right off I-40.
I definitely wasn’t the only one there. There were folks sleeping in their cars. I might have been the only one comfortable, at least until about 3:30 in the morning when the noise from I-40 woke me up.
I was awake anyway, so I packed up and headed west.
One thing I’ve been doing while I’m driving is using ChatGPT to learn more about what I’m passing. I crossed the Tennessee River and Kentucky Lake, and instead of just driving past places like that, I’ve been asking questions and learning a little more about where I actually am.
I’m also learning how the truck and camper are actually performing on the road. The truck’s averaging about 11.7 MPG while towing, and by the end of the day the batteries were back to full, which honestly surprised me.
By around 2:00, I was in Memphis and kept heading west on I-40 into Arkansas.
Later that evening, I was trying to find a place to stay near Greens Lake outside Conway. ChatGPT sent me to the wrong access point, and I pulled into a tiny parking area that was hard to maneuver with the truck and camper. I got partly stuck there.
After 20 more minutes, I found the right spot. Honestly, it was amazing, exactly the kind of place I want to find with this camper.
Then I tried to set up. The first spot was too sloped. I fought with it for about 45 minutes trying to get everything level before finally deciding it just wasn’t going to work.
So I packed everything back up and got ready to move. And then the jack got stuck.
Luckily, my brother-in-law had given me a shovel. First time actually using it. I dug around the jack, pulled the blocks out from underneath it and got the jack back up.
After finally getting the camper free and moving again, I found a great spot under a tree. I got everything set up, had dinner by my fire and had a great evening.
I went to bed around 9:00 and slept like a rock.
I woke up around 6:00 the next morning and watched the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2026.
I made a couple of coffees and started getting ready to roll. Then Game and Fish showed up.
He asked what I was doing there. I told him I was only there for one night and was about to leave in about 20 minutes. He said this wasn’t actually a camping spot, but the real camping spots in there are hard to tell apart from the one I was in.
He said I was perfectly fine and there was no problem. He’d thought I was a bow hunter because it was deer season. I told him nope, I’m just on my way to California.
He said, “Alright, no problem. Have a great trip.”
I packed up and hit the road.
— The Guy Behind the Desk
