Banner Elk, NC – Day 38: A Viaduct, An Old Mountain & A Deep Gorge

Linn Cove Viaduct


 
Today we were out and about enjoying the best of western North Carolina. The three of us visited Linn Cove Viaduct, Grandfather Mountain, and Linville Gorge Wilderness. The title of the post, that last sentence, and the pictures below are in the reverse order of our visitation.

Tomorrow I head further east in North Carolina to visit one of Donna’s 1st cousins and a good friend who lives in Rockingham. It is about time; these last three days have worn me out. These mountain folk, David and then John & Carol, have fed me and have made me walk more than I’ve done in the previous month of the road trip. The only good thing is that I’ve been chauffeur-driven around.

Banner Elk, NC – Day 37: Mothership & Sunset Flares

The Original Mast General Store


 
Whenever Donna and I would come up to Hendersonville, a trip to the downtown Mast General Store was always on the agenda. Usually just to buy candy, but hiking-related merchandise made into a shopping bag. We have also been to the one in Asheville. When we discovered they built one in Columbia, a mere 60 miles away, we went there a few times. But until today, I never really knew that the original store still existed. Cool place with creaky floors. Right down the street a quarter mile was an Annex store that felt familiar; the layout mimicked the newer stores I’ve been in.

Ho hum, another night, another cabin in the woods. This one belongs to a Miata Club couple who spend the summers up here near Banner Elk to escape the heat and humidity of Augusta, GA. They also didn’t have any home damage, but they did lose a metric crap ton of trees. If anyone you know makes art with a chainsaw, they have plenty of material for them. Before Helene they could not see the mountains in the distance, now if they ignore the foreground, their view has improved. Hover over the below image for tonight’s sunset.

Asheville, NC – Day 36: More Dragon Photos & Mountain Views

I started the day in Robinsville like I did yesterday afternoon by attempting to drive the full 11 miles one way on the Tail of the Dragon and back. And once again I ran into slugs that wouldn’t pull out so I could get by, so I made it maybe 4 of the miles before turning around and leaving. Also again, I managed to get my portrait taken by 2 of the photographers that haunt the road. One repeat and the granddaddy that started the souvenir photo business, Killboy. Here are probably the two I’ll get a digital copy of:

I spent the day and overnighted with my Fairy Godbrother1 David moved to Asheville from Aiken not long after Donna and I headed west. I can’t take full credit for it, but it was one of the small factors he considered.

He gave me a tour of the area he lives in to show me around and gawk at all the hurricane Helene damage. When he first moved into his place, he cleared about 80′ back from his home, in spite of the comments from his tree-loving neighbors. Well, that 3-year-old project paid dividends last September. Every one of those neighbors suffered some sort of tree fall damage; nothing major, but still a big nuisance for them. David was no prescient, just smart.

I would swear he was the evil witch from Hansel and Gretel as he took me to his favorite Indian (the subcontinent type, not the indigenous kind) restaurant for a lunch buffet in downtown. Then a few hours later he decided we should go get a salad at a spot that serves something called “a very good green salad.” Surprisingly, it was a very good green salad. The trick was he ordered a side of french fries. See what I mean?

Before we headed back to his house, we made a stop at Whole Foods for fixin’s for an omelet for breakfast…

Ed note: David didn’t have internet, so this post was written on Saturday, not Friday.

Robbinsville, NC – Day 35: Another Ranch & Twisty Road Overload


Greenville to Robbinsville can be just a 3-hour drive, but checking ‘Avoid Highways’ turns it into three and a half. I managed to increase that to 5 hours. While bombing around on a backroad, if I came upon a group of slow-moving vehicles, at the next possible chance I would turn onto a road that was heading in the general direction I wanted to go, east or north. Worked like a charm 3 out of 4 times, but even going in the wrong direction on a clear, swoopy road beats going slowly in the right direction.

The road to the beginning of Deals Gap, AKA The Tail of The Dragon, is fun in and of itself. When I got to the intersection at the start, no one was coming my way, so I blasted off. I told myself that I would go as far as I could until I came upon a slow-moving vehicle. There are dozens of spots where they have paved turnouts for slow movers, but some people refuse to use them because they might lose ten seconds of travel time. About the time I caught up with someone, they were catching someone even slower. The odds of one car turning out to let you by are small to begin with, but with two, forget it.

I had gone about 5 miles of the eleven, so I just whipped a U-turn and drove back to Robbinsville. At least I got a few of the famed turns in. Luckily I had also already been by two of the many photographers who park in a spot and snap photos of every car that passes by. They all have a website that you can visit and look for your car and hopefully buy one or more high-resolution images of you driving. I have purchased several of the previous 2 Miatas, and one time I drove the 2010 Hyundai Sonata through the Gap and I bought a photo or two of that car as well.

Here are today’s proofs from the 2 photographers that I passed:

Greenville, SC – Day 34: Won’t You Be My Neighbor & Hang Time

Ooh, look, the house next to my sister’s is for sale. We could be neighbors…
1) If I did move back to South Carolina, it wouldn’t be that close.
2) It would back in Aiken which is a mere 2 hours away
3) The traffic in Greenville/Spartanburg is nuts.
4) It is about $100k more than I could afford.

Like Santa Fe there is a Dunkin’ about a mile and a half away, and I’ve been there both mornings so far and will again one more time before I head out into the wilds of Western North Carolina.

After breakfast the BIL and I took a 2-1/2 mile walk around their subdivision’s property and ponds, dodging the goose poop on the sidewalks. The number of geese here greatly overshadows the flock that hangs around the Salish Ponds back in Fairview.

Diane and I went out to lunch at a local pizza place to spare Allen the sight and smell of us eating, pizza for me and a meatball grinder for her. He has a colonoscopy tomorrow, so he had to “feast” on orange jello and plain chicken broth.

This afternoon Allen and I hung up all his UCONN basketball memorabilia in the home theater room. There were also a couple of other photos and artworks that needed hanging too. There are more things needing hanging, but we ran out of time.

If I don’t have anything as exciting as this tomorrow, I’ll write about this morning’s fuse buying fun.

Greenville, SC – Day 33: Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Field of Dreams


 
I have been totally jinxed on getting to see some Minor League baseball this trip. I spent 7 days in total in Santa Fe and on all of them the Albuquerque Isotopes were playing away games in Reno, NV playing the Aces. I did stop in at the ballpark and purchase one of their baseball hats.

The next chance I had was the 4 days I spent in the Augusta area. But the GreenJackets were also playing away games. They were in Columbia, SC playing the Fireflies. I did stop at their stadium and buy a ball cap.

Who You Calling a Bobblehead?

Now I’m in Greenville and their team, a High A farm team of the Boston Red Sox was also away. They were in Bowling Green, KY playing the Hot Rods. I didn’t go to their stadium; instead, we drove 15 miles east and went to Spartanburg to watch the Hub City Spartanburgers play the Rome (GA) Emperors. And of course, I bought a Spartanburger hat.

Greenville, SC – Day 32: Carolina Back Roads & Infection Killing

Kaleidescope Miata

I had a near perfect drive (just a couple 18-wheelers) along 2-lane roads that I’ve driven dozens of times before. Also, luckily for me my sister and husband live east of the city of Greenville in an area that has yet to be turned into a shopping center meca or 1,000 unit apartment development.

Long digression as a lead-in to the rest of the story:
Back in February, I had a root canal done on the back left upper molar. It had bothered me for quite some time. I was quite used to chewing on the right side, but had developed a pus-filled bump that troubled me. After the procedure I was given antibiotics to clear any remaining infection. Soon the bump went away, and I had to relearn how to use the left side of my teeth.

The rest of the story:
Fast forward to last Thursday, and the bump returned. I could still chew on the left, no more nerve there, but apparently the infection had returned. On Friday I called my dentist back in Oregon and asked if they could send a prescription to a local pharmacy. They said they really couldn’t and I should find a local dentist. As it happened, I was staying in the town I lived in for 30 years, so I looked him up, and, well, like every other dentist in town, he didn’t work on Fridays.

So, today, the very first thing I did was find a local dentist that could fit me in. It was almost noon, and they had an opening at one o’clock! They were 45 minutes away. We all piled in the BIL’s CX-5 and headed that way. They dropped me off and headed to Blimpie for lunch, promising to bring back a sub.

They took some X-rays to confirm my infection and said that when I get back, the root canal would have to be redone or the tooth pulled and an implant put in. They did write a script for amoxicillin, so hopefully that’ll clear up the infection ’til then.