From – Roanoke (Virginia)
To – Asheville (North Carolina)
Via – Tennessee…apparently
Miles Driven – 260 (that’s two days in a row)
Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157611544101197/
Another driving day today although not quite like we originally planned. Firstly we had thought that we would finish the remaining few hundred miles along the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway but a quick conference followed by a unanimous vote concluded that we would rather be in Asheville by lunch in order to shop for provisions for the following three days rather than spend seven hours on more winding roads. It may sound like a travesty to chose highway over this incredible scenery but we have to prioritise when faced with a deadline and we, unsurprisingly, chose food and relaxation.
So after skipping the morning shower with water that loo
ked like it was fresh from the Ganges, we hit the road at a needlessly early 6:45am and had managed to knock off a good bit of the drive before being awake enough to realize that hunger was knocking at the door. Our chosen stop was the Omelet Shope. Well, I say “our” but Kate doesn’t like omelets (apparently the texture freaks her out) so I joined the throng of truckers with some magnificent beards on display to order my ham and cheese variety which was pretty outstanding.
With a contented belly, we got back on the road for the remainder of the drive which we thought would be a fairly uneventful blas
t from Virginia to North Carolina. Oh how wrong we were. You know sometimes you check the pockets of your jeans before you put them in the washing machine and you find some cash in there and it’s a nice surprise, right? Well I can report that it’s a similar feeling when you come across a surprise state, a fact we discovered when confronted with an unexpected “Welcome to Tennessee” sign. We weren’t lost – we just didn’t know that we’d be grazing the north eastern tip of the state so, knowing that we were only an hour from Asheville, we had a limited amount of time to be Tennesseean. Hence, on went the country music radio (I think the choices in Tennessee are Country Music Radio or Bible Radio) and much yee-hawing occurred. Good times people, good times.
Our cottage on the outskirts of Asheville is to be our hom
e for the next six nights so it is a bit more important than usual that the place is nice. The pictures on the web made it look nice but I’ve been duped by touched up, unrealistic pictures before so I usually arrive at these place with a bit of trepidation. There was no need for that with Bull Creek Cottage though as we pulled up and was greeted by Pam (our temporary landlady) who heard we were about to arrive and had lit us a fire. The place is the perfect balance of modern and traditional and I would happily never leave. It overlooks a acres of greenery with a creek separating us from the neighbours. Molly seems to be getting on well with the local dogs and we can leave her out there wrestling for hours without fear that she’ll run away. She seems to have developed a special relationship with a suave young gentleman dog called Miles (de ja vue anyone from the FCI?) so stay tuned for updates with that particular love trist.
So given our incredible surroundings and Kate’s lingering illness, we stocked up on supplies and took advantage of our first kitchen since Thanksgiving. I did warn you that this would lead to some self congratulatory food blogs but the food I cooked last night was
the finest meal I have had in quite a while. We had a couple of super-thick, juicy pork chops with mashed potatoes, bok choy and a creamy jalapeno accented sauce. Good god it was good. Kate immediately entered food coma but I managed to pour a frightening amount of wine down my neck (I don’t want to declare how much but it was probably enough to sedate a baby elephant) before entering a real coma. I think I was trying to relive days gone by when, by about this time on Christmas Eve I would be embarrassingly drunk in some nasty club trying to talk to anyone that would stay still long enough to listen to me. Feeble but true.
To – Asheville (North Carolina)
Via – Tennessee…apparently
Miles Driven – 260 (that’s two days in a row)
Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157611544101197/
Another driving day today although not quite like we originally planned. Firstly we had thought that we would finish the remaining few hundred miles along the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway but a quick conference followed by a unanimous vote concluded that we would rather be in Asheville by lunch in order to shop for provisions for the following three days rather than spend seven hours on more winding roads. It may sound like a travesty to chose highway over this incredible scenery but we have to prioritise when faced with a deadline and we, unsurprisingly, chose food and relaxation.
So after skipping the morning shower with water that loo
ked like it was fresh from the Ganges, we hit the road at a needlessly early 6:45am and had managed to knock off a good bit of the drive before being awake enough to realize that hunger was knocking at the door. Our chosen stop was the Omelet Shope. Well, I say “our” but Kate doesn’t like omelets (apparently the texture freaks her out) so I joined the throng of truckers with some magnificent beards on display to order my ham and cheese variety which was pretty outstanding.With a contented belly, we got back on the road for the remainder of the drive which we thought would be a fairly uneventful blas
t from Virginia to North Carolina. Oh how wrong we were. You know sometimes you check the pockets of your jeans before you put them in the washing machine and you find some cash in there and it’s a nice surprise, right? Well I can report that it’s a similar feeling when you come across a surprise state, a fact we discovered when confronted with an unexpected “Welcome to Tennessee” sign. We weren’t lost – we just didn’t know that we’d be grazing the north eastern tip of the state so, knowing that we were only an hour from Asheville, we had a limited amount of time to be Tennesseean. Hence, on went the country music radio (I think the choices in Tennessee are Country Music Radio or Bible Radio) and much yee-hawing occurred. Good times people, good times.Our cottage on the outskirts of Asheville is to be our hom
e for the next six nights so it is a bit more important than usual that the place is nice. The pictures on the web made it look nice but I’ve been duped by touched up, unrealistic pictures before so I usually arrive at these place with a bit of trepidation. There was no need for that with Bull Creek Cottage though as we pulled up and was greeted by Pam (our temporary landlady) who heard we were about to arrive and had lit us a fire. The place is the perfect balance of modern and traditional and I would happily never leave. It overlooks a acres of greenery with a creek separating us from the neighbours. Molly seems to be getting on well with the local dogs and we can leave her out there wrestling for hours without fear that she’ll run away. She seems to have developed a special relationship with a suave young gentleman dog called Miles (de ja vue anyone from the FCI?) so stay tuned for updates with that particular love trist.So given our incredible surroundings and Kate’s lingering illness, we stocked up on supplies and took advantage of our first kitchen since Thanksgiving. I did warn you that this would lead to some self congratulatory food blogs but the food I cooked last night was
the finest meal I have had in quite a while. We had a couple of super-thick, juicy pork chops with mashed potatoes, bok choy and a creamy jalapeno accented sauce. Good god it was good. Kate immediately entered food coma but I managed to pour a frightening amount of wine down my neck (I don’t want to declare how much but it was probably enough to sedate a baby elephant) before entering a real coma. I think I was trying to relive days gone by when, by about this time on Christmas Eve I would be embarrassingly drunk in some nasty club trying to talk to anyone that would stay still long enough to listen to me. Feeble but true.Christmas day tomorrow but I’m not expecting much as I haven’t been particularly good this year.
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