Well, we just
got back from the mountains. The husband
was asked by a friend to help him with some strawberries, and of course it couldn’t be a simple there and
back trip. When we got home last night
we felt like we’d never been so happy to see Goldsboro, NC (in no small part to
a sea monkey who seems to think my bladder makes an awesome trampoline). Following is a highlight reel of the trip. I apologize ahead of time for the length...then again, it's supposed to be an odyssey.
Book 1 – How Getting A Ticket Was The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Us.
So since we
were going to be in the middle of nowhere (the nursery was on Scaly Mountain
and we stayed in the small town of Dillard GA, we were 2 ½ hours NE of Atlanta
and 1 ½ hours SSW of Asheville), and there were (far as we could tell from the
internet) no farm supply stores or irrigation supply stores around, we had to
haul the supplies we needed from here. There was no super great way to do
this. The husband got a trailer and went
Friday afternoon to get loaded up.
When he came home a deep sense of foreboding settled into my chest (why oh why didn't I take a picture of this!). The whole thing was leaning slightly in all
different directions, haphazardly strapped down with three straps (I made The Husband add more, three just didn't seem sufficient to me), and was so
tall he couldn’t park it around the house for fear of hitting the trees (I
could just imagine going up at 10% grade with that thing and it all sliding off
the trailer and crashing and burning down a mountain slope, and/or we'd be that poor truck parked on the shoulder with the hood up). None of that was the major issue though. The major issue was we were overweight for
the amount of weight the tags were registered for. We attempted to get a permit to carry the
load leagally, but in his infinite wisdom The Husband didn’t go get the stuff until
around four, so by the time he got back it was after five and since we weren’t
pre-registered we couldn’t obtain this permit online. Our only alternative: go back roads all the
way and cross our fingers we don’t get a ticket. So, as you can tell from the title of this
paragraph, we did. We went Hwy 64W, for
the most part after Asheboro a winding two lane road through some pretty
country that makes for a long, long drive.
We made it all the way to the town of Lenior NC before we passed a highway
patrolman, the one with the SUV’s that go around checking weight. I almost burst into tears on the spot. We’d been so careful to go back ways, I sat
with a map most of the drive trying to make sure we wouldn’t go by a weigh
station, and all of our planning and stressing was for nothing, because he
would definitely give us a ticket if he didn’t stop us from going at all. We were (according to him) 7000 lbs
overweight. He gave us a fine and sent
us on our way. All in all it was the
best thing that could have happened, because since we’d already been ticketed
we couldn’t be ticketed again, so we headed straight for 40 with smiles on our
faces because the idea of going down 64 around Lake Lure and Chimney Rock was
not appealing at all to us.
Oh any by the way, we never saw another cop of any kind, and the weigh station we passed in Asheville was closed. Of course.
Oh any by the way, we never saw another cop of any kind, and the weigh station we passed in Asheville was closed. Of course.
Book 2: We
Never Knew There Were So Many Mexican Restaurants in BFE
The place we
stayed, Dillard GA, was about the size of Pikeville. The closest town of significance, Franklin NC was maybe the
size of Clinton. There were three restaurants
in Dillard, one of which was a Mexican place.
There were three places in Franklin to sit down and order, one of which
was a Mexican restaurant. Along the road
in between we passed two Mexican restaurants. I counted five in a 20 minute vicinity. Along the way back from Franklin we passed through Silva and Waynesville
before hitting Asheville. There was at
least one if not two Mexican places in those towns that we could see from the road
we were on. Never in my life have I ever
seen such a concentration of Mexican places.
It struck me as odd, maybe I just need to spend more time in the mountains. When did we eat Mexican you ask? We stopped at Moe’s (I know, I know, it’s not
‘real’ Mexican, but it’s super delicious to me) at Southpoint in Durham.
Book 3: How They Do It Better In The West
From the crew
leader who was managing the workers that plugged all these plants we learned it
was apple picking season. That excited
me, because I’m always looking for something new and different and fresh for
our CSA boxes. We decided on the way
home we’d stop at the WNC Farmers Market in Asheville. Having a coastal plain point of view, we
thought it’d be smaller and quainter (is that a word?). We were sorely mistaken. It was twice as big if not bigger and the
produce we found was some of the best looking produce we’d seen all year. We weren’t sure if it was the lack of intense
heat (I know they’ve been hot too, but compared to our heat and humidity I don’t
think it’s been as intense), or maybe more rain at crucial times, but the
produce was amazing. So instead of
waiting until this morning to ride to Raleigh or see what we could find
locally, we decided to go ahead and purchase our CSA vegetables while we were
there. So if you get a chance to go up
to Asheville stop by and check it out.
It’s not as ‘nice’ maybe as the one in Raleigh, but there are twice if
not three times the vendors and everyone is very nice.
Overall the trip was nice. The weather was fantastic (I might just move up there until I have Sea Monkey, The Husband can just manage the Maze himself). The scenery was amazingly beautiful (I don’t know how those people go to work everyday and get stuff done. I guess they get used to it, but I think it’d take me a long time to get used to that). I got to take a nap without feeling guilty about all the things I need to be doing other than sleeping. The trip home was basically uneventful (except that I rode from Hickory home with tomatoes and squash at my feet because it started raining, needless to say when I got home last night I didn’t think my back would ever be the same). So my advice on mountain trip:, make sure you leave enough time Fri. afternoon to get a permit, hope you like Mexican, and stop at the farmers market, you'll be glad you did!
Amazing. |
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