Summer In the Mountains

Looking like this isn’t even a weekly blog at this point. The press of work has really put a crimp in this trip, and it turns out I have to return home this Friday for a week. That will leave me just one more week, after that, to enjoy Asheville. But I’ve sure gotten around in the meantime.

Since last I wrote, I’ve done a tremendous amount of mountain hiking. We’re not talking the kind of mountaineering where I have a team of Sherpa guides, of course. But there’s a hell of a lot more huffing and puffing as I haul my decrepit body up and down the hills. Let’s resume the accounting with my trip up Mt. Pisgah, a fairly iconic mountain that looms somewhat prominently in the horizon facing Asheville. Like many of the great local hikes, this one starts just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, meaning that both going there and coming back, one can enjoy tremendous Smoky Mountain scenery. I mean, unless its completely fogged in and raining to where you can’t see a damn thing, which is like half the time. Mt. Pisgah is in the 5,700′ or so vicinity, though the trail starts at around 5,000′ so its not like you’re climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro or something. Lots of shade and rocky terrain until you get to the top, so not a lot of great views. About halfway through you really start to climb. But when you do get to the top there’s a 360 degree view of all the surrounding mountains. There’s also a huge enormous radio antenna tower at the top as well, so that’s pretty odd. But that’s how you can identify Mt. Pisgah.

That Sunday, I went a little further to hike Graveyard Fields. Which isn’t actually in Mordor but is in fact located in North Carolina. Like many other place names, its a relic of what the first pioneer types saw when they arrived, which is that a bunch of ancient trees had been covered with grasses and other vegetation, looking like tombstones. Alas, a big fire burned it all in the ’20s (not raking the forest floor again, huh?), so it no longer looks like a graveyard, but the name stuck. This is a fairly easy hike, with two awesome waterfalls to enjoy.

Later that week, I made it to another Tourists game. Nothing like spending a nice evening outside, at the ballpark. Watching High-Level Class A ball. Meaning that there were several errors, misplays, and other bad performance that turned it into a pretty long game against the Winston-Salem Dash. But its still professional baseball and these are kids, most of whom have been playing pro ball for a couple of seasons at the most. And they’re the Mudville Nine, as it were. Plus, I was outside at the park, and it was in the lower 70s. No mosquitoes. Another experience you can’t get in Texas.

And on that next Saturday, I went to another Shindig On the Green, sadly this time without Kimberly. It was pretty much the same, albeit with rain threatening the entire time. Except, there was this bizarre square dancing troupe. Like something you might see on Lawrence Welk. I can’t do it justice. I uploaded a video to my flickr site. You just kind of had to be there. It was like something you might have seen at a Ronald Reagan Republican Convention.

The following weekend I flew via American Airlines (through Charlotte) to Cary, NC, a suburb of Raleigh and Durham. Objective, to visit my old college girlfriend Lee Ann, who lives in the eastern part of the state. I’ll keep that part to myself, except to say we had a lovely time over Sunday brunch. But the town itself was pretty interesting. I described it as the Park Cities (Highland Park and University Park) inside Dallas, only without nearly as much money. Immaculate streets, upscale developments, charming historic downtown area with renovated (and no doubt pricey) homes. Several interesting restaurants in the area. I stayed at the Mayton Hotel, an historic hotel which apparently runs the town. The bar was hopping on that Saturday night, and lots of preppies were there for Sunday Brunch. I would definitely stay there again. I was going to attend the baptist church service at the huge enormous First Baptist Church across the street before Lee Ann arrived, but was just too tired to make an 8 a.m. service. Let me tell you also, Covid may have shut down some travel, but not in either Raleigh or Charlotte. The latter airport was cram packed all that afternoon as I waited for my last flight home. Who the hell flies through Charlotte, NC? Oh well. Glad to see that at least some people are still out there.

It was my birthday the following Wednesday, and as I told my people, I made the executive decision to celebrate by taking the day off to go hiking. Meaning that I took off between about 10 and 5, but worked the rest of the time. In between I went out to the Pisgah National Forest and hiked to the top of Looking Glass Rock. All the while as rain threatened, but largely held off. This one was pretty long, about 5 1/2 miles. And a pretty steep incline. Its also largely covered with canopy, but when you get to the top, some amazing incredible views of the surrounding mountains. This time, no tower. Just ominous signs saying to not go to close to the edge of the sheer cliff that the Rock becomes, because falcons were nesting. Sold. I don’t need to have some bird of prey carry me off to its nest to feed to its babies. While the rain held off during the hike, the skies opened up on the way back, which was just fine, as for once I didn’t get soaked.

I think I’ll stop there. Mostly life has become work and working out during the week, with amazing incredible weekend hikes. I’m enjoying getting into the ordinary groove of somewhere else. Just wish I knew some people beyond the ones I see at my workout place. But its not 97 degrees every day, it rains a lot, everything is green, the people are friendly, and I don’t have to get on I-35. Ever. I count that a win.

Next: Craggy Gardens. The rains came. And the terrible fog and more rain. But so many flowers.

Sorry for the delay in getting out this next installment. Company arrives and all the sudden my whole schedule goes to hell. But this week (actually last week) was about hosting my BFF Kimberly. So I finally got to be more of a tourist.

For example, I made the two hour drive to the Charlotte airport. Through the heart of Red State Ville that is. The further away one gets from Asheville, the more you see abandoned cars, roadside stands, huge enormous rebel flags. Gated communities. Also the longer you go, the less elevation you get and so…the return of summer heat. That’s why I left Austin to begin with. As you get closer to Charlotte on a Friday afternoon, you start to get into traffic too, another reason I left Austin. But I picked up Kimberly and we made it all the way back to Asheville.

Then we started painting the town, as it were. First stop (I think) was Early Girl. Eatery, where we feasted on the sausage grits, vegetarian bowl, diet coke, biscuits, and eggs. Later we would return twice (in her case) and once (in mine). On her second trip, Kimberly got the 411 from the bartender on what goes down in Asheville (not much apparently…everyone is old). While waiting we checked out the West Asheville scene. Card shops. Coffee shops. Places with murals. Then, like the good rich white folks we are, we then hit the Farmers Market. Unlike the usual two-three block affair, this was a permanent established one, with a remote wing where more than a dozen farmers

Later that day, we cruised the River Arts District, and then spent much of the rest of the day Downtown with the other tourists. Kimberly found some dresses she liked and proceeded to buy out Lost and Found, a small little dress shop. Finally, capping off a really long day, we braved the rain (by which I mean we had tapas at the AC Hotel), and went to a weekly local music festival called Shindig On the Green. Really enjoyed that–one local act after another. It wasn’t all quite bluegrass, but it was really traditional, and authentic. The crowd was digging it, lots of dancing in the square. To cap it off, we went to the best dive bar I’ve seen in years, Tiger Mountain. We saw Elvis paintings, and Trucker Jesus. Cool old lift fixtures, pool tables, booths with old car upholstery. Quite the long day.

The next day we had a delightful breakfast at the 5 Points Restaurant, then headed out for another Blue Ridge Parkway hike: Black Balsam Knob and Mount Tennant. We should have had some spectacular scenery, but in an all too familiar trend, we got another soaking. It’s following me everywhere. I’ll get out on the trail in the early afternoon and its clear out, but you an see clouds in the distance (a metaphor for life, I’m sure). We made it to the first peak, then those rain clouds that gave the Smoky Mountains their name came rolling in and the skies opened up. We hiked about a third of the way through the clouds. But eventually wound up back at the trailhead and back up the Blue Ridge Parkway home.

The next night, Kimberly made a fantastic shrimp etouffee, having spent the better part of a monday afternoon. It was excellent. The very next day, I took her to Beaver Lake, where of course…it rained. A lot. But we saw a double rainbow, and for a time it rained despite the sky being otherwise very sunny. Kimberly made her incredible meatballs (gluten free of course), which I think I may ask for my Last Meal before my execution (if and when that happens). We also watched Elvis movies on TCM, as part of Elvis Month. Specifically, Tickle Me then It Happened At the Worlds Fair. The former was just, bizarre. Like a Flint movie for the first half, then a Scooby Doo episode in the second. The latter was just another meh Elvis movie, that only makes you rage at how Col. Tom Parker destroyed Elvis’ artistic potential.

Then the following day, we spent the afternoon touring the enormous Biltmore Estate. I intend to go back myself later, and will say more about it then. Its not where the Commodore lived, but his first son George. Basically it takes up the better part of South Asheville. The grounds are stupefyingly enormous. The estate company (not exactly sure how its owned, but its definitely not a government park) uses a lot of the estate for farming, and a working winery that had a surprising number of visitors for a weekday. For us though the main attraction was the enormous European style mansion. Well, castle might be a better term. Its smaller than the old man’s summer home up in Newport (The Breakers), but daunting nonetheless. Kimberly got there before me and toured the extensive gardens; I mean to go back primarily to see these and explore the trails network.

The last full day we were together, I took her to the Asheville botanical garden and the Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary, which I’ve described previously. It was a nice soft evening and we saw more birds than the last time I went there. Then to cap it off we had dinner at the local Nine Mile restaurant, a Caribbean establishment with lots of spiced vegetable bowls.

Now she’s gone. Just when I got used to having her around. I’m depressed.

Next: Graveyard Fields, back to McCormick Park, and Mt. Pisgah!

Been doing quite a bit on the non-work front of late. Last Friday I made good on a resolution and went to my first Asheville Tourists game. Those of you who’ve watched Bull Durham a million times may know that’s where Crash Davis went after the Durham Bulls cut him. Its the Astros’ Class A affiliate (High-A actually), so these players are in the Astros’ farm system. The ballpark is pretty nice, albeit small. It looks fairly new. They had a good crowd (roughly 3,000 people). They were playing the Red Sox affiliate in Greenville, who smoked them pretty good. But I sat just about four rows off the third base (visiting) dugout, really close to the action. Lots of enthusiasm in the crowd, and the Tourists have some real power, hitting several balls out of the park or off the outfield wall. Friday night fireworks followed, and you know how I love explosions. Looking forward to getting back out to the yard.

The next day, after taking forever to get out of town, I went out the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Mountains to Sea Trail, hoping to hike to Rattlesnake Lodge. As best I can figure, Mountains to Sea is sort of a small scale Appalachian Trail, running the length of the state from the Smoky Mountain National Park to Outer Banks. This section, a little east and north of town, had some great views just off to the east. Naturally, it started raining not long after I got out there. My object was Rattlesnake Lodge, some famous guy’s summer home, abandoned in the 1920s and then destroyed by lightning in the late ’20s. I finally made it through the downpour, to the site, expecting to see some remnants of a structure. But nothing remains really, except some piled up rocks that were part of a retaining wall. The site is really beautiful with the amazing greenery. But couldn’t help thinking about the deceptive trail descriptions, appearing to promise something akin to a home ruin, when no such thing exists. I mean, Roman ruins are still intact, 2,000 years later, but this guy’s house didn’t make it a century. Still, what have the Romans ever done for us? The rain cleared up and sun came out on the way back, just in time.

Sunday I drove further out the Parkway to Mount Mitchell State Park. Its about an hour drive, other than wanting to pull over at every overlook to catch the incredible mountain range scenery. Craggy Gardens was the most spectacular of these, with a spectacular overlook of these “crags” from above. Finally I made it out to the park, and began a four mile round trip up to the Mount Mitchell summit. Which, of course, coincided with when the skies opened up with more pouring rain. I seem to have brought it with me, from drought stricken Central Texas, although with the lush green surroundings everywhere its almost like the area hosts a rain forest. I was totally soaked.

One other thing deserves mention. Wildflowers have been blooming all over, especially at Beaver Lake. But all through my hikes, and all throughout the city, sunflowers, daisies, forget me nots, Queen Anne’s lace, lilies, and other wildflowers are carpeting the place. Its like we’re living in an arboretum.

Next-A Visitor!

Guess its looking like a once a week kind of blog, if that. People keep saying I’m on vacation and I guess in some sense I am. Meaning that I’m often taking off both Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and living in a different location. With stairs and a porch. So, you know, its pretty wild.

The bears just will NOT let up. First I see a mama and four cubs on the Bent Creek trails. Like an idiot I tried to get a picture, and what I saw through the lens was the mama, looking at me dead on even through my telescopic lens. Then two days later I saw another bear on the Reed Creek Greenway, five minutes from my house. I just rolled right up on him, oblivious to all the bears and who knows what else is lurking on all these North Carolina trails. Black panthers? Spitting cobras? Piranha? I saw an article saying that the bears are more out in force because of coronavirus, which has disrupted their feeding. I’m pretty sure I don’t get that. Did they not wear masks or what? Did all the flying squirrels or whatever they eat all die of Covid? This last guy looked me over like someone judging someone else in a parking lot of took up part of the adjacent space, then ducked into the underbrush next to the creek. So I have that to look forward to every day now. As I said elsewhere, it beats worrying about rattlesnakes.

I found a new (well, new to me) breakfast and lunch place. All Day Darling is right on Montford Avenue, where I sometimes run, tucked in next to the great houses. The food’s good, but mainly I like the name. So I”ve added it to the rotash.

They kept telling us school we needed to learn math and naturally no one believed that. Except the geeks of course. But now I wish I had because my work life is on Central time while my actual real time is Eastern time. And that one hour conversion has been screwing me up ever since I hit town. Is there an app for that? Like, a clock, I suppose.

Really been ripping it up on the party scene here. It really didn’t take long. Of course, by that I mean I’ve been watching a lot of That Girl reruns. Today’s episode, like many of them, is terrible. Laugh track. Lame jokes. Mundane stories. “Ann has trouble getting a part but ultimately wins it based on spunk!” But That Girl was pretty revolutionary at the time. She’s super cute and Donald is a noodge. But in 1966 a young single woman didn’t live alone, especially if she didn’t have a permanent job (like a teacher, or a librarian, or a bank teller, or a nurse). Women couldn’t even get credit or own property in their own name. So Ann Marie’s circumstances and choices were more than the actual stories. I do kind of like the running gag about is her name “Ann Marie”? Or is her first name “Ann” and her last name “Marie”?

Capping off my exciting week, I bought some new trail shoes. The last ones were pretty much tearing up and now that I’m gonna spend most weekends hiking, and dodging bears, so I need a great pair of shoes to get away.

Next-I go to the Asheville Tourists game and more hiking!

Its been kind of a mundane week. The day after the 4th, the legal holiday, I explored around downtown most of the afternoon. As I mentioned, its an odd mix of business establishments like banks, government buildings, offices, along with tourists spots. Restaurants, coffee shops, lots of vintage clothing stores. Food trucks. A few little art galleries. The usual assortment of jewelry and tchotchke shops selling stuff for about five times its going rate in just a non-tourist place. And on the edge of downtown, record shops, tattoo places, seedier bars. Its really nothing special; you’ve seen the same places in countless small to medium sized tourist towns all over America-Savannah, Galveston, Santa Fe, every ski town in America….Got in a great walk, saw the tourist hordes, spent a day not working.

I also said I’m staying just across the street from the Montford Historic District. Amazing trees and some small parks. A few creeks running through the area. Bed and breakfasts dotted all throughout the place. I’ve been running through the neighborhood most mornings. The one nice thing about being in the eastern time zone is I’m up and going about an hour before everyone I deal with at work. Anyway I love this neighborhood. Lots of Victorians and Craftsmen. More of those little tiny library boxes than I’ve ever seen. Big built up lots mixing with more modest but still artistic homes. Black Lives Matter signs nearly in every yard. This is not MAGAville. Even classic car spotting. So, like everywhere throughout the South and maybe the country, the cities are blue while the hinterlands are red. There’s a lot of self separation happening too, as people are moving for jobs and jobs are moving to suit the cultural fit for their businesses. All this high tech companies aren’t moving from Silicon Valley to Abilene or Longview you know. But again that’s for another day.

So I’ve mostly settled into routine. I get up and walk or run in the neighborhood, get cleaned up and find a place to eat. Then start working. Workouts at Underground Fitness are proceeding apace. Ive never particularly cared for the class format, but it takes less time, is more intense because you have to keep to the schedule, so you get in and get out. No checking your phone between sets. I try to walk everywhere I can. 84 degree highs are manageable in a way that 99 degree highs are not. Hence, I find myself here. People continue to be surprisingly friendly. Maybe it’s that Austin has become so overrun with Californians and their corrosiveness that I’m surprised at normal behavior throughout the South. I definitely think Houstonians are friendly than Austinites for example. Certainly Cajuns are. They never met a stranger. Asheville isn’t quite like that, but people smile and wave, and will generally have a nice thing to say. Not the usual grunt from Austinites. Maybe we’re just sick of the traffic and the homeless problems.

Speaking of which, Asheville does have a homeless problem. But of it’s a 12 in Austin or 15 in California (it is), it’s about a 5 here. You certainly don’t see tents anywhere, and really the homeless are almost entirely downtown. So this is one City problem Asheville seems to have addressed.

BTW, Hot Girl Summer hasn’t made it to Asheville. And frankly I think Hot Girl Fall and Winter are likely to take a pass too. So like the faculty at Cher’s high school in Clueless, there’s a major babe drought in this town. Not that it’s anyone’s business, but once you’re out of Texas (Dallas and south), South Louisiana (mostly Cajun country), the Hard Core Confederacy states (GA/MS/AL), South Florida (points off for the craziness factor), and NYC and LA, there’s generally a severe drop off. Or out another way, these places can boast a profound bounty. my own theory, like it matters, is people can spend more time active and outside in these places, and the humidity is good for your skin. NYC is the outlier but that’s b/c it draws so many people from elsewhere who want to act or be models, who don’t typically have Shrek-like visages. But it’s fine. I can get WAY more work done without distractions.

Yesterday I drove a little south of Asheville to the Pisgah National Forest and spent a half day hiking. This is known as the Bent Creek area, near where the Blue Ridge Parkway begins (or ends, take your pick). Lots of amazing trails through heavy oak forests, going up and down modest hills. I hiked around Lake Powhatan, a smallish lake for swimming and fishing. No douchebags driving power boats with names like Settlement Check or No Mo Alimony. Lots of flowers still blooming. I saw a deer, and late in the day a mama bear climbing a tree with her four Cubs. Having heard a lot of recent “bear mauls man” stories I treated them like a pit of rattlesnakes. I tried to get a photo using my telescopic lens. Right up until I saw the mama looking right at me. That’s when it was time to back away and keep my face from being eaten off. Because that’s the money maker you know. Anyway, thinking going back today. Pray for me!

Next-adventures further out of town

As I said, the last couple of days I’ve been trying to get the lay of the land here. Scoping out where to get groceries, lunch, and the like. Essential services. There’s an abundance of all that, yet happily not tons of chains. Its a pretty cool neighborhood. I’m near the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, so we get some of the funky college areas places, but not to excess. North Carolina has all kinds of “this happened here” historical signs everywhere, and it turns out Zelda Fitzgerald died in a fire in a mental institution about half a mile from where I’m living. So…coool….Hoping for a better stay.

I’ve been trying to get my bearings around here. Apparently I live adjacent to a historic district, the Montford Historic District. Its like Tarrytown, with smaller lots, bigger houses, and winding, meandering streets following creeks. Lots of park space, green corridors, beds and breakfasts, and hillsides. Many Victorian and Craftsman style homes, very well preserved. It was kind of hard to see much as it was pouring rain, but I’ll head back later.

This house is pretty nice too. Its a two story Victorian. Nice front porch, and the front slopes down to a fairly busy street. Hardwood floors, modern amenities. Lots of light, and space. Its close to three grocery stores, a couple of coffee shops, a diner, and a busy commercial street with all the stuff.

I got the hookup, finally, with a great gym, Underground fitness. They focus mainly on locals but I managed to use my lawyer tricks on them and get in. Its a little cross-fittish, but not insane like those people are. 45 minute classes, with boxing at the end!

I spent must of the weekend exploring downtown. Its pretty heavily touristy, but I guess that’s ok, since I’m a tourist. Err…temporary resident. Lots of bars, restaurants, coffee/pastry shops. Oddly, a lot of old record stores and grungy clubs line the perimeter of downtown. The night of the 4th, I walked down to Pack Square Park, where a crowd had assembled to listen to some sort of music show, and then the fireworks. It was pretty awesome watching July 4th fireworks without sweating to death and being devoured by mosquitoes.

That afternoon I visited both the Asheville Botanical Garden and the Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary. The botanical garden was situated on Glenn Creek, and displays a lot of native trees, plants, and flowers. It has about a one mile trail leading along the grounds. A lot of people were reading by the creek, or splashing in the water for the 4th. The bird sanctuary was great too, but didn’t see any birds. But it has some great views of the wetlands near the lake and a well marked, wooden trail.

Next-more thrilling adventures!

First days trying to get my bearings and explore town. I’m close to but not quite Downtown. Same as to some nearby neighborhoods. There’s a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe’s literally within one block, so that ought to tell you everything about the area. My first morning, I had a typical diner breakfast at 5 Points Restaurant a couple blocks up the street. The place was pretty crowded. Sat next to a guy named Howard, who introduced himself as the person who supplies the restaurant with most of its produce. He gave me a bunch of travel tips, and said he’d moved from Florida years ago to get away. Sounds pretty smart.

I also found the Reed Creek Greenway and got in a morning run/walk. I was soon to learn Asheville has set aside a lot of areas as parks, natural areas, and Greenways. These greenways usually follow creeks, like the one by my place. I’ve already been on it twice.

Then it was off to the airport, through surprisingly hellish traffic, to swap the Land Shark for Black Lightning, pictured below. Yeah it looks like an extravagance but really it was the cheapest available rent car. And this is a town where I can actually use a convertible during the summer. The Asheville airport is pretty easy to get in and out of, but looks to be fairly modern. Its not the Shreveport airport, in other words.

Had a great lunch at Luella’s BBQ south of town. There I met up with Craft BBQ Guy. One of these days I’ll get into that particular phenomenon. Suffice to say it’s hard to take someone really seriously about BBQ if they’re super thin, and not wearing Wranglers and boots, like Craft BBQ Guys everywhere. They’re really just BBQ hipsters.

Let’s see. Most of the rest of the time I’ve been settling in and seeing the town. Turns out the neighbor has a friendly cat. Oxymoron I know, but I found him inside the house checking out me and my stuff. That needs to stop. Later that night I ran on another greenway, this time along the French Broad River, when a downpour opened up. It rained on me much of the way here and hasn’t really let up. But these Greenways are a pretty great way to walk and run without being in some sidewalk along a busy street. The greenway was teeming with rabbits, squirrels, a variety of birds.

Yesterday I had to hit work again, ugh. And attend to a whole long list of getting settled in tasks. Leaving little time for exploration. Mostly I’ve been trying to find places to eat. I had breakfast at Green Sage Cafe, near the UNC-Charlotte campus. Like Austin, its pretty easy to find healthy food options, and this place, right up the street, is also a great place to work. After dealing with a dreadful day getting back to work, I found Beaver Lake, near the country club, offering a gravel trail for walking and running. Finally something that won’t kill my knees. I was there near sunset, and the lake and the teeming wildflowers were really shimmering in the late sun.

Tomorrow-sailing into the Fourth like a banshee! Uh, not so much.

Finally made it to Asheville, after packing what should have been a six hour drive into nine hours.

I meant to spend a little time looking around Birmingham, but got caught having to attend to some work. I actually stayed in a little suburb called Homewood, AL, then drove a bit through a neighborhood called, “Hollywood,” which actually looked more like a small scale Highland Park (Dallas). Older, smaller, but really nice homes with gorgeous landscaping. Little boutiques still thriving on the boulevards. I had breakfast at a local chain, Over Easy, which was awesome, then hit the road.

The drive was mostly a blur. I drove through Chattanooga, where my firm has an office, and had a late BBQ lunch at Sticky Fingers. Nothing like eating in that weird post-lunch, pre-dinner lull. Chattanooga’s actually a great town, even though I got stuck in road construction getting out of there. I’d opted to avoid driving through Atlanta for that reason–I guess if you’re from Houston, you can just never get away from traffic. Chattanooga is right on the river, has a fantastic museum and other fun attractions right on the river bluff, a minor league baseball team, and a cool downtown district. A couple of Civil War battles were fought nearby (one day I want to check out the NPS Military Park) and so there’s a lot of history.

Then on through Knoxville and the Smokies to arrive at my home away from home. The setting sun and the rising mist in the mountains made for an interesting scene as I drove into North Carolina. Will discuss that and the house in future posts. Suffice to say, I made a good housing choice.

Tomorrow-settling in!

Holing up tonight in Birmingham, another of those blue islands in the red moat that makes up 2021 America. American cities now mostly resemble West Berlin during the Airlift…but I digress.

Travel Day #2. I got on the road a little earlier, hoping to avoid a repeat of yesterday’s rain. Mostly it stayed dry except in west Alabama. IH-20 is really a pretty nice stretch of road. Heavily forested, crossing a number of smallish rivers and lakes, and mostly devoid of billboards and East Texas detritus.

Pulling over in Jackson, MS for lunch, I stumbled upon a legit independent, woman-owned (it appeared, at least) book store in a strip center. In the burbs. Quel suprise! Anyone going to Jackson be sure to check out Lemuria Books. Or buy something from them on line. Their motto is “Real Books from a Real Book Store.”

I made it to Birmingham ahead of the sunset in time to get settled in and then to run at the nearby Vulcan Trail, in Vulcan Park. Its another successful rails to trails affair, on a really high bluff overlooking the city. Fantastic trees and vegetation too, and many other runners were out as well. Really enjoyed the abundance of fireflies dancing all around as the sun set. Then there’s the statue of Vulcan at the trailhead, looming high over the city. Birmingham apparently was a big mining town at one point (iron ore), and Vulcan is the Roman god of fire. Had a great dinner at Soho Standard, in what’s called Soho (cast iron skillet seared grouper and crab meat, with succotash and grits). Clearly, I’m in the South darlin’.

Gonna tool around Birmingham a bit tomorrow before moving on to Asheville. Meanwhile, enjoy some scenery.

Travel day #1. Not great but it beats the FOUR drives to Lubbock over the past year. Long story. Today I drove through East TX and Northern LA (I.e. the Baptist and Pentecostal part of LA and hence the not fun part) to wind up in Monroe, LA. Or Funroe as those in Alexandria call it. Not the greatest drive ever but it beat hours of red dust and wind turbines. I’ll spare everyone the Buccees rant.

It’s easy to forget how beautiful much of East Texas is. Green rolling hills, lakes, gorgeous trees…. too bad the humans fucked it up. Dollar General stores. Junk stores calling themselves “antique” stores with sickeningly cutesy names. Lay down yards. Used tire stores. Abandoned trailers. Houses with burning trash and 17+ old cars in the “yard.” Grain elevators or other farm product processing structures, near collapse. Nursing homes (not “retirement communities,” but nursing homes like from the 60s and 70s). Ugh. Oh and decaying Trump signs and tattered Trump flags. Shouldn’t have made those in China, gang. And vape shops. Vape shops…everywhere. What gives?

North LA is an odd contrast. Shreveport and Bossier City have clearly fallen prey to Atlantic City disease. The casinos are doing great. Everything else is crumbling around it. But the rest of the way is nice. No billboards until you get into the towns (then it’s all lawyer ads), through a thick pine and oak tree lined corridor. The highway is in great shape. Wish I’d been able to stop in Ruston, which looks on the ball. Monroe seems to have picked up since I was here last. Many years ago. I dated a girl from Bastrop, LA, just north of here, and spent the weekend at their place. That was a fail. But I digress.

Tomorrow it’s on to Birmingham. Meanwhile here’s pictures.