9th (and almost last) travel day - Day 871 (Yr 3, Day 138)

Asheville, NC

Gee, remember that sub-heading?  Didn't think we'd return here, but it's nice to be back.  I'm really looking forward to seeing Ethylin again (she'll be joining us for Shabbat dinner); possibly Stacey for lunch or coffee tomorrow and Rabbi Susskind and hopefully a number of fellow congregants on Saturday.  Then it's off to Raleigh on Sunday for a few weeks.

The drive here from Kodak, TN was spectacular, although it would have been so much more amazing about 2 weeks ago when the fall colors were in full bloom (although you could still see some of it).  Gorgeous scenery through the Smokey Mountains - not only the colors but the shapes as well.  The only thing I didn't like were the mountain grades and the fact that most of the highway were very winding roads with a lot of trucks.  It was only 108 miles, and Mitch drove the entire way.  Great weather once again.

I'm not very impressed by this campground either.  I'm glad it's not terribly busy, as the sites are very close together.  The layout is atrocious as well: first, the road leading to the campground is up a very steep, very narrow S-curve.  The entrance and exit is in the middle of these curves, so you can't see if there's any oncoming traffic.  Speed limit in some parts is 15 mph but people are going about 40.  We reserved a pull through site (thankfully; we'd have a real hard time backing into any of the regular sites), and in order to get to it, we had to exit the campground and enter through a different area.

Thankfully my workload wasn't too heavy today.  I was so excited to go out shopping to my favorite store -- Trader Joe's!!!