Tuesday 12/17/13 Daniel Boone to Asheville
I woke up first and quietly rested until a woodpecker woke Riley. Â We stayed in the car and watched it hammer away at a few trees. Â Riley exclaimed "He looks like Woody Woodpecker. Â His head is really shaped like that, they weren't exaggerating!" Â I took a really terrible video of him that I'll post, apologies in advance. Â Woody's Cousin flew off and suddenly a ton of other birds emerged and began chirping, either because of WC's absence or because 8:29am is birdie time.
This time we found a towel to dry the condensation, which made us feel much better. Â We spat toothpaste on smoldering coals to put the fire completely out. Â Not ready to leave without seeing a few more sights, we drove to see the Sky Bridge, which was just how it sounds.
Headed towards Asheville, our first stop was at a gas station with a Subway inside. Â We ordered sandwiches (I had a gift card!) and the adorable older woman who applied toppings said "his'in" when referring to Riley. Â Oh, the magical southern drawls we heard! Â At the next stop, Riley saw what he was pretty sure was a real life truck stop hitcher/hooker headed South. Â Winding through the gorgeous mountains and sunshine, we went through Hazard (yes, that one) on the Johnny Cox All-American Expressway and drove past the Perry County Sheriff Outpost. Â Later we came upon an accident that warranted a blocked road where a helicopter had landed.
We rolled into Asheville and checked into the Super 8. Â After unloading nearly everything from Spaceship Blueberry and the rooftop box, we took SHOWERS GLORIOUS SHOWERS! Â We went out to The Vault and had the best burgers I've ever tasted with a Caesar salad and a bearded barman. Â It was a dark, lovely bar that was popular but not too crazy. Â We braved the wind and stopped in at another bar that had a secret music venue in the back, through a door marked "Private". Â
Exhaustion prevented us from exploring any more and we came back to the room and fell asleep on each other around 10:30pm. Â Pretty quickly after drifting off, the smoke alarm screeched us awake. Â Horror. Â Riley scoped out the situation and I called the front desk. Â After everything was deemed safe, we went back to sleep. Â Another horrible screech woke us at 6:58am.Â