Paco really wanted to come with us, but his services are much needed at home in Atlanta. *

Adios Atlanta! I've been here two months and have recieved a favorable impression. *

Who needs SUVs? *

This gearing mechanism helps the Metro with the mountain terrain. *

We we fortunate to have an ally in Asheville upon our arrival. Paula's friend Abby came with Matt from Durham and played their first show as Ostracon at a little punk venue her sister Louise runs. Fantastic music! *

Abby tears it up drummily *

A big thank you to Jonas, Lousie's friend who let us camp in his backyard... *

Mike bought the ukelele in Atlanta for the bike trip. I am very fortunate! *

Asheville is a vibrant mountain town. On this beautiful afternoon we stopped by the Recyclery Co-op to put the finishing touches on our bikes, chiefly a front rack for Mike's. *

The gang at the Recyclery. I traded a hefty pair of pliers for a rack, some hardware, some cables, and second-hand tubes. *

And then we headed off to Abby and Louise's parent's mountain home about 40 minutes outside of Asheville, right up near the Appalachian trail. *

Mike and I have discussed a sidecar-motorcycle trip some day.... across Canada? *

Abby enjoys the incredible afternoon view from the house. *

After a yummy pasta dinner I brewed kombucha and we played a terrible round of terrible 80's Trivial Pursuit! *

The Appalachians are the oldest mountains in the world (according to Mike, although Abby suggests the Pyrenees might be older). *

*

And then off in Tennessee somewhere a nuclear blast shocked the reality back into us. *

Preparing for nuclear winter requires much chopping of firewood. *

Sadly, the local wolves have already mutated into ghastly beasts. *

My little red Jellybean Institue is the true champion of this trip. All that gear, and room to spare! Who needs an SUV? Okay, the hatch was a little tough to open but it stays peachily open with the precarious old broomstick I pilfered from Ben and Enav's back yard. Watch out for those accidental beheadings! *

Okay, this could be totally uninteresting to someone who didn't have to deal with it, but here is our packing job on our way out of Asheville. *

On our way to Greensboro we stopped at a local park and went for a stroll. Did I mention that NC is lovely? *

ThE BATTLE
RIKKI TIKKI TAVI
VS
ThE COBRA *

Even the cheapest of digital cameras have wonderful little macros! This little guy surprised us by disappearing into a cocoon and emerging with his pilot's liscense. *

Mike and I drop to Greensboro to see my other friend Mike perform in Cirque du Soleil. It was an incredible touing production called Delirium. He brought us behind the scenes and we visited his tour bus after the show. I have no photos of that so here is Mike being very nervous about overwhelming Walmart, enroute. *

Yes, we bought a chicken from Walmart. It reminded me of the baked chickens that Hal B. Klien always used to bring to our theatre parties in college. *

My car is creative. Its muses come out when it starts to rain. Aww, isn't that pretty? The dolphins and harbor seals downstream think so! *

Aaaaaaand, after camping in the rain in Greensboro (a town which didn't keep our attention) it was BACK right again the next day to Asheville. *

A few miles out of town we were honked at and gesticulated wildy to by the passenger of this truck. They signalled for us to pull over and against all better judgenment, but in alignment with all sense of adventure, we obliged. The were the friendliest bunch of weirdos this side of the Blue Ridge Highway. She was happily drunk and wanted to welcomme us and our "kind" to their nexk of the woods. Oh, and she flipped off my hood (for having French word magnets). Lovely folk, I do mean that. I love mountain people, and the South really grew on me! *