ASHEVILLE

Before I get to Asheville, I forgot to mention my flat tire experience.  There's not too much to say except, I had a flat tire.  It wasn't really "one of those days", but it quickly turned into one when I spotted a nice little gift on the ground about 4 feet from my car... which I was about to lay down next to:

Yep, that's a dirty diaper.  Now, I seem to do a lot of complaining about the actions of Humans but... this solidifies my point.   I want to know WHO throws a dirty diaper onto the ground in a parking lot.  Please Tell Me.  It was gross.  I kicked it away, then busted out my trusty, fluorescent orange cone that I've had in my trunk for like 15 years that I never had a chance to use.. Until Now!  I was pretty excited about that part.  I've been made fun of for that cone...  haha.  I was about to change the tire myself, by the way, but I wasn't positive where to put the jack exactly, and I didn't want to eff anything up so, yeah.  Made a phone call.  But..  now I know.  This trusty fella helped me out:

Haha.  It just so happened that he wore his "safety orange" shirt to work that day... to match my safety cone.  haha...

Soooooooooooooooooooooo... ASHEVILLE.

Nice place.  Lots of nice things to look at, beautiful views.  Cool shops.  Awesome restaurants.  A very laid back environment.  My favorite part of the trip was the drive up to Mt. Mitchell.  It took like 25 minutes to drive all the way up and there were gorgeous trees on both sides of the road...  Amazing views!  I did in fact notice the elevation when I walked up the last 1/2 mile or so to the very top (elevation: 6,684), but once up there it was.. Fantastic. 

Took the audio tour at the Biltmore.  Insanely interesting stuff.  Truly aw-inspiring to see and hear how certain people lived so long ago.  There are so many cool things about the Biltmore.. and so many awesome rooms, but one of my favorites is the dining room.  Just.. wow.

My friend now owns a sailboat.  I can't even imagine how awesome it is to own a sailboat.  It's great... and we chilled on Watauga Lake in Tennessee.  BEAUTIFUL.  And so peaceful.  I was very happy there.

Walking around downtown was pretty interesting.  Some amazing stores..with countless amazing things inside.  I could spend weeks in most of those stores.  Lots of interesting creatures in Asheville.  This one stood out quite a bit:

The Arboretum -which I continually forgot how to pronounce- was awesome.  Inside displayed a lot of poisonous trees, flowers, plants, seeds, etc.  Outside had some amazing flowers.. and bonsai trees.  My favorite flower I saw down there:

My friend who lives there was very concerned about me having a good time and experiencing all that Asheville has to offer.  I've seen enough to be wildly impressed, my friend.  But the most important part of my trip was to see YOU.  Even tho he's slightly (okay a little more than slightly) insane, I love him.

 

Thanks for the strongest cup of coffee I've EVER had, bro.  haha.