When I woke up, it was much colder than I was used to. I guess spending time in Florida had spoiled me.
The plan for the day was to head to Charlotte and meet my friend Mike for lunch and have some BBQ. I hit the road and made a pit stop at a Pilot for breakfast. I took my breakfast to the North Carolina Welcome Center and then worked on a few things at a picnic table.
It was soon time to hit the road and meet my friend Mike. We decided to go to a place called Mac's Speed Shop.
This was actually the first time I met Mike in person. I have known him for over a decade from a web forum I belong to. We're both Packer fans, so we're constantly messaging each other during the games. It was cool to actually meet him in person after all these years of knowing each other online!
After lunch, I hit the road for Asheville.
Now, something weird started happening. I noticed a lot of people hanging out on overpasses. There were American flags hung by cranes. People started stopping in the median. I put two and two together and found out that Billy Graham's funeral procession was coming the other way!
After the slight traffic jam caused by the funeral procession, the traffic cleared up. To Asheville, here I come!
I wanted to see what kind of local products Asheville had. I stopped at Harris Teeter. This is a chain local to North Carolina.
I got lunch there and then hit the road again. Asheville was the last stop on my list before I headed back to Austin.
There were some big storms coming. I wanted to call it a night at a North Carolina rest stop, but the plumbing broke there. I kept driving into Tennessee.
Tennessee doesn't like the way I travel. They are the strictest when it comes to staying at rest stops. They only have a 2-hour limit and no overnight parking.
I figured with the storms coming, I'd stay the night in a hotel. I made it to Kodak, TN and stayed at an America's Best Value Inn.
I started to wind down and got ready for bed. I figured since I wasn't sleeping in my car, I'd get a good night's sleep. I turned out the lights, and that's exactly what I did!