Blogs from North Carolina, United States, North America

We are now back on the TAT (Trans American Trail) after leaving the TAT extension which was more road riding. The TAT is real adventure riding, gravel, tracks, challenging & sometimes more navigationally confusing. Day 11: Great gravel forestry roads in the morning and these wound on & off the Blue Ridge Parkway which follows the ridge through the Smokey Mountains. This is also part of the Eastern continental divide. We stopped at a viewing point at around 1600m altitude for a break and some great photos of the view. As we re-started Keith found his bike had a rear puncture. Brenton removed the wheel and changed the tube in quick time while everyone else supervised and added helpful comments. Back on the route we diverted to the town of Ashville, phoned a BMW dealer who ... read more

We spent a few days at wonderful friends camped on their driveway. It was great to catch up. They took us out on Lake Norman in their boat with friends we both know from Columbus. Mike was also introduced to pickleball. He was feeling it the next day. Lois was able to have dinner with a dear friend that lives in Charlotte while we were there as well. As always a fun time in the Charlotte, NC area. Such a beautiful place!... read more

Columbia SC – Charlotte NC Carowinds Camp Wilderness Day 46-47 After leaving Columbia SC, we heading to Charlotte NC to visit friends. Our first goal was to find a bike shop to get the tire repaired. Because we got to Charlotte much earlier than we could check into the campground, I decided to go right to the bike shop with the RV. Sometimes it is hard to pick a shop or store based on Google Maps, it will show you how close or far a place is, but it does not tell you the real story. The shop I picked appeared to be the closest bike shop. We did end up passing a small local shop on the way to it, I do not know if we could have gotten there with the RV. Conte’s Bike ... read more

We’re in a hotel room in Durham, NC, an old conference center with few guests right now. The night receptionist, Monica, was sweet and warm and welcoming and inquisitive about who we are and what we were up to, The Best Christmas Receptionist Ever! The room is clean and the two queen beds are not too soft. There’s plenty of really hot water. It’s very quiet. It’s The Best Christmas Hotel Room Ever!, or close enough for government work. The one minus we’ve encountered here is the coffee. Years ago we realized that calling hotel coffee “coffee” was an insult to actual coffee, and so have since called it Hot Brown Liquid, or HBL for short. The coffee here is, without question, The Worst Christmas HBL Ever! But otherwise, this is a good place to hang ... read more

Well it’s been a quiet week here in Chapel Hill, our home town. It hasn’t actually been particularly quiet, but the words bring to mind the calming voice of Garrison Keillor, which is always nice to channel. And neither is Chapel Hill our “home town” now, in any heartfelt way, though Sally and I did, both together and separately, spend multiple decades in the Triangle area. So perhaps I should just go back and scrub that opening and take a different angle, but that would be bowing to the God of Perfection, so Ima leave it and move on. Gotta say, though: being back in NC does feel weird, just as a return to any of my former haunts has felt surreal and dislocating. While Thomas Wolfe’s “you can’t go home again“ surely comes to mind, ... read more