north carolina

Mum is coming. I'll be on my way to the airport to go and collect her shortly. Having taking the plunge and emigrated almost exactly 6 months she is the first family member to be able to visit us and I couldn't be more excited.

2 days, 1160 miles, 18 hours of driving, 1 hike, 2 full tanks of gas, 1 massive thunderstorm, 2 plates of BBQ, 1 crop dusting plane and a drive-in diner took us from Asheville, NC to Austin, TX. We split our journey by staying overnight in Memphis, TN en-route to Austin, TX for Texas Linuxfest. Our route from Asheville saw us pass through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along the Interstate. So, me being me, we took a slight detour through a more scenic highway pass a few miles south o

Nestled in amongst the Blue Ridge Mountains in the West of North Carolina is Asheville. This is a vibrant mountain town with a huge array of breweries, restaurants and a fantastic array of options to choose from for hikes, scenery and other attractions. We were both struck by how little this place felt like America, in the best way possible. By now we know the drill of a new town. It's a grid. There's a long, wide boulevard with businesses spreading out their signs along it like a leaf reachin