Boone, NC - Beards, Jeeps, & Ringing Ears!

Ryan, my good friend who lives in Boone, is hosting me for most of my stay here. Last night (night 2) we were invited to the infamous Beard & Mustache part at Speak Easy Tattoo parlor... it was a blast to say the least. There were HUGE beards, small mustaches, the thin child-molesting ones, and even the girls had facial hair! I wish I had pictures but I forgot my camera, supposedly there will be some pictures on the Mountain Times site soon?

I really like Boone so far, it does seem like everyone knows everyone and it's a bit difficult to penetrate the clicks around here but the town is nice and there's plenty to do nearby while you're working on that. I've been riding my mountain bike everyday and have rarely driven my car, saving that gas! Ryan works downtown at the ski shop so I'll ride down there and aggravate him some and grab lunch most days. I think we're eating at this Thai place tonight? Hope so!


My friend Chelsea invented Skype Sundays yesterday, so that could potentially become a weekly thing, lol. It was nice to chat with someone that I know though, I've been a bit lonely the last few days not knowing anyone up here and Ryan works during the day usually. Here he is waxing some skis @ Farmers Ski Shop (their facebook page)

I did take some pictures of a few jeeps from this place called RubiTrux, they have some amazing modified jeeps! I guess they buy them from the Jeep dealership, fix them up however they want, and then sell them for a higher price? They look awesome and solid as a rock, I would LOVE to have one! Specifically the black 4-door one.

 

In other news my ears have been ringing for about 7 days now and I have no idea why. I went to the doctor in Asheville, and he said the inside of my ears looked fine, no wax or fluid or anything. I'm taking Amoxicillin and Prednison right now, I'm hoping it is a small infection but I don't feel like it is. It's worrying me quite a bit though... what if it never stops? We'll see what happens in the next week or so.

I have my own entire room to use while here in Boone which is pretty sweet! Ryan has always been super accommodating when I've visited and I'm really appreciative of it. Here's a picture of the bed I'm sleeping in and now I'm about to go eat because I'm starving! 

Asheville, NC

Wow, what a day! I've been here since 3pm and I've seen so much already. A random marching band drumming away in the street (50+ kids), a guy toting 2 HUGE hula hoops on a bike... in a business suit, and something else eye-catching. This homeless guy got mad for some reason and started screaming "this bike bike is my life... I hate my bike and I hate my life" and then "I'd rather die that live another day on this mother fucking bicycle". Then he started throwing it around in the street and jumping on it! I tried to get it on video but didn't make it.

Asheville is super nice aside from the homeless dragon monster. There's a bunch of mostly-well-behaved hippies and lots of diversity. I've seen a white guy rapping out loud in public, an elderly couple playing Djembes, and had two guys whistle at me thinking I was a cute chic on a fixed gear bike, haha!

Anyway, it's not so bad writing blog posts I guess, I just have a hard time coming up with things I feel you all would be interested in. Maybe I'll do a video tomorrow from Asheville and put it on my dirtbagging Youtube channel with some interesting footage if I have any.

~ peace

Post Against Posting

I've realized that I don't usually enjoy writing these posts. Of course I have some moments where I get really motivated to write something but once I think about putting it all together it just becomes boring. Once I see that something can be done I'm ready to move on.. ugh.

Anyway, I'm sitting in a coffee shop in Hendersonville, NC chatting with some friends. I started this trip with the impression that it would be a short/small one but who knows. I only had a few dollars to my name when I left Carrollton and here I'm already bringing in a few hundred dollars, days later. I never know where my money is coming from or how much im getting paid b/c everything job-to-job. I hope I keep making money and I can keep traveling! I've been working on a resume and I would like to get a part-time job at REI to help me get things paid off and back to square one. I have plans! Those plans cost money, but I also have ideas! These ideas make money, so hopefully I can work it out for the best.

It's SO GREAT to be back on the road again. I feel like I have things better organized or whatever since I've done it before. I do need to get another bike rack so I can take the bike out of the inside of the Xterra and put it on top; I need more room inside to sleep!

I guess I'm done with this post. I'm going to watch all the old people in this town eat ice cream and ride my bike around. I'll try to be better about posting.. not only that but posting interesting stuff as well.


Oh! Yesterday me and my host went to check out these 4 big waterfalls and I fell in! Luckily I didn't fall 50 feet down the waterfall but I did get soaked and drowned my phone. I have to find a Verizon and get a new phone today sometime. The waterfalls were amazing though and it was fun swimming for a few seconds =)



** By the way, the Yellow markers on the map to the right --> are for this current trip, starting in Hendersonville, NC. **