Roads Trip

Joel and I flew a plane to Denver where Frankenstein (Brad's Ford Explorer) was waiting, and Brad was there too, in flannel T-shirt and beard.  We did Denver to Arkansas in one day, and to the Buffalo River in NW Arkansas, where Ashley and Millie took care of us for two nights, and Kyle was there too.  Leaving Arkansas, the I-40 rolled us through Memphis Nashville Knoxville, and every skyline was a new excitement.  Tennessee was new territory for all of us, with her bluffs and her hills and her purple spring trees.  We camped and bon-fired in a state park, meeting our first new friends  that night, who taught us how to properly use "boonies" and "holler" in a sentence.  Joel practiced his new accent, and they all laughed in approval.  The next morning we finally showered, I found my first tick, and he was just a little guy.  After five road days, we were sitting on the streets of downtown Asheville eating buffalo wings.  Dylan, Abby, Evan and Cori met us for dinner that evening, and have taken care of us ever since.  The sun has also taken care of us: we've hardly seen a cloud since we've been here, and we all have one burnt forearm to remind us of our sweltering drive through Tennessee.

Now, after three days of being perpetually lost and confused, we have a home.  And not just any home, but a 50's style, 3 bedroom, half-brick home with more yard than we could need, more basement than we know what to do with, and a front door that boasts a perfectly centered doorknob (pictures now online thanks to joel).  We live in Weaverville, a small town about 20 minutes north of Asheville, and 10 minutes south of the worksite, a perfect compromise.  This morning we bought breakfast and feasted on our living room floor, laughing the whole time at the thought of it all.  We are still lost most of the time, we have no furniture, and no money, but those things will come easy as the summer goes.  We have no worries, only anticipation, because so far, every day has been better than the one before it.

We are incredibly lucky to be here in Asheville.  Like everything good in life, this opportunity was not earned, but has been given to us by a handful of friends and family that have been so incredibly generous as to help us out, and in myriad ways.  Work starts monday, and Garrison will be here in a couple weeks, and visitors will visit us throughout the summer, and everything will be fine, as soon as my poison-ivy rash goes away.