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Abby & SoNot's Excellent Adventure


Abby Normal

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I've nicknamed Karin, SoNot Normal, which, if you knew her well, you'd know is perfect.

We left MD last Thursday and made it to Crossville, TN by dinner time, despite my transmission groaning up that last long grade to the top of the Cumberland Plateau.

The day was overcast, but we like to travel with cloud cover so the sun isn't heating up the car through the windows. The mountains are always a pleasant sight to us Mountains.jpg.54db0f43db03228da5a0a4fbdcd5f738.jpg

flatlanders.

Along the way, we stopped in Abingdon, VA and had an excellent Turkish Coffee. I had them make it with half the sugar they normally use and it was perfect for me.

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We stayed at a lovely AirBnB on a golf course in a quiet resort area near town. Our host, Brian, gave us a nice tour of the area to get us oriented. I think I got more disoriented, but it was nice to know what was out there.

I had an excellent and reasonably priced steak and some craft beers at Spike's, our first night there. It was a great surprise after our long drive, because it looked like a dive bar from the outside, but it was so good, we went back the next night for more.

We were pleasantly surprised on Friday to find a great coffee shop in Crossville, and a very good, reasonably priced lunch in town, too at Forte's. (I'm going to stop saying 'reasonably priced' because everything was so cheap compared to back home.)

On Saturday, we took the big swan out for a spin on Lake Dartmoor. It was a bit breezy and the wind pushed the boat in circles a few times, but we made it back to dock Swan.thumb.jpg.e9e7a5f01a134295621023e5837b1a32.jpg

eventually, and got in almost an hour of very pleasant exercise. I have to buy a pedal boat. I'd much rather pedal a lake or creek than deal with cars on a bike. The seat's more comfortable too. :)

Saturday afternoon was the gathering at Rita's, where I and others survived a Rita hug. Those who haven't survived can be seen here:

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After much laughter, joke telling, feasting (thanks for the great food Rita & others!), and some really terrible corn hole playing, the group decided to try the Japanese restaurant Rita had recommended, and the laughter and story telling continued into the night, over another great meal. I had some excellent sushi and sake to round out the day.

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Sake.jpg.7a996d93832ae0d0b0c87cec981b4dcc.jpgVery cool sake decanter with an ice chamber so the sake doesn't get watered down.

 On Sunday, Crossville was closed for church, so after discovering that the Quaker meeting was defunct, we drove to Cookville for coffee and then hiked a mile to see the Burgess Falls (more pleasant exercise -  I did not gain any weight on this trip, which is always a good thing!). Falls1.thumb.jpg.0f4a91d51d09f91bef776a9d13acffcc.jpgFalls3.thumb.jpg.517d70f05a40716bf5cf6b0d2a9126ea.jpg 

So cool that I accidentally captured a rainbow in that pic!

While at the falls, a storm rolled by and one thunderclap sounded way too close for comfort, but we had no choice but to hike back out through the woods. SoNot's fitbit registered 6,000 steps and 20 flights of stairs!

Our final dinner in Crossville was another round of sushi.

We took the scenic route back through the mountains to Asheville, both to have a relaxing drive and to be gentle with the transmission. There were several scenic overlooks along the way, and we stopped at most of them.

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Spent the night in Asheville, NC with my nephew and his family, and had lunch downtown before heading to Durham, NC on Tuesday to spend the night with a client who had moved away. They had emailed me two weeks before the trip to thank me for my help and said, 'if you're ever down this way, we'd love to have you spend the night'. And I replied, 'well, as a matter of fact, we'll be by there in two weeks'. I bet they weren't expecting that!

We got back to MD yesterday, early afternoon, well rested and still smiling from all the great times we had!

Thanks again to the lovely Rita for hosting all of us wackos and allowing us a chance to meet and get to know each other better! I will remember this trip fondly for a very long time.

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That was great, so descriptive I could taste the steak and beer, heard the water going over the falls, and felt my stomach grumble after thinking of sake.  This is what fond memories are made of, simply perfect.

Sounds like SoNot is a fun travel companion, being so agreeable to the busy schedule you kept her on.  Really wish I was there, so glad you all, I mean Y'all were able to do this.

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Great pictures, excellent photography. I grew up in the foothills of those mountains.  I still enjoy seeing them when they first appear in the distance as we drive back home  for family visits.  The Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains are beautiful. 

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