Road to New Bern...Day 7

"Holy Smokey Mountains Batman!"
We got up bright and early and enjoyed a thorough workout in the tiny gym the Hampton Inn offered us. I got the hiccups. The workout gave us a late start. That and running into some Hokies (Virginia Tech Alumni) in the lobby. Little did we know that we'd run into some more tomorrow. Around noon we finally got started toward our first destination: Asheville, North Carolina. We ended up not stopping in Asheville as planned. I wanted to go to another Art-o-mat in Asheville and then keep driving but we were so antsy to just ARRIVE in New Bern, North Carolina that we continued on to Greensboro. (I just had to capture the car above...)On our way we officially entered Eastern time and the state of North Carolina! Almost there! We stopped briefly for pizza at a surprisingly nice italian restaurant. I had a really hard time understanding our waitress...the beginning of a struggle with accents. I'm usually pretty good but she was european of some sort and I could not put my thumb on it. Being tired didn't help. While we stopped for lunch, we saw these towers that I thought were cool as well as the thing below. When we got back on the road, I realized the scenery reminded me of Vermont where I was born. The Smokey Mountains definitely give off a Vermonty feel. We passed a variety of interesting signs. Most about Gun Shows and Pawn Shops. MARINES! One about Billy Graham. But this one was by far my favorite. Holey rusted metal, batman! That's right people...the official Batcave is apparently in North Carolina. Who knew. I probably scared John half to death with how violently I scrambled for the camera when I saw this in the distance. Just BARELY got it.
On the way we stopped at a truck stop to weigh John's car. I braided my hair while we waited. I don't think I've had my hair braided since I was about 4 years old. After finally arriving in Greensboro, North Carolina, we ate at Sonic's for dinner and stayed at a scary Hampton Inn. I'm not sure why it was so scary. Probably because I was watching a scary show about crime and murder. But the closet was very suspiciously creepy. I did not sleep well. But how this was different than the rest of the trip, I don't know.
Note: Every night in the Hampton Inn, we were given a similar display to the one above. But every night we were missing one item. This night was the only night that we had all 4 bottles, shower cap, and soap. Why do I notice these things and find them worthy of a picture? I don't know.
ONE MORE DAY to NEW BERN.
To be continued...