A week in Asheville, NC

And what a delightful week it has been. Lots of bridge . Lots of music . Lots of good food . Have adjusted pretty easily to life at Granny's and Princess Aida's pace. Caught up a fair bit with Janey in Montreat. M improved dramatically Granny's deck with fresh pots and a hugely industrious job of sanding and painting an old wicker chair that's apparently been badly in need of restoration for a long time.

Pics from bottom

1 On way to an abortive bike trip to Mt Pisgah - Blue Ridge Parkway for that section closed 6 miles up from French Broad River. V disappointing.
2 & 3 Changed plan and visited on bike the Asheville Arboretum . A remarkable feature was this Bonzai garden exhibition . The finest I believe in North America.
4 & 5 On way to Mt Mitchell by bike on ` The parkway '. Weren't given the name Great Smoky Mtns for nothing.
6 38 down and 3.9 to go . A pretty gruelling 3.9 though.
7 Made it . Av 9.3 mph for trip to top and 11.5 for round trip of 82 miles. 4.5 hours up and a leisurely trip down (except that it was n't so leisurely with significant - i.e 2 drops of more than 500 ft and back up again ) in 2.5 hours. All details for Duncan's benefit who was here a few weeks ago with an Ithaca cycling group and who did the same thing. Presumably in about half the time. Made the mistake of carrying hefty sandwiches all the way to the top only to find a restauraunt there. Fabulous views for much of day , but a cool breeze mostly and ideal cycling conditions. Stopped on way down and a had a lovely chat with a young Californian couple heading for the top fully laden - en route from Calif to Maine and back to Calif. Enjoying themselves thouroughly they were and delightful to see. Little to beat it really.
8 Betty's deck as transformed by M .

Off later today ( Sunday 23rd ) in 14 foot Uhaul truck ( smallest they can give us ) to collect the Buick in St Francisville , La and then to Lamy , NM to stay with an old school friend of M's for a night before getting back to Snowmass on Thursday night.