Days 25, 26, and 27: Bigfoot Explores Asheville

Looks a lot worse than
it felt

The more I was in Asheville, the more I liked it.  The friendly,down to earth people, the street musicians, the beer, and the natural beauty all made this small city a place to remember for possible future living.  I also had the opportunity to experience another aspect of Asheville life; the health care facilities.

For about 9 days prior, my left leg had been slowly swelling.  It started in my lower inside thigh with some redness, but then moved down into my calf and foot.  It didn't really hurt but I knew something was wrong as the swelling hadn't ceased.  Armed with my Valuemed insurance card (the bare bones $150/month), I lined up at the Sisters of Mercy urgent care clinic.  As I waited I overheard some interesting conversations including a solution to Mexico's drug trade violence; legalize guns so people can protect themselves (a "Obama's gonna take away our guns" comment soon followed).  I saw the doctor within 25 minutes and she was really nice.  She hadn't seen anything quite like my conditions (the swelling moving part) so she ordered me a strong antibiotic shot to help with the infection and sent me over to the hospital for a sonogram.  I feared a blood clot, which would have hospitalized me for a while but the nurse there found none and the final diagnosis was cellulitus, a bacterial skin infection.  I picked up some more antibiotics at CVS for about $12 and that was all I spent the whole day.  We'll see if Valuemed actually picks up the other stuff or not. 



Brian at his best; low
and slow brewing



A happily married pair of pizza
scientists at work in their lab



When I got back to Brian's he was well into the batch of beer he had been brewing the whole day.  Kaitlin was entertaining guests that were making their way in for the pizza party that night.  The school that Kaitlin works at employs like minded folks and they all live somewhere along the same gravel side road together.  They often exercise together, cook together, brew together and share things like a healthy neighborhood should.  It was fun meeting all these new people and the conversations flowed unabated the whole night.  Almost everyone had their shot to make a pizza of their dreams.  Pesto pizzas, squash sauce pizzas, sun dried tomato and chicken pizzas were just a few of the creations to come out of the dining room turned pizza laboratory.  I, on the other hand, mainly watched, rested my foot, and ate till my heart was delighted.  



The very blue sky was a great
contrast to the colorful leaves



Not too steep, slabby
and with lots of slopey
underclings



The next day Brian had to work so with my foot feeling a bit better, Kaitlin showed me around some of the area's highlights.  First we went up to Looking Glass Rock, a climbing and hiking place.  The fall colors were peaking and the 20 minute hike up to the granite summit was beautiful.  Once I saw the rock, this feeling overcame me and I just had to climb it.  Actually, that plan hasn't materialized yet since Brian and I decided we really didn't have enough time on Monday.  After Looking Glass Rock, Kaitlin took me along the Blue Ridge Parkway, a scenic mountain road with tons of great stop-offs.  We also got to view Looking Glass Rock from a far and it was just as spectacular. 



Looking Glass Rock
from the Blue Ridge
Parkway.



Kaitlin with her friend's bags



The time was flying and we were feeling a bit hungry so we headed into downtown Asheville for some food and a walkabout.  The city has a nice central park that serves as a gathering area for weekly drum circles, street performers and other events.  There was lots of art in the shops and it was obvious by store advertisements how much people there value local products.  Kaitlin even found some bags for sale that her friend had made.  We stopped at a great little cafe for a sandwich and tea (the tea was free and reminded me how they do it in Taiwan).  Finally, with dinner quickly approaching and Brian getting off work soon, we made a stop at one of the many healthy supermarkets of Asheville to get some stuff for dinner. 



Micheal Franti (left) and Spearhead



On Monday morning I realized that it wasn't the best idea to climb Looking Glass Rock, drive 6 hours, and dance all night at a Micheal Franti concert so we put off the climbing and took care of some errands around town.  Unfortunately, 12 Bones,  a famous rib joint (Obama goes there a couple times a year) was closed so we had something quick and met Kaitlin and her friend Em for a beer.  Shortly after I was on my way to Lexington, Kentucky to see Micheal Franti and Spearhead.  I had been really looking forward to this show since last time I saw him was about 7 years ago at the Bonnaroo music festival.  I arrived with about 15 minutes to spare before the show started.  The show was good but not as good as the first time I saw him.  His political message that I appreciated so much before had been substituted for poppy love feelings.  Nevertheless he put on a good show and energized the crowd like few performers can.  Everything was going great until..."dude, where's my car?".  Towed, that's where. A mile and $118 later I had my life back and parked in a quite lot for a good night's rest.  Big thanks to Brian and Kaitlin for a great time in Asheville.