The morning of Tuesday, October 6th went very well. While waiting for the replacement tire to show up at Kenny’s, I gave the Jeep a good washing to remove the salt accumulated on the Florida peninsula the previous week. Perfect timing; while helping Jean pack the Jeep at the motel, we got a phone call from Kenny’s Tire Service letting us know that our replacement tire had arrived. We finished packing, checked out of the motel, and ran down to Kenny’s to mount the new tire on the rim that I had reconditioned the previous evening. We were off on our trek North Carolina before noon.
Knowing that we would be getting a late start that day, we decided to spend one more evening in Georgia before heading off the nephew Bill in Asheville, NC. We spent Tuesday evening in Clayton, GA, which we reached without incident after our traditional picnic lunch in Georgia’s Black Mountain State Park. Lita had been behaving extremely well since we picked her up on Sunday. She handled the nightly change of location and the daily drives well. We wanted to get her into a stable living situation, but felt no pressure to rush home.
On the morning of Wednesday, October 7th, after spending some quality time with Lita, I contacted a fellow Jeep station wagon owner who lives in Fletcher, NC, a town on the route to our nephew’s home in Asheville, NC. Fortunately, Will, whom I had met at a Jeep gathering in Siler City, NC last year, was home and able to have us drop by for a visit. Will, who has been running his own marketing consultant for the last 18 years, inherited his early 60’s wagon from his dad. He has been slowly rebuilding the Jeep; now in good enough running condition to take out for jaunts around his local area. Will treated us to refreshments and snacks while we talked about Jeeps and our lives in general. It was a fine way to wind down from the intensity of the previous couple of days.
10-7-15 Dan & Lita mirror shot
10-7-15 Dan & Lita selfie
10-7-15 Lita, Clayton, GA ready to go!
10-7-15 Driving into Macon County, GA
10-7-15 Lunch Stop – Black Rock Mtn. State Park, GA
10-7-15 Northern GA
10-7-15 Crossing into southern NC
10-7-15 Will & Jean at Will’s home on Fletcher, NC
10-7-15 Will’s 1961 Wagon, Fletcher, NC
From Will’s home in Fletcher, NC we made a pleasant drive on back roads to nephew Bill’s home in Asheville, NC. Bill is the son of Jean’s younger brother Rusty. After is college, Bill first relocated to Wilmington, NC to contemplate his future. A skilled programmer and businessman, his talent and creativity lead him to found a successful company in Asheville that provides website development where specialty web capability services are desired. Bill owns a modern hillside home overlooking the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, where he resides with Angela, his lovely wife of recent months. We had an enjoyable evening meal on the 7th and breakfast on the morning of the 8th catching up on things since we last met a few years ago; and getting to know our new niece, Angela. Jean, Lita, and I parted Angela and Bill after breakfast on October 8th, deciding to run part of the Blue Ridge Parkway up to Blowing Rock before heading toward home.