Roadtrip 2024: Week 7 "Coming Home"

A lot of this last week was impacted by the rain from the hurricane and it made me realize how much I really depended on the great weather I had in all previous weeks. The week started with a two hour drive to Buffalo Trace in Frankfort, KY followed by a 15 minute wait in the downpour to enter the distillery and grab a bottle of the daily special (Blanton's) for a good friend and bourbon connoisseur. The distillery tour guided us through many of the various buildings and everyone was soaked to the bone when we finally could taste the precious golden fluid. I had planned to continue south back into Tennessee and return to NC via Smokey Mountain NP. It was clear this would not work and instead I headed east to Cumberland Gap NP where TN, KY and VA meet to see some more caves and spend the night. The next day I tried to head into NC via Bristol and Damascus, but the flood damage was too great to get through and I spend another night in TN on a lake close to Bristol. In the end I took I-81 to Wytheville, VA and I-77 south into NC. I was on the go the entire trip and wanted a couple of relaxing days without doing anything. I decided to spend these in Hanging Rock SP occupying myself with some hiking and deep cleaning the van. Finally, I drove to Charlotte to spend a day with my son and see his apartment complex, go shopping at IKEA and take him out to eat. Thursday, I returned back home and since then I have already seen most of my running and former and future work friends, either with beer or coffee. I'm excited to return back to work part-time at Grifols Monday in two weeks for this winter.

I have been asked if I didn't feel lonely by myself. That is a clear "no". As an introvert I have to power to stick my friends in my brain and let them come along on the joyride. I hope you enjoyed it.