I was out of town this week.

When I got my job, I was told that travel could be a major component. Having wanderlust, I didn't expect this to be, or become, a problem. Well, I spent last week in the South Carolina region known as the upcountry. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this is beautiful country. However, we were working, not playing. We spent most of the week working in light rain. Well, Tuesday presented us with a downpour, but we only took pictures in that. We are working on 12 SCDOT projects in district 3. Mostly this means that we walk around a dangerous intersection looking for historic homes, taking pictures, and digging holes. A couple of these have been pretty sketchy with blind corners and cars traveling at high speeds.
As bad as this week may sound, it wasn't so bad. In fact, we spent Thursday night and yesterday morning in the mountains near the SC/NC border. Thursday night, we stayed at a hotel in Hendersonville, NC. It was almost like a vacation driving around in the mountains. The reason for this, is that we were working at the intersection of Gap Creek Rd., and SC25. (I will have to post some of the pictures that we took.) To get to this intersection from Spartanburg, where we had worked earlier in the day, we took SC11, the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway. Despite having driven through this area on Interstate 26, I hadn't recognized it's beauty until this trip. This could be because I was in a hurry, or it could have been at night. I just don't know. I am also surprised to learn, on looking at a map, that my recent visit for a Wilco show, was not my first time to Asheville. So, even though this was a work trip, it felt almost like a vacation while we were driving through this amazing country. Country that I had overlooked time and again. Apparently I am such a mountain bigot that I was willingly overlooking the Appalachians because they are smaller and older than the Rockies. I blindly ignored their beauty because I still feel, regardless of where I live, that my home is in the west. I first recognized this when I fell in love with Asheville. I went so far as to try to figure out if there was a way for me to live there. I have turned down jobs in Greenville, SC without ever even visiting the area. Greenville is like the Denver of the SC mountains in that it is on their doorstep, but still in the (mostly) flats. It is a very good thing that I didn't take these Greenville jobs. If I had, I would still be in the computer industry and miserable. I am much happier being a broke Archaeologist.
So, even though I had a great week in the mountains, since I have to go back up on Monday, it feels like work. I have a very full weekend planned just to get everything in order to head back up. We are going to work VERY HARD on getting back down here in time for our weekly Wednesday dinner, that we affectionately call "Big Beer Wednesday."
This is an important one for me. The Wednesdays after I have been out of town are usually important for me, but this one is . . . If you know me, and you know BBW, please come..

CIAO