Day 19 Asheville to Hot Springs

Day total 40 (steepest hills of the trip so far)

Trip total 1, 067

Our first day of serious rain, we knew it was coming based on the intense thunderstorm last night and the reality that our good luck can only last so long.

We braved the rain anyway because we want to make it to Hot Springs NC tonight. I had already reserved a non refundable campsite. Also, we want to make it to Nashville this Friday night because Saturday is the only day that Sharon, my incredibly busy midwifery nursing student, is free. So into the rain we went.

We learned last night from locals at a bar we were hanging out (Urban Orchard) at listening to bluegrass that Asheville is a temperate rainforest. Today we experienced just that. The ride was wet and glorious, most down hill following and old high way that parallels the French Broad and train tracks.

We took refuge from the storm rather unsuccessfully on the side of the road as we waited for the first burst of thunder and lightening to pass and then with more success at an adorable cafe, Zuma, in the little town of Marshall, where I had the best cup of hot chocolate of my life and listened to locals poorly play the piano as we waited for the rain to pass.

We camped at hot springs resort which now has a monopoly on the hot springs.  This means if you want to experience the hot springs in Hot Springs (which we did) you need to rent a hit tub at the resort inwhich they pump the hot mineral water into your tub. We soaked up all of the mineral goodness as it continued to downpour above us. 

Later that night there was enough of a hiatus in the rain for Nik to build us a campfire (Nik's ability to build a campfire under any circumstnace is really quite remarkable) witg wood donated by a family that had called it quits early on their own camp trip. Our campsite was right on the French Broad. I went to bed early (8 pm and still as light as the middle of the day) to the sounds of the raising river, gently (and then later heavy) falling rain and the crackling fire.