Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Day 6: The Big Rock Candy Mountain

(Click here to listen)

Today I am a little less afraid of mimicking Steve Jobs, so I have kept it low key and currently write from the McDonald's of Robbinville, North Carolina.

I do believe that by crossing the North Carolina border things have taken a sudden turn; accents become much more distinctive, and time seems to pass in a calmer fashion. Still, there is a certain air of oddity that I never saw in New England, something concealed, as if all of the sudden I had stepped in a completely different culture trying to adapt to my own. It is inherently present in the architecture, the colors of the landscape and people's mannerisms. And I like it, I like it a lot.

For one, the people I had the chance to interact with were friendly from the start. Two people gave me affable compliments on the USS Newport-Scotty from their cars; "nice rig", "I like your car", "love that lil' airstream" were showered all over my beloved medium of transportation.

The night before I drove through a dark highway, and, with the help of the satellite view Garmin Sandiego provided, found a little clear at the shore of Lake Santeelah. The sky above, starry and clear.

The next morning I woke up and resolved to open my hatch, to reveal a landscape of breathtaking beauty. I had camped in a low open ground next to the lake and the forest, overlooking a long wooden dock and the majestic, fluffy green mountains. Some people had already taken their trailers and unloaded their boats, however, I saw no signs of life anywhere in that little clear space. I then resolved to take a bath in the lake.

After the bath, if was time to test my modern, pressurized water supply. I had gotten a 2-gallon Round-Up bottle full of water if I ever felt taking a shower was urgent. Now it was time to test it! The water pressurized and not only it washed and rinsed my head and body without leaving any residue, it still held water for a teeth brushing and a face wash. I was very glad to feel clean for the rest of the day.

By the time I was done I felt hungry, so I headed to the local supermarket, where I picked up some turkey, cheese and (sorry, I could not resist) a whole pecan pie. Then I resolved to fix some of the problems I found with the trailer, so I bought some curtain bars and a couple big-headed screws at the local hardware store. With these little fixes in place, I would be able to hand my push-lights and have a minimum privacy!

Immediately after the installation of these two, a guard from the National Park came to greet me in my little Scotty. He asked me about the trailer, and gave me a heads up that the area I had camped at was reserved for boating only. He very kindly gave me directions to an actual free campground about three miles away, just as beautiful as the current one.

The new camp ground is a little bit more elevated, and the water on my side is sort of murky. At the other side of the cape, the water was clear and deep, perfect for a long swim tomorrow. I relaxed in the Scotty for the rest of the afternoon, talked to both my parents –3600 miles away–, and headed to McDonalds, from where I am currently writing.

I can say that today it was a lazy day, a perfect chance to unwind from the previous, more scheduled meetups. However, I must really put emphasis on the inner rhythms of Robbinsville, where everything happens in a calmer way that usual... thankfully.


I woke up, I saw this and smiled. Prime lakefront property!


Gypsy setup for a tranquil morning.


Hey, do not laugh! It works just fine!


Newport at the Robbinsville Shell... he gets thirsty too! MPG: 26.8.


It is a lot of pie for a single human being. But hey, it was GREAT!


On to the new location. Life seldom gets as good as this.


For those who are curious about what the interior looks like!


A beautifully lit afternoon to culminate a fantastic, relaxing day.

1 comment:

  1. Robbinsville! You're down by Deal's Gap/the Dragon, and where we used to go drive every spring!

    There's remnants of an old WPA village in the woods up by Fontana- lady who does the horseback rides in the woods from Fontana Village knows the whole history of it.

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