california: san diego

I flew from chicago to san diego via pheonix. Easy flights.
I met Stephanie when both of us worked at a resort on the Pacific island of Saipan. We've kept in touch ever since, she is now married with two kids. Hard to believe it, but our time in Saipan was a long time ago. 2005! Ten years ago! Stephanie picked me up at the airport, we went straight to lunch.
Lunch was at a place called Lucha Libra, a gourmet taco place. Steph told me it was a local place, and is now a busy place because it was featured on a cooking show, or best of list. Now everyone wants to eat there. I don't know how I feel about the "best of" lists, because hidden places become overrun.
It was good food, and the line moved really quickly. They have their own salsa bar, how awesome is that?
Then we went to Steph's house, where I met one of her children, and the nanny. The baby was 8 months old, and seemed happy when I held her. Awesome! Steph collected some of the stuff she had for newborns, and we took it to one of her friends who had just had a baby. (4 days ago.) Awesome. Instead of buying all new stuff, people who are having children should be able to reach out to friends who have already had children and use a few things. Newborns are tiny tiny humans, but they need so much stuff!

After baby time Steph took me to a place called Blush Desserts. YUM. They make macaroon ice cream sandwiches to order, yahoo! You get to choose what flavor of macaroons you want, as well as what flavor of ice cream you want. I got a bit greedy, and ordered a red velvet cupcake too, more yum. Clearly, Steph knows me too well :)
Then we picked up Steph's other kid, a 3 year old. He talks, a lot. Steph told me when he started preschool a year ago, he cried for 3 months straight. I wouldn't have known it from the child I met. He is a happy kid, he wanted to tell me everything he knows about everything.

We went back to Steph's house to hang out for a while. I really enjoyed the view, which looks out over Qualcomm stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers. While we were there I met her husband, a nice guy.
Then Steph took me over to her sister's house, where I fell asleep at 8pm! To be fair, 8pm San Diego time is 10pm Chicago time, which is 11pm Bloomington time, and I'd had another early flight after sleeping in the Chicago airport again. I deserved to fall asleep early :) Oddly enough, the people who lived in the house weren't yet home when I fell asleep!

The next morning Steph picked me up and we went to breakfast at a place called Bear Buns Bakery. Steph had a meeting, so I sat in another area, writing a letter. I loved my chai latte and red velvet cookie. Yum.
After breakfast, Steph dropped me off at the trolley stop at Qualcomm Stadium. There isn't a lot of public transport, but this was perfectly convenient for me. I rode the trolley into the city center, getting off at the stop for Old Town. It's a historical park/district, mostly for tourists. Too many kitchy shops for my taste, but great for people watching. There were a few good (and small,) museums too. I really liked the old schoolhouse. It reminded me a lot of the one room schoolhouse in Bloomington, Indiana. 

Nearby was an old synagogue, no longer used.
Eventually I hopped back on the trolley, transferred to a different line, then caught a bus. All of these took me to Balboa Gardens. A huge, beautiful area in the city. It took me a while to find the central area of the parks. The pin shown on tripadvisor and google maps is not where you find the majority of people.
It was hot and sunny, but I still loved walking everywhere. My first find was the cactus garden. Despite my attempts to be nice, the cacti did not return my love. (I was still digging prickles out of my fingers a couple weeks later! Tiny little prickles you can't quite see, but you can feel.)

I loved seeing some of the cactus flowers, you don't get to see those very often. Beautiful.
By the time I found the central area of the gardens, I was really dehydrated. I got really lucky when I saw a server coming into his shift at one of the restaurant cafes. I asked him where I could find a drinking fountain, he brought me a big cup of ice water, then brought me a to go cup with more ice water. Random acts of kindness are amazing.
Sadly, the Japanese garden was closed for a private event. Argh.
After the garden, I walked to a bus stop for a bus that would take me to a trolley stop. The trolley took me back to Qualcomm stadium. As the trolley got closer and closer, I saw more people with football jerseys boarding the train. I figured out there was a game that night, between the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers.

Getting out of the trolley station and stadium area was quite different than when I'd been there in the morning. Near game time, traffice patterns for both people and cars are different. For security reasons, people getting off the train have to walk a specific way (that takes you through turnstiles to make sure you have a ticket!) and I was worried about how to get out of the crowd; I wasn't going to the game. It took me a bit, but eventually I was able to go where I wanted.
Traffic was already pretty heavy at that point, but Steph and I were able to figure out where she would pick me up through texting. Thank goodness!

I ate dinner in the house that night with Steph and her family.
The next morning Steph dropped me off at a street corner across the street from the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego. A few minutes later, one of my cousins picked me up.
My cousin is a chaplain in the Navy, currently stationed at MCRD. This was a Friday, and he'd arranged tickets for us to see the graduation ceremony for the recruits who had finished basic training. Our seats were in the VIP pavillion, under cover. Thank goodness, as I was sunburnt, and it was again (as is normal,) sunny and hot.

Impressive. I love the mix of tradition and youth. Since my cousin is an officer, and most of the folks on this base are younger and enlisted, he was saluted approximately every two feet. I got to see his office, learn how the recruits are organized, and watch the ceremony. Awesome.
After the ceremony he took me to the gift shop on base, where I got to buy postcards and a mug for his unit.
Then we drove to his house. San Diego traffic is nuts. Not very well organized, full of freeways, too many cars and people. Just as we got to his house, his wife was leaving to take one of the kids to the doctor.

This was only the second time I've met these kids, they didn't remember the last time three years ago. This visit was awesome, as they were old enough to have real conversations, and understand how we are related.
The original plan was to have a picnic dinner with Grandma later that afternoon/evening, but plans changed when my cousin got a call from work. He had to go back to help with what they call an AmCross situation. This is by far the worst part of his job, when he has to help deliver a message to one of the recruits. The message is always a bad one, about the death of a loved one.

When recruits are going through basic training, they don't have access to email, and other electronic communication, so these AmCross messages are delivered by the folks in charge.
We had dinner after my cousin came home again, after going for a short walk to a neighborhood playground. My cousin and his wife said this was a great neighborhood in which to live. Their kids can walk down the street without worry. They know other kids in the neighborhood, and other families. Most excellent.
The next morning breakfast was my choice of cereal. Definitely a Johnson tradition, one that I love.

During the morning, my cousin's wife went to an education fair/school registration. The family had just moved from Colorado, so they still needed to figure out where the kids would attend school in a couple weeks. From what they'd already learned and heard from others, the system in California is rather broken, and definitely not as fantastic as what they'd had in Colorado.
At some point, I hopped in the truck with my cousin and the kids. We stopped at In n Out Burger, my first visit to that chain. I think it's a California/west coast thing? Grandma likes it. The menu is small, and simple.

We brought the food to Grandma, and my cousin's wife joined us when she was done with the school stuff. It was really nice to spend some time with Grandma. She is my Grandma, but is great grandma to my cousin's kids. Awesome.
After a while, I had to go back to the airport. Everyone trooped downstairs, and we asked someone to take a family photo. Very very cool. I wish family photos were taken more often. By everyone. Being able to look at these photos years later is a fun thing to do.
Then my cousin took me back to the airport, and I flew back to Chicago.
This is when I should mention the EXCELLENT people who worked one station of TSA. While I was going through security, a small bag in which I keep foreign currency and various cards fell out of my bag. I didn't notice it, and made my way into a nearby store selling books and newspapers. A few minutes later, I heard someone saying my name, I perked up.

He asked me if I was planning to buy anything, and I said no. At this point I was scared, thinking he was asking me if I was stealing. I wasn't, of course. He kept asking questions, and I could tell he was looking for a specific answer, but it took me a while to figure it out. Eventually, I did. I'm sooooooooo grateful for his effort in finding me. I was able to say what my bag looked like, as well as name a few items in the bag, including currencies. THANK YOU SAN DIEGO TSA.
My flight landed in Chicago at 0100, not a great time. Another night of sleeping in the airport. Thank goodness, I'm good at this.

indiana: bloomington

The drive from Bristol TN/VA to Bloomington was seven hours I think? Dealing with the curvy highways through the Appalachians, then the traffic mess that is Louisville, Kentucky.
As I was driving into town, I stopped at Target and bought myself a Fitbit. I'd been wanting one for a while.
I arrived home at dinnertime.  I brought all my stuff in the house and up to my room. It was really nice to come back to a place I know so well. I felt so comfortable, and knew exactly where everything was. 

Despite knowing Dad and I were going out to dinner, one of the first things I did was to get some cheese out of the fridge. We've always kept blocks of cheese in there, usually a medium cheddar or colby jack.
Dad and I had our regular dinner date at Janko's Little Zagreb. I know I've written about it before, but I will mention it again here. The restaurant has been around for quite a while. It's quite basic, but I love it. It is especially popular among athletes, especially when they are hosting recruits for a weekend. Also in the normal clientele are business people, for a casual dinner.

It's not fancy, but the food is worth it. If you're not into steak there are a few other options, but in general, if you don't like steak, I think there are other restaurants in town that are much better.
Janko's is all about steak. Much of what they have on their menu is locally butchered. SO GOOD.
After dinner, Dad and I walked around the neighborhood. One of the things I love about the neighborhood is that it doesn't change much. People live in this neighborhood long term.
The next day we did our basketball day trip, coming back to Bloomington in time for dinner.

The day after that, I met up with one of my old bosses for our normal breakfast date at Village Deli. It's always good to hear about the updates of Indiana University Rec Sports from the leader. Students at Indiana University have a lot of opportunities, and from my experience they don't know how awesome those opportunities are until years later. KGB is a great leader.
The following day Dad was scheduled to go skydiving. Unfortunately, the weather didn't let that happen. Argh. Instead, we drove around Bloomington a bit. We started with souvenir shopping for me at the Varsity Sports shop in Assembly Hall.

All the Indiana Univeristy gear you could possibly want. I walked out with two coffee mugs and a sweatshirt. There were more items that interested me, but I managed to exercise some willpower for once.
I grew up in Bloomington. The city is home to Indiana University, which is an internationally recognized research university. When you have a university that attracts international students, they bring their culture with them. The awesome part of this is that Bloomington is home to food and culture from all over the world.

Ever heard of the Dalai Lama? What I bet you didn't know is that his brother lived in Bloomington for many years. Thubten Jigme Norbu was the older brother of the Dalai Lama, and was a professor of Tibetan Studies at Indiana University for many years. He founded the Tibetan Cultural Center (which later became the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center) in Bloomington, living on the grounds until his death in 2008.
Despite growing up in Bloomington, I'd never visited the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center. The weather was rainy, so maybe we could've picked a better day, but oh well.
Google maps does not know where the entrance gate is located, we drove down one wrong road before figuring out the correct place to go.

Its not a typical gate, you are very aware you're entering a place that is different from 'normal' America.
Due to the rain, we were the only visitors at the time. We found the gift shop (the lady turned on Buddhist music for us just after we walked in.) first. We saw a couple stupas, one bigger than the other. Under one of them was a sand mandala, beautiful. We saw a prayer and meditation room, and were given a short tour by one of the monks. I loved hearing the explanations of everything in the room, there is soooo much I don't know. We saw the prayer wheels outside, those wheels are BIG!

After leaving the grounds, we went to the Chocolate Moose, an ice cream place. I was disappointed they didn't have eyes to put on my ice cream, but the ice cream was still as good as it always is.
The next morning I went hiking at a lake really near the house. I don't know why, but Griffy Lake isn't listed on tripadvisor, or triposo. Sure, it's man made, but it is one of the official reservoirs of the city, and there are pretty trails all around the lake. Bugs were out like crazy, but I loved the peace and quiet of being out in nature.
I changed clothes and went to meet my sister at work, we got lunch from food trucks. YUM. I had more ice cream from the Chocolate Moose, just because I could.

You have to take advantage of what you can get while you can get it, right? She also gave me the keys to her house, so I could move my stuff over there later that afternoon, and let her dog out.
Then I went to the IUOP. The Indiana University Outdoor Pool. I worked there as a lifeguard and swim instructor for years, it hasn't changed. I haven't been there in probably 10 years, but it still looks (and smells) the same. I love laying out :)
Even though I thought I was moving quickly, I ended up being really late to meeting up with my sister and her friends. Argh.

The next day was the day trip with my sister and dad.
Sunday morning I got up and went for a short run before getting ready for church. I'm proud of myself for actually getting out the door to run. Yay!
At church it was nice to have quick catchups with people I've known nearly my entire life. AWESOME.
Just after church, my sister and I quickly changed clothes, then drove to a business called Massage Envy. A few years ago I went to the wedding of my friend Scott, and at the wedding I met his family. I got along with them really well, and have kept in touch ever since. At the time, they lived in California, but a couple years ago moved to Bloomington. They opened a franchise of Massage Envy, and I figured it was the perfect opportunity to see people I like, and support their business. Great massage, and great to catch up.

My sister and I shopped that afternoon. She is a very good shopper in that she can 'see' if something will look good on someone else, regardless of differing styles and body shapes.
Dad came over to my sister's house for dinner that night, my sister made tomato soup from scratch. YUM. She also made rosemary bread, and sent home an extra loaf with Dad. After dinner, the three of us took her dog Rocky for a walk. Rocky was in heaven.
The next morning I moved my stuff back to Dad's house. Then I met one of my high school swim teammates for lunch at Steak n Shake. I don't normally like visiting chain restaurants, but Melissa had one of her children with her, and he was only 4 years old. Really good to catch up!
After going back to Dad's, I stopped by the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau. I know I can buy postcards there, and another high school swim teammate works there. She and I hadn't been able to figure out a meal to eat together, but I was able to chat with her for 15 minutes, which was nice.

Then I got my 4th tattoo. There was another lady in the tattoo shop at the time. I noticed on the inside of her left arm she had tattooed NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK. I kid you not. I saw the picture of the face she was getting tattooed on the inside of her right arm, I"m pretty sure it was one of the New Kids on the Block. Really? 
That night I had dinner at another local place, the Crazy Horse. I ate with my best friend from high school, and another friend from those years. Both of them went to a different high school (only 15 minutes down the road from my high school,) and in the way life is sometimes funny, both of them now teach at that high school. Really good to catch up.
The next morning I had another breakfast at the Village Deli, with another of my old bosses. After breakfast I walked down the street to the campus of Indiana University and took a few photos of my alma mater.

It's a gorgeous campus, I could've wandered for hours and hours. It was the awesome time of year when there are no classes and students. Even though Bloomingtonians know the University brings a lot to our community, we sometimes hate the students and all the chaos they bring. The few weeks of summer when there are no classes are a beautiful, quiet time of year. 
I feel bad because I didn't get to see more people while I was in Bloomington. I didn't make nearly the effort I should've made to contact people, and do it ahead of time.

indiana: lincoln city and santa claus

One day while I was in Bloomington, I decided to go on a day trip with my dad and sister. As I was sleeping at my sisters house, dad came over in the morning for a pancake breakfast. Yum.
All three of us got in the car, with my sister driving and me riding shotgun. (Both of us have problems with car sickness.)
We followed state highways to the southwest of Bloomington. These highways are quite rural, not big, and took us through several smaller towns.
Our first 'stop' was more of a drive by. Sometime earlier in the spring or summer, my sister and her husband had found out that the stadium where the Rockford Peaches played in the film 'A League of Their Own' still functioning. It is the home stadium of the Huntingburg Bombers. My sister and her husband attended one of the Bomber games. 

We didn't stop the car, because the stadium was closed, (the season was over; I'd love to come and see one of the games sometime,) but I could see aspects that hadn't changed since the filming took place. There is a painting of a quote from the movie 'There's no crying in baseball.' And a painting of one of the Peaches. AWESOME.
My sister continued driving. Eventually she took us to the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, located in Lincoln City. My sister's husband has been working at the memorial all summer, and was willing to give the three of us a tour during his morning off. Hana and Dad layered on suncream and mozzie repellent, I skipped both. Amazingly, I was not eaten alive, though I do remember swatting away plenty of bugs. I guess bugs are an inevitable part of a heavily wooded area. 

We started in the visitor center, which has free postcards (!!!!!!) as well as displays of information pertinent to the time. There are several carvings on the front of the building, from different times in Lincolns life. At the end of a field in front of the center is the tallest flagpole in the state, with the Stars and Stripes flying proudly.
Since Layne had been working there all summer, he knew everything. Lincoln moved with his family to the area in October 1816, a couple months before Indiana became the 19th state. Lincoln was 7 at the time. When the family moved there, they had to create their own trail, cutting down trees and plants. It's a heavily wooded area. When they started a farm they had to clear all the land first, which is back breaking work.
The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial doesn't have anything authentic (in terms of buildings) from that time. What they do have is a wealth of information on what life was like during that time. The memorial is active, in that you can see how things worked. I learned how to make rope. I saw Layne feed a cow. They keep an extensive garden. There is what remains of an old well, no longer used.

There is also a small graveyard. There is a nice, relatively new gravestone allegedly marking where Lincoln's mother is buried. At the foot of the stone are a whole bunch of pennies. The only problem is that no one knows for sure where nancy hanks Lincoln is buried. They do know how she died though: from milk disease. It happens when cows graze on a specific plant. The poison from the plant gets into their milk, and anyone who drinks the milk gets vey very sick. (The cows die too, but they pass their milk into humans before they show symptoms of the disease.) It wasn't until much later that people figured out what it was that made the cows sick.
As we finished walking around the area, maybe had to get ready to work. On this particular day, he was scheduled to work in Lincoln State Park, across the road from the memorial. We agreed that he would go to work, and we would go to lunch. Afterward we would find him at the state park for another tour.
We drove down the road to a place called Pizzaland. Everything on the menu is typical southern Indiana food. They even had bottles of Ski, a carbonated drink you can find only in southern Indiana.
We found Layne at the state park, he directed my sister where to drive. He showed us the big theatre that isn't used anymore. He told us it used to host several performances a year, but the only even in the past year was a high school graduation. It was simple, and pretty. Hana and I ran down the stairs and climbed on the stage, just because we could.

Layne also showed us a specific tree. It looks just like many other trees, but it is unique in one particular way: it grew from seeds that were first taken into space on one of the shuttle missions.
Layne showed us where the likely sight of a mill was. He also showed us the grave of Lincoln's sister Sarah.
On our way back out of the park, (after dropping Layne off in his office,) we stopped at a memorial of some kind. I was able to set up my camera and take a few photos with Dad, Hana, and me. We don't get family photos very often.
After exiting the park, we drove back in the general direction of Bloomington. We had one more town to explore: Santa Claus. Yes, there is a town in Indiana called Santa Claus. I've always wanted to visit, mostly so I can say I've been to Santa Claus.
As you might imagine, nearly the entire town is all about Christmas. The street signs are red! There is a candy store, which we visited. Of course. I didn't see a menu anywhere, but my sister knew we should order something called a frozen hot chocolate. It sounds like a chocolate shake, but it's actually better. It really tastes exactly like a hot chocolate, but frozen. I found postcards there too :)

We also stepped into the post office of Santa Claus. Very very cute. If you write s letter to Santa Claus, and don't put another address on the envelope, there is a very good chance your letter will end up in Santa Claus, Indiana.
Approximately 100m from the post office is a statue of Santa Claus. At the base of the statue is a sign encouraging people to take a #santaselfie . So I did, of course :)
Behind the post office, in the other direction is the museum. The museum has displays of some of the items that used to be available at the amusement park down the road, back when it was called Santaland. (Now it's called Holiday World, which doesn't sound nearly as awesome.) I bet they'd sell heaps of these items if they put them back into souvenir stores now, even if Santaland no longer exists. 

There is also a display of some of the 'best' letters to Santa over the past decades. Some are funny, some are sad, some are sweet. When you read through them you keep wanting to show them to whoeva is with you. Awesome.
That was our last stop before driving back to Bloomington.

indiana: newcastle and knightstown

I grew up in Indiana. By definition, that generally means I like basketball. Or, at the very least, that I'm aware of the sport. Sure, I've got a few friends who barely know what the game is, but in general, most people from Indiana are basketball fans.
In Indiana, we take high school basketball particularly seriously. Since many of the towns in Indiana are quite small, (much of the state is very agricultural,) a high school basketball game on Friday night is often the only thing to do in town. 

Dad and I decided to make a day trip out of basketball attractions in the state. Our first stop was the Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame, in Newcastle, Indiana. It's not too far off the highway, really easy to find. (There are signs on the highway, and google maps finds it too.)
You notice two things when you pull into the parking lot. One, a lot of flags, and two, a giant basketball shoe. Obviously, I took photos of both. The building looks new, but I forgot to get a history of the place. 

There is an entrance fee, but it's low. $3 I think. The money goes to general upkeep. The people who work there are basketball fans, and very chatty.  They were particularly impressed that I live in Ukraine, but was visiting Indiana. I thought it was funny.
For most visitors, the first thing you do is watch an introductory video about high school basketball in Indiana. An explanation of how it affects many aspects of life in the state, as well as showing off some of the basketball heroes over the years. The system for showing this video is brand new, so they were still figuring out how it works.

They told us that we were some of the last to see the old video, they would only be showing the new video starting soon.  I kinda wish we'd been able to see both.  Anywho, I liked the video. Since I grew up in Indiana, it was fun to try to pick out people or teams I recognized.
This is when I mention that my high school boys basketball team won the last single class basketball tournament. 1997. Bloomington High School North, Go Cougars!
The first part of the Hall of Fame shows team photos and school penants of the state champions over the years. I really like looking at old photos, because you can see how fashion changes. You can see how the 'typical' team photo changes over the years. They used to wear such short shorts, whereas now the 'shorts' reach so far down.

I took a photo of two penants next to each other. One said Milan, 1954. The other said Crispus Attucks, 1955. The movie "Hoosiers" is partly based on the state championship team of Milan. Crispus Attucks isn't as well known as a school, but in 1955 they had a player who was later known as Big O. Oscar Robertson.
Walking through the Hall of Fame we saw old letter jackets, cheerleading uniforms, more team photos. We saw a pair of basketball shoes that had been bronzed. We saw photos taken during games. We saw uniforms worn over the years. There were names of many players and teams over the years. You can walk through as quickly or as slowly as you like.
One sign that caught my notice was a piece of paper that lists the biggest high school basketball arenas in the country, by seating capacity. Of the top ten in the country, nine of them are in Indiana. The outlier is in Dallas, Texas.

After leaving the Hall of Fame, I drove to Knightstown. Another relatively small town in Indiana. I'm guessing most people have never heard of it. I hadn't, not before this day trip.
What many people have heard of is a movie called Hoosiers. This movie is regularly on the top 5 list of sports movies of all time. (Another classic sports movie is Breaking Away, maybe I should make a day trip out of that one too?) Hoosiers is the story of the state championship boys basketball season of 1954 in Milan, Indiana. In the movie, the school is in a town called Hickory, and the team mascot is the Husker. (Huskers are corn people, there is a LOT of corn in Indiana.)

The movie was released in November of 1986, with the character of Coach Norman Dale played by Gene Hackman.
Much of the movie was filmed in Knightstown. The cool thing is that you can still visit the gym in which 'Hickory' played its home games.  Nothing has been changed. They've even kept the same floor, with its dead spots. There is only one rule: you're not allowed to wear street shoes. You have to have sports shoes (running shoes, basketball shoes, etc.) No heels allowed.

When you walk into this gym, you feel like you're walking into the movie. AWESOME! The stands are still gray, there are still the same signs on the walls, and you see the score of the last 'game' played in the gym, against the fictional school of Terhune. There are basketballs available for visitors who want to shoot around. Despite growing up in Indiana, and playing a few (too many) seasons of Girls Club basketball, i'm terrible at the sport. Even so, I had fun shooting around for a bit. I'm not tall, I can't jump, and I have no coordination, but it was fun.
One of the volunteers showed Dad and me the locker room, which has also been kept as it was. Super different from how high school locker rooms are now. On display were a couple pairs of Chucks, the shoes teams wore back then. There was also a green chalkboard, some people had written some of the more famous quotes from the movie on the board.

After playing around for a while, Dad and I moved back into the lobby. They sell postcards and t-shirts. Of course I bought postcards :) I couldn't help it, I bought a t-shirt too.
After driving away from the Knightstown Community Center (as it is actually known) Dad and I stopped for snacks (= ice cream) at a local place. Yum.
Then we drove back to Bloomington.

tennessee and virginia: bristol

My friend Nancye used to live in Utah, but during the past year she had moved to Bristol, Tennessee. I had never heard of the town, but if you are into car racing, you probably know the name. I drove from the north side of Chicago to Bristol in one day. Not a fun drive, but not awful either. The worst traffic was when I crossed the river from Indiana to Kentucky, as they are building a new bridge. All the rerouting is really confusing. Note to google maps: fix your directions to nancye's house, you had me turn the wrong way onto her street!
The first night we stayed up chatting and catching up. She was a year ahead of me in high school, but we have a lot of friends in common and still keep in touch with many of the same people. She also suggested a place to meet for lunch the next day, and told me some places I could visit in town.

I had good intentions. I intended to get up a few hours earlier than lunch, explore a little, then meet Nancye for lunch. Instead, I slept a lot later than I expected, and barely made it to lunch. 7 minutes late. Argh. A lovely sandwich place. We sat outside, it was nice. Her office wouldn't mind working with this restaurant for some events, so she chatted briefly with the manager.
Then she went back to work and I walked around for a bit. Bristol is not a big town. I'm not sure how it works, because the town is located in two states, Tennessee and Virginia. State street, basically in the middle of town, is the border between the two states. There are boundary markers all the way down the street. Pretty nifty. Apparently there are two high schools, both named Bristol. Sales tax is higher in one state, income tax is higher in the other. At one end of the street there is a big sign over the whole street: Bristol TN VA, a good place to live. The sign has been there since the 1920s if I remember correctly.

While walking around I found the chamber of commerce, which has postcards. 50 cents for each. That's crazy! But seeing the photos showed me the existence of the boundary markers on the street, which of course made me want to take my own photo. In addition to these markers up and down the street, there are state flags down each side of the street. Tennessee on one side, Virginia on the other. During this short visit I wasn't able to figure out if people from each side have a strong sense of state pride. Hmmm, things to wonder.
I also found a fudgery. I don't know if that's a real word, but they had a lot of fudge, so I was happy. There should be more fudgeries around the world.
I saw the old train station, it's still quite pretty. I don't know if trains till come through the area?
In Cumberland square park I saw a couple memorials. I think one was WW2, the other was a big plane.

This park was across the street from the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. Apparently, back in 1927, a guy working for a record company came through the area and recorded a number of groups. These recordings are considered the birth of country music, as the style of music was different from what was heard around the rest of the country. There is an entire museum built around these recordings. You can listen to several of the recordings, watch a video explaining what happened, see some of the equipment used back then, etc... It's a small museum that can take quite a lot of time if you want. I didn't rush through, but I  didn't dawdle either.
Twice during my walk I ended up talking to people on the street because they started the conversation. You've probably heard something about friendly southern folks. One guy was rather impressed with himself, I found out (without asking) that he did high level security clearances for the government. 

Two ladies in an olive oil shop were quite passionate about olive oil.
Nancye arrived home not long after I did. We picked up subs from a place called Zero's and went back downtown for some live music. Bristol is the birthplace of country music, but is no longer the center of the industry, which is Nashville, TN. Howeva, people in Bristol still love live music, and there are plenty of ways to hear it. We took our subs, and a blanket, and went to a small park in town to listen to a band. Apparently this happens several nights a week, and plenty of townfolk show up to listen.
The next morning Nancye went to work again, and I did a much better job of getting out of bed at a reasonable hour. Why is this so hard to do when I go to sleep at a normal hour? 

My first stop was Bristol motor speedway. If you're into car racing, this is a well known place. (I'm not, so I'd never heard of it, but I figured I should visit a place so well known in the life of some people.) Twice a year a whole lot of people come to Bristol to watch cars race in circles around a half mile track. I don't get it. The ends of the track are very steeply banked. You can see how steep it is when workers are on the track, they can't stand up straight. I think I read that a car has to be going at least 80miles per hour in order to make the turns! I think you can take yours which involved going around the track in a car, I had no desire.
As the track is only half a mile, it's not big. So the stands around it go up more than out. I imagine it gets very loud during the races. I was excited when I saw one of the grandstands is named after me: Johnson grandstand (and terrace too!)

I hopped in my car (the same fabulous Prius) and drove to another area of town: to Steele creek park. Along the way I stopped at a hole in the wall for lunch, grilled cheese. Yum. Also on the menu was a bologna sandwich. I had no idea anyone would order that, let alone eat it!
Steele creek park isn't huge, but I liked it. The entry fee was $2, not bad. I'd looked online, and it seemed that I could find trails going around a small lake. It took me a minute, but I found what I wanted. The trails on one side of the lake were steeper than I expected, but well done. They were mulched, and easy to follow, but I still felt I was getting a physical challenge of sorts. Very pretty, except for the bugs. I hate bugs.
The other side of the lake trail was very flat, made of cement in some places. Due to the time of day I was there, this side was also very sunny. I didn't have much water with me, I wasn't feeling so great when I finished. 

Thank goodness for the water and Gatorade in the car :)
After I got home, Nancye picked me up and we went to a short yoga class at her gym. Nice way to stretch into the weekend.
The weekend we filled up with two day trips. (Read the other posts.)
The following Monday Nancye went to work and I went into town again. I mostly walked the streets just to see what I could see. I made another visit to a bakery I already loved. There is no such thing as too many brownies.
I had lunch at a place called Manna, a bagel sandwich and soup. In hot and humid weather I never want heavy food. They had plenty of yummy sounding items on the menu. Nancye tells me it's a great place to go on sunday mornings, when everything else in town is closed.

In the afternoon I met Nancye on her campus, she gave me a tour. King university is a Presbyterian school. There are approximately 1000 students on campus, half of which are athletes. There are another 2000 students online. Tuition is not cheap, but the campus is beautiful. Some of the athletic teams are national champions! She introduced me to one of the coaches, who happens to be Ukrainian. Awesome. At the bookstore I loaded up on postcards, much more affordable there.
After the tour we left campus and drove to yet another area of town. We visited the south holston dam. It's very different from any dam I've seen before, I liked it. I don't know how much water the area holds, or what happens when the rain is strong. There are flat trails around the area, we went for a stroll. There weren't too many people out there, it would be a great place to go running.

The next morning I packed up, and met Nancye on campus one more time. She gave me a King University swimming t-shirt, and we said our goodbyes.
Then I got 'on the road again.'

north carolina: asheville

The advantage to where Nancye lives (in Bristol, TN/VA,) is that it's close to a lot of other places worth visiting. A lot. One day we decided to do a day trip to Asheville, NC.
The drive to Asheville was only two hours or so. How awesome is that? We drove through the mountains, there were some wonderful views. So many places I would love to stop and hike for the day.
Since I was riding shotgun, I got to decide our itinerary for the day. My tripadvisor/triposo apps both suggested Asheville botanical gardens, which sounded nifty to us. The gardens are just outside the city, easy to get to. Follow the signs on the roads, don't rely on google maps directions, as those will take you to the wrong entrance.
We started in the visitors center to get maps and information about the gardens. There are some landscaped areas, and some wild areas. We also found a water fountain to fill up our water bottles. I wish water fountains with decent drinking water existed in more places. This area of the country in late July is already/hot and humid. You need a lot of liquid to stay properly hydrated.

We decided to stay with the landscaped areas, they were very nice. My favorite garden was probably the bonsai (pronounced bone-sai) garden. Quite a few of the trees were arranged in a small area, with descriptions of the trees as well as some history of this art.
We also saw a big model train, a garden arranged like a quilt, a quilt exhibit, and more. I bet the gardens are great in all four seasons. Nancye ended up buying a year long pass, I hope she gets to see the gardens in all the seasons. 
We drove into the city center and found parking, totally affordable :)
Nancye has been there before so she knew of a parking garage with a good location.
Our first stop in the city was called Lexington glassworks. We got to see guys blowing glass, making it into cups, vases, bowls, etc... Really pretty, I loved the bright colors. As the guys were working with the glass, they were also explaining what they were doing, and how it all works. They must've been so hot with the open furnace right there. I wish I had the money (and space to put things,) to buy pretty house stuff.
At that point we realized we were hungry. Asheville is full of restaurants. Heaps of them. It's a 'hippie' town, with a lot of focus on organic, healthy living. As we walked down the street there were cafes and restaurants everywhere, all of them independent.

A little further down the street we came to the park in the city center and found a festival of some kind in full swing. Yay for festivals and the food trucks that come with them. So many choices, we walked around all the trucks to see what was available. I ended up with a catfish sandwich and fried pickles. The sandwich was good, the pickles had too much breaking.
After people watching and eating, we continued walking. I wanted to find postcards, and ducked into a few stores, but totally struck out. Visiting a town like Asheville on a Sunday has one drawback: many stores and offices are closed. Oh well.
We did find a big church, but a mass was just starting so we didn't go in. It was pretty on the outside, I had to be satisfied with that. We also walked through a small park, it reminded me of people's park in Bloomington, IN. A bit on the sketchy side.

At that point we felt as though we had seen what we wanted to see, so we went back to the parking garage. On our way out of town we made two stops. One at Trader Joe's, because Nancye loves their sourdough bread. (And since I don't spend a lot of time in the states, I can always find something to eat/buy from that chain.)
The second stop was at a burrito shop. Neither one of us was hungry, as we had eaten just a couple hours ago, but one of nancye's friends said we had to try this place, so we got our burritos to go. BIG BURRITOS.
A couple hours later we were back in Bristol. I love day trips :)