asheville, i love you

courtney and i left durham, north carolina around noon. we drove down route 40, were briefly lost looking for route 19, which we eventually found and followed to the blue ridge parkway. the hour and a half we spent on the parkway was full of joy - courtney adeptly maneuvered around the sharp bends, through the clouds. the air was moist and clear, we were positively intoxicated.
i've never seen so many mountains, all clustered together, radiant and soft blue.

we made our way down the mountain into asheville, where my uncle mark met us and showed us around. a huge music gathering was taking place on lexington, and after milling about the show we went to rosetta's for dinner, a crowded little vegetarian/vegan restaurant.
there were lots of babies and lots of tattooed parents and vegan cheese and i was happy happy happy.

we met my aunt monica and her family (in town from georgia and maryland) at malaprops bookstore, where i found a highly coveted and hard to find ashtanga practice manual; we wandered towards a weekly wild drum/dance circle, then had drinks at a little cafe next to an old hotel/apartment complex where financiers apparently jumped to their deaths in the early 20th century.

tomorrow morning, courtney and i will wake up as early as possible and head to memphis, tennessee. we have reservations at a hostel called 'pilgrim house,' and we'll be spending the night there before driving to missouri for our first farm stay.