Well I made it this far.  I took the bus this morning from REI in Cary up to Banner Elk.  It was a really long ride–but I met some interesting and very chatty folks on the bus. There was one alarming moment when the bus nearly sideswiped an 18-wheeler and once we got in the mountains things were quite twisty especially for the poor guy that used the bathroom in the back of the bus.  But after nearly five hours on the road we got here.

I think I did all the things I needed to do at check in.  Then I schlepped my bags over to a baseball field and took a survey of where best to pitch my tent. Up against the fence seemed like a good spot. Amazingly, I managed to get my little tent all set up–I’m quite certain it’s the smallest one out there.  I’ve decided I’m a bit of a princess–in a very small kingdom.

Turns out there is something called the Bubba Zone, where for a modest fee, Bubba will provide you with an already-set-up tent plus a sleeping bag and air mattress every night. You don’t have to lug it, pitch it, disassemble it, and he has coffee in the morning. Hmmm… Too bad I didn’t find out about that six months ago.

Anyway I wandered into town and found some lunch around three o’clock–the group dinner is at 5.  I was going to go for one of the optional rides, but lunch was a higher priority. So I am going to poke around downtown Banner Elk now and make sure I know where to fill my water bottles in the morning. Cross your fingers and hope this gorgeous weather holds, for tomorrow we head downhill.