Elkin, NC (where?)

I never tire of the view from the BRP, which we travelled today from Asheville to Boone. If I was on this trip alone, I’d still be up there loving the rhythm of the road, but life is full of compromise, isn’t it? So we are in for the night at Elkin, NC (no, not Elkins WV!)

We started off the morning at the Flat Rock Village Bakery, picking up a few items for the road. Yum! Mike got ‘darling-ed’ by the person behind the counter as she asked if we needed help consuming our purchases. We told her she was welcome to join us on the parkway, but that it would be a one-way trip for her. She declined.

Later on, while Mike was driving, we were talking about him having been darling-ed earlier just as a doe stepped out on the road in front of us. Thank goodness when I said ‘oh, deer!’, Mike knew exactly what I meant and slowed to avoid the dear deer.

While we were at dinner, it was heartening to notice the open PDA between two guys out with what I took to be a family group at an adjacent table. We are in the middle of the state, not near any sizeable towns, probably not the most progressive part of North Carolina, so I noticed. If we were in a different place like NYC, would I have taken note? I sincerely doubt it. What does that say about how objectively I am able to observe the places we’re traveling through? Am I seeing things through the filter of what I’ve already decided I’ll find? I sure hope not. But I think I have to try harder.

And then, at our next stop, the Food Lion, this car pulled up along side of us to present the other side of the coin. Expectations met, sadly.

Sigh. But I still need to try harder.