inky and podkayne are twins-- both 2001 techno blue TDI's with a TDI badge centered over the rear hatch emblem, and a black perfect fit bra. after arriving in knoxville, we found that almost every car in the caravan so far is a TDI, very odd since the TDI is the least produced engine in the nb lineup.

asheville is a world of it's own. it's almost not like being in north carolina at all. the graffiti in the bathrooms is different; the kids are all hippies; i ordered a sandwich called the "Indira Ghandi" and everyone kept a perfectly straight face while i did so. while we were eating, a girl with a large snake draped over her shoulders and neck walked into the shop.

driving out of asheville was great-- fatboy slim on the stereo and a big, sweeping mountain road with a wonderful view. it all came to a screeching halt (quite literally) and we were at a dead stop for several minutes. then came about an hour of stop-start crawling. i rolled down my window and asked a trucker what was going on ahead. she said a truck had gone into a ditch. we were eventually forced off I-40; they had closed the entire road. I gave John my map and he navigated us back through some country roads to the highway, and we got to knoxville just in time for dinner.

we picked steve meister up on the FRS radio as we were approaching the hotel. he guided us in (it's hard to find) and as we were pulling in... what did i see but... an NB convertible!!! black with an absolutely stunning flame design covering the nose and streaking down the sides. the few photos i took do not do it justice-- i'll try and do better tomorrow, when they will (hopefully) put the top back down.

tyler and his brother met us at the restaurant-- oh yes, that boy is very excited to be driving to roswell this year!