Stop 2 – Asheville, North Carolina - “Blind Busking” Live Stream Music Tour

Documenting a huge adventure in public.

Nov 15, 2020

Overview:

A small city tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains – Asheville, North Carolina. This was our second stop after Washington D.C. We arrived around 9 pm after driving all day. Initially, I was unsure how I would make it driving the remaining hour and a half to Ashville.

Rewind ---- We took a detour in Roanoke, VA to hit the Blue Ridge Parkway at sunset so the journey from DC was extended to over 9 hours!! Shortly after sunset on the Parkway, we headed back to the interstate to make better time and avoid the deer. We stopped at a gas station to fill up and use the restroom. The girl working inside was outside changing the garbage cans when we pulled up to the pump. After setting up the gas, Anthony gets out of the car with me and opens his cane. We walk inside and the girl yells out, “I’ll be right there”. After using the restroom we grab 2 waters from the cooler and move to the checkout. The girl was now behind the counter greeting other customers by name (rural North Carolina). She asks if we want anything other than water and I say no. Then as I go to pay she looks at me and said: “after ya’ll went inside a man in a blue truck pulled up and gave me this and told me to give it to you saying you two looked like you could use the extra help” – confused I look down in her hand to two crisp $100 bills. Shocked I blurt out “Anthony it’s $200” so he could also share in the excitement and confusion. He yells out “NO WAY, SHUT UP!” and the lady looks at us both and says “hey, I was just as confused as the two of you”.

We pay for the waters with a $20 and tell her to keep the change saying thank you for being honest and giving us the money she didn’t have to give us. She simply replied, “I’ll keep your change but I ain’t keeping that $200, that’s bad karma if I did that”. We walk outside shocked and I see the man in the blue truck, I nod at him and raise my hand up and he nods back. I tell Anthony “It’s him” and he tries to wave him down. The man sped off away from the highway. A stranger. An angel? After that moment it was not hard to drive the 1.5 hours to Asheville. We were fueled by the light of that man’s generosity.

The next morning we turn on the car and drive down the street for breakfast. After turning the car on, all the warning lights come on with it. We brush a check engine, low oil, at oil temp, abs breaks, and other warnings off as a “sensor issue” and decide to ignore the problem until the next day. We were in Asheville for 3 days so we didn’t need to worry about it now. We ventured to the farmers market and made a live stream from there.

The next morning we took the car to Subaru to have them read the computer. The car was worth about $4k and had 137,000 miles on all put on by me since I bought Ol’Bessy in December 2011. We diverted to fixing her more and moved on to the salesroom.

6 hours and a car loan later we were out of there without new wheels. Ol’ Bessy traded in for New Bessy. Leaving all the old in the past that sometimes a car can represent or hold on. Choosing intentionally to and move into the new and the hope of the future. What will we do with this car! How many days, weeks, years will we have her? What an exciting time it is for us!

Blind Busking Live Stream Music Tour — New car on left; Old car on right!

Later that night we had friends from NJ stop through on their way to San Diego and stay with us. It was great to share such a monumental moment together with such good friends.

The next morning, we packed up and headed south on the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville, NC to The Great Smokey Mountain National Park where we would camp deep in the wilderness for the evening.

To say the least, Asheville was an incredible time and it was certainly a place we will NEVER forget!!!!