Getting dirty!

Ever since we purchased a 2000 Nissan Frontier 4x4 and making some minor improvements, I have wanted to test it off road.   I finally had a free day and found a close location to test out the truck.  The guys at Outback ATV Park in Laurinburg recently opened a set of trails on 700 acres of land. Currently, most of the trails and obstacles are designed for dirt bikes and 4 wheelers.  Our truck was small enough to maneuver through the tight trails and we got stuck just once.  When we were finished riding the trails the truck didn't look the same. Three car washes later all of the mud was removed and she looked like new again.  I am ready for the next muddin' trip.

Click HERE to view the process from the first purchase of the vehicle to removing old bumper, valance, replacing tires, rims, painting trim and adding accessories.  I have more work to do and may lift the suspension just a bit more.

I love to be in my car and going places.  Going places means that the car is moving.  Sitting still surrounded by cars should take place in a parking lot, not on Interstate 485 south of Charlotte, N.C.  I have to ride this road a couple of times each month and try to avoid certain times.  Today I chose the wrong time.

Taking the long route to Cherokee

 For  the past two years my family has traveled to over 70 counties of North Carolina to visit and take a picture of the current and previous courthouse buildings.   Most of the remaining counties are in the western part of the state.  We planned a trip for June to locate courthouses for the south western section.  I mapped out that we could drive to approx 11 different counties in one day with our final destination just south of Cherokee in Dillsboro.    A point "A" to point "B" trip would  have been appox 4 hours.  The modified route had us on the road for 11 hours.  With prints outs of each county seat and iPhone GPS we took a very scenic route through the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We made stops in Murphy, Brevard, Hayesville and several other towns.   It's interesting to see how many small towns have been  though or in the process of revitalization.

The route took is up and down winding roads past steep cliffs and waterfalls.  We all slept well after the long day of riding.

The following day was spent site seeing the area including tubing down the Oconaluftee river, indoor putt putt and Paula Deans Kitchen at Cherokee Casino.   Site seeing continued the third day as we visited a few more courthouses with the final destination of the day being Asheville.

We arrive in Asheville in time to get the Buncombe County Courthouse photo and walk around downtown for a couple of hours.  Downtown Asheville was lively as usual with plenty of street performers and bakeries to slip inside for a snack.