Smoking Pork – Asheville North Carolina
Smoking Pork – Asheville North Carolina July 19 -21, 2016
After arriving in Atlanta on the way to my sister’s house
early in the morning I drove off the exit leading to her house and lo and
behold there was that famous icon and beacon of the South, Waffle House, next
to the highway. It was just after six in
the morning so I decided to stop for a much needed cup of coffee, a waffle and
bacon of course. The staff inside was
typical, friendly full of helpful suggestions about the menu and also making sure
my coffee cup was full of hot coffee.
I ordered and eating my food when one of the waitresses
noticed my Alaska license plate on my rig and in the friendly southern fashion
asked if I had drove from Alaska to Atlanta and then proceed to ask questions about
living in igloos, fishing, the Aurora and its beauty. Several cups of coffee
later everyone’s questions were answered and I was on my way.
I arrived at my sister’s house spending time with her before
she left to do some personal business while also spending the rest of the
morning with other family members. Once
she returned it was a quick trip to the AT&T store for them to swap some
phones on the business account and if gave me an opportunity to pay my bill
without having to access the internet to do it. It was convenient for everyone
so lunch was gotten and taken back to the house so we could visit a bit before
I left for Asheville, North Carolina.
The schedule I was on to arrive at my friend Mike’s house
around seven thirty that evening had me leaving my family during the
mid-afternoon. The family gathered outside and took several photos before I
drove north. It was great seeing
everyone and I will return shortly after several family members return to
California the following week. The
family is still pretty devastated after my brother-in law’s death the fourth of
July. My sister and I sent time together
going over several things before I left and would continue when I returned the
next week.
I wanted to head north before the afternoon traffic started
to build so I left around three in the afternoon on a leisurely pace to the
Carolina’s. I stopped at a rest area just crossing into South Carolina at Lake
Hartwell to stretch and enjoy the flowers in the rest stop. It was quite crowded with people going to
places unknown. Tractor trailer trucks
filled their parking area while cars, campers, and other vehicles had the
parking spaces filled almost to capacity.
The State had pretty landscaping and flowers around the different
buildings. It was clean and had a nice
comfortable feel while stopping to use the rest rooms or inquire from the staff
on any tourist information needed. I
left and headed north once again shortly turning onto highway 25 towards
Asheville. I drove for another hour
before stopping at a DQ for a milkshake to cool off the almost one hundred
degree temperatures outside. I also put
more ice in the cooler to keep my items cold.
I proceeded past the North Carolina line just before seven
and arrived at my friend’s house about 7:45 PM.
He had not arrived from his weekly BBQ duties at the lodge. His roommate met and welcomed me into the
house where we talked for about an hour before Mike’s return. Once he returned
we fixed some dinner and talked how things were going in our lives over a beer
and discussed the plans for smoking the pork we were taking to our convention
in Kentucky the following day. The three of us talked until one thirty in the
morning before heading off to sleep.
The next morning after a quick breakfast it was time to go
shopping to get the pork and other items that we would be preparing for ABCon
our gaming convention. We stopped at several places before returning home and
starting the grill. Mike uses a “big
green egg” grill for his smoking activities and a Weber grill for grillin’
things. Once the coals were ready we put
in the wood chips a combination of hickory and apple wood and gave those about
ten to fifteen minutes to start producing the required smoke. We placed the two large pork butts in the
smoker and adjusted everything and left it to slow cook over the next several
hours.
We decided to take a drive to two nearby places I had not
been to since the mid-seventies, Lake Lure and Chimney Rock. Both were hang outs when I traveled to North
Carolina during my hang gliding period with tournaments at Grandfather
Mountain. I had several friends in the
area so anytime I was close I would usually stop in and see how they were
doing.
Lake Lure was still a small quaint little community
surrounding the Lake.
Tourist season was in full swing with many people in the
different shops or at the beach area.
Most of the houses surrounding the lake had people outside on the decks,
along the banks, or on the docks. There were still several familiar places open
all these years and a few newer places (shops) that I did not remember. It was
not crowded which is one of the big draws for the area but there were plenty of
people milling about. We drove to the dam, parked and got out to take
photos. It was pretty with the rocks
below and the spillway leading down a long valley. The lake side had several boats fishing just
outside the marked boundary area.
Chimney Rock was equally crowded with several old familiar
stores. One in particular was the ice
cream shop where I always stopped for a homemade chocolate cone. It was always a great treat to cool off with
a good cone or milkshake there. We did
not drive up the mountain to the rock but took photos from below of the
familiar rock and flag flying in the breeze on the mountain.
We drove up a mountain road to get to an overlook but in the
years since Mike had been up there it all had turned into private property so
we turned around and headed back down the mountain. We drove back to the house
and it was time to add just a bit more wood for smoking and turned the pork
over to evenly cook and get the right char on it. We would cook it for several more hours
before pulling it off, resting it for a bit then turning it into “pulled pork”
ready to take to ABCon. Mike also made
his own BBQ sauce to take with us.
By the time we finished up that evening it was after one in
the morning. We were to awake about
three to leave for Kentucky in time to pick up my friend Russ who was flying in
from British Columbia. Mike and I awoke and left just before four in the
morning driving out to I-40 west toward Knoxville through the mountains of
western North Carolina. We left in two
vehicles with Mike leading the way until we arrived on the interstate. The road was winding back and forth with
elevation changes going up one mountain then down the other side. It was slow going with many trucks out during
the dark hours making driving a cautious affair during this night.
Once we made the turn north onto I-75 it was still the
rolling hills but the road had become more straight and easier to drive before
the sun came up. We stopped at a
McDonald's for a bathroom stop and a cup of coffee at first light. One we drove back north on the highway again
you could see the makings of a beautiful sunrise. Off to the right of the highway were the
clouds starting to change colors between the dark purples of night to the
orange hues while making the change to the red hues as the sun broke the
horizon. At one point the road turned
and right in front was the sun rising in the distance about an inch above the
trees. It was almost blinding but the
road turned again where it was not directly in one’s eyes.
The GPS lead us off the interstate and down a few miles of
single lane road. We were almost to the
farm to drop my vehicle before heading to the airport in Cincinnati to pick up
Russ when the voice on the GPS told us to turn right and immediately told us we
had arrived with the destination on the left.
What struck me was there was a high school on the far left corner of the
intersection, a subdivision across from the school and a church on the other
corner. Looking up the hill as I turned
right was a pretty white house sitting on the hill. It did not really look like a farm only a
house on the hill. We turned around and
turned up the street between the school and the house and after driving about a
quarter of a mile arrived at the mailbox to the address we were seeking. We turned in and as we drove along the
driveway the “farm” opened up to us. There were rolling hills in the distance,
cows in the fields, corn, pumpkins, a barn, an old house and several out
buildings. We arrived at the white house
and saw our friends and hosts for the weekend sitting on the back porch in the
shade.
We parked and said our hellos since we had not seen them in
over a year and told them our plans to go to the airport to pick up Russ. We were the first to arrive and several more
were expected within the next hour. They
gave us directions to quickly and easily get back to the freeway and would see them
again shortly.
It only took about fifteen to twenty minutes to arrive at
the Cincinnati airport just over the state line into Ohio. Russ was through customs and waiting for us
as we drove up to pick him up. We
returned to the farm after a stop at the local store for some supplies, several
varieties of beer and snacks for the rest of the day.
We were ready for the start of the 16th Annual
ABCon, an online gaming community gathering where friends play with friends on
various games on the internet. At the
height of our membership there were over twelve thousand people. At our gatherings there have been ranges in
attendance from several people to over a hundred twenty in 2005 in Las
Vegas. The con is rotated to different
cities or locations each year around the country.
Let 2016 ABCon begin, welcome everyone!
Ice
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