Asheville, NC

Made it to Asheville, NC today. Pretty uneventful and we're happy to report the jeep is still averaging 20 mpg. Pretty unbelievable because we've been pushing 70 mph on most legs. Who knew that 2.73 gears, a 2 barrel carb and 25 year old vacuum hoses would give us such good economy! We're stoked that our decision to purchase a 25 year old sport ute has turned into a fantastic rally vehicle. Today's challenge was to dress like Elvis. The thought of wearing polyester all day sounded awful so we really didn't prepare for today. We managed paint "Hunka Hunka Burnin Junk" in temporary paint on the truck and called it a day. We were going to paint sideburns on the truck but laziness took over and we didn't even get that far. We were tasked with taking pictures with 10 different groups of people along the way while in costume, but the whole scavenger hunt portion of the rally really isn't our thing, so we just drove to Asheville. We probably won't do the BABE again, so we'd like to think that we brought online vehicle tracking to the party and will go out on "a high note" a la George Costanza!

Ate lunch in Roanoke and ruined someone's outdoor lunch with our reverse, stall, reverse, stall parallel parking maneuver on Campbell Ave. We thought it was funny, but I'm sure that their salad with exhaust vinaigrette was not what they expected! Took a spur of the moment detour at Natural Bridge, VA and were thoroughly disappointed. Went down a long gravel road for a better view and didn't see much. Back on the road, we followed the suggested rally route and took the Blue Ridge Parkway. Little did we know that it was 188 miles and the speed limit was 45 mph. We met up with a fellow babe'r and followed the prelude team for a bit. Their motor was burning sooo much oil that we started to get sick of the fumes (and trust me, we're used to smelly exhaust by now) and bailed for the interstate. Our jeep really doesn't do well on the twisties, so the relatively straight interstate made for a much nicer journey. Plus 45 mph on the parkway is right in the awkward spot of the jeep staying in 2nd gear and roaring or abruptly upshifting into 3rd on the downhills. Not pleasant. Made it to Asheville and were greeted with a hotel room that reeked of cat urine. Seriously, we've been in a truck with no AC and still has a hint of dead deer blood, so this room was pretty rank. The hotel management quickly rectified the situation and gave us a new room.

We all took quick showers and jetted off on a trip to Hendersonville, NC to meet up with former coworkers for dinner. Saw a much nicer two door waggy on the way and thoroughly shocked the poor driver with our enthusiasm for his ride! We've noticed the further south we drive the more thumbs up and cheers the jeep gets. North of the Virginia border, we only got dumb looks and stares. After dinner we headed to downtown Asheville and met up with the black Festiva babe'rs and had a few drinks. Deals Gap tomorrow. Stayed tuned for videos of our rig barreling along the turns! Here's some pics from today: