After check-out, i drove a bit to find a Chipotle :), ate, and went over to the Biltmore.  The property is huge, 8,000 acres.  The house is the largest private residence in the USA and has about 178,000 sq ft (4 acres) of space inside.  I think they said 43 bathrooms, a swimming pool, a bowling alley and something like 250 rooms in the house.  It was decorated for Christmas.  I asked how many trees in the house… 62.

The grounds contain several different gardens, a village, and forests.  Outside of the grounds, the local businesses also have a more upscale appearance, including possibly the fanciest McDonald’s in existence.

I checked in to the property and purchased the day pass ($70).  From there I drove to the parking lot and boarded a shuttle.  We were dropped off in front of the house.  I toured the house, first.

Outside of the house, there is a courtyard with a gift shops and some food and drink shops.  The other direction leads to several different gardens, including a rose garden and conservatory.

After the gardens, I took the shuttle back to my car and then drove over to the village to do a wine tasting.  At the bar in the tasting room, the woman next to me struck up a conversation and I learned that her husband works in project management.  I exchanged some professional contact information. 🙂  The tasting was excellent!  I purchased two bottles and left Biltmore to meet up with my friends.

Jason and Abby live about 45 minutes from Asheville.  After seeing their home, we went into town to have dinner and drinks at a local hangout.  Additional friends of Jason and Abby joined us and we had a small group.  We returned to their home after a few hours and called it a night.

Not much sight-seeing today.  Last night’s dinner did not sit well.  As such, I didn’t fall asleep until about 2:30am.  The hotel’s fire alarm went off about 6:15am.  I checked outside to see if there was an obvious fire and didn’t see anything, so I packed my bag, put on my shoes, and went out to the main office to find out what was going on.  A new cook had started that morning and promptly set off the fire alarm.  I went back to try and sleep.  The alarm went off several more times and my neighbors were noisy outside for quite a while.

Much of today’s drive from Wytheville, VA to Asheville, NC went through Eastern Tennessee.  I did not see any smoke or evidence of the wild fires.  I thought I would be close enough to see the smoke, but I guess not.  Just before the border into North Carolina, there was a scenic view stop.

I drove into Asheville, NC.  I inquired about staying at the Biltmore so I could see the lights tonight and tour the grounds tomorrow, but rooms start at $300.  So, I’m in Asheville tonight and will pay the daily admission ($65) to tour Biltmore tomorrow.  Tomorrow evening, I catch up with Jason and Abby.  Thursday, I go into South Carolina and will complete having visited and “done something” in each of the continental United States.  Alaska will be the only unvisited state.

Miles: ~10,650

West Virginia currently does not have any SuperChargers.  It’s also mountainous.  This makes it tricky to plan a trip into the state.  I figured I would leave the SuperCharger in Lexington, Virginia with a full trip charge, head West on 64 to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, then see how much range I have remaining.  If enough, I’d wind SouthWest through the state and go back into Virginia for the SuperCharger at Wytheville.  If not, I could turn around and re-charge at Lexington before heading South through Virginia.

The last part of charging to a full charge takes the longest.  I had 218 miles when I arrived at the charger and spent nearly an hour to get to 246.  Being cold outside may have slowed the charging a bit, too.  A full charge for my car is now 250.  I also set the cruise to the speed limit, and kept the heat off to conserve energy.

As usual, I worried more than I needed to.  I arrived at the rest stop just outside of White Sulphur Springs and checked the route to the Wytheville, VA SuperCharger.  I had plenty of range remaining.  The rest stop had a scenic overlook behind the facilities.  I walked up and took some pictures.

I left 64 West and used 60 and then 63 to get to 219 South.  I saw signs for an Organ Cave and figured I would stop and check that out.  Unfortunately, it was closed for the season.  I continued driving on the two lane 219 enjoying the scenery and the curves of the road.  Most of the trip has been driving on Interstate highways.  I enjoy the smaller highways for the towns and the scenery.

I stopped in Union, West Virginia for lunch at Korner Kafe.  It was a small breakfast and lunch place.  The hostess / server knew everyone else by first name. 🙂

After lunch, I continued the drive to Wytheville, Virginia.  While charging, two cars arrived with extra equipment attached.  One was a Tesla Model S.  The two drivers set the Model S to charging and left in the other car.  I took a look at the car and noticed the additional cameras and gov’t plates.

I’m meeting up with my friends Jason and Abby on Wednesday in North Carolina.  Since I don’t have much distance to cover in the next 48 hours, I decided to stay in Wytheville.

After checking into the hotel, I stepped out to find a group of guys looking at my car.  We talked about the car and I showed them some of the features.  One guy said, “you’re from the future!”  🙂

A very pleasant surprise is that I have the fastest internet connection I’ve had since Julie’s house.  It took almost 3 hours to write the Terceira blog post because the picture upload speed was so slow.  It would take minutes to get one group of pictures uploaded.  Here, I uploaded the seven pictures above in a few seconds.

I also managed to get in a small workout and a shower before writing this blog.  I’ve gained some weight on this trip.  Need to eat better and workout more. 🙂

Miles ~10,500

Last night I purchased the new Metallica album including the live recordings of some past songs and one of the new songs.  I listened to that for the first few hours of my driving time today.  After Tesla’s version 8.0 software update, the Media player plays files in a folder in alphabetical order instead of number order.  So, some of the live recordings played in between the new songs.  It gave quite the contrast.  I’m fully meh on the new Metallica songs.

I stopped at Yorktown to explore some of America’s revolutionary history.  The Battle of Yorktown was the last major land battle in the war for independence.  The welcome center has an intro video that describes Washington’s army working with the French troops to outmaneuver the British and re-take Yorktown from Cornwallis.

Outside of the welcome center, visitors can walk around Yorktown and drive around the battlefield.  Yorktown is a mix of preserved historical buildings as well as current residents.  At the edge of town near the Welcome Center is the Yorktown Victory Monument.  The monument was authorized by Congress in 1781 but not built until 100 years later.

The earthen fortifications the armies built still exist in the battlefield and there are signs asking people not to walk on them so they last longer.

As I walked through the town, I noticed a street name that might amuse some people.

I drove West to Lexington, Virginia.  There are no SuperChargers in West Virginia.  So, I’m going to find something just over the border and then drive back into Virginia and head South into North Carolina tomorrow.

Miles ~10,300