500 Miles to Chapel Hill + Best Test-Drive Ever

We left Julie's at 8:30 in the morning and started our 7-hour drive to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where Ryan and Kirk went to school (and where Kirk grew up). It was a lush drive (the first major slug of driving I've done by myself, as Ryan and Kirk aren't registering with Hertz since they're only going to be around for a couple of days), and there was forestry everywhere, including several miles of winding roads in the Cherokee National Park. Here are some pictures:

(Knoxville, Tennessee Skyline.)

(I promise you that this sign says "Welcome to North Carolina")

(Not only are Chapel Hill and Durham both located off the same I-40 exit...)

(...But also UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke, bitter rivals, are separated by only 7 miles.)

(8,000 miles later, I finally drive get the chance to drive through a mountain.)

We arrived at Kirk's apartment complex, Kirk and I went for a run to his old high school (which is only a mile away from where he lives now), Ryan made some cocktails, we all jumped in the pool, and then Kirk let me test-drive his brand-new BMW 335i, which was, ahem, peppy.

(Well the video is about 6 seconds long, and the car doesn't start accelerating until at least one second into the video, so you do the math...did I mention the thing has a 300 horsepower twin-turbo?)

(If this were your car, you'd be smiling too.)

(Handsome face. The car, not the local hick in the shotgun seat.)

Now we are headed over to Kirk's parents' place, where we are going to spend the night. We'll throw our bags down, shower, change clothes, and then brace ourselves for a night out in Chapel Hill. Oh, and did I mention that all the students are back and classes don't start until next week? Because both of those facts are true. All that time I spent as a kid helping little old ladies cross the street seems to be paying off big time.