One year ago today, I took this selfie:

This is the story of how I got here.

We moved separately, kinda.

On Monday, July 14th of last year, the packers showed up at 209 West Drew back in Houston. Erin was super uncomfortable watching them paw through our things, though, and we still needed to get (a) a car being delivered to some friends and (b) our cats to North Carolina, so Erin and our best friend Eric left that morning on a two-day trek to Durham.

The packers arrived and did their thing, and were largely done by the end of the day.

Tuesday the 15th was empty; I ran errands. Wednesday, the actual packers came and loaded all our worldly goods into a giant truck — a process that still gives me the heebie jeebies, since (as with all cross country moves) our things would be on a truck with someone ELSE’s things, and there’d be stops between Houston and Durham. That night, I went down to Tiny Champion’s for my last Houston dinner, and the incomparable Justin V comped my meal as a goodbye gift.

Thursday morning (the 16th), I loaded up my duffle, strapped it to the Triumph, and lit out for the colonies. (I was gonna say “territories,” but in fact I was moving FROM the territories TO the colonies, since North Carolina is one of the original 13.)

I meandered my way northeast from Houston, trekking through deeply sketchy parts of Louisiana before I hit the Natchez and, of course, the river:

From there it was the Trace to Jackson and Mother, which put me at nearly 425 miles for the day. That’s not a long way, but it IS a long way on a classic-styled (ie non-touring) motorcycle.

Friday the 17th took me further up the Trace, which was getting pretty boring to be honest. Sure, it’s picturesque, but it’s the same kind of picturesque the whole way. There’s no elevation on it at all, and its protected nature means there’s also no commerce. I actually found myself getting SLEEPY from the monotony, so I stopped for coffee:

Lunch was a mighty burger at the Neon Pig in Tupelo, which was fine as those things go (and hat tip to Ride to Food for her generally excellent moto travelogues, and the Trace video in particular; the coffee stop was also on her guide):

I finished the day with a fast burn up a 4-laner through Huntsville and thence to my berth for the night, Chattanooga, after almost exactly as many miles as Thursday.

Saturday the 18th was the highlight of the trip, starting as it did at my favorite highfalootin’ brunch joint:

The peak (pun intended) was riding the Cherohala Skyway from eastern Tennessee into western North Carolina. It’s breathtaking and amazing, and you should go there at your earliest opportunity (preferably on a motorcycle; see this great vid about the area from moto Youtuber Doodle).

Lots of folks would’ve insisted on a detour through the (in)famous Tail of the Dragon, which in truth isn’t far from there, but it also gets VERY crowded. Where sporty riders and drivers are, “crowded” means “dangerous,” and the earliest I could’ve gotten there was around noon. On a SATURDAY. I skipped it, and instead opted to visit my paternal aunt and uncle over in Murphy. This visit turned out to be well timed; my aunt’s health was failing, and she passed away just five months later.

I ended Saturday in Asheville, after 292 miles, at this very weird hotel:

Then, on Sunday the 20th, I got home. Here’s the picture again, because I love it — this time, with the tag I added for Instagram:

Leaving a place after 31 years is a heavy thing to do. We miss people keenly, and we miss things that Houston’s scale could give us that a dramatically smaller place like the Triangle just can’t touch (the Menil, Dacamera, the restaurant scene, flying without connections). But living here has been a breath of fresh air we can’t stop taking. it’s beautiful everywhere you look; even inside Raleigh, the drive to the grocery store is beautiful. A huge chunk of the appeal is kinda summed up in a bit of dialog with our new neighbors when they were unloading the truck. She said “you’re going to love the area, but sorry in advance about all the heat, humidity, and traffic.”

Reader, I laughed. And a year later, I can tell you that we have encountered none of those things in meaningful quantities.

We love you all. Come visit.