Vacation 2012 - Day 1: From Good to WTF is Going on in Asheville?

Earlier this year, my mother, my sister, a friend and myself decided to take a vacation. We planned to go to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where my mother has a time share. It's a sweet two bedroom condo in a woodsy area that is less than a 10 minute walk from the beach. My mother is not much of a fan of flying, so we planned to drive down. We figured that a one night stopover (demanded by my mother), coupled with the fact there were three people to do the driving - it would be a breeze. It's October and the leaves would all be changing, and the weather was expected to be nice, so it would be a nice scenic drive.

It all started off without a hitch. Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee were a breeze. There was much silliness, snacking and snoozing.We got to Knoxville, and although it wasn't late, it was getting dark. I could not see the point of stopping just because it was dark...I mean...really?  I said that I was fine driving the mountains at night (much to my mother's horror) and that I thought we should just go to Asheville, NC which is about an hour out of the mountains. There was much debate, but my mother caved, so we kept driving. What a freaking mistake.  I mean, I was fine in the mountains and the only thing that made me nervous was my mother's white-knuckling it the whole time. Anyway, we get out of the mountains and get to Asheville and start looking for a hotel. It was about 9pm -  a good time to stop as far as I was concerned.

Sweet fucking baby carrots..... We could not find a room to save our lives!!! Every hotel in Asheville, NC was booked. A hotel clerk finally told us to not bother going anywhere in the city because we wouldn't find anything. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. He said to go about 25-30 miles down the highway to the next town to see if they had a room. We get to Hendersonville, NC, and as in Asheville, there were NO OPEN ROOMS!!!! By this time, everyone was starting to get irritated. We all want to know WTF is going on in Asheville that you cannot find a hotel room in the middle of October within 100 miles of the place.  It was about 10:30-10:45 by this time.

EWWWWWW!!!

We get back on the road and get to Spartanburg,South Carolina. We give a hotel a call and CAN YOU FREAKING BELIEVE there's an open room!!! We stop at a gas station to get directions and the clerk told my friend You don't wanna go there! They got bedbugs!!  That's all my mother needed to hear. She was completely freaked out. She refused to go there and made us all get back on the road after we stop at a McDonald's since it had been 12 hours since we ate and everyone was all pissy with each other.

Where in the Blue Hell am I????

We get back on the road and end up in Newberry, South Carolina (aka - Bumblefvck, USA) and finally find a freaking room. At this point we are only 280 miles from Myrtle Beach, but we were so tired and crabby, it didn't matter AND we couldn't check into our room until 3pm anyway....

Stupid Homecoming....

We ask the clerk why every hotel room within a 100 mile radius of Asheville, NC was booked, and she said that it was homecoming. WHAT?? Seriously??? Fucking homecoming at the colleges books up every known room in the state of North Carolina and part of the state of South Carolina??? You must be joking!!!

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Needless to say, we made it to Myrtle Beach without further incident as well as without killing each other. Now, if I can just unwind enough to enjoy myself.....