Final Week in NC + Car Trouble

My stay in Rougemont, NC was coming to an end, and exciting and fabulous end. Although I did get used to the living arrangements, I could not wait to move elsewhere. Somewhere with more light and fewer insects. The last week did not go as planned, yet was not as bad as it could. 

I helped the host to revise the Airbnb listing as hers was so outdated and poorly written. In exchange, she fed me delicious shrimp and poured amazing red wine. I would say, fair exchange. She was the representation of a future that I don't want to follow. A heavy smoker, independent, yet physically unable to do much due to multiple heath conditions and age, hence in need to hire help; a hoarder who was addicted to buying new things. The QVC channel was her go-to entertainment and the online shop where she bought everything. And by everything I mean multiple packages coming to her door every day. At the same time, she complained that she didn't have enough money for anything and was supporting herself with just Airbnb income. Indeed, as I mentioned before, this was the most expensive rental in my short digital nomad adventure. I felt bad for her. Her cooking was good, but she got complacent and started to drop hairs in her food. I could not say "no" to taking it. She had no friends (her words) and no family, nobody to care for besides her little dog and a history of success running three restaurants. The Airbnb itself was filed with memorabilia about her successful businesses, yet she found herself with little money left due to her lavish lifestyle. I don't want to judge, yet I do for my own sake. I want to be independent, but I don't want to be isolated like her.

Speaking of independency, after a nice hike in Occonechee Mountain State Natural Area I stopped by Weaver Street Market for the last time and picked up a delicious hazelnut pastry at Hillsborough Bakeshop & Pasta (my second one!), I decided to drop off a donation at the local pet supply store only to have found it closed. In the parking lot, I saw that my front tire was low and used my compressor to inflate it. That was after the "check engine" light came on this morning diagnosed with P0498 code.

Delicious hazelnut custard filing

...aaaaand a "check engine" light code

I considered going home first and deal with the flat tire the following day, but then found Hillsborough Tire Shop on the way home and decided to stop by to see if they could repair it. Within 15 minutes, the car was back upfront with my tire fixed for $19. A small needle penetrated it causing deflation. It was fixed in no time, and I was on my way home, happy, with just a "check engine" light that I would deal with at the next location. 

The hike was wonderful though. I found even more diverse mushrooms than before.

At Weaver Street Market, I picked up their hummus with a baguette the weekend before that was absolutely amazing, so I got hummus again.

I also used up my vegetables in the fridge to make a delicious breakfast and took the last photo of the area outside of my cottage.

I was ready to go. The morning of the move, I had everything packed up, stopped by the host's house who graciously gave me a bottle of pinot noir (she already knew what I liked) and some snacks. I decided not to write a review on Airbnb. I would not be honest if I wrote that I liked the place. I didn't. But it was a very unique experience, an experience that I was ready to be over. 

On the way to Pickens, SC, a 5-hour drive, I stopped by my favorite bakery in Greensboro and got a quiche, whole wheat bread and some pastries - the last goodbye to this area for a while. I will be back...

Eno River Confluence and Pump Station Trail

Eno River Confluence Natural Area was a nearby hiking activity organized by one of the women's hiking groups in the Triangle area. It was a combination with yoga that captured my attention. After an hour of beginner yoga in the park, the group hiked a trail that did not seem to be overly complex, yet we lost our route twice. It was great to socialize with a few like-minded people, but the hike itself was not overly memorable. In fact, I don't think I took any pictures as I was so busy talking to people.

Pump Station Trail to Laurel Bluffs Trail is another trail that I hiked twice. Yes, I know that it goes against my nature to only hike new trails, but this one was special. The first time I hiked it when I had COVID and didn't know I had it. I was a bit tired, so the whole route seemed a bit more challenging than it should have, but the trail itself was quite pleasant. 

The second time I hiked the trail was with a group of women a few weeks later, this time fully recovered. We took and extended loop at the end going through the pump station. Yet again, the variety of backgrounds of women in the group was refreshing.

I am so sick and tired of people leaving their trash everywhere!

Everywhere means in the serenity like this...

Turn around point, albeit not official

Overall, a great 5-6 mile, mostly in and out trail that has some incline, but not overly difficult.

Living in the Triangle in North Carolina

Some places feel like home right away, but others just don't. This is one of them. After 3 weeks of living in this Airbnb, I can say that I have been looking forward to moving to the next one. Since the moment I arrived... In fact, one indication of that is that I never unpacked my 3 boxes of kitchen stuff that so far have been unpacked on Day 1 of each arrival to the new place.

Let's focus on what I like about this place:

1. Its location. Only 15 minutes from Durham, the place is very quiet. I can hear cicadas every night when the noisy air conditioner goes to the sleep mode.
2. The host. She gives me vegetables from her garden, brings me wine and occasional cooked meals.
3. The amount of new to me kitchen appliances. I finally had a chance to try a high speed blender and InstaPot. Loved both of them. I also love the gigantic refrigerator, although that allows me to buy more food that I have to eat.
4. Shower pressure. It's very strong.
5. MiFi jetpack (aka hotspot). I love the darn thing. Such a great source for high speed internet regardless where you are as long as you have Verizon cell service.
6. There is a park within 5 minutes driving distance where I walk in the morning before it gets desperately hot and humid.

Now onto things that I don't like:

1. The place is old and unmaintained. The carpets are stained, the ceiling in the bedroom is falling apart and has been taped multiple times to preserve some sort of integrity. The overall feeling is that I don't want to touch anything, I don't walk barefoot, ever.
2. Bugs. I have to vacuum once every few days to clean them up. The building is below the ground about 6 inches, not a big deal, just a step down, but it is surrounded by bushes and plants that typically hide creatures such as crickets, millipedes, beetles, lizards, mosquitos and other wonders of nature that often accidentally end up away from their home environment into mine. Luckily, the bedroom is on the second floor, so it is somewhat protected from crawling types, yet the flying ones easily make it upstairs terrorizing the residents (well, me...).
3. Clutter. There is just too much stuff that is non-functional. The desk and multiple small tables, but no couch. Fifteen sets of dishes, a four slice toaster (the place could barely fit two people), a bunch of personal stuff that some may think adds character if you visit the place for a day or tow, but completely in the way when you actually live there. 
4. Lack of light. While the first floor has French doors - the main source of light - the second floor has two tiny windows that are perpetually open (they are so old that you can keep spinning the knob to close them and lose track of time) that don't offer either air flow or natural light.
5. There is nowhere to walk, I have to drive to the local park to go for a walk. Not the worst case scenario, but still affects my overall fitness and activity level.
6. How much I spent on this place. This so far has been the most expensive place, yet the worst.

I am not the only one who is not a big fan of this place. My cat is finally getting used to it, but still misses the open windows where he can look outside and listen to the birds. He does like running up and down the stairs, but is not as relaxed as he was in our previous places.

The good thing is that nothing is permanent, and in my case every place has its end date. Two third of the stay down, one third to go (who's counting?)

I've enjoyed the proximity of larger cities. I recently visited Sarah Duke Gardens and walked around there for an hour enjoying an enormous variety of plants.

The view from the main entrance

Cacti reminded me of California

I loved the diversity of plants in this small pond

My mother would have loved the color scheme of this arrangement

Beautiful fish waiting to be fed

Japanese water feature

Another day I went on a hike Occoneechee Mountain Loop Trail with an unexpected view from the top of the mountain. I returned there a few days later by hiking another longer route going through Hillsborough town. This pathway was more established with lots of foot traffic Hillsborough River Walk & Occoneeche Mountain Park.

The view from the top of the mountain

Deer who did not fear me one bit - this shot was taken maybe 6 ft from her

Interesting "village" displaying how amazing these huts are

One hut from the inside - bone dry after rain

This was a really odd display with no context, I liked the looks of it

I also decided to take a long drive to the coast to Wilmington. Located 3 hours away, the town became the home for a few friends of mine who I planned to meet with a few months ago. Unfortunately, the timing was not right, so I spent there a few hours solo enjoying the warm water of the Atlantic ocean, eating a sugary (and not in a good way) acai bowl at Adapt Kitchen near Wrightsville beach, stopping at Lidl and walking downtown where I found a pizza joint with an amazing margherita pie.

Rainy day on the beach

Loved this sign!

I joined a group of women hikers for a local sunrise hike (yep, starting at 6 am) and certain that the crowd around here would suit my beliefs and comfort zone should I decide to settle down here at some point in the future. In the meantime, I am trying to maximize my exploration while dealing with some uncertainties and doubts about the future.

COVID Ordeal Challenges While Living in Airbnb + Art in Durham

It got me... Two and a half years... Working in hospitals for over a year during the pandemic, I was vigilant protecting myself, but it finally got me. I first started having a sore throat, two days later progressing to a deep bronchial cough, mostly unilateral. The COVID home test resulted negative on day one, so I thought it was just a cold that it transitioning to bronchitis, but decided to go to the Urgent Care regardless. This was the only other option except going to the ER, which would have cost me a nice chunk of money, even with insurance. The challenge of living away from the home state is that I don't have my regular doctor around here, nor do I want to have one.

At the Urgent care, I requested a flu, strep and COVID tests. I was really surprised when the PA said I was positive for COVID. She prescribed me an inhaler, just in case and sent me on my way to isolate for 5 days. Gosh, I remember when isolation was 14 days!

The worst symptoms lasted only 2 days as I continued my steam breathing treatments. The last day of quarantine was two days ago, and while I am back at the gym, I will take it easy for a week to recover. I am so glad to have been vaccinated as I am back on the trails hiking 3 miles to start.

Rainy weather

I continue getting occasional tasty meals from my host. I asked her if she would make those delicious blueberry muffins if I gathered berries from the bushes. She said she would! With the muffins came a full dinner. A few days later, she stopped by with a tasty mozzarella fold served on spicy pretzels. Who thinks to serve something like that on pretzels?! Needless to say, while I froze a few muffins for future use, the meals are gone.

My work trip disappointingly was canceled as my team did not feel comfortable with me attending the retreat in person even though I would have been well beyond any required quarantine. I was really looking forward to it, but I had no say here.

On a good note, now that I am out of my quarantine, I visited 21cMuseumHotel in Durham with a really unique art exhibit that I believe correctly represents our current divided state of living in the US.

The museum also had a few other pieced I liked, including a bank vault in the basement!

Finally, Kitty stays by my side, always! Love all around here!

Little River Park & Occoneechee Mountain Natural Area in the Triangle Area (Durham, NC)

Little River Park was one of my favorite hiking spots in Rougemont, NC. Located only 5 minutes from my rental, the park was small but offered a whole lot! Most mornings I would go for a walk there before starting my work day. It was not a popular destination with tourists, but a pleasant retreat for locals. Most trails were relatively short, up to 3 miles round trip. The park was really nice a quiet, especially in the mornings when cicadas were most active. 

There was a short paved section at the beginning of the hikes

I loved the feeling of pine needles under the hiking shoes. They added softness to already comfortable shoes so that it felt like waking of soft sheets.

After multiple thunderstorms almost every day the floor of the forest was covered with different kinds of mushrooms, big or small.

Not sure what kind of mushrooms they were, but I left them alone in the wild for animals and other creatures to consume.

Occoneechee Mountain Natural Area was another peaceful park in Hillsborough, NC, only 20 minutes from my place. I hiked there several times. This was bit more challenging because of some elevation gain which in high temperatures plus humidity equaled lots of sweating. I hate sweating!

The main trail was just under 2.5 miles round trip with magnificent views from the top.

The trail itself was wonderful. Many spots had even wider variety of mushrooms than in Little River Park.

Somebody already nibbled on this one

On one occasion, I decided to hike to the park from a different spot starting in Hillsborough. The trail went along Hillsborough River Walk towards the park where I found a couple of interesting historic objects. 

Fabulous deer

Huts

Inside the hut

Some artistic piece

It turned out to be a longer trek than I signed up for, especially when the temperatures were over 90 F. I got to the the park loop and after visiting the overlook spot turned around. On the way back, I stopped by Weaver Street Market and got amazing local peaches and at the bakery (Hillsborough Bakeshop) where hazelnut pastry was calling my name.

Internet Issue Resolved + More Updates

After several days of the host calling Verizon (it's a terrible company to deal with when it comes to customer service, but excellent in their coverage of the US territory), the MiFi with unlimited data was set up, and now I have decent Internet! Who knew this would be a cause for celebration!

I am settling in, although it did take me 4 days to get used to this place and it still does not feel like home. So does Kitty. I guess we share the energy so much that we feed off each other. I set up a spot next to the only sunny spot, and he seems to have accepted it as his new sleeping place.

It is more comfortable, and I really enjoy the host who brings me occasional vegetables from her garden. I finally told her about the blueberries. She was surprised they are so ripe already. I did not share with her how much I consumed already, but offered to pick some for her if she made her famous blueberry muffins. She gladly agreed.

After a few stressful days, I am getting sick. This is the first real cold (home test was negative for COVID) I've had since 2020. Perhaps these masks were taken off too soon. I feel ok though, just have some cough and a sore throat.

I went to a yoga and hike event hosted by a local women's hiking group. It was nice to do beginner yoga outside for a change. The short hike afterwards along Eno River allowed me to interact with a few women who I could actually relate to on many levels. This was definitely a different crowd from Tennessee.

Yoga class outdoors

I went on another hike, this time solo, along Pump Station Trail to Laurel Bluffs trail. It was a peaceful hike with really nice views of gently flowing river. I thought it could be a great picnic opportunity in the future.