This year’s NCSEPS and NCRC meetings were both held in Asheville, which gave me an excuse to get out of town for the weekend. I headed out after OR on Friday, arriving just in time for the Retina Club dinner at Curate, where the salt cod puree and fried eggplant were still as good as I remembered. The constant drizzle on Saturday thwarted my hiking plans. So after presenting my poster in the morning, I returned to explore downtown, filling on dahi sev papdi and samosa chaat at Chai Pani, lamb gyro and fish tacos at the White Duck Taco Shop, and a big mug of oaxaca from the French Broad Chocolate Lounge. I took an afternoon nap in the car for a couple of hours amidst the downpour, then awoke to notice a newly-opened pinball museum nearby. Intrigued, I paid the $10 admission and spent another 2 hours reliving childhood memories of my favorite coin arcade pastime (mainly because I lacked the button-mashing skills for Street Fighter). The collection ranged from retro machines dating back to the 1950s to fancier ones from the 1990s like the Addams Family and Simpsons games which I so fondly remember. The weather recovered beautifully on Sunday, which made for a pleasant morning drive to Looking Glass Falls before I returned to the meeting to pick up a first-place award for the poster competition. I planned the drive back home along scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, stopping first at Mt Mitchell, the tallest peak of the Appalachians and highest point east of the Mississippi River. The observation tower at the summit offered awesome panoramas, while the Balsam Nature Trail provided macro shots of moss and ferns. Sadly, I had to abandon the other stops from my itinerary due to bad internet directions leading me astray for 3 hours along tortuous downhill US-50. I consoled myself with a bowl of pho from Vanloi 2 in Greensboro on the way back home. Despite missing out on the other waterfalls, my time with mother nature helped revitalize me for a busy OR at the VA tomorrow.