Friday 03 March 2006
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I thought I would toss about a photo of the place I am currently commuting to each week and give it a moment in the sun. Wilkesboro, NC is a small community in the foothills of NC about 90 minutes north of Charlotte, accessable from 421 off of I77 through NC. A pretty little town it shares the same problems most small towns face when industries move and this one will be no exception when in 2008 the company I am contracting for moves out and down to Mooresville, NC. Since it is a major employer here the only one left will be the Tyson chicken factory at the other end of town which sadly does not require the level of education or training this company will take with them. So it will loose between 20 and 30% or its upper middle and middle class all in one move.
An hour from Boone and Blowing Rock, it is nestled in the foothills making it a nice scenic drive no matter which way you choose to come in either on 421 or via 18 from the south. I generally take 18 to 321 in Lenoir and then from there to Gastonia where I hit I85 and travel the remainder of the way home until hitting I385 in Greenville, SC and then off to the suburb of Mauldin where I actually live. This method is the shortest route but not the fastest route because 18 is rural and during the summer the farmers and thier tractors are on the road slowing everyone down to 10mph and you are not going to be able to get around. If you try it is not unusual for the farmer to simply pull further over and block you (according to another person) so no sense in trying. Howevever if you can get out of here early enough then going down 421 to I77 then to I85 will work, but if you leave here late I77 becomes a parking lot around Moresville and continues to remain that way all the way to Charlotte. Speeds of 25-35 mph is all you can expect in the 65 mph zone after 5. So in essense you can choose to be blocked by farmers or by traffic on Fridays getting home. The quickest time here is 2 hours, 20 minutes on Sundays, but Fridays it is 2 hours 40 minutes by the rural route until Summer or up to 4 hours trying to use the Interstate. Yech.
Today I am fortunate and am leaving early enough where I am going to try I77 and hope I can get home at a decent time because the other way it would be time for the school buses to be out and of course one needs to be careful around them anyway for the childrens sake.
Time to go!
Posted by Wildhair on Friday 03 March 2006 - 10:36:10 |
