Raleigh Trip - Day 5

When I woke up this morning (at 0615), I was reminded of the fact that it was time to move on from my trip to North Carolina.  Before thinking about leaving my comfy hotel room, though, I started teleworking (in attempt to complete a work day as early as possible).  At 0800, I took a break and went to breakfast in the Lobby of the Staybridge Suites (Morrisville).  With my meal completed, I went to the Fitness Center and spent 40 minutes on the stationary bike ("spinning machine"); in the end, I logged 8 miles!  The cute little boy I'd earlier seen at breakfast (and his mother) reappeared during this window (doing laundry in the adjacent room) - he wanted a fist bump and was very interested in the fitness equipment.  Once I was done with my workout, I went back to my room to keep teleworking.  For the rest of the morning, I only took short breaks (to do my own laundry and to pack up my car).  Meanwhile, outside, there were some sprinkles and nasty looking clouds.  It wasn't nearly as warm as the previous few days had been.  At 1245, I logged off my computer and finished packing up my car.  I felt confident logging off of my computer for the day because my work had allocated 3.5 hours for travel today.  After I checked out of the hotel, I stopped by the Business Center one more time to print out a few more items - the nifty printer they had was a really great amenity this week!  By1300, I departed Morrisville and the Raleigh suburbs.  By then, the temps were at 76 F and the sky was really sunny.  Initially, I used I-40 (waving goodbye to the Raleigh Durham Airport on my way past) and then got on I-885.  Before long, I reached NC-147 and it later became I-40, which I followed that all the way to the Greensboro suburbs.  Upon reaching NC-68, I got off the Interstate and drove south.  I arrived at my hotel, the Super 8 at Highpoint / Greensboro, by 1415 but didn't immediately check into my room.  Instead, I stopped at a nearby Sheetz (first time in a while) and filled up my (nearly empty) gas tank.  Somehow, I made a mistake and added E15 fuel, which is not intended for my Subaru.  It will be interesting to see if there are any negative consequences...  Next (1430), I went next door to a place called City BBQ and completely forgot that it was Good Friday (even though I'd remembered at breakfast time).  Oblivious to this, I ended up ordering and then enjoying some brisket and Texas sausage (with mac & cheese and green beans with bacon on the side).  It was nice to to try some delicious Carolina barbeque before I departed the Tarheel State!  Only after my plate was completely cleared did I realize, to my horror, that I should have had been fasting for a Lenten Friday.  As had happened before in these situations, I immediately "restarted the counter", vowing to do better until the end of the next day.  Fuel and food needs met, I drove across the street to my hotel and quickly checked into my room (1505).  Even though I probably could have stopped working for the day, I logged on to my computer again and was soon caught up on a work project that probably could have waited until Monday...  At 1445, I forced myself to end my work day and switched up updating my Nomad Life blog (I am so far behind at this point...).  More importantly, I began researching the route of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.  (Note - the entire reason why I chose the hotel was so I could explore this icon of North Carolina more fully.)  During this process, I discovered that there were several places (e.g., GSMNP, Asheville, etc.) where I'd already hiked sections of the trail system.  This encouraged me to take full advantage of the nice weather and closeness to a "road section" of MST - I can get a lot of miles during the next 24 hours!  Finally, at 1745, I departed my hotel for an afternoon hike.  My first stop was a park in the nearby town of Oak Ridge that appeared to be located along the trail through town.  I arrived at Town Park by 1800 and was greeted by 83 F temps and sunny weather.  While there, I found plenty of MST signs but also learned that I actually on a "road section" (meaning that the trail only follows the pavement) and that a hiking section was another mile to the west on Linville Road.  With that new information (and a photograph of a map on a billboard), I repositioned to the Beaver Trail parking area and geared up for some hiking (1810).  There were only a few cars in the lot and the weather was perfect for some miles in the woods!  Along the way, I encountered plenty of birds (including some brand new species for my eBird "Life List") and enjoyed walking behind lots of fancy homes.  Overall, I had a very pleasant walk and, by the time I was done, had logged 1.2 miles of MST (2.5 miles total).  Once I was back in my car (1910), I started following the MST ("road section") from the parking lot to the east.  Initially, I used NC-150 and ended up driving through an interesting place called the Oak Ridge Military Academy.  Switching to Bunch Road, I continued east until I could get on Brookbank Road and head north.  The MST then proceeded north until it rejoined NC-150.  Before long, I drove through a little town that identified itself as Historic Summerfield.  I then traveled south on Summerfield Road until I reach the parking lot for the "AYG" trailhead (at US-220).  My MST "road section" ended up concluding at 1935 after 10 miles on pavement).  From this location, my map showed a longer hiking section that followed the shoreline of Lake Brandt - I'll save that for a future visit to the area!  Hoping to locate a place to get some local beers, I drove south on US-220 and soon encountered a Tap Room called Craft City Sip In.  After arriving at 1945, I ordered a flight of beers and then enjoyed some live music (mostly '80s covers).  The venue was very loud and, even though the beer was good, I didn't stay as long as I sometimes do.  Instead, I departed at 1820 and returned to my hotel (via I-840 and I-40, then back roads).  Once I was in my room again (1840), I spent the rest of the evening watching streaming services (new episodes).  Before bed time (2330), I also updated my MST Tracker with all my pre-2026 miles - it turned out I'd completed 31 before I formally started trying to "finish the trail" today.  More tomorrow!  Mountains-to-Sea Trail Today = 11.2 miles / Grand Total MST = 42.2 miles