Asheville weekend Part 1

Stacy and I decided to meet in Asheville, NC. It is about halfway for each of us.

I beat her to the hotel by several hours since she had to work all day. I tossed my stuff in the closet, claimed which bed I was going to take, dragged my book out, and opened the curtains so I could enjoy the daylight while it was there.

I noticed there were 2 men in the parking lot next to an unmarked white van and they had about 7 coolers set up. They were wearing gray t-shirts with "EPA contractor" on them. After a few minutes, the 2 men put on heavy rubber gloves and began taking containers wrapped in bubble wrap out of the coolers.

It did seem a bit bizarre but I figured it couldn't be anything serious since they were doing all this activity next to the road.

An hour later they were still at it with yet more men and more coolers. I still wasn't overly concerned but I did mention it to the Bassman when I talked to him. He had a much different reaction.

"Call the hotel! Ask them what is going on! You have a pregnant daughter that will be staying with you and they are mixing chemicals in the parking lot? You should be concerned!"

His response made me way nervous. All sorts of things started drifting through my mind. Terrorists. Drug concoctions. Bombs.

I called the front desk and the woman who was working said she would go check it out. I could see out the window that she never did.

The next time I talked to my husband, he had ratcheted up his concern. "Call 911. Someone should check it out."

"But what if it is just some guys who are working for the EPA? How embarrassing will that be?" I asked.

"Better safe than sorry."

So I called 911. And they told me they would send out the fire department since it involved chemicals.

They didn't send firemen but they did send police. I watched them check out the containers then get in their car and leave. No one seemed too concerned.

On the news at 11 that night was a story about how the EPA was in town testing well water all over the city. Oops.