Today: Arkansas and into Texas

Downtown Memphis

Today was sightseeing in Memphis. Tomorrow we continue west and an overnight stay near Texarkana.

The pictures tell the story of our day as tourists: a walk on Beale Street; a sightseeing ride on the Mississippi; Memphis barbecue at the historic Rendezvous; watching the “duck march” at the Peabody Hotel; and wrapping up the day with a horse drawn carriage ride. 
       

     

Elvis Radio

For our Memphis edition of the radio tour across the country we visited the studios of the Elvis Channel on Sirius-XM at their Graceland studios. It was fun meeting and hanging out with Big Jim Sykes while he was on the air. We swapped radio stories and listened to him talk about his work with lifelong Elvis friend, and former DJ, George Klein.

On to Memphis and Graceland

Wednesday we got “released” from Nashville and headed west. The RV has a new axle, two new tires and a clean bill of health.

There were so many other memories, highlights, costumes, memorabilia and other historic items. 

Our first stop in Memphis was Graceland. What an amazing experience.

There were many highlights. One was a visit to the Jungle Room (look for the green shag carpet in the picture). There, in 1976, he and musician friends set up a studio and recorded 16 songs including the wonderful Moody Blue - one of his last hits.

Another was a visit to Elvis’s racquetball building. It was there, in the lounge, that he sat at the piano and sang Unchained Melody, one of our favorite songs, before retiring to his room shortly before his passing. 

Nashville

Today was "tourist" day in Nashville, highlighted by lunch at Rotier's. Featured on the Food Network's show "Burger Land," the restaurant began in 1945 and not much has changed in the intervening 70 years. Their clientele has included Jimmy Buffett and Keith Urban. I had their signature cheeseburger served on a French roll.

Other stops for the day included Nashville's Parthenon and Andrew Jackson's Hermitage where I successfully managed to stay a few steps ahead of about 400 fourth graders on a field trip.

Stuck in Nashville

We're stuck in Nashville and our landlord is a plastic bear. 

Update: We had a tire blowout on our RV on I-40 and are delayed here about a week until we can get new tires and some minor damage fixed. There are a lot worse places to be stuck and we're about a mile from the "new" Grand Old Opry theater. This week we'll play tourists and visit Music Row, the Ryman, etc.

When Liz and I begin planning our journey, we developed a list of activities we wanted to pursue at every stop. Among them was attending Sunday mass at a local Catholic Church, another was visiting a Mexican restaurant to find the best margaritas. Today, we accomplished both in Pigeon Forge.  At Cielito Lindo, the margaritas are green, and good. 

Tomorrow, we head toward Memphis, with an overnight stop in Nashville. 

First leg of our trip totaled about 130 miles to Pigeon Forge where we have some delightful feathered neighbors. Tomorrow the Winter Carnival of Magic begins. 

After almost two years of planning and six weeks of moving and preparation, we embark on our first cross country trip later this week. First stop is Pigeon Forge, TN, for the Winter Carnival of Magic. After that we head west.

Here’s a rundown of the projected first three months -- or so -- of traveling:

1. PIGEON FORGE, TN
2. Nashville, TN (RON)
3. MEMPHIS, TN
4. Texarkana, AR (RON)
5. DALLAS, TX
6. Goodlett, TX (RON)
7. Tucumcari, NM (RON)
8. ALBUQUERQUE, NM
9. SEDONA, AZ
10. Kingman, AZ (RON)
11. Barstow, CA (RON)
12. LOS ANGELES AREA, CA
13. SAN FRANCISCO AREA, CA

NOTE #1: Planned stops of a week or more are listed in uppercase.
NOTE #2: “RON” is a military acronym for “remain overnight,” which means we’ll stay a night or two en route.
NOTE #3: All of the above is subject to change. Why? Because we can.