October 31, 2012

 



Driving along the I-40 this morning.

 

We left Nashville this morning enroute to Walland, TN where we will take in the sights in this area before we begin to head south. The weather has been cold - high of only 50 today, and it's suppose to drop below 30 tonight. We've been told that we just missed all the colors, thanks to a fierce wind storm that blew through a week ago. But it was pretty just the same, still color out there - just most of the color is on the ground!

It doesn't look like there is any traffic on the road, but believe me it was not the case. There were a lot of trucks, but they move along pretty good. We enjoyed the journey...



October 30, 2012

 

The Grand Ole Opry
 
Well you cannot go to Nashville and not go to the Grand Ole Opry. After all this is the show that made country music famous. It began back in 1925, as a live radio broadcast, and it continues today.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

We were one day late to see Alison Krauss and The Charlie Daniels Band, but the entertainment was none-the-less excellent.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The grand entrance

 
"Opry goes Pink" was a one-night benefit for (breast) cancer and the lineup was predominately ladies. With the slogan "women rock for the cure" Kellie Pickler was the honorary hostess, and country singers included The Isaacs, Kristen Kelly, The Farm, Sarah Darling, Jeannie Seely and Mindy Smith. There was a token male performer, Little Jimmy Dickens, who is now 92 years old and still going strong. Well maybe a little wobbly. Do any of you out there remember him?
 
 



The Isaacs performing

We were quite impressed with the Grand Ole Opry, and surprised that it is still a live radio broadcast today, commercials and all.....

Kellie Pickler, who shaved her head for the cause, is seen here singing with a young girl from the audience.  The young girl had requested to sing "My Angel" with her and at the end of the song, some of the audience were shouting to give the girl a singing contract. She did have a beautiful voice. And not the least bit shy, she just took right over the song.

This theatre seats 4400 people and although it wasn't sold out tonight, there was still a good crowd.

One more thing to cross off the 'bucket list'!

October 29, 2012

Jack Daniel Distillery

Lynchburg is virtually synonymous with Jack Daniel, who built a distillery next to Cave Spring in the 1860's. It is the nations oldest registered distillery.

 



The Visitor Center Entrance

The spring water used to distill Jack Daniels Mash Whiskey

As we were unable to take pictures of the distilling process 'in action' we only have a few of the outside, but the tour was very interesting.  

They make their own barrels right here are Jack Daniel Distillery and did you know that those barrels are only used once?  

The man himself, in bronze!

The inside of Jack Daniels Visitor Center
 

This is a picture of Lynchburg's Town Square. The little town is virtually one block square, and home to quite a number of unique shops and restaurants. We had a great day visiting and thought that the 65 miles was worth the drive.

Sitting back now sipping on a Jack!! Cheers!!

October 28, 2012

Had to come to Nashville to get a picture with Elvis!

Nashville, TN
This afternoon we toured around 'The District', the spirited historic heart of downtown Nashville. Every few steps there were musicians singing on the street and in the bars and honky tonks....There were many shops and souvenier stores in which to browse and many restaurants to choose from. Something interesting every time you turned your head.



Check out this painted guitar - quite spectacular!!

 

This is a picture of downtown Nashville - before the giant rush - you should have seen it AFTER the football game ended. There were people and cars everywhere!! 

Here is a picture of a Tug boat on the Cumberland River, which runs through Nashville, and parallel with 1st Avenue in the downtown core. The stadium is across the river and the people were crossing this  footbridge that you see to get to the downtown area to party when the ball game ended - what a rush!! We saw a swarm of Colts and Titans jerseys invading the area - time to get out!! Although that was easier said than done!!

October 27, 2012 P.M.

 



Beale Street - After a busy morning at Graceland we drove through Memphis in search of Beale Street. With its blues clubs and brilliant neon signs, it is the heart of downtown Memphis' tourist district, and the place to go for souveniers. So we didn't want to miss it....We were surprized at how compact it is - it's really just a couple of blocks along Beale - so it's easy to hit all the stores in just a short time.  We stopped into B.B. King's Club and listened to the soulful sounds of the band. B.B.King, the King of the Blues, who has seen the rise, fall and rebirth of of Beale Street, started here in the 1940's. 

This is a picture of Beale Street this afternoon.

 

Dinner tonight - #2 of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives - Tom's BBQ
We decided to try his famous Rib Tips - and we have to say Guy was right again - they were awesome!!

 



Doesn't look like much from the outside, but the ribs were sure good!!

October 27, 2012 A.M.



This morning we visited Graceland!

I can now cross this off my bucket list!

We were there in the parking lot just after 9 a.m. in the motorhome.

 

 

We were among the first to arrive (Graceland opens at 9:00) and were lucky to be on the second shuttle bus to the mansion.

Elvis had a beautiful home with LOTS of BIG furniture (to accommodate the multitude of people who would gather there) like 15 foot chesterfields.... too cool. This is the living room, just a small example of his tastes.










This room was the most phenomenal of all. In this room are displayed some of his more ornate and 'remembered' suits, as well as his gold records...and the records covered more than just this one wall - they were on all walls. But the one you see here is wall to ceiling.




Elvis' airplane "Lisa Marie" - the larger of the two airplanes that he owned.
 



Elvis's final resting ground. His mother and father, as well as his grandmother are all burried here at Graceland.

So much to see - and I've only just touched on it - we were at Graceland for almost 4 hours. There were at least half a dozen exhibits besides the mansion, including his automobiles, his motorcyles, souvenier shops, there were home movies, a photo gallery, clothing displays - the list goes on.... then there were souvenier shops, restaurants, a place to have your picture taken with Elvis, and did I mention souvenier shops?  Yes there was paraphernalia everywhere - I LOVED IT!!! And of course Elvis sang the whole time.  

October 26, 2012

We drove through Oklahoma yesterday and Arkansas today following the I40 all the way.

 Tonight we arrived in Memphis, TN.  Here we'll stay for a couple of days, tour the area, see the sights.

 We went out for dinner upon arriving at 6:00. We parked the rig and car and walked the two plus blocks to "Uncle Lou's Famous Fried Chicken".... This is one recommended by Guy Fieri. It's in one of his "Diners, Drive-ins, Dives" books, and we were both excited to 'dine' there. He was right about the food - it's was great, tho all of it was fried - fried pickles, fried carrots, fried chicken......

 The service was great, the people very friendly. In fact, they were quite concerned about us walking in the dark back to our rig because this is a rough part of town, and the young man serving us "insisted" that he drive us back. What could we say - he wouldn't take no for an answer.  

So tonight we'll stay here in our rig in the parking lot of Dollar Junior, and tomorrow we'll visit Graceland!! Y-E-S !! I can hardly wait......

October 24, 2012

 "Old Town" Albuquerque

Spent a little time walking around Old Town this a morning. We enjoyed all the shops filled with indian jewellery, pottery and art.

 The famous "Balloon Festival" ended just this past weekend, so the streets were very quiet. Not sure if the merchants enjoyed the queit day as much as we did? 

We just sauntered about, snapped a few pictures, had a nice lunch.

We stayed at Hidden Valley RV Park in Tijaras, just 10 miles east of Albuquerque, so in the evening we drove up to Sandia Crest.

Sandia Crest, elevation 10,678 ft, is one mile above Albuquerque and two miles above sea level. From this point you can see in all diretions - 100 miles - on a clear day!! Unfortunately we never had a clear day, and with the wind it was very cold and hazy.

BUT,  I took a few pictures anyway. I was hoping to get a good sunset picture, but that didn't happen. It was so cold up there, I only lasted a few minutes and had to run back down to the car and warmth....

October 23, 2012

Meteor Crater  Windslow, Arizona

Today we stopped to visit and tour Meteor Crater, better known in the area as Barringer Crater.  It was a very interesting couple of hours. Here is a little history:

Fifty thousand years ago, a meteor ripped through the skies over the land we now call Arizona. Travelling at roughly 40,000 miles an hour (64,000 kilometers an hour) - 11 miles per second (18 kilometers per second) - it smashed into the surface of the high plateau. Within a few seconds, the resulting massive explorsion threw millions of tons of roch over the surrounding area, opening a crater three-quarters of a mile across and 700 feet (210 meters) deep. A shock wave of hurricane force winds flashed out in every direction, causing destruction for miles......

This test capsule, named Boiler Plate 29A never flew into space. Instead, the capsule was built in 1965 to tes the systems that helped Apollo space capsules float upright after splash-down at sea.

Michel and a piece of the meteor

The largest meteor ever found in the USA -

 
This is all that stands of the home, once owned by the Barringers, located on the rim of the crater. There is a good website that you can check out if you're interested in finding out more information about the Barringer Crater : www.barringercrater.com

There was a good group of people on this 'rim walk' tour, which lasted about and hour. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and quite the jokester..... photo shoot afterwards....

A panoramic view of the Meteor (Barringer) Crater

October 20, 2012

Hi everyone - hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I know we did.

We left home on Wednesday, October 17th. Gone for the winter to warmer climes!! Our destination this year is Florida. But we decided to head straight south to get some sun before we head east.... We had three days of beautiful driving weather, sunshine!! No rain - No snow!! First night we spent in Grangeville, Idaho. The second night we met up with friends Rich and Tina in Jackpot, Nevada.

The third night we spent at the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge (we stayed there last year on our way home). It was pretty full. Only half of a double site left available, so we pulled in behind a couple with Idaho licence plates. What an interesting couple! Patty and George Reynolds, from Anywhere, USA.... They've been living 'on the road' since 1976 when a great flood claimed pretty much everything they owned, except the trailer they were now pulling. They've been everywhere, done everything - and still going strong!! We always say "you gotta get outta your rig and say hi to your neighbour" - you just never know who you'll meet along the way!!

Today we arrived in Laughlin, Nevada. Here we'll hang out until Monday when we begin our eastern trek. The temperature was 80 degrees and tomorrow it's suppose to be higher......YES!!

Bye till next time - thanks for reading!

October 6, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Enjoy your turkey and have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Click on the turkey!