North Carolina

On Monday, June 11^th we prepared to leave Greenville in a pouring rain. What a mess!  We were soaked by the time we closed up and hitched ‘Monty’ and drove over to the waste tank dumping area and drained the tanks. The rain continued to follow us as we drove towards Charlotte, North Carolina. At times it was raining so hard that the traffic on the freeway slowed to a crawl because you could hardly see the cars and trucks around you.

 

As we crossed into North Carolina the rain eased and finally turned into sprinkles. We only had thirty or so miles left to reach my brother Bob’s house when the trailer tire pressure system started alarming. We watched the air pressure in the tire fall as we raced towards the next exit. It seemed to take forever before we were able to exit and but as luck would have it we found a tire shop within a few blocks of the exit.

The tire that was losing air was the one that failed due to a cracked rim that happened as we entered Louisiana a few weeks ago. The rim had been temporarily replaced with a used Dodge truck rim and it wasn’t meant to

support the weight of our 5^th wheel for long.

Two new rims were waiting for us at Bob’s house! The tire shop put on the spare and we didn’t have to wait for our road service to come out and do it. We were back on the road in less than an hour.

It had been more than a decade since my brother and I had seen each other and it was great to see Bob at the end of his driveway as he greeted us and guided us in. We spent the rest of the day catching up and admiring all of his "Boy Toys".

Custom garage full of 'toys'

Cobra

Silver Corvette

White Corvette

1998 Ford

Harley

On Tuesday morning Jim and Bob, with much effort, removed the tires which were going to get the new rims, and took them in to have them mounted and balanced. Fortunately, Bob has a full auto shop with a lift for all of his ‘toys’… two corvettes, a Shelby Cobra, a 1998 Ford truck and a Harley Davidson motorcycle.

The two tires had to be replaced. One of them was under warranty because they found a defect while changing the rim. Guess we were lucky that it hadn’t decided to blow as the other tire was losing air!! What a mess that would have been!

Returning the spare tire to its place under the 5^th wheel presented another problem when Jim and Bob discovered that the pulley devise had broken. They removed it to see if they could repair it but ended up taking it in to a RV store and ordering a replacement which hopefully will arrive on Friday.

We have another major problem that will require a welder to fix. Jim decided that we needed to have a receiver put on the 5^th wheel to carry our generators. After bouncing across the country the support the receiver was welded to snapped. That has to be repaired because the receiver is now rubbing against our fresh water tank.  Grrrr!

On Thursday, June 14th we were all on pins and needles as, Courtney, my niece Gwen's 10yr.old daughter, had brain surgery to remove a non-malignant tumor. Gwen kept us updated through out the day with Facebook posts and a website, Caring Bridge.  Around 4 PM we found out that the surgery went well and the surgeon thought he had been able to remove the entire tumor.  Another MRI this morning should hopefully confirm it.

Friday, June 15th - The welder finally arrived, after he finished his regular job, to cut off the receiver from the 5th wheel and repair the damage done to the fractured support. The generators will be much safer riding in the bed of the truck again. When we return home Jim will be talking to the guy that did the original welding of the receiver and show him pictures of the damage caused by their shoddy workmanship.

South Carolina

Our visit with Dean, Missie and granddaughter, Grace is almost over.  It's been a busy week.

Our first night here, Dean & Missie brought pizza to the campground so I didn't have the cook.

G-Pa & Grace

Missie & Dean

We went to watch Gracie at her swim lessons at the YMCA, ate many delicious dinners prepared by Missie, saw the house they will be moving to next week and made S'Mores at our campfire on Saturday night. To top that all off, Gracie spent the night with G-Pa & G-Ma.

Grace in pink

 

Toasting marshmallows

Yum!

On The Road Again – Sun. June 3rd

Our plans had been to take in a show at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Unfortunately, we discovered the Opry is dark on Sundays and Mondays.  The Tuesday shows featured the Oak Ridge Boys and Carrie Underwood. We tried to make reservations but the only good seats available were for the 10 PM show.  We wouldn’t get back to the campground until after 1 PM and decided that was too late for us…. Bummer!

So we’re headed for South Carolina and a visit with Jim’s son, Dean, daughter-in-law, Missie and granddaughter, Grace. 

We will be spending a week at the Paris Mountain State Park while we visit with the kids.

Downtown Memphis – Beale Street “The Home of the Blues”

It was time for some housekeeping and laundry so on Friday we spent most of the day on those chores.  The park has a small laundry room with two washers & dryers so we didn’t have to go out in search of a Laundromat.

Beale Street

Almost there!

The Rendezvous

That afternoon we went to soak up some Beale Street color and have Memphis ribs. The ‘Rendezvous’ was recommended but we had some difficulty locating it up an alley.  With some help we finally found it.  The ribs were great… rubbed with spices and served.  Two different BBQ sauces, one hot & one regular, were on the table to add to the ribs if you wanted ‘wet’ ribs. 

Daylight on Beale

With our stomachs full we walked along the three main blocks of Beale Street.  It is sooo much nicer here than the French Quarter in New Orleans. It’s clean with no stench of urine and while you can have alcohol outside on the sidewalk & street, just like New Orleans, no one appeared to be drunk.   

 

With every few steps you would hear the Blues coming from another club…. and it was great music… just what we had come to hear!   At a small park we stopped to hear another band featuring Don Valentine.  They were very good and we bought one of their CD’s. (The sound quality left a lot to be desired but the music itself was good.)

Don Valentine & band

We found a table on the sidewalk outside of The Superior Club, ordered a few drinks and watched the show provided by street acrobats or tumblers. I don’t know what type of performer to call them.  They would start doing back flips up the street, continue past where we were sitting and stop half way down the street.  Amazing!! 

One beer for Jim

Beale Street's finest

As it started to get dark, more and more, people/tourists showed up to join the throng. It never got rowdy or out of control. That was probably due to a very strong police presence. Squad cars were parked up and down the streets and the police themselves walked the street. We only saw a couple of really drunk people and they were encouraged to walk on. It was getting late so we headed back to camp.

We decided to stay one more day (Sat.) so we could stock up on some supplies and after an Internet search we found a CostCo on the other side of Memphis.  While we shopped Jim had the tires on the truck rotated and then went back to camp for some R & R.

Graceland - Memphis, Tennessee

Wed. May 30^th - It was only a short drive up to Memphis from Tupelo and we pulled into a beautiful state park, T. O. Fuller, in Memphis no more than 7 miles from Graceland.  Our campsite is shaded by huge trees and the birds and tree squirrels are putting on a show.  Maybe it’s because of an approaching thunderstorm…our first one of the trip.

We plan to stay three days which should give us enough time to tour Graceland and Beale Street. 

On Thursday morning, with threats of more thunderstorms in the forecast, we drove to Graceland.  The parking lot was only partially filled and the ticket line was short. Elvis’s home is just across the street and everyone is shuttled across in vans.  Before you board the bus you’re given headsets to use throughout the tour.  This was a great idea because you can tour the mansion and grounds at your own pace and the headset becomes your own personal tour guide.  You are allowed to spend as much time as you want viewing all of the areas that are open to the public. These photos will speak for themselves.

 

"The Mansion"

Main Living Room

Jungle Room

One of many awards

Some of his awards

Two of many

 

A tour of the mansion and grounds was only part of our package so we returned to the shuttle to view a display of Elvis’s vehicles.  Jim recognized a black Rolls Royce as one that he and a friend saw at Elvis’s house in Bel Air.  It was parked in the driveway and Jim and Danny just walked up to it and opened the door.  Alarms sounded and they both took off and made a clean get away!

 Another time Jim spotted Elvis being chauffeured in the Rolls and followed it as Elvis returned a girl, maybe a date, to her home.

In addition to the vehicle display there also was one of Elvis’s airplanes.  The largest was a former Delta jet, named the ‘Lisa Marie’, which was reconfigured inside to have sitting/sleeping areas, bathrooms and a personal bedroom and bathroom for Elvis.  The other plane was a smaller jet that was used for quick trips. We were allowed to go inside both.

The Lisa Marie

Small Jet

It was a great tour and really made you realize what an impact Elvis had, not only during his life but also continuing after his death.  This year is the 35^th anniversary of his death and people are stilling coming from all over the world to visit.

Tupelo, Mississippi - The birthplace of Elvis Presley

 On Memorial Day we broke camp and headed north to Tupelo to visit Elvis Presley’s birthplace.

Jim is a huge fan of Elvis. When Elvis lived in Bel Air, and Jim was a teenager, he and some other members of the L.A. Elvis fan club drove up to Elvis’ house, knocked on the door and asked if they could see Elvis. Unbelievably, Elvis came to the door and talked with them. Jim has a photo of the occasion and it has a position of honor in our family room. 

Elvis invited them to come with him and his friends down to the neighborhood park for a game of touch football.  They didn’t have to be asked twice!! Jim learned first-hand that Elvis was a terrific person. Besides Elvis there were other up and coming stars at the game. The games continued for several weekends until the police asked Elvis to stop because it was causing traffic problems. Needless to say Jim will always be a devoted fan and now he finally has the opportunity to visit the birthplace and Graceland.

Late Monday afternoon we pulled into a small shaded campground near the Nachez Trace Parkway. On Tuesday, the 29^th we left camp to go into Tupelo and find Elvis’ birthplace.

Elvis was born in a small two room house which he later bought along with the 15 acres surrounding it.  He had the church he worshiped in as a boy moved to the property and it’s located near the house. There’s a museum with a lot of memorabilia and of course a gift shop.  We toured it all along with folks from all over Europe and various parts of the USA. Elvis still has a powerful draw.

  We went back into town to the local hardware store and it was almost as if we had stepped back in time except for all the modern products that were for sale. There was a sign that said that Elvis’ mother had purchased his first guitar in that store.  According to another sign we were a little too early for the yearly Elvis festival occurring June 2^nd to 3^rd. After leaving the crowds in New Orleans we were happy we missed it.

New Orleans Cemeteries

On Sunday the 27^th we drove to Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, the burial site of New Orleans infamous Voodoo Queen, Marie Leveau, only to be told at the visitor’s center that all cemeteries in New Orleans were closed on Sundays.  This cemetery is very small and old and we were disappointed that it was closed. As a consolation, I was able to get some photos of the mausoleums through the iron gates and Jim parked the truck near the cemetery wall and climbed into the truck bed to get some shots over the wall. I had really wanted to find Marie Leveau’s crypt to see all the scratches and marks left by previous visitors in hopes of rubbing off some of her black magic.

In our explorations of the city we had seen several cemeteries and decided to go to one of the larger ones along Esplanade Avenue. When we arrived we saw tour buses parked outside and people and cars inside…that meant it was open!  I guess the visitor center’s person didn’t know what she was talking about. Even though it was sweltering outside we left the comfort of the air conditioned truck and set out to walk among the mausoleums.

 

 
This cemetery is huge and has all sizes, shapes and ages of mausoleums, from humble to grand. Some have lost any identifying marks while others have dates indicating recent burials.  It appears that each one is meant to contain multiple members of a family. Along an outer wall of the cemetery there are places for individual burials.  It didn’t take too long before we both were dripping wet from the heat and humidity.

As we cooled down we drove around various neighborhoods.  There are still many homes that are boarded up from Katrina. Eighty percent of the city was under water and recovery has been slow! At one point in our drive traffic came to a halt because of what appeared to be some kind of New Orleans type parade, music and all. The entire street was filled with people milling around the musicians and there was no way anyone could continue down that street. We inched up until we came to a street we could turn on.

We were disappointed with most of the French Quarter due to it’s dirty condition. Buildings have been restored but there’s trash all over and just as many pot holes in the streets.

Tourists and drunks or maybe drunken tourists walked the streets and sidewalks.  The city allows open containers of alcohol on the sidewalks and streets as long as it’s not in a glass container. As we walked down a side street we came upon a woman that was squatting against a wall urinating in broad daylight.  It was obvious that she was drunk and didn’t seem too concerned about what she was doing. After a busy evening the streets in the French Quarter can smell like a urinal! Add the heat and humidity to that and OoooLaLa!? Maybe things are better on a non-holiday long weekend.

We never did go to Frenchman Street that night to listen to some jazz. I had my fill of the area and the music coming from some of the places along Bourbon Street wasn’t the style of jazz that I like. I wasn’t too sure it would be worth another trip down to the Quarter that night plus we had a long day ahead of us.  Tupelo, Mississippi… next stop.