- Miles Today: 487
- Trip Total: 5837
- Weather: Partly cloudy then clear. High 92F at Fort Smith AR
- Roads: No problems.
- Today’s theme song: “Graceland” by Paul Simon
- Rodgerism: “Why don’t they have anything other than Elvis on the jukebox?”
- Rachionary: “Brubber” [bruh-behr] noun, adjective, The smell of burning rubber.
- AWTY?: 9
- Lesson: [edit] Never overnight at an unknown and uninspected campground.
Last night after setting up camp and getting settled on a very nice balmy evening, we thought someone had crashed into the RV it shook so violently. It was just a sudden 50-60mph wind gust, followed by hail and torrential rain, and lots of local lightning. The awning was ripped from the RV next to us and probably some others as well. But the storm passed in a couple of hours and this morning was warm, sunny and calm.
For our brief visit to Memphis, we found a nice place to dwell. Down at the end of Lonely Street is the Heartbreak Hotel, and behind that is a trailer-park. (A trailer park at Graceland? Who’da thunkit?)Like the song says, “…poor boys and pilgrims and families and we’re all going to Graceland.” This place is definitely a pilgrimage for many, judging by their decorated RV’s, and lots of big hairpieces and oversized sunglasses on many visitors.
I bought our tickets to Graceland so far in advance, that we got the first tour of the day.
My personal favorite was the Jungle Room, which doubled as an occasional recording studio. The green-shag carpeting on the ceiling helped with the acoustics.
The family gravesite next to the house was lined with hundreds of tributes, mostly from Elvis Fan Clubs from around the world. Some were a bit over the top, or tacky representations of idolatry beyond mere celebrity worship. But I guess it’s nothing I did not expect to see.
There are several small museums at the Graceland complex. One for cars, one for clothes, one for music, one for jets, etc…
… and each one has an entrance and an exit through a different gift shop with a different theme.
Last stop for lunch and the jukebox. As if our lunch selection wasn’t healthy enough, we decided to sample Elvis’ favorite, a grilled peanut-butter and banana sandwich.
Back on the road.
The Ozark Mountains are beautiful, with seemingly every kind of tree you could imagine. But everything is so incredibly dry. A small spark could really set off something big.
It never really cooled down enough to dry-camp without the air conditioner, so we found an RV park in Oklahoma City at about 9:30pm to stop for the night.[edit] I forgot the lesson when I first posted this, but it's ok because I really learned the lesson the next morning. The campground we stayed at was a completely different place in the daylight, and someplace I could never recommend. I don't know how they got rated in the Woodall's guide.