Day 4: Memphis, TN to Big Stone Gap, VA

Day 4: Memphis, TN to Big Stone Gap, VA = 528.22 miles



What do a king, a greek god, and a minister all have in common?


Nothing...except they were all on our way to Virginia.

Day 4 started out with the most anticipated part of our roadtrip...a visit to Graceland!



Coming up to the house itself, I was surprised by the size of it. When I thought of Graceland, I thought of a huge mansion. It was still a nice sized house, but not a huge, opulent mansion. We were able to take a tour of the inside, but the downstairs only. The tour guide told us that Elvis always kept the upstairs his private space, only entertaining downstairs, so the upstairs was still kept off limits to visitors, out of respect for the King of Rock n' Roll. What we saw of downstairs was interesting enough.











Not really my style of decorating...but hey, to each their own. Some of it was pretty crazy, including shag carpeting on the wall, ceiling, etc.

We also got to tour the rest of the grounds, that included his dad's office, the trophy room and what used to be the racquetball court...which now holds all of his records, and costumes.







And we were able to pay our respects to the King. His gravesite rests there on the grounds of Graceland...



This has definitely been the highlight of our roadtrip across America.

We left Graceland, and continued our journey East toward Virginia. We spent most of the day just driving across the state of Tennessee. It was during this time that we had the most random thing happen to us on the journey. We've been using a GPS system to help us navigate, especially when we get off the beaten path to see some of the roadside distractions. As we neared Nashville, we had heard about a replica of the Parthenon in the city that we wanted to visit. We typed in the address into the GPS system, and it told us to get off the highway in just a few miles. Which was kind of weird, because we were still 30-40 miles away from Nashville. But we got off the road anyway, and followed the GPS unit.

Turn after turn we followed the directions of the GPS...not really knowing where it was taking us or why. We were in some small suburbs of Nashville, but no where close to Nashville itself. Then we realized that the GPS was taking us right back to the highway we had been on. Such a random, weird route with no reason at all for us taking it.

But if we hadn't taken it...we never would have seen some of the most beautiful countryside that we had seen all trip...or run across this neat little place:







After that fun little find on our weird detour, we made our way back onto the highway and into Nashville. There we found this replica of the Parthenon in the middle of a city park. It was built in 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial Expo. Why they chose the parthenon with a HUMONGOUS statue of Athena inside, I don't know...but it was interesting to see.





That was a neat place to take a brief pitstop at, but it was time to get back onto the road. We still had a long way to go, and it was getting late. But as we continued on past Nashville, we came to a little town called Crossville. I had heard of this place called the Ministers Treehouse and had directions to it. It was right off the highway, so even though the sun was beginning to go down, we decided to make a quick detour to see it.

I'm glad we did. It was definitely worth seeing.

But seriously, one of the most creepiest places I have ever been too...and it probably didn't help that we were there at sunset.









You could tell it had once been lived in. There were tell-tale signs. There was even a big room serving as a chapel, with pews, choir boxes, a pulpit and bible. But that just helped add to the creepiness of it all. Around every corner I kept expecting to see someone in a hockey mask jump out in front of us with a chainsaw.

But nothing like that happened. Katy & I made it safely out of there and continued on our way to Big Stone Gap, VA. It had been a very eventful day, but we were ready to hit the sack.

Tomorrow, I'll have more to tell, as we continued our trek across the USA. Until then...

~TT

P.S. Tennessee was SO beautiful! My favorite state, by far. Seriously, I want to move there...especially around the Nashville area. Loved it!

A little behind...

Okay...so our internet connection at the Heartbreak Hotel was not very good. I was not able to update my blog yesterday and update Day #3. It's on there today, when Day #4 should be on. However, that will have to wait until tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be able to post both Day 4 & 5 tomorrow. Until then, enjoy this new post!

~TT

Day 3: Oklahoma City to Memphis, TN

Day 3: Oklahoma City to Memphis, TN = 473.28 miles.

Woke up to a beautiful morning in Oklahoma City. We really enjoyed our night in the Hotel Skirvin. It was a beautiful hotel and our room was great. Check out these pictures:





Beautiful. Just wished we could have enjoyed it more. We didn't have any visitors to our room at the Skirvin...or, if we did we were too tired to hear or see them! And no, JoJo...no RED EYES in our room! :) I wish we had something to share from staying in a haunted hotel, but like I said...we were so tired, that if something did happen in the room, we never would have heard or seen it!

We got on the road fairly early, but not before we stopped to see a couple of things in the city. We drove over to the memorial sight of the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing. Right there in the heart of downtown, where the federal building use to stand. It was a beautiful, cool morning...a perfect time of day to see the memorial.





Each chair represents a life lost in the bombing. A sobering reminder, but a beautiful monument.

On a lighter note, we found that Oklahoma has another claim to fame:



That's right. Miss America, baby. 3 Miss America Pageant winners come from this lil' ol' state. Who knew?

After that we jumped back on the road again, and pretty much didn't stop until we hit Tennessee. Not much to stop and look at through the rest of Oklahoma and Arkansas, except cows. Lots of cows. Everywhere. Really. I don't remember the last time I saw so many cows.

I have to say though, I was surprised by how beautiful Arkansas was. Besides cows, there were lots of trees and rolling hills. Very picturesque.



Once we made it over the Mississippi river, we were in Memphis. We found our hotel - the Heartbreak Hotel. Right across the street from Graceland! Check out this pic:



A heart-shaped pool! Where's my bathing suit?

After a yummy dinner at Marlowe's Ribs (and a picture of the "hogmobile"),





we are relaxing at the Heartbreak Hotel. Tomorrow we will pay our respects to the King at Graceland, then it will be off to Viriginia.

Until then...

~TT

Day 2: Albuquerque to Oklahoma City

Day 2: Albuquerque, NM to Oklahoma City, OK = 543.74 miles

We've finished our second long day on the road. As am I writing this, I'm laying in my bed at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City. It feels so good to be laying in a soft, comfy bed...not sitting in a car.

It's been another fun day. We woke up to a clear sky and fresh air (thankfully!) in Albuquerque. We knew we needed to hit the road, but wanted to see something of that city before leaving. So, we headed down to the Historic Old Town district. It wasn't very big, but it was very picturesque.





After we saw the sights we headed on out to Oklahoma City, passing through the Big Ol' State of Texas.



Want to know what's between Albuquerque and Amarillo, TX?

A whole lot of this...



and some of this...



Just outside of Amarillo, TX things did get a little more interesting.



In a cow pasture just off the side of the road, between exits 60 & 62, you can find Cadillac Ranch. Just a bunch of old cars that a guy named Stanley Marsh buried halfway into the ground. It seems lots of people stop to pay their respects to this roadside distraction. You can even bring your own spray paint can and add your own touch to the structure.



We decided not to leave our mark...other than looking cute...



We also stopped in Amarillo for dinner. At a "little" place called "The Big Texan" - home to the 72 oz steak...which you can get for free if you can finish the whole dinner in 1 hour. Many try...but few succeed.

We didn't try.

Are you kidding?

Have you seen how much Katy usually eats?

We did enjoy a good dinner though. And, like they say, everything is bigger in Texas.







After stuffing ourselves (it was oh so good!) we headed out for the last leg of the trip...to Oklahoma City.



After a long day of driving and sightseeing, we made it to Oklahoma City. Day 2 of our 5-day road trip is done. Now it's time to relax in our beautiful room at the Hotel Skirvin. Then it's back on the road tomorrow.

Rumor has it this hotel is haunted. Especially the 10th floor. We are on the 9th. We'll see if anyone (or anything) decides to pay us a visit tonight...

~TT

Day 1: Phoenix to Albuquerque

Day 1: Gilbert, AZ to Albuquerque, NM = 408.84 miles

Well, we did it. We finished our first of 5 days on the road. Made it to Albuquerque, NM.

The day started off with lots of anticipation as we helped Katy finish packing up her boxes and getting everything ready for the movers.



The movers were scheduled to get to the house between 9am and 11am. We had everything ready by 9am in hopes they would get there closer to 9 than 11. Then we just sat and waited...

And waited...

And waited.

11am came and no movers. My lil sis called the moving company, who in turned said they would call the movers and call us back. To make a long story short, we found out about 40 minutes later that the movers were currently still in Tucson, and they wouldn't be able to make it to the house until tomorrow. That was just wonderful news.

After talking it over, we decided to still head out today anyway. We had our parents there to help get all of the stuffed packed into the van tomorrow. So, we finished loading up the car and began saying our good-byes.

Not an easy thing to do when one is moving 2500 miles away from family.



With the good-byes said, we headed out. Our first stop was Winslow, AZ. A dusty little town, it had one thing we came to see...Standin' on the Corner...



...such a fine sight to see.

They have a neat little park, there on the corner...with the statue...the sign...and speakers hidden somewhere playing the Eagles! :) I thought that was great.

We also got an eyeful of something else as we looked around...



Oh...wait...it's just a painting...whew...

After seeing all there was to see in Winslow (which took about 5 minutes...okay, maybe 10) we headed on to our final destination. Except for one brief stop at the Jackrabbit Trading Post...because, well, you know...here it is...



Anyway...next stop was Albuquerque...4 1/2 hours away...



Don't ask what those splotches are...I didn't.

We made it finally, to the Land of Enchantment. Is it enchanting? Well...we're not sure about enchanting...but it is a little stinky. At least a couple of the towns that we drove through had a peculiar spell. Again...we didn't ask. We just plugged our noses and hurried through as fast as we could. We'll have to wait for morning to see if it is enchanting. Since we got a late start today, we didn't roll into Albuquerque until 10pm. Maybe morning will also bring a little fresh air...

Tomorrow: Albuquerque to Oklahoma City. Hopefully minus any tornadoes. Stay tuned!

~TT

The Beginning

One of my favorite things to do in life is travel. I'm not talking about the "jet-setting around the world to glamorous places" traveling (don't get me wrong...I'd love to be able to do that). No, I'm talking about the "hop in the car and hit the road" type of traveling to see what kind of places - weird, wacky, wonderful - places that are out there in this great, big, beautiful world. That's what this blog is dedicated to...and even if no one else reads this...at least I'll have fun documenting my travels (and travails).

The main reason I'm starting this blog now is that in just 2 days I will be leaving on an adventure I've always wanted to take - a cross-country road trip. Apparently life just isn't exciting enough in Arizona for my lil' sis, Katy, and instead she has accepted a job in D.C. She's moving 2,457.50 miles from me and the rest of her family! I can't really blame her...I'd move with her, if I could. But I guess I'm doing the next best thing...helping her drive back to D.C. It's going to be a 5-day road trip from Arizona to Virginia. 5 days...in a car...with just the 2 of us...

Why did I think this would be fun...?

Anyway...There are a few things I'm hoping to accomplish on this trip:

1) See some of the beautiful scenery that makes up this awesome country that we live in;

2) Visit some roadside "distractions" that lend so much character to America's highways and byways; and

3) Try to have as good a relationship with my lil' sis after 5 days of 8-9 hours (at least) per day in the car, as I have now.

I have high hopes for the first two.

So, if you're one of the few people reading this blog, I hope that starting Saturday, March 27, you'll check back everyday for a new post...at least until Thursday, April 1 - that's when we are expected to reach Katy's new home in Virginia. And hopefully our temperaments will still be intact.

Like I said...I've always wanted to drive cross-country and I'm excited to be able to take this trip. After I'm done with this road trip, I hope to keep up with this blog. I have a few weird and wacky adventures already in my past - and I hope to have many more to come!

~T.T.