In Our Rear View

A Quick Trip To Indiana

We've been preparing for this trip north since the fall, when we discovered a couple front seams on our trailer coming apart. This was the biggest problem we've had to date, and as it turns out is a $7,000 fix! The frame has too much flex at the front hitch and expansion joint. BUMMER...we were 6 months out of warranty...after several conversations with the manufacturer, we agreed to drive the trailer to them if they did the repairs free of charge. I have a feeling, they didn't want one of their "new" lines showing up on the news coming apart on a freeway somewhere.

We made the best of the "side trip" to Indiana (as if anything is really a side-trip for us anymore : )

We planned stops in Shreveport, LA; Jackson, MS; Memphis and Nashville, TN; Louisville, KY and ending in Sharonville, Ohio. (GO REDS!!!)

On our way out of Texas, we decided to stop at NASA Houston. Glad we did. Very amazing place.

These were some HUGE rockets. I was overwhelmed by the size of this thing, which ultimately just carried this tiny cramped capsule of people in the front end.

There was a lot to see and do. The space program has lost a lot of it's luster and funding...that's a shame : ( There was a lot to see and learn here, some great docu-films and the best part...everything is REAL! Sorry Disney. We like your parks too, but there's nothing like the real thing baby : )

We learned quite a bit about the future of the space program as well.

Like what the next spacemen might actually look like...boy is the program in trouble!

Next (short) stop was Shreveport, LA. as I mentioned in the previous blog, we were very pleasantly surprised at the southern hospitality. No matter if it was a rest area, gas station, cafe, campground, coffee shop or retail store...everyone was just plain nice. For the most part, happy people interested in the things going on around them.

For music lover Sheila, Memphis and Nashville were must stops!

Memphis was up first. We stayed at the Graceland RV Resort (yes, right next door to Graceland).

Of all the music tours this was the most interesting to me. I did not grow up listening to Elvis, and knew very little about him. I came away with a huge appreciation for his place in music history.

We obviously toured the Presley "Mansion". I was surprised by how "unmansion" like it was by today's standards. I mean that as a compliment. Most rooms were no larger than today's average sizes. In fact, the kitchen was about half the size of our old house in Davenport. The furnishings though were a hoot! Wall to wall carpeting took on a whole new meaning, as a lot of walls and ceilings were carpeted. We saw the famed jungle room (living room) which again was not very large, but decorated with a jungle theme. There was a billiards room with wall to wall to ceiling fabric. And the basement (again half as big as our old Davenport house) was covered in mirrors and multiple "tiny" T.V.'s : )

The grounds around the Presley Estate had several sitting or meditation areas. He loved to have his fun, but liked his quiet spaces also.

For the first time, we decided to take an actual tour bus in Nashville. Just too much to see, and we only had a day. The 8-hour tour consisted of downtown Nashville, the Ryman Theater, Country Music Hall of Fame, the Historic Grand Old Opry and the Opryland Hotel.

Two things stood out above everything we saw. The history of the "circle of wood", we had our picture taken in it (above). Every country music singer who is anybody, has once stood in this circle. The circle moved to the Ryman Theater when the Grand Old Opry flooded and then moved back when it re-opened.

The second thing I'll remember is the Opryland Hotel. There is no way I can do it justice in these photos. We are already planning to get back there and stay a weekend in the hotel. It is one HUGE nature preserve in a completely controlled environment. The waterfalls recycle and naturally filter the river that contains water from hundreds of oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds and streams from all over the world.

(Yes, Lake Roosevelt, WA is listed as a water donor)

The picture below is the best view in "Tennessee".
You can see the Capital Building in the background center.

The tour guides very much over did the "flood" in Nashville though (in our humble opinion). We understand there was a flood, and a lot of historical artifacts were indeed lost. The Opry was closed and remodeled, etc...but in light of all the other disasters happening around the world, we didn't think we needed to be reminded of this one every fifteen minutes. To do the flood "justice", the image below shows the water line on the concrete (left hand side). It's a lighter concrete (the black arrow is kind of a reference point). This is the main entry for all performers at the Opry. The image on the right is one of dressing rooms. (we had a backstage pass to see everything).

The picture below is of the Original Ryman theater. This very old building has the second best acoustics in the world (Mormon Tabernacle is #1). WOW!

Onward to Louisville! Kentucky is an absolutely beautiful state. We took an entire day and just drove around the countryside. Ultimately we had a few covered bridges that we wanted to look for. Kentucky has the most surviving covered bridges.

Lastly, we stopped at the oldest and original "settlement" in Kentucky. This fort was very interesting to walk through. Fantastic job of making you feel (and explaining) what it was like to live here long ago.