On my way home!

I decided to leave Memphis and drive until I had enough and just stay in a Walmart overnight. Due to the solar eclipse there wasn't a campground available anywhere east of my location. So I drove about 420 miles! Walmarts weren't letting people stay due to the eclipse also. I got out an exit and stayed at a beautiful Pilot station and truck stop.  They even had 4 spots specifically for RV's so there wouldn't be so much noise next to the trucks. It was great! There was a McDonalds connected to the station which made my day for dinner. Left in the morning and drove the rest of the way, 330 miles, home. Got in my driveway at about 3:30. Sooooo nice to be home!!! It was a great and fabulous trip. Looking forward to doing the northern U.S. Next year!

 

 

Arkansas & Tennesee

Today, Wednesday the 16th of August I am in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Downtown Riverside RV Park is right on the Arkansas River and the Bill Clinton Library is right on the other side of the walking bridge. You need a code to get in and out of the park and on and off the bridge.  Why is it that every big city is unsafe. Gives me the willies! I was looking up campgrounds for Memphis where I go in a few days. All reviews say not a safe area. What's up with that???

   

  

The Clinton Library was amazing! I had no idea what to expect as I have never been to any of the presidential libraries. It really is a library of his life, from childhood all the way thru presidency.  First there is a quite informative film to watch and then you just walk thru and read all the plaques. There was an exact duplicate of the Oval Office and some of the other rooms. The Old Grist Mill was in a beautiful park.  It was used in the movie Gone With the Wind.

 

      

Well from here I went on to Memphis to see Graceland. It was okay. I was never a real Elvis fan. The real Elvis fans were enamored at everything Elvis  anything. They even dressed like him. It was interesting about his family and to see all the things in the house from the 60's.  Outside of Graceland was gross, not even worth driving around. I stayed in the Graceland RV park that was directly across the street.  Even the RV park was kinda yucky! Again, not my thing but I didn't want to miss going there and being sorry. The week I was there was the anniversary of his death. So it was Elvis week! It was was crazy crowded.

  

The infamous jungle room!

    

  

OKC

Left Amarillo and moved on to OKC...Oklahoma City. Went to the OKC Memorial. Spent a few hours there. The museum brought you from minutes before the bombing of the Murrah , federal bldg, to after the execution of Timothy McVeigh. It was so well done. I think I read every plaque on the wall. So hard to believe that it was 22 years ago! Outside of the museum is a museum unto itself. There is a tree that was next to the bldg. that was not even damaged. There is now a stone wall around it and named "The Survival Tree". Beside that is the reflection pool. One side says 9:01 and the other side says 9:03. As I said in my Facebook post....heart wrenching! On the other side of the reflection pool are 168 empty chairs, I don't think I need to say what they represent.

      

From there I drove to Bricktown. It was once a falling apart unsafe city. It has been rejuvenated and starting to look real nice. I don't know how comfortable I would be walking around at night though. There are beggars on every corner! I guess it's a start. 

   

 They actually bring in sand for a little beach, lol!

Since it was raining and had to stop at supermarket I headed back to campground. Guess what? Another horrible storm. This time there weren't bad winds but flooding everywhere. Hope it's all gone when I leave tomorrow.

 

  

More in Albuquerque...

While in Albuquerque I went on the Sandia Peak tramway. It was a tramway up a ski resort on the gondola. Whoa! It was up, up, up. It went from 5000 feet to 10,378 feet. The view in every direction was superb. When you got to the top there were these little telescope things that were permanently pointed in the direction of something neat to look at. There was a chart and they were all numbered on the viewer. Great idea. Again, lots of hiking around the slopes which I did not do!

    

  

I then went to the Coronado Historic Site. Looked like a nothing from the entrance but wow it was so interesting. They gave a free tour of about an hour. The most interesting was the kiva, the most intact one in all the U.S. Kivas are used mostly for spiritual purposes, men only, and are built underground. We were allowed to go into this kiva. You had to go up a ladder and down an opening in the top of the kiva, down a ladder 16 feet. A little scary but well worth it. No picture are allowed inside the kiva. There are drawings and carvings on the walls, a fire place, a vent and a ground covering made out of yucca fibers.

 

  

  Fortunately that was not a rattlesnake. It was a big , long bull snake!

Just as an aside note, this was part of the entrance to the campground I was at. It was the Stagecoach RV Stop!After 5 days in Albuquerque  I went to Amarillo, Texas. Not much to do there so only staying overnight. That night though was a doozie. There was a storm that was horrific. 50 to 60 mile hour winds, hail, and lightning. I was told where the storm shelters were at my check in. The guys next to me went out to check on their motorcycle and they couldn't stand without holding on. So, I decided to wait it out. An hour and a half later, all over!  Whew!

Left in the morning and stopped at Cadillac ranch. Due to the storm everything was mud. Had to crawl under a barbed wire fence to get to the entrance. I really am nuts! It was kinda cool and funky. Glad I stopped so I can say I was there! 

 

  

Santa Fe

Wow, as my friend Donna said, you will love Santa Fe. Boy did I love it.  If you love shopping, as I do, then Santa Fe is the place. I found a place to park and wrote down on my phone the name of the restaurant I was parked next to. Off I went. First I went to Loretta Chapel that has a spiral staircase. It is beyond any architectural dreams. By all rights it should not be a functioning staircase. No one can understand why it is a working piece of art and no one really knows who built it! Just mind boggling.

  

To my surprise, right next door to the church was an open market swap meet! All kinds of stuff! I could have bought a bit of everything but at this point I need nothing and have no where to put anything. I did enjoy browsing around though. I then walked shop to shop and had a wonderful afternoon. I happened upon a French cafe and went in for lunch! It was delicious as you can see...

  

Well since I only had two hours on the meter I needed to head back to the car and put more money in. Put it in my phone gps and walked, and walked and walked. It kept taking me to the right name of the restaurant but the wrong place. I was almost in tears. It was almost an hour past my meter had expired that I just happened upon my car. There were two restaurants by that name . The one I was parked next to had a Roman numeral two after it which I did not write down. Totally exhausted I got in the car and just drove around for a while. I was in awe at some of the magnificent homes in the area.

   

On my way back to the RV park,I saw these beautiful tile murals so I pulled in to see if it was a museum or something. It was a recycle center! Go figure!!!