Two States -- To Get Groceries?!

This morning we watched Juni and Tom go down the road --

and leave the RV Park here in Tunica are their way to Red Bay, Alabama and the Allegro Bay factory where they are going to have some warranty work done.

We were out of orange juice, so went into the Piggly-Wiggly in Tunica. I wanted to re-stock some staples for the kitchen as well as pick up a few things for next week. The prices were extremely high; the vegetables all looked wilted; and the meat department area smelled bad. I decided that I'd much drive the extra twenty miles to the Krogers that the GPS had shown.

I always forget that the GPS shows mileage as the crow flies... It was more like 30-35 miles! It was a nice drive through what they call the North Delta country. We saw this line-up of what looked like round bales.  But, when we got closer, we realized

that they were actually tightly packed bales of cotton. Quite a bit different looking then the boxcar-sized rectangles of cotton we saw in fields in Arizona last winter.

Not much later we found ourselves crossing this narrow two-lane bridge over the mighty Mississippi River into the State of Arkansas. The store in Helena, Arkansas that the GPS said was a Kroger, no longer was. It still wasn't great, but it was a lot better than the one in Tunica.

We got back to Mid-South RV Park just as the sun was setting --

These first two pictures were taken facing east --

While this one was towards the west --

Sunsets in Mississippi are gorgeous!

WINDY Day!

We went to bed last night with the sound of the wind blowing. We woke up this morning with the sound of the wind blowing feeling the gusts of the wind against Auntie Violet's sides.  We spent the morning listening to the sound of the wind and watching leaves -- and other stuff -- blowing across the lawn of the RV park. We listened to the wind this afternoon and watched the clouds racing across the sky with occasional patches of blue sky accented by black clouds. This evening we ate chicken and dumplings at Tom and Juni's motor home and listened to the wind buffet the sides of their house.

But all of a sudden, it is quiet.  Has it finally stopped? I asked Forry and he immediately hushed me -- "SH! It will hear you and start again!"

I am tired of the wind! It was windy in Arkansas at Tom Sawyer's RV Park. We had gusty winds when we drove into Mississippi. We've had wind ever since we arrived at Mid South RV Resort. I am so tired of the wind!

The King, Ducks and BB King

What a fun day we've had today!  We started out at Graceland back across the Mississippi River in Memphis. The home that Elvis Presley bought when he became a star is now a shrine to him and his music.

You sign up for a tour of the mansion and then take a shuttle bus basically across the street.  These are the gates of Graceland as seen through the shuttle bus windshield --

The living room at Graceland -- can you believe that l-o-n-g white sofa?

The tour takes you through the downstairs portion of the house and the basement, plus the addition that housed the racquetball court. The former racquetball court is lined with gold and platinum record awards.  And that's not all of them!

Glass cases hold many of the fantastic jumpsuits and outfits that the King wore at his performances. I don't recall what he was wearing the first time we saw him when we were teenagers -- at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.  When we saw him in the early seventies in Las Vegas, he was wearing something similar to these. I remember he had a red scarf around his neck.  He wiped his face with it and then tossed it into the audience.  I thought the lady who grabbed it was going to swoon --

Elvis Presley and his music was such a part of our teenage and early married years.  I can remember watching him on the Ed Sullivan show when they so carefully did NOT show anything below the waist! Elvis' grave is in the Meditation Garden behind the house along with those of his parents and grandmother. There were multiple bouquets of fresh and silk flowers that continue to arrive at
Graceland every day --

In the automobile museum next door are many of Elvis' automobiles, motorcycles and other mechanized toys.  I think I liked this purple Cadillac the best.  Or maybe the pink one?

Both of Elvis' airplanes are also on the tour. We had to chuckle at the color schemes and what was "hot" so many years ago.

From Graceland we drove downtown to the historic Peabody Hotel.  It was time to take a break in the lobby --

And to see the famous Peabody Marching Ducks in the fountain! Four females and a drake march down to the lobby from their penthouse quarters every morning at 11 AM and march back up at 5 PM.

The hotel has a "Duck Master," who trains and cares for them --

Here they are climbing out of the fountain for their trip down the red carpet --

People were lined up all along the mezzanine and the lobby to watch --

They follow the Duck Master down the red carpet and across the lobby to the elevator.  --
(The jerk in the blue shirt is a professional photographer from PBS... he kept getting in front of everyone!)

From The Peabody we walked a couple of blocks down to Beale Street to BB King's,  (King was not there tonight, but was playing in concert on the huge video screen) where we had wonderful ribs and the best catfish I've ever eaten. When I had asked the concierge at The Peabody for directions to BB King's, he gave me cards good for two free appetizers...

Memphis is much like Nashville -- even on a Tuesday night, downtown is alive and active! This shot is looking down Beale Street which was barricaded off from vehicle traffic --

It was an absolutely delightful day!  And we came back to Auntie Violet in time to watch the Country Music Awards being broadcast from Nashville. We had checked into the possibility of getting tickets last week when we were in Nashville, but they were already sold out.  Besides, it was "formal attire required." I don't think any of us have anything that fulfills that requirement in our RVs...!

And Now, Arkansas

When we were discussing what we wanted to do in Tennessee besides go to the Grand Ole Opry, I immediately said that I wanted to see Graceland. Well, we were in Nashville and Graceland is in Memphis -- almost across the state.  Tennessee is not a real big state, it's wide and skinny, but it was a good two hundred and thirty miles.  We followed Tom and Juni out of the Nashville Country RV Park this morning headed for Interstate 40 West --

It was long trip, but we finally came to the western edge of the state and approached the Mississippi River --

And right in the middle of the bridge, we crossed into Arkansas --

We had originally planned to stay at the RV Park at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, but Tom was on-line making the reservations and he found this really neat RV Park across the river in West Memphis, Arkansas.  It's called Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River RV Park and it really is right on the river!

I'm standing beside Auntie Violet where we are parked beside Tom and Juni in the above picture looking to the right across the gravel --

 And then looking to the left --

The weather forecast is predicting a thunderstorm tonight and the wind is really blowing already, but once it clears off, it should be a gorgeous night with this full moon --

The line of thunderstorms in Oklahoma, Texas and southern Arkansas is predicted to spawn tornadoes tonight, so everyone is a bit jumpy.  We have the NOAA weather radio turned on, even though it's not supposed to be bad this far north...