Catching Up On Photos

These are some of the photos from Memphis Recording Studios and then moving on to Arkansas and the Bath Houses in Hot Springs.

This is the Visitor Center but was the Fordyce Bathhouse

Individual Baths would have looked like this. The dress was like the ones that the attendants would wear during  treatments.

Your own private power washer Youch!

These got out of order, but this is the door into the Stax Record Shop. Know what they are?

Mural on the side of a building in Memphis Music district

Stax recording Museum. This was a Neighborhood hangout for Issac Hayes, Aretha Franklin, B.B.King and Lou Rawles. Black and white artists came together here but then Martin Luther King was killed in Memphis. The racial wedge changed everything.

More murals

Issac Hayes Cadillac! Just a touch of Gold.  An Eldorado!

The Sun Studio is where Elvis recorded. Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and even U-2 recorded here

Inside the studio

Yes, the same picture....couldn't figure out how to delete.

This is the picture I wanted with Bill sitting at the bar where the musicians sat.

These four famous singers jammed together one night. It was the only time these four were together. They are Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Bill singing on the same microphone that elvis used.

This mural is on a building back in Hot Springs Arkansas.

This free parking lot in Hot Springs closes at 10:00 p.m.and they discourage cars from re-entering. They aren't kidding.

Personal Steam Bath At the Fordyce.

Don't  even want to know what this table is for.   Actual for massage therapy!

Quapaw Bath House

Lamar Bath House

This is 180 degree water spray at the spa

Buck Staff Spa

These are filling stations for hot water from the springs. Anyone can take water. There are cold springs filling stations thru  out the area for all people to benefit from the mineral water.

Hot Springs Vents in the promenade area

Water can be 142 degrees

Steam Rising

Original view of Bath House Row

Years Later after landscaping

Another Bar on Beale Street in Memphis.

Another Great Day

We left The Mesa Verde Campground this Morning in Lubbock Texas.

We are the proud owners of a new Bicycle Rack. Our old one had some parts that broke and we were lucky the bikes didn't fall off. There was no real damage to the bikes, but there are some new scratches we can paint when we get home. Poor Bill spent a good part of the day yesterday finding a replacement. Missing parts, and wrong instructions really made the task no fun. Plus most racks we looked at were not for Fifth Wheels. We found something at Walmart's and are going to take our chances.

We checked in our New campground in Dexter, New Mexico. We are about 9 miles from Roswell,    which is known for the International UFO Museum, The Walker Aviation Museum and Research Center as well as the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

We went to the J. Kennedy Smith Bird Sanctuary this evening and watched birds in their natural  habitat. There were turtles, varieties of ducks and a ton birds. Time to get out the bird guides. I did remember the trusty binoculars and saw some  Rose Throated Grosbeaks. It was kind of cool because the sanctuary has large metal garbage cans filled with seed so you can feed the birds and fill the platform feeders that are around the park.

Pictures to follow on this location. I bet you can't wait.

Oh yes, I got some really good pictures of antelopes off the side of the road. They are like the deer in Michigan. Crazy to see the grazing on the scrubby  grass in the fields . The crops of cotton in the fields has been harvested,  and the soil was red for awhile. There are peanut fields too! Did you know that peanuts grow on bushes not trees and they are legumes. There is winery in the area that gives tours on Saturdays of the Pistachio Farms here too! Wine and Pistachio's....I'll let you know.

Hope you are all well! Love to all.

Memphis, Home of Music and Elvis

I thought I would put in a few more photos. These were in Memphis. We visited Elvis's  home called   Graceland,  toured his two planes and a few music recording studios in the area.

Tourists

This is the room that Elvis entertained in. It was the Record Room and had many Televisions playing different stations  at the same time. Elvis was a fan of all sports.

This was the Pool Room. The entire room is covered in fabric. Check out the ceiling!

This is the Jungle Room. It was the favorite place to sit with his daughter Lisa Marie.

Elvis brought the body of his Mom and twin Brother from Forest Lawn Cemetery to rest in Graceland. He is also buried there. When his Father passed away the entire family is together again.

Just a few of Elvis's Toys

Just one of his planes. They say he was a lot of fun. He once heard Lisa Marie had never played in the snow so he took the family and jumped on the plane to fly to Colorado to make snow angels with her and then turned right around and flew home!

A beautiful night for a ride!

Fit for a Princess

Beale Street is so colorful at night. Reminded us of Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

Home of the Big Ass Beer!

Our New Friend Gregg at the Tap Room

Finally Photos!

My plan is to include some photos of a few of the spots we visited since we left snow covered Michigan. A little birdy told me there was quite a powdering today and it always looks so pretty in pictures. The reality is, it can cause quite a bit of chaos.

          This is our first Campsite in Four Mile Creek in Montgomery Bell State Park, Tennessee.

                                        Toby and Belle are not very thrilled with the car ride.

                                               Mr Bill taking charge of the steering wheel.

                                In the visitors center we saw this specimen of an Albino Deer.

Well, I guess that is about all I can add from our first day on the road. Hope all of you are done shoveling! Miss you all.

How would you like to live in Bucksnort

A Little Rainy But That's Okay!

Sunday morning we got up to more drizzle so we just took our time and waited for the sun to come out. It was kind of nice to just enjoy our coffee and not have to go anywhere. Toby and Belle had settled at our feet and enjoyed a wide array of their favorite snacks.

About noon we decided to take a hike to the top of the mountain behind our campsite in the Hot Spring National Park. Several trails branch off the trailhead there. The first part was steep but we persevered and made it the whole mile and one half. Sweating, but we made it.  We were on the way to Goat Rock. We kept going and the trail leveled a bit but we enjoyed being out there together. We read the map, fumbled farther along and eventually were able to direct other trail blazers to the next mile marker. Coming down was much easier but descending we watched our steps because the rain had made the rocks slippery.

We had a quick lunch and the went into town to refill our jugs for the trip tomorrow to Texas. We took some cool pictures of  downtown Bath House Row, murals painted on the sides of the old buildings and oh, yes, a picture of our favorite Bartender, Mark, at the Ohio Club, where we had lunch the day before.

It seems like many of the people in all the places we have visited in Tennessee, Arkansas, and now Texas are actually from somewhere else. Many were from California and said how much we were going to enjoy our visit there.

Monday morning we got an early start and made it to Fort Towson, Oklahoma. We spent the night on the lake at Raymond Gray State Park. There were only 36 sites and we got a beautiful one lakeside. All the campsites placed the trailers along the lake so we had a spectacular view of the sunset. We took the pups for a long deserved walk. We found a turtle shell, some clam shells and even tormented a  pair of geese. Well really, Belle gave them what for. Toby just found every possible rock along the way to tinkle on.

We woke up to more rain but headed out to, Wichita Falls, Texas. We stopped for the night at a Good Sams Campground where they had nice facilities and a Walmart..We borrowed some movies from the office.  I tried the oven in the camper and made a great pizza with a salad.

I wanted to get a few more things on the Blog but still can't get the pictures to download.  I will. They say three is a charm.

Tomorrow we are off to Lubbock, Texas. There is a Campers World there and we need a few things. The weather is supposed to be sunny and warmer. Yay!!!!! One week on the road and I feel like we are making great time and yet taking our time.

Looking forward to what is ahead and will keep you all posted about our progress. I hope you are all well and we miss you all.

More from Hot Springs

We also discovered that the Oaklawn Race Track has started back up  here in February. The three year old horses begin winning points and money here, making their way to the three big races that make  up the triple crown. American Pharaoh ran here last year and there was a real crowd of horse enthusiasts around town.

Around town are places where people can fill up jugs of water from the Springs. We filled up our water jugs with water from the Hot Springs which comes out in some places around 143 degrees F. Many of the spring openings are covered so they are protected from contamination. I have some really beautiful pictures but couldn't manage to attach them. I will keep trying.

Keep you posted.

I hope you all are well!

Moving Along!

Well, we arrived on Monday at Montgomery State Park. We spent two full days wandering around the town. We visited Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley,  got to tour his two private Jets and then we went downtown to check out the town nightlife. Beale Street is similar to Bourbon Street in New Orleans. It is about two blocks long, blocked off from traffic and loaded with restaurants, bars and Crazy people. As the darkness set in the lights came on and then WOW, so much fun. We added to our collection of Big Ass Beer Cups and enjoyed a Memphis Rib dinner at a karaoke  bar featuring Jerry Lee Lewis music and a great band.

The next day we toured Stax Records which was a local company that really featured local Black as well as white artists like B.B.King, Isaac Hayes, Aretha Franklin, and many more. After Martin Luther King was killed in Memphis the studio felt the racial tension that they hadn't experienced before. Over the next few years the company changed and eventually went out of business. Years later it was reborn and now is a museum and a charter school.

Next we went to Sun Records and toured the studio where Elvis recorded his first record. It was interesting how he once jammed with Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins who was a music writer there. The studio still operates at night and U2 had their drum set there for musicians to use if they need one. Very Cool.

On Friday morning we left Memphis for Hot Springs, Arkansas.  We arrived early in the day and are camped at Hot Springs National Park. We are trying to get off the road earlier this trip so we are not setting up in the dark. There are limited spots here, and no reservations, just first come first serve. We managed to get in and are planning on staying until Monday morning. Today we toured the Bath Houses on Bath House Row and are planning on going to The Quapaw Bathhouse tomorrow to take a bath in the famous hot spring water.

We also had lunch at the Ohio Club the oldest bar on Bath House Row and was the spot Al Capone and other gangster mob members hung out. There was gambling and betting here during that time.

Many famous sport figures came to the hot springs like legendary Babe Ruth and the Dean Brothers. President Roosevelt came here several times because of his Polio.

Finally, On the road again, California or Bust!

Hello, Once again , I am logging onto our blog as we begin our journey out West. We hope to get to California and see some of the sights. The only time I was in California was to pass through on our way to Hawaii, and on an adventure when I was a little nipper. My Uncle Paul took my brother Norm and I to Disneyland. I don't remember very much about the trip, I was too little. I know I had a great time though. I had my own room, he gave us a little cash to spend and plenty of treats. Yay Uncle Paul! We went to Knoxberry Farms as well as Universal Studios where we took a tour and we saw famous movie stars, like Dan Durriay (spelling). That was what I said, Dan WHO?

Anyway, Bill and I got off early, around 4:30a.m.on the 15th of February. There had been some snow during the night but really just a dusting. We were not sure of our exact route, but we headed out to I-65 down to  Indiana. Depending on the weather we were either going to St Louis, Missouri toward Oklahoma,or Louisville, Kentucky toward Nashville.  We choose Nashville even though there was rain because we are kind of familiar with Nashville. The traffic was awful and we crawled along for about one hour just outside of the city and didn't get to Nashville until after 745 pm Central time.  It was a very long day for sure. We are going to try to not make that a habit , but I think we wanted to get to a more pleasant temperature and get a good chunk of miles behind us.

We are at Montgomery Bell State Park, which is just west of Nashville. We stayed here with Patty and Eleanor last September while Patty visited her friend Jill. Jill was a traveling nurse with Patty in Denver before Jill came here to be closer her family. Jill stayed and has a great job and delightful son, Harper. She was a great hostess and we enjoyed her family and friends.

No pictures  yet but just wanted to limber up my fingers.Next time I will try to include some scenic photos to keep you entertained.

Our next stop is Hot Springs, Arkansas off I-30. We may spend a day or two there depending on the weather. I am anxious to get somewhere warm!

So I will say Good Night...for now......Hope all are well and all are getting over the bug!

Signing off ........... Barb and Bill