New England Odyssey (Days 1 through 5)

Day 1
 Cody, Wyoming to Cheyenne, Wyoming 7/10/17

Well...it became obvious right from the get-go that our newly-purchased, slightly-used travel trailer was going to need some help to keep it from swaying out of control & taking us and the truck down for the count.

So, Ron drove it carefully to Casper (luckily and amazingly) there was no wind & we stopped in at Stalkup's RV to purchase an anti-sway bar.  However, they said they were too busy to install it, so we headed down the road a (very short) way to Sonny's RV in Evansville, Wyoming (not to be confused with Evanston, Wyoming BTW).

At Sonny's, their very friendly & helpful service writer, Brandy, assisted us with purchasing a Blue Ox anti-sway hitch, and talked the service manager into installing it for us (despite the fact that they were extremely busy today).

We are currently waiting for the job to be completed in Sonny's super-comfy waiting area.  (I highly recommend this place if you're ever in Casper, Wyoming & need something done to, or for your RV!)  Here I am waiting and relaxing:

After the weight distribution/anti-sway hitch was installed, we had dinner @ Pizza Ranch in Casper and then headed to Cheyenne, Wyoming where we spent our first night in our new trailer camping out in the Wal-mart parking lot.

Day 2 (Cheyenne, Wyoming to Lincoln, Nebraska) 7/11/17

We spent the better part of the day driving across Nebraska on I-80 past LOTS of corn fields and the Platte River.  

Nebraska corn field

The Platte River, Nebraska

We had a stop in Gothenburg to visit a Pony Express station (which had been moved from its original site to the south).  We also popped into the Gothenberg Historical Museum and had a great visit with the two men working there. 

Noah about to bump his head on the door of the Pony Express Station in Gothenberg, NE

Buckskin at the Gothenberg Historical Museum

After our stop in Gothenberg, we got back on I-80 and continued east, stopping in Alda to visit the Crane Trust Nature and Visitor Center.  

Sandhill Crane Sculpture at Crane Trust in Alda, NE

We learned about the sandhill crane migration which passes through Nebraska from mid-February to mid-April every year.  During those months, 500,000 +/- cranes travel north to breed, stopping in Nebraska to feed in and around the Platte River before continuing their journey to Canada, Alaska, or even Siberia.  (I've now added another item to my bucket list!  We will definitely be coming here to view the migration in person!)  After Ron spent half an hour chatting with the staff about wild animal encounters, we headed back down the road yet again.

After dropping the trailer at the Lakeview Campground in the Pawnee State Recreation Area, we headed into downtown Lincoln for dinner at Honest Abe's the Trip Advisor #1 rated restaurant in town.  

Mural on wall @ Honest Abe's in Lincoln, NE

It didn't disappoint.  I had an 1809 (though I don't know what smoked gouda, sliced apples, honey mayo and bacon have to do with the year of Lincoln's birth, and frankly, I don't care, because my burger was out-of-this-world!).  The truffle parmesan fries were OK, but hey, nobody's perfect!

Yum!  My 1809 with truffle-Parmesan fries in the foreground & Noah's World's Best Burger behind

On the way home from the restaurant, I snapped a shot of the state capitol & then it was back to the trailer for some needed shut-eye.  

Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln

Day 3

Lincoln, Nebraska to Ozark, Missouri (7/12/17)

Another day of driving.  Didn't make any stops (except for rest stops & a Wal-mart run), because we were on our way to Lambert's Cafe, the home of the "throwed rolls!"  

We visited the original Lambert's in Sikeston, MO last summer and enjoyed it so much we knew we had to come back again.  This year our travels took us nearer the Lambert's #2 in Ozark, MO, so that's where we came, and we were glad we did.  The food was awesome as usual, and so much that we have enough for another two meals stashed in the trailer fridge.  If you are ever in the vicinity of these fine eating establishments, we highly recommend them!

Dig in!

Noah copied me!

(P.S. In case you're noticing that I'm doing a lot of eating out...I am!  Since my parathyroid surgery in August 2015, I can actually eat food again without pain!!  It's wonderful and amazing!!  Like being re-born!!  I'm now making up for lost time & eating things I never thought I'd be able to eat ever again!!)

Day 4 

Ozark, MO to Memphis, TN (7/13/17)

Driving, driving, driving!  Arrived in Memphis in the afternoon & checked into the Graceland RV Park where we set up camp on Jail House Road.  Weary from another day of driving & needing to beat the heat (95 in the shade with 90% humidity) we spent the remainder of the day holed up in the trailer planning tomorrow's adventures--aside from a quick side trip to the Wal-mart (where we felt a bit out of place) to get a prescription refilled.

Day 5

Memphis, TN (7/14/17)

At Graceland!

We started our day bright and early,  arriving at Graceland a few minutes before it opened at 9:00.  We purchased tickets for the mansion tour & were herded into a theater for a "Pre-Show" that consisted of a short, maybe 5-minute long, video montage of Elvis photos, clips & sound bites.  We were then herded outside and handed an iPad and a set of headphones before boarding a shuttle bus that took us across the street to Graceland itself.

Driving through the famous gates and up to the mansion, I was struck by how much smaller things were than in my imagination.  After exiting the shuttle, we had a quick orientation on the front porch before being allowed inside.  

Buckskin on the front porch at Graceland.

Following the narration on the iPad by John Stamos, we were able to visit and walk through the downstairs and basement of the mansion.  (The upstairs was Elvis's private quarters and tourists are not allowed).  We saw the living room, music room, Elvis's parents' bedroom suite, the dining room, kitchen, basement TV and pool rooms...AND, last but not least, the "Jungle Room."  The floor AND ceiling of the latter were carpeted in green shag (gag!).  The house is a veritable museum of late-50's/early 60's tackiness!  The tour also included a visit to the garage which housed not only Elvis's cars, but his dad's office; The Trophy Room (a collection of family photos & artifacts); the racquetball court; the horse pasture; the swimming pool and the meditation garden where Elvis, his mom & dad are all buried.  Our tour over, we re-boarded the shuttles and were taken back across the street.  There we turned in our iPads & were pretty much shooed out the gates.

Our timing was awesome, though, as we were right on time to catch the free shuttle to Sun Studio.  Noah and I had the whole bus to ourselves on the 15-minute ride to the Studio at 706 Union.  

Sun Studio, Memphis, TN

We purchased tickets for the 11:30 tour and waited around till our tour guide, Leann, called us.  We climbed a set of steep stairs to an upstairs room where we learned about how Sam Phillips started the studio:  he initially recorded "anybody, anywhere, anytime."  Eventually, he began recording singers & musicians including Howling Wolf, Elvis Presley (of course), Johnny Cash, BB King, & Carl Perkins.  The exhibits included the reclaimed studio of WHBQ in which Dewey Phillips played Elvis's first professional recording of "That's All Right" over the radio.

We then went downstairs to the actual studio itself & were able to stand in the same place as all the amazing artists who have ever recorded there.  The studio is still a working recording studio.  Awesome!

Knock! Knock!

Buckskin & Elvis's microphone!!

That tour over, we re-boarded the free shuttle and were taken to Beale Street "where the Blues were born," thought now it's sadly a couple blocks of rib joints and tchotchke shops. 

Me on Beale St., Memphis, TN

Since it was lunch time, we went into The Pig on Beale for a small snack to tide us over until dinner.  If you're ever in Memphis and visiting Beale Street, I would recommend trying a different place.  The food was highly average.  We also went into Schwab's Dept. Store to look at the building which was put up in 1850.  

On our way back to the free shuttle, we noticed a building with a giant Gibson guitar logo on it.  

Gibson factory in Memphis, TN

I went over to check it out & lo and behold, there was a room filled with beautiful (and expensive) guitars that you could pick up and play!

Buckskin playing a $25,000 guitar (worried the guy is going to arrest her!)

I tried a few before Noah came in to investigate as well.  He discovered they gave factory tours & bought us a couple of tickets.  We were then taken on a 45-minute tour of the factory and shown how the guitars are manufactured from blocks of wood through the painting and final assembly processes.

We then caught our free shuttle back to Graceland--they were showing Blue Hawaii on the shuttle TV on the way back (campy!)  On the way back to the truck in the parking lot, we decided to head to dinner at Corky's BBQ (Trip Advisor's #1 BBQ restaurant in Memphis) in an attempt to beat the Friday evening dinner rush (which we managed to do!).  

We split a full rack of half wet/half dry ribs that came along with baked beans, cole slaw & rolls.  I thought it was all quite yummy.  Noah, however, deemed it just average :(

Anyhow, back to Graceland RV Park we went & are now kicking back in the trailer, listening to the rain and the thunder.  Until next time....

BYE-BYE from Memphis!
Buckskin Lily