12 January – Memphis

We woke to snow and ice, and temperatures around minus 6C. The water pipe was frozen solid and we realised that in our jet lagged states, we hadn’t pulled the pipes in or filled the on board water tanks (which wouldn’t have frozen). That means freezing cold walks to the public toilets / showers. NOT FUN. At least we have drinking water.

We had planned to see Graceland today, but Elvis has definitely left the building – Graceland was closed because of the weather. Nothing to do but to wait it out, with the furnace in the van blasting, hot cups of tea, and books.

It is FREEZING outside! Even the local critters are scampering along double quick so they don’t freeze to the ground. I know that this is a mild winters day for most of the US, but us Aussies are not equipped for it. The forecast tells us that it isn’t going to get above freezing until Monday. Damn you jet lagged people for not filling the tank! :)

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/rbvY1/35.04816N/90.02804W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=35.04816,-90.02804&ll=35.04816,-90.02804&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1 

11 January - Memphis

We had a late check out at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, so we had a leisurely breakfast, then took a cab out to get the RV out of storage. We arrived to find it all in good order, thanks to a visit from the RV mechanic the day before. It started first try and all we needed to do was wash the windscreen (it was very dusty) and get going.

We stocked up on groceries at the nearest Walmart, then headed to Graceland, to the RV Park. It’s winter so practically nobody there. It was warm and muggy as we set up camp and unpacked. All good.

We were both feeling pretty jet lagged, and we headed to bed. The winter storm kicked in not long after and we struggled to sleep over the sound of ice hitting the side of the van. It got really cold, and we were thankful for the doona keeping us snug.

The Peabody lobby, with their ducks:

29 January – Memphis

After a lateish breakfast we went for a walk to the famous Beale St – it used to be an area for “coloured people only”, where they ate, shopped, and made music. These days it is a strip full of neon signs, bars, eateries and touristy souvenir shops. We bypassed them and went first to the Rock and Soul Museum. The museum is very well done, describing the evolution of rock, soul, hillbilly and rockabilly music, from the days of cotton picking, through to Elvis. Back in the 50s, Memphis had a black radio station and also a radio station staffed by women only – WHER. The audio tour included lots of music from the times – it was a lot of fun.

Following that, we went to the Gibson Guitar factory and did a tour. It was really interesting seeing how guitars are made and assembled. A Gibson guitar takes about 3-4 weeks to make and the factory makes around 60 per day.

We headed back to the hotel, and despite the bitter cold, we took a carriage tour. The carriage was all decked out in fairy lights and we had several thick blankets tucked around us, and hot chocolate in take away cups –so we were set. We drove around downtown Memphis, looking at the historical sights. We saw the sunset over the river and finished with a clop down Beale st, before being dropped back at the hotel.

We decided it was too cold to go looking for food, so we had a quick dinner in the hotel steak house – Ribs and meatballs. Then a cocktail in the piano bar before heading to bed.

Tomorrow we are homeward bound – about 21 hours of actual air travel over 30 or so hours. See you on the other side!

28 January – Memphis

Packed up. It’s a big job! Lots of scrubbing, cleaning, defrosting the fridge, packing up our gear. The van is all shipshape.

Picked up the scooter from its service and dropped the van at the RV repair place. She will be in the shop for  a week or so getting new waterproofing on the roof joints, and a new awning.

Taxi to the Peabody Hotel, where we will stay for 2 nights. The Peabody has been around since the early 20s, and it is just lush. There is a soaring lobby with stained glass, intricate carving, marble columns, and the famous Peabody Ducks. The Ducks started as a joke after a few drinks – someone thought it would be funny to put some ducks in the fountain in the lobby. The guests loved it, so they engaged a Duck Master to train the ducks to comedown the elevator every day at 11am, spend the day in the fountain, then go back up at 5pm to their duck palace on the roof.

We had a cocktail in the lobby bar and waited for the duck parade. It was a bit underwhelming – coming from owning a flock of around 30 of the beggars ourselves, 4 was a bit of a tiny flock. Still, it was very theatrical, the Duck Master in a red coat with gold braid, a red carpet and the ceremony started about 40 minutes before the ducks were herded out and away. They scampered up the red carpet and into the lift in a few seconds.

We had dinner at the restaurant “Chez Phillipe”- 4 courses with paired French wines. We are going to say that it was truly one of the best meals we have eaten.

After dinner we went to the roof to take in the final moments of sunset over the Mississippi – flashes of deep orange and red before the black velvety night finally took over. We said goodnight to the ducks in the duck palace before heading to bed.

27 January – Memphis

Washed the RV and got her ready to go into storage. We went through a truck wash – 90 minute wait in the queue, but when we got in it was speedy. They had about a dozen people soaping and scrubbing.

Now doing washing and organising to pack.

26 January – Memphis

Happy Australia Day!

We spent the day getting repairs done on the RV, dropping the scooter in for a service and organising a storage yard. The RV repairer needs to keep the old gal in the shop for a while, to replace the awning and to do some waterproofing on the roof, so we have booked into a hotel and head there on Saturday. 

The RV storage place was interesting. There was a very very long wait (over an hour and a half) while they sorted out customers with only 1 computer working and the guy using it pretty much computer illiterate. The customer in line behind us got very antsy about being made to wait and got a bit vocal about it. He ended up leaving in a big spitty huff. Would have been funny, but part way through his rant he went back to his vehicle and came back wearing a gun holster. Luckily it was just for show. ‘Merica! 

25 January – Natchez to Memphis

The RV Park advertised itself as the Premium RV Park in Natchez. It must be the ONLY RV park in Natchez, or maybe there are worse dives? We decided against staying another night so we could look around Natchez. Seemed like a pretty little town, but we just wanted to leave. On top of the run down RV park, the toilet broke and we needed to get repairs done so we decided to head to Memphis ASAP.

Drove 5 hours to Memphis. As we climbed from the Mississippi Delta, the swamps turned into conifer forests. It was a fairly scenic drive, although we noticed the distinctly colder weather as we got further north.

Parked up at the Gracelands RV Park, with a repair organised for the morning. We are going to crash at Elvis’ place for the rest of the week.

Click the link below to see where I am located.

 http://fms.ws/evHJ4/35.04832N/90.02829W

 If the above link does not work, try this link:

 http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=35.04832,-90.02829&ll=35.04832,-90.02829&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1