July 10, Graceland and more

We were up early Saturday morning, to visit Graceland before it opened. The line of Elvis fanatics was already long. We opted to sign the stone wall in front of the home, take a photo and move on north. Or as Hannah says "RUN"! We have gotten used to people coming up to the car. But when your in a Pink Cadillac outside the home of Elvis, you become part of the show. Just a little to weird, even for us.
After leaving Graceland, we rumbled through downtown Memphis where the Blues were born. I would love to see Beale Street at night with all its Neon. Well, not this trip. We did find a Starbucks and our first cup of real coffee in 12 days. Yes, ... we all know it is a chain. But for 12 days we have drank hot brown water. Those Mom and Pop diners have great food and friendly people but the coffee............

On the road again. We stopped in Jackson, TN to have some good ole' Memphis BBQ and the local Jackson Cheerleaders washed Matilda while we ate. It was a fundraiser to go to camp.

This was the first time on the trip the girl's watched TV. Four movies in a row. Their favorite, “Wagons East”. We drove till late Saturday night. We stopped on the side of the road outside Chilhowie, VA to watch the fireworks. They were fun, and an appropriate end to our day. Except we haven't stopped yet. We drove till well past midnight and stayed in Salem, VA. It was a long day but a fun day just the same. We are all now excited to get home to see the dogs and cat. Ella is convinced they are having a party, sleeping on the couch, drinking out of the toilet, you know breaking all the rules. BUT little do they know the dog/house sitter is a retired K-9 officer, so there will be no little pet parties. Even though we miss the pets we are already making plans for our next adventure in the pink caddy "Matilda".