Mostly Tennessee: Lucile Ball Sunday

Monday we said good-bye to Louisiana in a thunder storm. We spent the night in moderate winds, thunder, lightning and pouring rain in a Jackson Mississippi Wal-Mart. A new state! It’s so green. Of course they have the rain and humidity to contend with, so I can’t complain about our Southern California weather.

Tuesday and another new state, Arkansas: Okay, we didn’t do much here except stay at Tom Sawyer’s Camp ground next to the Mississippi. I couldn’t ask for a better setting—Forest on the west, and the Mississippi River on the East. I must work this site into my writing somehow. Not the one I’m working on now Escape from Fire, but someday.

Wednesday: Dan’s an Elvis fan, I’m not, but Graceland was still an interesting place which we visited after going to the Memphis temple. Although I still don’t think much of his singing, there is a lot about his person underneath all of the glitz, glam, drugs, and fame to admire. Sure he had a mansion, but he could have lived in a much more extravagant palace-like mansion. His kitchen is about the size of mine, yet it was constantly busy putting out food for everyone. Family was extremely important to him, and he was more charitable than we realize. As if I hadn’t had enough of Elvis with his music blaring nearly the whole time we were there, when we got back to the RV, it was time to change the CD. Guess what! 30 more Elvis songs—his album was the next in line. I got even though; the Beach Boys was after that, and just as long.

Thursday we planned on exploring downtown Memphis, but another thunderstorm hit. The winds weren’t quite as hard, so we were able to drive to our next destination: Jackson Tennessee. Not much to write home about, but it wasn’t expensive, and was near an attraction we wanted to see Friday.

Friday morning we went to Casey Jones Village and spent a couple of interesting hours. Besides all of the train and country store stuff, they had a miniature golf course that was different from any I’ve ever seen. It had sand traps and water traps instead of castles and windmills. Please don’t ask how I did. I’ve been known to beat Dan from time to time, but I wasn’t even close on this course. We also attended an evening session at the Nashville temple (see temple page for pictures).

Saturday we went to downtown Nashville. No, we aren’t country music fans, but it’s a part of American culture, and a goodly part of this trip is discovering American culture. It was a fun day. They have a monument they built to celebrate their bi-centennial. It was black polished rock I assume granite depicting everything from pre-historic times to 1997, when they turned 200 as a state. We got to one spot, and there was a crack which exposed some of the un-polished rock. As I looked down the rest, there were several blocks broken and splintered off. It was the civil war years. Tennessee was the last state to join the rebellion, and the first one to reunite with the union. It had an area to honor World War II veterans which included a black globe being turned on a fountain of water. We also walked around downtown and saw some of the sights. The only thing we missed was the Grand Old Opry.

Sunday: Bang. Thump, thump, thump.... I recognize that sound by now. I released my seatbelt, clambered out of my seat and flew past the couch and table. Once again the refrigerator door had flung open then shut, but not without spilling contents all over the floor. Usually it’s up to half a dozen items. Nothing falls open, so I just have to shove everything back in, then quickly get back into my seatbelt. Not this time. Half of the contents were on the floor including a half gallon of milk. Miraculously, the orange juice was still safely on the shelf. The brace we have across the top shelf fell down, that’s why the milk fell.  You can see the way Dan Jerry rigged it to keep it in place, sort of. I was reaching for the last two items when Dan drove around a big curve. Half of what I had just put back fell back out including the milk which hit me on the head, and the orange juice which was spilling out all over my sweater, skirt, and the rug (whoever put a rug in an RV including the bathroom and kitchen area is an idiot). It was a Lucile Ball moment if ever there was one. I asked Dan to let me know before driving around curves.  He did, and I sat on the floor with one arm across the brace on the top shelf, and the other one protecting the items on the second shelf. The third shelf was unattended, and a couple of yogurts fell out.  I finally got the last item in after he had stopped in the church parking lot. I stood up and closed the door ever so carefully, leaving a trap for the next person who opened it. (Dan fixed the brace so it works better after church and before we drove back to the campground.)