Need Peace? Go East!

Monthly Archives: December 2014

Making Music in Tennessee

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Our first stop was in Memphis.  There, we visited Sun Studios.  This is the place where Blues artists were able to get “published” before blues became popular.  It is also where Blues and Hillbilly music came together to become rock and roll.

Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis all started out here.  These 4 were known as the millionaire quartet.  You may have heard of the album they made together.  Several other artists got their start at Sun Records, too many to mention here.

Oddly, it was selling Elvis’ contract to RCA that allowed Sam Phillips to keep Sun Studio open, clear his debts, and continue to discover new artists.  After all, Memphis was the underground for racy blues and Rock.

From there we went to Jackson.  Halfway between Nashville and Memphis on the old road, this city had a few gems for us also.

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First, the cars from the movies. We were fortunate to find Rusty at the museum cleaning up. He showed us his prize possessions and told us which movie every one came from. There is a Delorian, Herbie, the Batmobile, General Lee, and many more.

Then we went to see the Rockabilly museum. That was an amazing two hour tour. Rockabilly was the term used in the early 1950’s for what we came to know as Rock and Roll. There is an incredible collection of 45’s, royalty certificates, newspapers, memorabilia, and wonderful stories from the volunteers who run the non profit museum.

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If you know “the day the music died” made famous by Billy Joel, you will appreciate this gem. Of the Million Dollar Quartet, Carl Perkins was the one with experience and a great stage presence.  So when came time for a debut TV appearance, he was the obvious choice.  On the way to the show, his driver was distracted/tired and got into a bad accident.  Carl suffered major injuries, but the show must go on.  Number two choice was Elvis who made his TV debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. Had it not been for the accident, today we might remember more the Carl Perkins “original” version of Blue Suede Shoes.

Then we were off to Nashville to learn about Hillbilly music, as country western was called in its youth.

We went to RCA studio B. This is the bigger studio that Chet Atkins opened, after he started making big money with Elvis.  Unfortunately, you can only see the studio if you take the full music city tour for which we did not have enough time. All we have are pictures of the outside

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After that, we went to visit the Belmont Mansion. This is the largest city mansion open to the public.  It used to be 20 rooms larger but the ends were cut off during major renovations.  The estate used to span hundreds of acres, but now the house is surrounded by the university.

This was a tale of 3 marriages, several infant deaths, and a fortune that can only be imagined.  Many parts of the mansion have been restored, undoing many years of so-called renovations to bring it back to its original condition.  They were getting ready for a reenactment of the civil war battle of Nashville on the following day, so we got to see a few of those preparations.
No pictures are allowed inside so you will have to take a peek at their website above for a sample.

Then, we tried to find the Grand Ole Opry.  Amidst all the commercialisation and Gaylord Opryland, the Opry is taking backstage to the Christmas fair going on at the moment.  As we were not particularly interested /in the artists playing on that day, we went to visit Cooters and Willie Nelson instead.  Those are two attractions immediately beside that take you back years in TV and music.

After that, we headed for the North Carolina border, completing 27,000 kilometres in our trip.  Words of warning: check the topography before driving at night.  The last 10 miles or so in Tennessee and the first 20 or so in North Carolina are in the mountains with sharp curves and long hills.  These are best not taken tired at night.  We found the first rest stop we could so we could finish that part of the trip refreshed in the daylight.

Arkansas

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26,000 kilometres see our entry into Arkansas. We are now back to “normal” altitudes, usually well below 200 metres.  The scenery has also changed what we are used to in the East.  Forests with average sized trees, fields, and livestock adorn the landscape

Although the allure of architecture in Little Rock and the Hot Springs are enticing, we decided we needed to spend more time in Tennessee while still minding our Christmas deadline in North Carolina
Therefore, our travelogue is sadly lacking information about Arkansas.  Stay tuned for details of Tennessee.

Oklahoma

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We made is to 25,000 kilometres as we entered Oklahoma. The soil is red, at least along the I40.  In some spots it seemed redder than in PEI. We also started seeing taller trees, not just the bushes of the past 3 states. We are also still losing altitude, down to a mere 200 metres near the Eastern border.

In Oklahoma City, we visited the Cowboy Museum.  This is an incredible facility that could take all day to explore. At less than $15 a head, it is a great value for money.

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We also visited the bombing memorial. The row of chairs is something I will not soon forget.  The street adjacent to the building has been closed and turned into a reflection pool…pun intended.

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Neither will I forget the countless mementos on the fence in front of the memorial

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That scene was moving enough. Time to head for Arkansas.

The Texas Panhandle

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We are on a Christmas deadline, so we are going straight across the Texas panhandle on our way to our daughter’s in North Carolina.

Here is not much to see of Texas along the I40, but we sure did see a lot of wind turbines.  Hundreds and Hundreds of them and even some new power line towers making their way up into the fields to collect the energy.

Someone suggested we visit the RV museum in Amarillo – Amazing,  This was a trip back to the 30’s, 70’s and 80’s.
We surely enjoyed it and the price was right – FREE.

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After some lunch, we continued East and just a few minutes out of town, we saw the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere. Notice the full sized trees next to it. There is also a way of the cross around the monument.

The highway in Texas does not seem to have rest stops. Instead, they have picnic areas. There is no big parking lot, just a pull over, but there are picnic tables with large structures to provide a shady spot for your lunch.

The further East we proceeded, the lower we got and our sinuses thanked us.  Our altitude was a more reasonable 500 metres above sea level.

That was the extent of our journey in. Texas.  Moving on to Oklahoma.

A short visit to New Mexico

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We arrived in Gallup just as the bead shops were closing.  One was having an auction so the store was still open and Cindy was able to find a good string of juniper beads.  Mission accomplished. Sunday morning, we were greeted by hundreds of hot air balloons making their way up the side of the mountain where the warm air rises. There is a hot air balloon festival in December, and today is the day.

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We were going to take the sky tram in Albuquerque but we had witnessed a bad accident the day before and Cindy got cold feet.

We found an RV dump station, emptied and reloaded and headed for the Texas border.

Northwest New Mexico is a higher elevation than Arizona. We hovered around 2000 to 2300 metres until we dipped down to Albuquerque. This is a pretty city with its back to the mountains and makes a great vista coming in East on the 40. On the other side, you climb back up and drive on smooth rolling hills gradually dipping down to about 1200 metres at the Texas border.  The high altitude means that even after a warm sunny day like yesterday, the nights are still cool.  I was also surprised at the lack of municipalities along the route. Other than Gallup, Albuquerque,  and Tucumcari, there are only a few hamlets and many abandoned adobes. 297 miles along the I40, and we just barely notched another 1000 kilometres before the Border.

There is much less desert than Arizona but the landscape is still rugged and inhospitable.  We saw red bluffs reminding us of PEI and some yellow, almost pink sand everywhere. We also noticed that builders use the available raw materials.  Mortar, stone, and brickwork is all the same colour as the soil.

Arizona, the Grand Canyon State

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On our way to Arizona, we were following Route 66.  There were turnoffs here and there to travel the actual road.  When we got to Kingman, we visited the Route 66 museum and the native history museum.  Excellent! There is an amazing set of Presidential and First Lady paintings.  This is an affordable must stop in the area.

The next day, we travelled on route 66 or about 2 hours on our way to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Just before entering the park, there is a store called Rocks, Minerals and More.  If you like shiny things, stop in where you see the life size metal horse guarding the door.  The store has ACRES of rocks, minerals, natural glass (from lightning strikes.

Our $25 fee into the Canyon was well worth the admission.  There are dozens of places to look out along the drive. HINT if there are many tour buses, you may have to fight the crowds to get a good look.  Just drive down the road and stop at the next viewpoint.  The view is just as amazing.  The fog cleared up in time for Cindy to get a few great pictures. 527, in fact.  Enough to fill up her memory card and kill the battery on the camera. We arrived at the last stop just at sunset but the clouds had rolled in and we did not get the postcard picture opp.

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Back South we go to get ready for the next day’s adventure

Near WINSLOW, there is a huge meteorite crater.  It is well marked off the I40. A short drive and under $20 per person gets you a look at a mile wide crater.  It the best preserved crater in the world.  There are 3 progressive observation decks that let you admire the sheer size of this hole.  It is so big that you cannot capture it from edge to edge in a picture.

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Then we went to Sedona to see some more colour in the valley. We went South from the 40 in Flagstaff. We drove in a narrow tree lined valley.  We went down the longest switchback I have ever seen, to drop about 500 metres into the valley.  That is when the WOW factor began. Red and Yellow cliffs are everywhere.  The deeper we went, the hoodoos started to make their appearance.  Sedona is in the middle of the best hoodoo area I have seen so far.  A few hundred more pictures later, we headed East towards the I17 back North to continue our journey.  Ear popping time again. As we entered the highway we saw a 4000 foot elevation sign.  After two 5-mile hills, we were at 6000 feet.

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The plateau is about 1800 metres above sea level with the occasional rise to 2000 metres. When we were atop the grand canyon, we hit 2300. Orientation is deceptive.  On what seems to be level ground, I begin to lose speed, only to discover that the whole plateau is on a steep incline. There are even spots where you swear you are going downhill instead of up. Magnetic Hill has nothing on the Arizona plateau.

Then we were off to the petrified forest, also on I40 to see some more colour.  The turnoff is again well indicated.  We drove through e village of Holbrook and proceeded towards the park.  We saw it closed at 5pm and it was now just a few minutes to 5,  so we turned back.  We stopped at the biggest rock and gem store in the State. They had thousands of 1000 pound pieces of colourful petrified wood.  Inside, there were thousands. Of smaller pieces.  Some polished, some cut and polished and some in their raw state.  The petrified wood here is very colourful, full of reds and some blues.

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It is hard to imagine scale.  This log is about 3 feet in diameter.

We went back to town to find a place for the night.  We passed by a motel with a dozen wigwams in front.  Their sign said Sleep in a Wigwam.  Now there is a novel marketing strategy.  As tempting as it sounded, we decided to stay in the camper.  A Red Box movie later, we put our feet up for the night.

Saturday, we drove through the petrified forest National Park back up to the I40 to make our way to the New Mexico Border. What was to be an hour drive turned into an all day affair. This is an amazing natural wonder. There is petrified wood everywhere. There are brightly coloured red, yellow and green pieces. This is a multi million year old testament to our history. There are also wonderful remnants of the inhabitants of this area.  There are several adobes, covered in silt and sand. Further up is the painted desert where hues of yellow, brown, grey, and blue that have inspired artists for over 100 years.

After some fond memories, we headed towards the New Mexico border.

It is only 350 some miles across Across Arizona on the 40.  But if you want to see it, you will travel at least twice that.

Arizona, the Grand Canyon State

Posted on by Posted in road trip .

On our way to Arizona, we were following Route 66.  There were turnoffs here and there to travel the actual road.  When we got to Kingman, we visited the Route 66 museum and the native history museum.  Excellent! There is an amazing set of Presidential and First Lady paintings.  This is an affordable must stop in the area.

The next day, we travelled on route 66 or about 2 hours on our way to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Just before entering the park, there is a store called Rocks, Minerals and More.  If you like shiny things, stop in where you see the life size metal horse guarding the door.  The store has ACRES of rocks, minerals, natural glass (from lightning strikes.

Our $25 fee into the Canyon was well worth the admission.  There are dozens of places to look out along the drive. HINT if there are many tour buses, you may have to fight the crowds to get a good look.  Just drive down the road and stop at the next viewpoint.  The view is just as amazing.  The fog cleared up in time for Cindy to get a few great pictures. 527, in fact.  Enough to fill up her memory card and kill the battery on the camera. We arrived at the last stop just at sunset but the clouds had rolled in and we did not get the postcard picture opp.

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Back South we go to get ready for the next day’s adventure

Near WINSLOW, there is a huge meteorite crater.  It is well marked off the I40. A short drive and under $20 per person gets you a look at a mile wide crater.  It the best preserved crater in the world.  There are 3 progressive observation decks that let you admire the sheer size of this hole.  It is so big that you cannot capture it from edge to edge in a picture.

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Then we went to Sedona to see some more colour in the valley. We went South from the 40 in Flagstaff. We drove in a narrow tree lined valley.  We went down the longest switchback I have ever seen, to drop about 500 metres into the valley.  That is when the WOW factor began. Red and Yellow cliffs are everywhere.  The deeper we went, the hoodoos started to make their appearance.  Sedona is in the middle of the best hoodoo area I have seen so far.  A few hundred more pictures later, we headed East towards the I17 back North to continue our journey.  Ear popping time again. As we entered the highway we saw a 4000 foot elevation sign.  After two 5-mile hills, we were at 6000 feet.

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The plateau is about 1800 metres above sea level with the occasional rise to 2000 metres. When we were atop the grand canyon, we hit 2300. Orientation is deceptive.  On what seems to be level ground, I begin to lose speed, only to discover that the whole plateau is on a steep incline. There are even spots where you swear you are going downhill instead of up. Magnetic Hill has nothing on the Arizona plateau.

Then we were off to the petrified forest, also on I40 to see some more colour.  The turnoff is again well indicated.  We drove through e village of Holbrook and proceeded towards the park.  We saw it closed at 5pm and it was now just a few minutes to 5,  so we turned back.  We stopped at the biggest rock and gem store in the State. They had thousands of 1000 pound pieces of colourful petrified wood.  Inside, there were thousands. Of smaller pieces.  Some polished, some cut and polished and some in their raw state.  The petrified wood here is very colourful, full of reds and some blues.

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It is hard to imagine scale.  This log is about 3 feet in diameter.

We went back to town to find a place for the night.  We passed by a motel with a dozen wigwams in front.  Their sign said Sleep in a Wigwam.  Now there is a novel marketing strategy.  As tempting as it sounded, we decided to stay in the camper.  A Red Box movie later, we put our feet up for the night.

Saturday, we drove through the petrified forest National Park back up to the I40 to make our way to the New Mexico Border. What was to be an hour drive turned into an all day affair. This is an amazing natural wonder. There is petrified wood everywhere. There are brightly coloured red, yellow and green pieces. This is a multi million year old testament to our history. There are also wonderful remnants of the inhabitants of this area.  There are several adobes, covered in silt and sand. Further up is the painted desert where hues of yellow, brown, grey, and blue that have inspired artists for over 100 years.

After some fond memories, we headed towards the New Mexico border.

It is only 350 some miles across Across Arizona on the 40.  But if you want to see it, you will travel at least twice that.

California is a big state to explore

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Northern California greeted us with rain and fog.  We have not seen bright sunshine since we were in Port Townsend Washington.  Such is the case when you travel the WET coast during the rainy season.

She also greeted us with a sign have not seen in along time safety belt use mandatory. From a psychological perspective, reminding us of the reason for seat belts might be more conducive to compliance.

I also see that highways with a speed limit over 55 still keeps the 55 limit for trucks and for vehicles of any size with a trailer.

We drove down the Redwood Trail and we saw a lot of big trees,  Some so big, the road curves around them and some that have scrape marks from run in with vehicles.

When we passed through Bandon, we saw a place that turns beach junk into art.  Unfortunately, they were closed for thanksgiving, so we could only marvel at the seagull mascot at the front door.

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Somewhere near Leggett, there is a turnoff Highway 101 towards Fort Bragg, and the drive thru tree.  The tree is a worthwhile side trip.  For $5, you have the privilege of looking at a 2400 year old tree, 315 feet high and 21feet in diameter.  If your car is not OVERHEIGHT, you can also drive through it.  The gift shop has a lot of wood themed items for sale.

From there, you can take an hour of hairpin turns down the mountain, some marked as slow as 10MPH to make your way to Fort Bragg.  The faint of heart might continue on 101 and find an alternate route, like the 20 out of Willits.

Glass beach did not disappoint us, but it came close.  When we arrived at the designated coordinates on glass beach drive, everything was fenced in. We quickly discovered the alternate entrance and followed the path to the world famous beach.  WOW is the moment.  There is glass everywhere; we could make mounds of glass with little rock or sand in them, we could scoop 200 or more pieces with just a dip of the hands.  Pictures are good, but they cannot fully explain the feeling of being on a beach where the glass easily outweighs rocks, sand, sea debris, and anything else.  We would have rolled in it if it had not been raining.  Remember we have not seen the sun since Northern Washington.

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Saturday, we headed towards. Bolinas, the last of the so-called agate beaches on our trek. We are following the Shoreline Highway to make sure we get our fill of the Pacific Ocean. More hairpin turns and switchbacks get us to Agate Beach. I found a few tiny fossils, but no agates and no glass.

Another sinuous mountain drive brings us to the Golden Gate Bridge. It is a pretty sight that brings us back to straighter roads. The San Fransisco bay area seems to stretch out forever. We must have driven 90 minutes before we could see a break in the steady stream of street lighting. On the way to San Jose, we saw a huge Cross on the side of the hill with lights spelling JESUS SAVES in a cross pattern.

We marked our 20, 000 kilometres before reaching San Fransisco. We headed to a Travel Center of America for an RV dump and some Laundry.  Sunday we are back on the coast.

We went to Monterey. There is a nice crescent beach downtown where I found 2 pieces of seaglass, among all the other beachcombers with metal detectors.  We also saw several pelicans diving for food in the bay.  Then we followed the Cabrillo highway towards San Luis Obispo.  There is another 200 km of hairpin turns and great scenery. For some time on the drive, we were beside sandstone cliffs reminiscent of PEI.

We passed our 21000 km mark before seeing all those names from song and movie: Santa Barbara, Ventura Highway, Malibu, Santa Monica, etc.  We also saw several of the names we hear on Storage Wars: Oxnard, Long Beach, Oceanside, Murieta, Mission Hills, Irvine, Santa Ana, Irvine, etc.

We did not see the Hollywood sign, but we did see the Queen Mary in its new home in Longbeach.

Our final destination was ob noodle house in Ocean Beach. We had a red beer with a spicy flavour, grilled sizzling fish with ginger chicken wings, eggs rolls, and house fried rice.  Everything was excellent and affordable. This is a must stop if you are ever in San Diego.

On our way back North, we got our first taste of the desert from Victorville to Barstow.  From there we entered mile zero of the I40. It said we were 2225 miles from Wilmington NC which is about as far as we need to go to get to our daughter’s for Christmas.

For the Baby Boomers among us, some may remember the song Never Been to Spain
Well I headed for Las Vegas
Only made it out to Needles
…..
In Oklahoma
Not Arizona
What does it matter
…well we mad it to Needles and beyond, but going East.

We picked up an Indian Country Guide Map which shows several attractions in the Grand Canyon and throughout the desert. Now we are ready to move into Arizona after crossing the 22,000 km mark.

See you in the next state.