Hampton Inn Tupelo

Hello all! 

I think it finally set in that I was leaving tomorrow when I saw the jets on the runway.  My family decided to beat the traffic and head up to Memphis tonight for an early flight tomorrow.  We went to an Italian restaurant tonight, thanks dad!  
Anna Kate and I leave at 9:30 ish tomorrow for ATL, and then we will meet up with everyone in ATL to Tokyo.  My bags are packed, and I am ready to go on a long flight!  Im so excited!

 Yorushiku (Best Regards),  
 Casey

... retired that she's in her early 60s. She lives in Florida where she has a contractors license and builds houses. We exchanged names and email addresses, and when she comes to Oregon this summer, has plans to look me up if she has time. I was feeling 'put upon' about the camera battery situation until she told me about the food situation. There are no commercial establishments on the Trace Parkway, so if she needs food, it means biking up to ...

~1150 miles on odometer Bright blue skies until 8pm, then it started raining Left the hostel this morning around 9am. Went to John's Island to see the Angel Oak Tree. It is about 400 years old, but the myth is it is really 1400 years old! That sucker is HUGE! It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I know most of you will think this next statement is bizarre, but there is a ...

... instead of the front, so some of us were in the wrong part of the hotel. Tempers can flare after a long day when there are glitches in the last step of the day. Anyway, we are now enjoying the pool and relaxation. we will be doing more promotions in the next weeks so we are going to be more busy after the rides from now on. No, I have not seen Elvis- Tupelo is the birthplace of Elvis.

... Everyone is amazed to see a BMW bike. They thought there never was such a thing!! These states are poor. Rural southern living is still tough. People are scared out here. Worried about the economy and their futures. These times hit the poor the hardest. They don't have a cushion. Took some photos but the camera is in my bike outside the tent...in the insect realm.Photo uploads will have to wait for another entry. Until tomorrow...

... family. His father Vernon had borrowed $180 from his boss to build the house which stood literally on 'the wrong side of the tracks' it was repossessed when he fell behind with the repayments. The family moved around Tupelo, until finally selling their furniture and moving to Memphis in search of a better life. Looking back at this time in their lives it is easy to understand the bond that Elvis had with his ...

... a decent wine list, but then they brought out wine glasses that still had lipstick from the previous user. Ugh. Elvis's birth home was neat. But that's about it. Maybe worth stopping by if you're on a road trip, but otherwise avoid this town.

Memphis Tennessee, the home of the king. We stayed right across the road from Graceland and I have to say the tackiest hotel but it was funny. Guitar shaped pool, Elvis all over the walls, Elvis music 24/7 and the king was always on TV. The museums are rubbish but the house tour is pretty good I must admit, again if a little cheesy. But would definitely recommend it. I like his stuff but am not obsessive like some of the fruitcakes ...

... hymns, they stamped his heart with downhome love and song. That's how it began. You know what happened, in the end. The world required too much, an idol with a cross to bear, a heavy toll was taken on his soul. I want to sing the songs my Mama loves, he said, but fame and glory pushed the other way. I started in a two-room house, my Mama cooked up cornbread in a black-iron stove, my Daddy held me in the front porch swing and crooned the gospel hymns, my heart was ...

... come from Mississippi, such pretty women, with picture hats and sweetheart smiles. All that Mississippi humidity, keeps skin soft and smooth, like the petals of magnolia blooms. All that Mississippi heat, sets hearts and loins on fire, pushes feelings to the top. How many of our greatest writers grew up here, are living still? All those Mississippi wrongs, and rights, how many broken hearts, expressed in blues, the sweetest music of the soul? All that Mississippi ...