NOTE TO MY DEVOTED BLOG READERS: I was unable to get on the internet from Sunday to Wednesday. So, these entries are late. SORRY!
NOW, ON TO THE BLOG:
We were sorry to leave Memphis, but managed to have more fun this morning before we left. We stopped for some grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches and Red Velvet Cake (Elvis’ favorites!) and took pictures in front of the gate to his mansion.
The brick wall surrounding Elvis' mansion is completely covered with good wishes and words of love and adoration from the millions of people who have visited over the last 30 years. Eric and I decided that, like everyone else, we wanted to leave our mark in Memphis, not like Elvis did, but in our own small way! So, we added our own words. I wrote "Peppy and Eric, 9/07" and Eric wrote "Long Live The King."
Eric leaves his mark on Graceland Wall:
We hit the road and drove all day – right through Arkansas! It looked like a beautiful place, and we were tempted to stop in Little Rock, but we wanted to make good time, because we were doing another three states in one day – Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma!
So, we drove I-40 West for over 200 miles and landed in Gore, Oklahoma (named after Al Gore (just kidding!)). Here’s what we’ve noticed in the 6,000 miles we’ve driven since we left NY: people all over the place drive while talking on their cell phones. I don’t know why I thought it was a “New York thing.” Or maybe just an “East Coast/West Coast thing,” but you see people in every state, in every kind of vehicle, talking while they drive. It’s annoying, to say the least.
Here’s the other, very sad, thing: There are no STARBUCKS or DUNKIN’ DONUTS anywhere. I haven’t seen one since Florida. There WAS Starbucks in New Orleans, but I was so happy with the Café au Lait at Café Du Monde that I didn’t bother. Unfortunately, there were no other Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts in Louisiana, or Tennessee, or Arkansas and, so far as we can tell, Oklahoma. BOO HOO!!!!
I’ll tell you what they DO have tons of – everywhere you drive in America – McDONALDS and SUBWAY. I told Eric that in some of these small towns they don’t even get the joke – Subway – because they don’t have subways here, though I guess they know what a subway is! Anyway, I knew there were McDonalds all over the world, but I thought SUBWAY was a New York thing, too!
We’re here in Gore, Oklahoma at a lovely campsite called MARVAL RESORT, located in the Oklahoma Ozarks, and everything here is so pretty. It’s a shame we have to leave tomorrow. They have cable, but – unfortunately – I can’t get on the internet, and we can’t seem to make any phone calls. Eric said there probably isn’t a cell phone tower for miles, so I’ll have to do yesterday’s blog and today’s blog when I can get back on the internet. I hope it’s soon! We got in so late last night that I didn’t have the energy to complete yesterday’s entry. I know you are all DYING to hear of our adventures and will just faint if you don’t keep up!
So, I guess it will be a Sunday evening of television and relaxing!