236 miles via I-40 and I-440. Cumulative distance: 1,786 miles.
GTW Hop 12: Hermitage TN to West Memphis AR
A few days ago it seemed unlikely that we were going to get so far as the Mississippi, much less California. But yesterday we crossed the Mississippi, so maybe California is possible as well.
Crossing the Mississippi
You may have noticed that the weather continues to be dark and damp. I don’t know where the sun has gone, but we haven’t seen more than a couple of hours of sunshine in the past week. Yesterday the forecast in Nashville was for clearing by noon and sunny in the afternoon, but we traveled 200 miles west of Nashville and didn’t see a single sunny break. Depressing.
It is too bad, too, because there is actually some color on the leaves down here which would be much more spectacular in the sunshine. I thought that the fall colors arrived much later in Tennessee but clearly I was mistaken.
I-40 is a major trucking route. It was wall-to-wall 18-wheelers the entire way. We couldn’t shake one particular truck that went slower than us uphill and faster than us downhill. He also seemed to like cutting in front of people. Jett finally got annoyed enough to give him a dirty look as we passed. If you know Jett, you know that a dirty look from her is as good as a finger.
Our intention was to stay two nights at the Graceland RV Park, adjacent to Graceland and behind the Heartbreak Hotel (really). But with all the activity yesterday morning getting the truck started, the battery switched out and the tire pressures adjusted, I forgot to call ahead. When we stopped for lunch I called and was informed that they had no vacancies. So we had to find another. Fortunately, we got a spot at Tom Sawyer’s RV Park. We now sit about 30 feet from the edge of the Mississippi River. If the sun comes out we will get some nice river shots.
The guy in the office mentioned that they got flooded out last spring. Jett was fearful that we would be swept away in a flash flood if we got another nasty thunderstorm like we got Thursday night (vivid lightning and buckets of rain). I assured her that the Mississippi River was not one to flood without warning. However, it is a bit unnerving to realize that we are sleeping on the wet side of the levee.
Today: Graceland. Grace would be thrilled, but we can’t take her.
Just to be fair, I suppose we will have to find a ChaChaLand somewhere along the way.