Tennessee

We arrived in a RV park just west of Nashville Tennessee Monday lunchtime and hung out swimming in the pool in the afternoon.

On Tuesday we spent the day in Nashville. We went to the state capitol and had a tour which outlined the building of it along with the history of Tennessee. After that we toured the Tennessee state museum (http://www.tnmuseum.org/). One of the highlights in the museum was seeing an Egyptian mummy.

We then went downtown to the heart of country and western. We went into some of the clubs and listened to some musicians play and then had Pulled Pork for lunch which is delicious. We then headed off to the Country Music Hall of Fame (http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com). We got to listen and read about Hank Williams and his legacy, Elvis Presley, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and lots more.

On Wednesday we left and moved the RV to the Montgomery Bell state park west of Nashville (http://state.tn.us/environment/parks/MontgomeryBell/index.shtml). In the afternoon we caught up with Jeff and Kelly Haley, and their two kids Bethany and Chase. We had met the Haleys at a motocross race in Mississippi (Golden Pine MX park) in early April. We got to ride at their MX track and have dinner with them which was fantastic. That night Josiah and Joel stayed the night and played with Chase. They were all tired the next day.

On Thursday Jeff took Chris and the boys to Loretta Lynn’s ranch about 30 miles away (http://www.lorettalynn.com/home/index.html). This is where the American motocross amateur nationals are held each year and is also where Loretta Lynn lives. When you look at the ranch it is hard to believe they will have a national championship there in a month’s time. We then went to the town that Loretta Lynn owns and toured some of the shops plus see a replica of the house she grew up in (Butcher Holler - it is basically a shack - Loretta is the true story of a girl that went from rags to riches). We hope to have more photos of the ranch next month when we plan to be back here. It is going to be completely different when we come back. The lady in the store said last year at the American motorcross nationals there were 35,000 visitors. I understand there are only around 1,200 riders that make it to the nationals (out of 25,000 that try to qualify) so I assume the difference is for the rider families, officials, vendors and spectators.

We really appreciated the friendship and hospitality of the Haleys and look forward to catching up with them again next month.

On Friday we left for Memphis, Tennessee arriving late afternoon. We stayed at the T O Fuller state park which is very close to the city of Memphis (http//state.tn.us/environment/parks/TOFuller/index.shtml). If Nashville is the country music capital then Memphis is the blues and soul capital of the USA. On Saturday morning we went to Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley (http://www.elvis.com/). This was amazing and writing a blog about Elvis does not do it justice. Some things that stood out to us was that he could sing any type of music such as gospel, country, blues & rock. He was an incredible performer and had awesome clothes to go with it. He was a giver and loved his parents dearly. He served his country in the army after WWII. He was his own producer. It is a shame that his life ended at an early age when he had so much talent.

In the afternoon we went into the city of Memphis. We visited Beale Street, the blues entertainment district. Some of the stores we went into included BB King’s Blues and Jazz Club & A Schwab’s Dry Good Store. This store opened in 1876 and it has an array of paraphernalia familiar from old blues songs, plus jumbo sized underpants to tambourines. After that we toured the Rock n Soul Museum (www.memphisrocknsoul.org). This museum presents a musical tour of Memphis and provides stories of Memphis musical heritage. Some songs you might have heard included Soul Man, Green Onions, Shaft, Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, Le Freak. There were artifacts from Elvis’ stage gear, B B King’s “Lucille” guitar and Al Green’s bible.

On Sunday morning we went to Reverend Al Green’s church, The Full Gospel Tabernacle. What an experience. You have to go to a place like this to see and feel it. The singing and musical instruments were incredible.

Tennessee would have to be our favourite state so far. It has natural beauty, history and music. It is a shame we only spent a week here. On Sunday afternoon we left Memphis and headed for Mike and Pam Lambert's place in Arkansas.