Homeward Bound

Well, my trip is nearly over.  If I had to pick the best parts, it would have to be seeing something I have always wanted to see (Mt. Rushmore), and, of course, playing with some donkeys in Custer State Park!  Fun Times!!

Sun Studio and ELVIS!

Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950.   This was a great place to visit.  I loved seeing old pictures and records of the rock and rollers who recorded here!  It was a fun tour.

 

 

Sam Phillips Avenue

I loooooved this photograph!

 

On to the Home of Elvis!

 

Well, how could anything in life be better than a Elvis-styled FRIED peanut butter and banana sandwich??  Aw, man, that thing was good!

 

The "Rockabilly's Restaurant" (Diner) at Graceland

 

Elvis' House (I didn't take the tour, just looked at it from the outside).

 

I loved the rock wall around Graceland.  Visitors from all over come and sign and write personal things on the wall.  It's very touching.

 

Memphis, Tennessee

MEMPHIS is a fun town and home to everything-Elvis.  It's all about music, Elvis, music, Elvis and more music!

 

How tacky!!!  (And, pity the poor horse that has to pull it around!)

 

It's all about Elvis!

 

Pampered ducks live on the top floor of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis.  Every morning at 11:00, the pampered ducks are brought down to the lobby (by a Bellman), where they run down the red carpet and jump into the fountain/pond in the center of the hotel; they spend the entire day there and are taken back upstairs at night.  People line up to see this.  This is a must-see - it was fun!

 

 

Lorraine Motel (Memphis, TN)

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., as assassinated in front of the Lorraine Motel as he stood out on the balcony; this hotel was been frozen in time.  Dr. King's car is still in front of it and it is now the National Civil Rights Museum.  I spent several hours going through the museum (no photos allowed inside); it was amazing, and I highly recommend visiting it.

 

 

 

Dr. King's cars have never been moved.

 

The spot where he was shot.

 

James Earl Ray was convicted of killing Martin Luther King on March 10, 1969.  He was sentenced to 99 years in prison.  He died in prison.

 

Below is the building across the street from the Lorraine Motel.  James Earl Ray shot Dr. King from this building.

Nebraska and Missouri

Continuing on my travels, I went through Omaha, Nebraska and St. Louis, Missouri.  I didn't spend a lot of time in either town.  St. Louis is famous for its big Arch (Gateway Arch), and that's about all I found to take pictures of!

Omaha was a cute little town that was NOT vegetarian-friendly at all!

OMAHA

It was a pretty day to walk around downtown Omaha.

 

Well, I'm guessing that my chances of getting a good tofu meal here are slim and none!

 

ST. LOUIS

 

Next, on to St. Louis.  It is hard to mistake St. Louis for anything else from the highway!

 

This is a beautiful National Park area along the Mississippi River.

Badlands and Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

Well, I headed southeast today, out of South Dakota.  I drove through the Badlands National Park and saw some really beautiful scenery!  Then I cut across the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to leave South Dakota. 

It was a beautiful day to cross the Great Plains of the United States!

 

I don't now how a flower could survive here!

 

Kermie and the Red Cat like the Badlands!

 

 

Oh, man!  I am really behaving myself - I do NOT want to end up in that jail!

 

Indians or Cowboys?!  I don't know.