Monday, March 7, 2016

From Daffodils to Snowdrifts - We Make it Home

Spring flowers were blooming on Friday outside Memphis at this rest stop.

We just had to make a stop in Chicago on the way home to wish our youngest grandchild, Iggy, Happy Birthday and deliver some presents on his 2nd Birthday.  (He is a sweetie!)

On Sunday afternoon we arrived back at home near Frederic to find Old Man Winter still hanging around.  It is warming up and Maple sap is starting to run up here.
On this final post in our blog is a map of this years travels.  The green line shows our route south to pick up our trailer, the blue line shows our travels with our travel trailer, and the red line shows our path homeward.  We traveled 5,570 miles and we had a wonderful trip.
We are already looking forward to next year's journey.
Thank you for looking in on us as we wandered.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

He Was the King

On our way back to Michigan we decided to take a route through Memphis to visit the home of Elvis Presley.  Neither of us had been there.
Graceland is a Mansion on the south side of Memphis that Elvis bought when he was 22 years old along with its 13-1/2 acres of land.  It is a real tourist trap now - $10 to park your car then $38 each to take the self-guided tour.  But hey - he was the King!
This was Elvis' den.  He got the idea from LBJ to have three televisions so he could watch all three networks (in those years) at the same time.  CBS - NBC - and ABC.
To take the tour through the mansion and grounds each visitor is given a tablet with headphones to go at his/her own speed as details are explained and shown.  It was very well designed and easy to follow.
The King had plenty of costumes.....
and plenty of trophies and awards....
and gold records....
and vehicles.  
LBJ's car collection could not hold a candle to Elvis.  Here is a purple Cadillac.  He even had some snowmobiles with wheels in front that he could run on the lawns at Graceland.
This is Elvis' grave.  He is buried here along with his parents and a grandmother.
We enjoyed Graceland.


Saturday, March 5, 2016

We Head Northeast Toward Home

Central Texas has shown us pleasant temperatures, clear blue sky, bright yellow sun, sparkling rivers, and friendly people.  We hope it turns out to be a good place to leave Edgewater until we return next December to resume our travels westward.

Friday, March 4, 2016

Pecan Valley RV Park near Junction

The North Branch of the Llano River turned out to be as clear and the South Branch, but it was shallow.  When Bill went to check it out this is what he found:
It turned out that a "hippie" type couple were staying at the Park for a few days in an old Winnebago.  They liked to come down to the river where he played guitar while she rowed around in the small inflatable boat that you see downstream.   She usually had a beer and he was high on something!
Just across the river were the remains of this very old windmill.  It must have been put up at that location  because the banks were too steep there for livestock to get down to the river to drink.

On one of his bicycle rides Bill came across this little critter working next to the road.  The Armadillo is very much like an opossum with armor!

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

We Arrive At Our Last Destination Before Heading Home

South Llano River State Park fits us to a T, but we cannot leave our trailer, Edgewater, there so we moved on to this small RV park about seven miles west of Junction, Texas.

Bill found this park about a month ago while we were still in Florida and spoke to the owner.  She and he cut a verbal deal on a price to leave our trailer here in storage. (sight unseen!)

The tiny RV park turned out to be a real gem.  There are only about 15 sites under the huge Pecan Trees and the property is on the north branch of the Llano River.  It is quiet and peaceful with just one problem while visiting;  There is no cable, no TV stations through the air, only one radio station, and town is miles away.  You might say we "off the grid".  We have to come to the library in Junction to get on the Internet.  We are News Junkies so it is hard to adapt.
The park got its name for a reason.  Here is part of the huge, tidy, Pecan orchard that sits in front of it.  We had to drive through the orchard to get to the RV sites.  Last year more than 5,000 pounds of Pecans were harvested here.  Since we have arrived in Central Texas all we have seen are blue skies and sunshine.  
This is a good spot to leave our "baby"!