Day 12: Next stop, Memphis

Today's drive to Memphis was smooth and uneventful.  The only hiccup we encountered was at the beginning and end of the trip.  Our GPS Lady, whom we have named Ginny, insisted on directing us back to Nashville this morning as we set off.  
My Yahoo Bernina Software Group buddy, also a Teresa like me, suggested that GPS Lady needs a name. So Ginny it is, because we bought the GPS in Virginia, and because GPS and Ginny  begin with the same soft 'g' sound. 
I am beginning to think that because Ginny came from Virginia, she becomes a little confused sometimes when directing us around other states, like this morning.  When that happens, the best thing is to pull over somewhere that looks like it has a large enough area for a bus this size, and reprogram her.  
I still rely on a good old-fashioned paper maps from AAA.  I follow the map to try to understand Ginny's choices, and they have not always been right.  But to give her the benefit of the doubt, it could just be operator error and that we are still not familiar with which of her buttons to push to get her going properly.  
Once we got Ginny sorted out, we stopped at the first Flying J to fill up, then were off back down the highway, a straight run along I-40 westbound.  The roads here are in good shape and the drive was smooth and pleasant.  I clicked away every so often to record the scenery, though the terrain did not change much.  We crossed several rivers and streams.  
Sticking with our rule of two's, we stopped for lunch at a rest stop about two hours into the trip. My AAA map shows all the rest stops along the way which is very convenient.
The one thing about Alpine (who also needs a name according to Teresa), is that it's so easy to work in the kitchen compared to Rialta.  While making lunch for my driver and me, I can also boil water for tea or coffee.  It feels rather fancy and decadent.  But so nice!

Here are a few pics to give you an idea of what this stretch from Nashville to Memphis looks like as we traveled through Tennessee.

Basically, we covered over 200 miles, in good weather, under blue skies, and saw some hill tops and lots of trees.  Eventually I pulled out my yarn and continued to work on a hat I had started to crochet a few weeks ago.  

Several signs amused us as we sped along.  Here's one from the DOT.

 

Here's one more I found interesting - 
 

At one point, Michael noticed that the car on the dolly ahead of us was the same model '68 Chevy Chevelle that his uncle Donald drove in Johannesburg.  

I am continually amazed that he recognizes so many different car models and can pinpoint the exact year as well.  
I see that men can and do pay attention to detail.... just not the ones that are important to us gals.




Driving past Jackson we saw many cotton fields.  Some were being harvested.

Eventually we reached Memphis. GPS Ginny let us down once more today.  Instead of leading us to our RV park, she directed us to a different destination announcing that we had arrived at the RV park.  This was not an error made by our human hands.  The Good Sam software that is tied to this GPS locates gas stations, stores, restaurants and RV parks for you.  All you need to do is click on the one you want and it transfers the coordinates to the GPS unit.  Well something went wrong because the address was the correct one but Ginny lead us into a residential neighborhood about a mile from the RV park. Since I don't yet trust Ginny, I make a point of writing down the address which we were able to enter and then she directed us to the right spot.  
And so we parked, set up, plugged in, and got the kettle going.  We had arrived relatively early today and had time to go for a walk.  The Graceland RV park, next door to the Heartbreak Hotel, is conveniently located next door to Graceland and across the street from Elvis' mansion.  
Tomorrow will be Elvis day.

Day 11: The Country Music Capital

Today we explored The District in downtown Nashville.  One day is not nearly enough time to see everything, but what we did see and learn was very interesting.  I certainly learned more than I knew about the music scene that evolved and stemmed from this city.


A shuttle bus dropped us off on Broadway Avenue, where for a block on either side, twelve restaurants and bars feature continual live performances, rotating musicians every four hours. Strolling down the sidewalk, we heard singers and bands from every doorway, some better than others.  
This most certainly is a vibrant music scene, and the place to be if you have any dreams of being discovered.

At the Ryman Auditorium, we took a self-guiding tour. Because Michael is a Garrison Keillor fan, I knew that some of the Saturday broadcasts have been performed here. What I didn't realize is that the inspiration for Garrison Keillor's live broadcast of Prairie Home Companion stems from his experience of the final Opry at the Ryman in 1974. 
Keillor came here to write a story for The New Yorker about the Grand Ole Opry's move to the new Grand Ole Opry House when the Ryman was closing. He was inspired by the simplicity of the show and so his Prairie Home Companion was born, then broadcast in St Paul for the first time in July 1974. Twenty years later, after the Ryman was renovated and re-opened, Keillor was among the first performers to appear here and continues to do so regularly. 
Back home, Michael tunes in to Prairie Home Companion almost every weekend.  Now I can visualize the shows at the Ryman auditorium after being here and actually sitting in one of the original oak pews. 

The history behind the Ryman is interesting.  As the name implies, it was Thomas Ryman, a riverboat captain and businessman, who built the auditorium. However, the intent was not as a venue for entertainment, but rather soul-saving revival meetings.  Ryman, it is said, attended a revival in the 1880's during which evangelist Sam Jones preached his fire and brimstone messages.  
Although Ryman initially intended to heckle the preacher, he was instead converted, and pledged to build a permanent location for Jones to be able to preach.  It took seven years to complete the Union Gospel Tabernacle, in 1892.  On Ryman's death in 1904, the building was renamed in his  honor and  memory.  
Until 1943, when the Grand Ole Opry began using the Ryman on Saturday nights for its popular live radio shows, the building was a venue for a wide variety of events, ranging from religious revivals to operas, ballets, political debates and even boxing matches.  My Polish friends may be interested to know that Paderewski, world-renowned Polish pianist and composer (and also Poland's prime minister in 1919), performed at the Ryman numerous times. Apparently at his first performance, when some members of the audience left during his encore, he was so offended that he simply walked off stage.  He did however return to play on four more occasions.
During the Grand Ole Opry's residence from 1943-1974, the Ryman gained nationwide recognition as the "Mother Church of Country Music."  Famous names with origins to the Ryman include Roy Acuff (the king of country music), as well as Minnie Pearl, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, James Brown, and Dolly Parton, amongst others.  Today, the Ryman continues to be a venue for world-class artists from all genres of music.  Just last night, Martina McBride performed to a sold-out audience.

So what actually is "Grand Ole Opry" and what does it mean?  The connection to this term comes from the radio station, WSM, which began broadcasting a Saturday night program called WSM Barn Dance in 1925.  When a year later, the program host referred to the programming as being "Grand Ole Opry", in contrast to the preceding grand opera program, the term stuck.  The radio show is attributed with popularizing country music on the Grand Ole Opry shows, and because it had a far-reaching audience, featured musical acts from all across the eastern states.  As its popularity grew, more acts and recording companies came to Nashville, which eventually became known as the center of the country music industry.  
After it outgrew several local venues, Grand Ole Opry rented the Ryman from 1943 until 1974, when it moved to the new location at the Grand Ole Opry House.  

One more bit of information I learned is that Bluegrass has its origins here at the Ryman as well.  This plaque describes it best:

We continued on to the waterfront overlooking the Cumberland River, interested to learn that Nashville was founded on Christmas Eve 1779, by two teams of pioneers under the leadership of James Robertson and Cpt. John Donelson.   Rachel Donelson, daughter of the captain, would later become the wife of President Andrew Jackson. 
Nashville, which first began as Fort Nashborough, was a name chosen in honor of revolutionary war hero General Francis Nash.

Next we went in search of Printer's Alley. As the name implies, this was home to the printing and publishing industry, which continues to be the second largest industry still, today.  With over 800 churches in Nashville, it is not surprising that the world's largest publisher of bibles, Thomas Nelson Publishers, is located here.  
At the turn of the 20th Century, this hidden but quaint alley became home to an underground life of nightclubs, speakeasies, gambling halls and ladies of the night.

the business district further uptown

I was struck by the modern buildings in the rest of the downtown area. Impressive glass skyscrapers loomed over the red brick historic district, contrasting starkly with the old architecture.  A grand arena, modern museums and the symphony hall are located virtually around the corner from The District.   
Nashville appears to be thriving and growing, just as it continues to entice tourists and country music fans.

the AT&T building with what look like to me as "peace sign" towers

the towering Pinnacle building dwarfing the symphony hall

the steel tower, in homage to Nashville's long
broadcasting history, at the Bridgestone Arena

We managed one last stop on our way back to the Two Rivers RV Park where we were staying. Our shuttle dropped us off at the Gaylord Opryland Resort, a hotel of massive proportions in which everything is on a larger than grand scale. The main feature of this hotel is the three massive interior gardens resplendent with tropical plants, waterfalls and a river.  It is at once mind boggling and spectacular.  
We had a quick bite at one of the restaurants (nothing to write home about) and called for the shuttle to pick us up.
It had been a long day and we had only scratched the surface of what Nashville has to offer.  I certainly will come away with a new understanding and appreciation for country music and its long tradition as a core part of the American tradition.

Day 10: Nashville, Tennessee....eventually

We may not have had any Trick or Treaters at Bear Creek RV Park for Halloween last night, but Mother Nature definitely tricked us.  And it was definitely not a treat driving the next leg to Nashville.  
A trip that should have taken approximately five hours, including a stop for a break, took us eight and a half hours.  For three of those hours, we were stuck in bumper to bumper gridlock along a stretch of I-40 through the mountains.  Let's just say that it was not much fun and very frustrating as we crawled along in starts and stops, at about 2 miles an hour.

The I-40 corridor is well traveled and particularly by truckers.  As we were leaving Scott and Carol's, I remember Scott mentioning that even if it did snow, we have nothing to worry about because that road is always well-maintained and cleared.  

Off we drove, the roads bare, the snow sprinkled prettily around us.  Every now and then, raindrops showered us softly.
So far so good.  About an hour into the trip, we slowed down to a halt. Thinking that perhaps there had been an accident up ahead, we simply accepted the wait.  I had noticed that there was very little traffic moving in the opposite direction and when it did, it passed in waves with stretches of quiet.  Hmm.  

Well, when we did eventually move forward, probably a good 45 minutes later, here is what the rest of the journey through the mountains looked like:

We continued to snake and inch, stop and start.  The road was plowed and except for a few patches, mostly bare.  My driver did a splendid job across the snowy patches.  And luckily it was rain, rather than snow, that continued to fall.  

We eventually noticed a couple of trucks driving past. They were the lucky ones. 

 The road in the opposite direction was closed down again. This stretch up to the tunnel was the most snow covered and the scariest.

 Finally, after miles of twisting our way down the mountain, we made it to and through the tunnel.  It was like night and day on the other side. In fact, neither of us wanted to say anything in case the bare roads we were now traveling across were a mirage of some sort.

In the opposite direction, however, the nightmare continued.  We passed mile upon mile of stopped traffic, knowing what they were facing if these drivers were even lucky enough to be able to make it through the pass.  Before we reached the tunnel, we watched as another road block was being set up in the opposite lanes.  

We felt very fortunate to leave the Smoky's behind us.  Later, Michael read a report about the early snowfall surprise of November 1st.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/topstories/foot-of-snow-blankets-great-smoky-region-in-early-wintry-blast/ar-BBcpwI7

Within a few miles, we crossed the border into Tennessee. Then it was a matter of covering all the lost miles and time to make it to Nashville for the night. 
As we continued to drop in elevation, the weather and conditions improved. I never wanted to see another snowflake in my life!  Snow may look post-card pretty, but we know first-hand how disruptive it is.
We were fortunate and if all we had lost is some time, at least it was in the comfort of Alpine.  

We have never been to Tennessee and I was struck with how green and hilly the terrain was that we were traveling through.

I kept my clicking finger busy during the rest of the drive through Knoxville and on the approach to Nashville as the sun was setting. 

We ended up gaining two hours yesterday, making up for the time we lost sitting in the pass.  We were now in the Central Time Zone and we were about to also fall back to Standard Time.

Here is a map showing our route from Silver Spring to Nashville, courtesy of our Good Sam GPS with mapping software -