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September 17–NASHVILLE!

9/18/2019

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We love Nashville! Such an upbeat city with music everywhere! Took a bus tour of the city, walked Broadway at night, and did a backstage tour of the Grand Ole Opry. Busy days but so much fun! Recording studios everywhere! They’re doing a great job of updating the city with construction everywhere. Last stop on our trek!
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September 16—Lynchburg, TN

9/16/2019

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  1. Toured the Jack Daniel’s Distillery today. Fascinating! Jack was only 6 yers old when he left home. At 13, he inherited a whiskey distillery and thus began his career! They use ground corn, rye, barley, and natural spring water to make the mash. The mash is heated with yeast and the alcohol evaporates out, is collected in condensing tubes, and drips onto charcoal made from sugar maple. It’s clear as water after it passes through the charcoal. Next, it goes into new barrels which are handmade at Jack Daniel’s and left in warehouses until they have turned an amber color and taste just right. They only bottle one barrel at a time. We had a chance to smell the whiskey in the charcoal barrels—-guide told us to really breathe it in with our mouths open—-it burned my throat and felt like I had actually taken a sip! All employees get a free bottle of JD once a month along with their paychecks—-they call it good Friday! Toasty here—-100 degrees at 3PM! Onto a night tour of Music City!
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September 15—Memphis

9/15/2019

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Started the day on a Memphis City Tour. First stop was St. Jude’s Hospital at the Danny Thomas Pavillion on the hospital grounds. Under the dome is a chronicle of the accomplishments of Danny Thomas and the success of the hospital. When he started the hospital, the cure rate for leukemia was 4% and today it’s 96%! Incredible! Next we watched the ducks who live on the rooftop of the Peabody Hotel, get in the elevator, come to the lo lobby and march onto the red carpet into the fountain. Big doings! There were 500 people in the lobby/mezzanine area waiting for this to happen., Next, we went to the Bass Pro Shop which looks like a giant glass pyramid. In addition to all the water, and fish displays, it has a glass elevator, a hotel, an outdoor observation deck near the top of the pyramid and a restaurant called “Uncle Buck’s”. Pops was definitely impressed. The Lorraine Hotel where Dr. King was shot, is now the National Civil Rights Museum. A wreath marks the spot on the balcony where he was killed and across the street , a glass enclosure marks where James E.Ray stood to shoot. A very moving scene. Lunch on Beale St. was fun at BB Kings. Beale Street itself needs a makeover! Not impressed at all! Couldn’t wait to leave! Ended the day at Graceland. Much more understated than I expected. Elvis’ own wife and daughter as well as his mom, dad and grandmother all lived in the house. Beautiful grounds! Elvis, his, parents, and grandmother are all buried in the back of the house next to the Meditation Garden as well as a memorial stone to Elvis’ twin brother who was stillborn. People still leave things on his grave. Must say I was very impressed with Graceland! Onto Lynchburg,TN tomorrow!
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September 14—Driving Day!

9/14/2019

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  • No pictures today! Drove from Shamrock, TX through Oklahoma and Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee! The eight hour drive took us through much greener pastures with many more trees! OK and AR are beautiful states. So much prettier than AZ or NM——at least along Interstate 40! We’ve gone from dried out river beds to rivers with flowing water and from an elevation of 7000 ft in NM to 200 feet in AR! Lots of cattle ranches and farms of corn, soybean, and wheat. Smaller farms than we saw in the North, so more of a variety. within a mile. BBQ dinner at a local spot which was yummy! Every plate comes with a deviled egg—-different but delicious! Have a full day city tour of Memphis tomorrow including a tour of Graceland. The King awaits!
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September 12 &13–Santa Fe

9/13/2019

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Santa Fe is a much larger city than Sedona! I expected a similar environment but surprised at how much bigger and busier it is.
  1. We toured the older part of the city, the Historic District. Here we found the beautiful Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi and the Loretto Chapel. In the chapel is the mysterious spiral staircase which the Loretto Sisters claimed was built by St.Joseph! The Plaza is surrounded by Spanish style buildings and reminded me of Jackson, WY. Lots of high-end shops. But along one side of the plaza is the Native American outdoor market where the Tribal Chiefs decide who gets to sell their handcrafts. Each seller must be a true Native American and prove they handcrafted their wares! We took a stroll down Canyon Road where all the funky artsy shops are. Left Santa Fe and headed for Texas! Thought for sure I would find my last two license plates: West Va and Hawaii, but not yet. The drive through Arizona to Santa Fe, NM had been depressing, as we drove through the Navajo Reservation. There are 350,000 Navajo and the reservation is 27,000 square miles. There is no electricity or running water! Rusty trailers, shacks, and decrepit trucks are the signs of habitation. Every so often a Casino pops up. Most are garage-like structures with 2-3 appealing ones. We stopped for the night in Shamrock, Texas and had dinner on Route 66 at Big Vern’s Steak House, A good chunk of I-40 is the old Route 66. Our dinner was average—-only restaurant around for miles, but as we were leaving, the owner thanked us for stopping by, and proceeded to show us around the restaurant murals depicting the history of Texas. Gracie, my Texas friend, had been to Boston and learned all about the Revolution, so she said we should learn Texas history. Pop’s Red Sox hat was the giveaway. She was lovely and even brought us into her office to show us a picture of Teddy Roosevelt with her grandfather and other Texas ranchers and Quanah Parker, the richest ever Chief who lived in the White House with Teddy! I was informed that Texas is the only state allowed to fly its state flag next to Old Glory and it still has the right to secede from the Union, all because we asked Texas to join the Union and gave into all her demands! Who knew??? Amazing what you learn when you travel!
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September 11–Grand Canyon

9/11/2019

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Started the day remembering the victims of 9/11 & feeling a bit guilty. But I said a few more prayers and we left for our Grand Canyon Tour. We started at the East rim which gives the best view of the Colorado River and worked our way around to the South Rim. Breathtaking! One mile deep, 10 miles wide and 277 miles long! It was hazy due to a nearby fire sending smoke into canyon, but still gorgeous! I was quite surprised at the lack of railings! In fact, very few places have a railing and the railings that do exist are old and decrepit! There are walls in a few spots but they’re not very high. Saw MANY people trying to take crazy pictures—dangling their feet over the edge, standing right on the edge leaning over! Our guide told us the park has stopped putting up railings because so many people jump over the rail! I thought we got some pretty good pictures without endangering our lives! Tony was disappointed we weren’t going to the bottom of the canyon. Told him we could come back next year and take the 8 hour burro ride to the bottom, spend the night in the canyon and do the 8 hour burro ride back!
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September 10–Sedona

9/10/2019

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Drove through Coconino National Forest today—a winding high elevation drive through the mountains. Beautiful, but not for the faint of heart! Spent the day touring Sedona—an adorable town surrounded by the Red Rock Forest. Gorgeous rock formations! The rocks are red because over 300million years ago Sedona was at the bottom of a sea and seashells formed a limestone layer and eventually the iron in thee water oxidized the limestone giving it the rusty red color. Went to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, a stunning chapel built by a student of Frank L. Wright—simple yet powerful! The crucifix is 30 feet tall and no matter where you sit or kneel, Jesus’ eyes are focused on you. At sunset, we drove up to the Airport Overlook—another steep, winding road —where the view was spectacular albeit a bit hazy from a California forest fire. Lots of retired folks, artists and healing centers here! No matter where you look, the view is terrific!


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September 10–Las Vegas!

9/10/2019

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  1. Had the oil changed early this morning -89 degrees at 8AM—-and found a DUNKIN’ on the way! My first DD since Boston!!! Drove to the original LV strip to check it out and was surprised by all the new construction surrounding it! Next, we headed for the Lazy River at the hotel. I chose this hotel bc we love floating around. We didn’t expect to pay $28/ tube! We opted to just float tubeless around the swiftly moving water instead. It was 92 degrees so in the end, we were much better off in the water floating under waterfalls on our own. We could have rented a cabana for $575/day but opted to spend the entire time in the water bc the sun was brutal. Walked the downtown strip tonight checking out the water and light shows in front of the hotels, and toured the Bellagio and Venetian hotels bc they were new to us. Crowds of people lined the streets and pedestrian bridges. Lots of foreigners and a very diverse group. We were surprised by the number of baby carriages and little ones. Came back to Mandalay for the casino and I won $320! A few comments about the hotel: there’s a mini-bar in the fridge, but if you put something of yours inside the fridge, they charge you $50! Everything inside is computerized and weighed so if you add something, you throw off their system! I called guest services telling them I needed to refrigerate medication, so they came up with a separate mini-fridge— sometimes you need those little white lies! Vegas has grown greatly since we were last here and I’m not a fan of the huge new hotels! Onto Sedona tomorrow!
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September 8- Zion National Park, Utah

9/8/2019

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Drove to Zion early this morning and did the scenic tour of Zion. Temperature was 93 degrees, so very little hiking for us! The Canyon was spectacular in formation and color. I felt a little out of place as everyone was into big time hikes with their heavy duty hiking boots., hiking sticks and 50 pound backpacks!
These are sacred grounds to the Paiute and the Park Service has done a great job of preserving their holy grounds! Vegas is only 2 hours away, so we checked into the Mandolay Bay Resort tonight for a little R&R ( temperature was
​98 ) before we head to Sedona and the Grand Canyon!
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September 7–Grand Teton National Park & Jackson, WY

9/7/2019

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Drove through Grand Teton National Park stopping at all the overlooks yesterday. They lie on a fault line so they are huge with jagged peaks! Walked around downtown Jackson last night. Sweet Western town filled with shops, wooden sidewalks, and antler arches. The National Elk Refuge is here so there are elk arches downtown! Elk lose their antlers every year and only the local Boy Scout troops have the right to go through the refuge and pick them up. They sell most of the antlers and make an average of $65K ! Most lucrative troop in the USA! Took a 7AM Safari in an open truck to see the wildlife in the park. Guide was a wildlife biologist with a fountain of knowledge! We came up close & personal with a moose, saw a black bear, elk, & pronghorn antelopes. Watched the pronghorns stop and look both ways before crossing the road! As we hiked through some of the thick backwoods, I stayed close to the guide with his bear spray! Drove from Jackson to Provo, Utah this afternoon, passing through huge cattle ranches and farms in Idaho. Agribusiness at its peak. Fascinating to drive along the backside (Idaho side) of the Tetons which are much smaller and rounded than their Wyoming siblings! Onto Zion tomorrow morning!
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