Day 7 - Enchanted Circle, New Mexico

Today, we are headed for the Rio Grande Gorge, Taos and driving the Enchanted Circle.  Shortly after leaving we begin to get into the mountains north of Santa Fe.

The Cottonwoods and Aspens are all golden yellow at this altitude (9200 feet at our highest) and are striking against the greens and browns of the Ponderosa and Pinion pines and Juniper trees.

As we drive towards Taos, we pass this church in the Spanish mission style.

We cross the Rio Grande River at Taos Junction bridge site and follow the dirt road so that we come to the Gorge Bridge from the west.  As we travel along the road, we have this view. 

More views as we continue to drive the west rim of the Rio Grande heading to the Gorge Bridge.

Here we have the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge towering over the Rio Grande river rapids below.

Looking north from the bridge, you can see the size of the Rio Grande George.

From there we followed the Enchanted Circle counter clockwise passing Questa, Red River, Eagle Nest and then Angel Fire.  We saw some very nice vistas along the circle.  You can clearly see the fall foliage on the mountain.

This is October and the Aspens are all in their fall colors.  They are quite stark against the dark green of the pines in the background.

How would you like to have this as your back yard?  This area would be nice for a horseback ride.

We finally get to Taos and settled in for some dinner at a Cantina.  Before going into the Cantina, I got this picture of Carmen next to a cart with flowers. 

One of the buildings where the shops were located had these peppers hanging along the second floor roof supports and a ladder from the second floor balcony to the roof. 

There are many artists in Taos, and you wonder if the wheel was purposely placed against the wall for show.  Contrived or not, it still made for a nice picture.

And finally, as there are many of the peppers hanging, this picture shows the different produce available.  

We left Taos in the late afternoon as we have a long ride home and arrived back at the motor home in the dark.  Tomorrow we will travel the Jemez Trail and part of the Santa Fe.

Day 5 - Heading to Santa Fe, New Mexico

Early in the morning on October 2nd, we put Memphis behind us and we are following I-40 through Arkansas.  Those that are traveling with us all leave at about the same time and for the most part, we will stay together.  But, one couple has their dog with them and will stop often for it.  We are not in a hurry and since we do not need to get to Albuquerque until October 6 the others will stop for longer periods then Carmen and me.  We on the other hand are going to spend a couple of days in the Santa Fe area we plan on driving later then they will.  Therefore, when they stop we will continue driving.

The countryside is very diverse; here we can see many windmills on the butte in the distance.

We pass through Oklahoma on the Interstate 40 and parallel Route 66 as we continue our ride to Santa Fe.  Hey, maybe that's Radiator Springs in the background.

We have seen many trucks pulling trailers carrying many different items.  Here were two nice looking dune buggies.

We continue through Oklahoma and into the panhandle of Texas.  While traveling I-40 in Texas the roads are fairly flat and as you can see here you can see for quite a distance.   After about 10 - 11 hours on the road, we pulled into a rest area to rest for the night.  The plan is for an early start in the morning and Santa Fe by afternoon.

Just west outside of Amarillo, even though I saw the half buried Cadillacs at Cadillac Ranch, they were on the other side of the highway and I saw them to late to get a picture.  So instead of my picture, here is Richie Diesterheft’s (Chicago, IL) photo of the brightly painted Cadillacs. 

Further down the road Carmen took this picture of an old homestead.  This fixer-upper could be yours.

Before leaving Texas we saw these Pronghorn Antelope on the other side of the highway. 

We enter New Mexico late in the morning on October 3rd.  We are having good traveling weather and little traffic.  

We continued driving on I-40 until we got to NM 285.  Then we headed north and begin getting into a more hilly countryside. 

We near the KOA campground we will be staying at while in Santa Fe.  Tomorrow our plan is to leave early and drive the Enchanted Circle with a stop at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.

Day 4 - Graceland, Memphis

This is the day Carmen has been waiting for on this trip: visiting Graceland.  But first thing this morning, it was raining.  However, by around 10:30 am, when we headed out to see Graceland the rain had eased up. 

We bought our tickets, across the street from Graceland, and took one of their shuttles up to the house.  Here’s Carmen in front of Elvis’ house.  Visiting here is very exciting for her and has been one of the items on her “bucket” list.

When we begin our tour, one of the first rooms we saw was the living room and Piano room.  I thought one of the nicest things about the room was the two peacock stained glass panels between the two rooms.

The formal dining room.

The entertainment room.

The billiard room.

The Jungle Room.  I’ve always want to see this room since hearing Marc Cohn’s song “Walking in Memphis”.  And I’m “Waiting for the King down in the Jungle room”.  Well I’m here, but no ghost of Elvis.  On with the tour of the house.

We leave the house portion of the tour and are now on our way to the barn and other buildings.  Glad that it has stopped raining.  Here is a view of the back yard and the house. 

The barn and out buildings contained offices, studios, and his many awards.  There are so many gold and platinum records it is hard to count them all.  Some like this are special awards.  This one is for selling 5 million records of “Don’t be Cruel”. 

Here are some of the many record breaking awards earned by Elvis throughout the year.  Also along the walls are some of the clothes he wore either during a performance or in an movie.

There were many of the outfits he wore on stage and also in the movies.  This one he wore for his tour during his sold out concerts in 1970 which ended in Las Vegas.

Carmen was, still is, a big fan of Elvis, and coming here, like many Elvis fans, was one of the things she wanted to do.  The tour takes us around the property, including here.  She looks a little sad here standing in front of Elvis’ grave. 

On the property, the Elvis foundation, buys and keeps abused horses.  A couple of them were in this pasture.

Leaving Graceland, we were back across the street where there is a museum.  Inside in the museum are some of the cars he owned, a Rolls Royce, Continental, and other cars including this 1971 Stutz Blackhawk. 

We also purchased the extra ticket to go into and view the jets, including the Lisa Marie.  This is the dining room in one of the jets.  

In the other jet, the seating is spacious and plush,  now this is the way to fly – no more flying coach.

And now we leave Graceland, the tour of the house and property was great and I finally got to see the Jungle room.  We could have stayed longer looking at each of the records on the walls and Elvis' clothes as well as Lisa Marie's wedding gown, but everything must end and tomorrow we begin traveling west towards New Mexico.  If you are an Elvis fan or not, I think this was a great tour and would recommend it to anyone, fan or not.  Our plan is to drive through to New Mexico all at once, we'll see how that works out.

Day 3 - Memphis

This morning we left Nashville and arrived in Memphis in the early afternoon.  We have reservations at a campground almost across the street from Graceland, how great is that?  Our afternoon was free, so we are heading downtown to the Peabody Hotel to see the ducks move from the fountain to the elevator.  They take the elevator to their room on the top floor. 

After setting up a red carpet and stairs and at the 5:00 pm bell, the ducks come out of the fountain.  The ducks then are escorted along the red carpet to the elevator where they head up to their room.  Yes, they have their own room in the hotel. 

The lobby is very impressive, big chandeliers and furniture with large open spaces and a mezzanine overlooking it all. 

Since it is the beginning of October, Christmas ornaments are for sale.  In this case they represent the ducks we saw earlier walking from the fountain to the elevator.  The ornament looks like a yellow marshmallow peep in a little bathtub, how cute is that?

While looking around the hotel, I came upon a number of ceramics.  I thought they look quite nice.  I’m not sure, but I think they are Chinese characters.  Some like the one on the left, hold walking sticks or canes.

Leaving the hotel on our way back to the motor home for the night, we take a route that we will pass Sun Recording Studios where Elvis recorded his first record.  It is closed for the night, so we do not stop.  We were on Marshall Ave, stopped for a red light, at the corner with Union Ave when I took this picture.  In case you ever want to visit, the address for Sun Recording Studios is 706 Union St.

Day 2 - Nashville, Tennessee

Today we are going to the RCA Victor Studio B and Country Music Hall of Fame in downtown Nashville.  We begin our day at the RCA Studio B where over 35,000 songs were recorded with over 1,000 of them becoming top ten hits.

In this studio, Elvis recorded more than half of his songs here.   Elvis used the piano in this studio for many of the his songs. 

He loved the piano in the studio so much that he wanted to take it home, but the piano was kept here on display.  

In the back, behind the piano is a piece of the cabinet that is broken.  It is said that Elvis kicked it when his favorite record player would not run.  

Next we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame.  The tour included some of the cars owned by some of the biggest country stars.  Including this 1960 Cadillac limousine once owned by Elvis Presley.

On display are many gold and platinum records by various artists.  Here is Carmen in front of one of Elvis' platinum records, Elvis' Christmas Album.  

There were many plaques depicting those inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.  There are those you would think should be here including Elvis, Johnny Cash, Chris Kristoffferson, Roy Rogers, and more.  But, I was surprised to also see the Everly Brothers.  For a non-Country fan, the exhibit was pretty good.  I was amazed at the number of country artists I actually new and heard. 

After the Hall of Fame, we spent the remainder of the afternoon in downtown Nashville and all its Honky-Tonks.  We ate lunch at Jack's Bar-B-Que.  Lunch was good, and so was walking around town.

I know we are in Honky-Tonk central, because the sign said so.

Just across the river from where we are is the Tennessee Titans stadium.

On of the last bars we pass before leaving for the day is Big Shotz.  Like most of the others we have gone by some people are in the bars, music is playing, and people are, as the sign, says are having a "hell of a time".

As we were driving away, I caught this sign advertising Popcorn Sutton's whiskey.  You might remember him, if you watched, I think the discovery channel, where they followed moon-shiners.  Popcorn was caught and imprisoned.  He later died and his wife, using the money from his revenue, paid for a legal license.  This advertising sign is the result of that licensed moonshine.

Tomorrow we leave for Memphis, Tennessee.