72 Days...18,860 km! We're Home!

It's great to be home! We saw so much beautiful scenery along the way. The New England states had quite an ice storm a few days ago. The rivers are all frozen and it was a very pretty picture as we drove through Maine. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people were still without power so that wasn't so nice.

Look at beautiful Mount Katahdin in Maine. Who knew?? It's about two hours from here...

Ah...the New Brunswick landscape! Trees, trees, and more trees...but no snow!!

A sign for sore eyes!

Me and my sissy!! I missed my sissy!! We emailed everyday...whatever did we do before email??

Me and my boys...don't they look overjoyed! I think they believe we rented an apartment for them, so they're probably a bit put out at having to share their space.

And here's the weather today! I'm glad we made it home yesterday. We had wonderful weather for driving.

How many pounds gained on the trip (sigh...)--10 (and I think most of them were in the last 10 days driving home...no gym, no sightseeing).

How many times did I use the words amazing, beautiful, gorgeous in the blog--too many to count!

So our best vacation ever is really at an end. Although many nights I didn't feel like doing the blog, I am so glad now that I did. We can't even remember what we did two weeks ago, never mind at the beginning of the trip. So many good memories!

Here endeth the blog of our trip across Canada...

Almost Home!!

We'll be home today! We've made great time on our trip home and the weather has been fantastic. Yesterday it was 17 degrees in Connecticut. Crazy!!

We left San Francisco on December 7...

Dec. 7--San Francisco to Barstow, California...660 km

Dec. 8--Barstow to Holbrook, Arizona...710 km

Dec. 9--Holbrook to Tucumcari, New Mexico...638 km

Dec. 10--Tucumcari to Eufaula, Oklahoma...747 km

Dec. 11--Eufaula to Memphis, Tennessee...605 km

Dec. 12--Memphis to Nashville, Tennessee...351 km

Dec. 13--Nashville to Wytheville, Virginia...597 km

Dec. 14--Wytheville to Frackville, Pennsylvania...669 km

Dec. 15--Frackville to Augusta, Maine...805 km

We touched 6 states yesterday as we blasted through...Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. That was fun!

Some interesting facts or things we saw on the way home...

You can't buy any cold liquor (beer or wine) in Oklahoma. Go figure...

If you buy a bottle of wine in a restaurant in Tennessee and don't finish it, you can take it with you.

Hi-test gas has been anywhere from $1.67 to $2.39 a gallon (which works out to roughly 42 to 60 cents a litre). One time it cost $21.00 US to fill the car.

Much to Jim's dismay, we ate at a Bob Earl's one night and the Cracker Barrel the next night, and neither of them sell alcohol.

We think radar detectors are legal because some people have been blasting by us and there are lots of cops to be seen.

There are large road signs that have lights on them. If the lights are flashing, you tune into the radio frequency posted and they tell you what the problem is. That's helpful! Then you can decide if you want to detour or not.

Virginia is beautiful...rolling hills, farms, horses...just like a postcard. We would love to go back there in the summer.

There has been lots of road construction. Not sure if they do it all at this time of year, because in the summer with all the tourists, it would be a major bummer!

The GPS was the best investment ever. Sure, there were a few times when Garmie dragged us to some obscure place (like insisting there was a car wash on a nice residential street!), but 99% of the time, it was bang-on. On a trip like this, where you are changing hotel rooms almost every day, it was such a treat to have someone lead you to the hotel...and a grocery store, and a wine store...

With a quick stop in Bangor and a quick stop at the border (we hope), we'll be home!

Memphis and Nashville!

Tennessee here we come!

When in Memphis, you must go to Graceland!

Hmmm...Where Elvis Lives?? I guess they're still hoping for an Elvis sighting!

Elvis supposedly loved Christmas and Graceland was beautifully decorated. We drove by Graceland later that night and there were many lights lining the driveway and on the house. It was stunning...

Elvis bought Graceland in 1957 for $90,000 and at that time it was out in country. Now it is situated on Elvis Presley Boulevard and tons of businesses have sprung up around it...all feeding on their proximity to Graceland.

It was originally just over 10,000 square feet but with renovations ended up at 17,000 square feet.

You enter Graceland and view the living room which is decorated in all white furniture.

No one is allowed upstairs as Elvis was a private person and they wish to respect his privacy. I think it's also due to the fact that people would love to focus on the room where he was found.

The dining room...

The kitchen which was renovated by Elvis in the 1970s. What struck me about the house was that it really did feel like a home. Although it is large, it felt very homey and nothing was "over the top."

OK...maybe the pool room was a little over the top...complete with fabric walls and ceiling...

Vernon Presley's office...Elvis's father looked after his financial affairs. Vernon was always afraid that they would lose all their money and end up broke again.

The sign outside his office that gave an indication of what he thought of all the "hangers-on."

A model of the house where Elvis grew up in Tupelo, Mississippi...

A view of Graceland from the back...

When Elvis bought Graceland, it was a 14 acre farm 10 miles outside of Memphis. There are still horses on the property...

Elvis had a "trophy" building which originally served several purposes before he turned it into a place for storage and display of awards and trophies.

Elvis only wore this gold lame outfit once...

The early years...

Mind-boggling amount of awards and gold records...we were so fortunate to visit Graceland at this time of year. I don't imagine there are many opportunities to photograph this area without someone else in the picture.

Elvis's love of jumpsuits...

Elvis and Priscilla married in 1967 in Las Vegas and then returned to Memphis to have a second wedding reception for friends and family.

Many of Elvis's jumpsuits are on display at Graceland and, in addition, there is a separate building which holds more than 50 of his jumpsuits.

Same outfit in black and white...

A portrait depicting Graceland with snow...the bus driver told us on the few occasions that they get snow, Graceland is a sight to see...

Elvis played this piano on the morning of his death. The piano is located in the racquetball building which Elvis built in the 1970s when he took up the sport and liked it so much that he built a separate building for it. It was completed in 1975 at a cost of $200,000. People could sit here and watch the racquetball games behind the glass wall opposite the piano.

The racquetball room which has been turned into another display area for all of his awards...

The Aloha from Hawaii TV show jumpsuit...

The performance was showing on a TV in the racquetball room. Elvis was reportedly very nervous about the Aloha from Hawaii show as he thought he was too overweight and that his fans wouldn't still love him...but oh they did!

The pool near the meditation area...

The meditation area was built in the 1960s and was one of Elvis's favourite places at Graceland...

This large marble cross was originally on Elvis's mother's grave in Forest Hill cemetary. He was also buried there, but due to security reasons both graves were moved to Graceland.

Flowers continue to arrive even 30 years after his death...

Elvis loved cars and a separate museum allows you to see some of his favourites...

Elvis loved motorcyles, particularly Harley Davidsons...

Elvis bought this 1956 Cadillac, which was originally white, and had it painted purple. He traded it and a fan bought it and kept it until her death in 1974. It was then restored and the owners planned to show it to Elvis but he died before the restoration was complete.

This 1960 MG was used by Elvis in Blue Hawaii and was also part of his personal collection. He was known for giving cars to friends and employees, and gave this car to his secretary who later traded it. It went through several hands before making its way back to the Presley collection.

Elvis's famous pink 1955 Cadillac. He often referred to it as Gladys's car (his mother); although she didn't drive, it was her favourite.

Priscilla's favourite car, a Mercedes 280 purchased in 1970.

Elvis's jet, the Lisa Marie, which he purchased in 1975 for $250,000. It required a crew of four and Elvis always used the same crew. Operating costs for one year were $404,000.

The dining room/boardroom on board Lisa Marie...

We were staying at a Best Western near Graceland and noticed there weren't many restaurants nearby. We asked at the desk and they recommended a restaurant called Marlowes. Marlowes has several pink Cadillac limos which they drive to various hotels picking up guests for dinner. We figured what the heck...it was a blast! The restaurant food was truly down south....hush puppies (fried stuffing), corn fritters, ribs and pecan (pe-CAHN) pie. It was so much fun. The waitress really made the night. There is no doubt that these people love to work at this restaurant. She has worked there for 9 years and says they are just like family. She wouldn't work anywhere else. A memorable evening....

From Memphis, it was on to Nashville. The Radio City Rockettes were playing at Opryland and so we thought it would be a fun Christmas show...

Nashville on the fly...

The Opryland Hotel is the largest non-casino hotel in the world and the largest hotel outside of Las Vegas. We didn't stay there...weekend rates are crazy!

The Rockettes ad on a local bus...

The original Grand Ole Opry is downtown. This whole area has sprung up around the Opryland Hotel...

The seats in the Opry House are benches (or pews) rather than seats...not sure I was crazy about that idea! One large guy at the end of our pew decided to rock back and forth in his seat for most of the show. It was a bit like having someone continually kick your seat on a plane!

It was a fun show for all ages...

We are more than halfway home! We are heading to Virginia for the next leg of the trip...