Jim and April's Roadtrips

Well, the first day of the road trip is about passed and we’re back in the motel for the night.

We got into town about 3pm and after checking in we headed out to drive past Graceland to see if we could get a picture without taking the tour and it was a wasted trip as it’s way off the road behind trees.

So we went on downtown the see the other sights. Parked right next to the street car stop and took a ride on the river line. The coaches were old restored ones and really neat, well at least from my standpoint. We jumped off along the river and went down along the waterfront to do some shooting. I did my first HDR of the trip there, but will process it at a later date.

We caught the trolley back down to Beale Street for dinner at BB Kings place. The BBQ ribs were outstanding and messy. The blues group that was playing was The King Beez and they put on a great show.

After walking around Beale Street shooting pictures for awhile we decided to call it and end to the first day of our road trip.

Tomorrow we’re off to Oaklahoma Ciy for our next adventure… Stay tuned.

Well.. We’re under way and got off pretty much on time, even by our standards. At the moment we’re about 120 miles from Memphis, our first stop on this road trip. We’re planning on dinner at BB Kings on Beale Street tonight… Looking forward to hearing some great music.

Don’t think we’ll tour Graceland, but we’ll drive by and see. We think we’d enjoy other things more and since neither of us are real big Elvis fans and they want about $65 for the whole tour.

I’m constantly amazed by what we can do with today’s technology. I’m writing this post as we head West on I-40 using my iPhone. – Stay tuned!

I’ve gotten several derogatory comments about my planning and organizing.  There are those, who shall remain nameless, that think the ideal is to just wander willy-nilly along the road and let every thing be spontaneous.

My reply is, “I’m sorry, but I need to know where I’m going to sleep every night.”  I’ve experienced pulling off the interstate with 500 miles or so behind me and finding an AARP convention has filled every available motel room at that exit.  I want the security of reservations.  We do have a timeline to follow.  While an endless road trip might appeal to our nomadic souls, this one is only a loop with a deadline at the end.  Jim does have to return to work on October 10th.

He also has a commitment for the Combat Camera reunion in Albuquerque from the 22nd through the 25th and wants to spend at least a couple of days each at three other locations along the way.  The timeline requires making an average number of miles each day.

One of my “no room at the inn” experiences involved a blizzard that left me stranded in the mountains.  The people at the local La Quinta Inn were considerate enough to allow those of us who couldn’t get rooms to sleep in their lobby and, not only provide us with pillows and blankets, but breakfast the next morning.  All at no charge.  I have tried to reward them when traveling by using their chain whenever possible.  I find most of their hotels to be clean, comfortable, and inexpensive with all the amenities I require.  Because I was planning ahead, we were able to make La Quinta Inn accommodations for most of the trip.  It has also cut our expected hotel expenses by nearly half.

It has been more nearly 40 years since I drove across country.  The last time, the Interstate Highway system was just beginning to replace Route 66.  Since that time, the venerable old road has nearly gone the way of the Oregon Trail.  One of the things we want to do is trace what’s left of the old road, where practical.  My research indicates some of it is only accessible by bike or on foot, but what’s still paved and in use is being restored in may areas.  We will not be going out of our way for it, there is that timeline we need to follow.  Where we can do, so we’ll be looking at museums, restorations and ruins of the old road along the way.  In fact, one of our non-La Quinta stops is a restored Route 66 location in Tucumcari, NM called The Blue Swallow Motel.

Our itinerary will include several hours a day for side trips and photo shoots.  When you have a reservation and let the motel know ahead of time that you will be late getting there, they don’t require an exact check-in time.  Jim refuses to camp in a tent anymore.  He says he got his fill of that in the military.  I refuse to wander from exit to exit along the interstate looking for a clean, reasonably priced (preferably with free wifi and breakfast) place to sleep.

 

I love road trips. Whether it’s 50 miles or 500, I am usually ready to go. So far this year, I’ve made my first visit to the Outer Banks (note the photo in the header) for a wedding, gone to my oldest grandson’s graduation at Ft. Jackson, SC, with a stop on the way back through Charlotte, NC to pick my youngest grandson up for a visit. While he was here, we went to a Renaissance Fair in Eastern Kentucky, and the zoo in St. Louis. In October, I will be traveling to Baltimore to pick another grandson up from the airport. He’s stationed in Germany, at the moment, but will be moving to Montana this fall.

However, the really exciting trip comes in September. My baby brother (he’s 61 this year) and I are following, as closely as possible, the old Route 66 HWY to California by way of Albuquerque. His Air Force Combat Camera unit is having a reunion there. Afterwards we are going to LA to visit with friends.

On the way out we intend to drop down south and spend a night in Memphis and cut through Arkansas before picking up I-40 at Oklahoma City. On the way back, we plan to come through Utah, Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri. The whole thing is expected to take about 3 weeks.

It’ll be the longest vacation I’ve ever taken and we’ll be passing through places I haven’t seen since the late sixties, plus visiting 3 states where I’ve never been at all. As we plan a tentative route, collect brochures, and make reservations, I feel as excited as a little kid. I’m ready to start packing today.

We’ve got several photo shoots in the planning stages. Since he loves trains, we’ll be hitting a lot of old depots and train museums, plus places where the tracks follow the highway or vice-versa.  I, on the other hand, love mountains and sweeping landscapes, so I know I’ll find things to shoot while he’s playing with his locomotives.

We’re brainstorming ideas for some kind of article involving the photography and the travel, so we can write off some of the travel expenses come tax time. It’s so great when your work is also your pleasure.

Whatever happens with the article, I’ll for sure be putting updates here. So, check back around September 20th to see how we’re doing.