Dane Found Elvis!

I swear that life would just be plain boring without getting to live it with Dane. It would be too easy, too predictable, too simple.

We made it out the door this morning and rolled out of the driveway at 9:01am. Impressive I know. After I got in packing mode yesterday it only took me an hour. The kids and I have this great routine. They each have a backpack that they can fill with anything they want to have with them in the car. Toys, books, games, crayons, etc. They are usually so excited for a trip that these get packed a week before we leave. Then I just tell them to bring me 5 pair of pj's. Now 5 undies, 5 shorts......... and so on. They get to pick it all out and I get to give final approval and I am a master packer and can fit a ton in one bag. No sweat. After I went to bed last night I kept thinking that I forgot something because there is still room to move in the car. On the trip from Oregon to Tennessee you couldn't sneeze because there wasn't enough room for the extra oxygen.

Can I just tell you that I love my GPS? I did mapquest my route to have a general idea of where I was going but with the GPS we made it right to the Graceland Parking Lot in Memphis and then to the Famous Interstate BBQ for dinner and then to the ever faithful Marriott for swimming and bed.

Graceland was interesting. I left with a feeling of a life that ended too soon and thinking wouldn't it be quite the reality show to have Elvis at 72 years old. The house is exactly how he left it. Nothing has been updated except some of the technology for security. I'm sure the house was quite amazing for the 1970's but the kids' and I talked about it and we imagine if Elvis was still alive today the house would be very different. Think about it. Elvis was rich and famous and the rich and famous now live very large. Having seen one episode of MTV Cribs ( one too many episodes) those newbie rich people are way out there. I wondered if he would have gone off the deep end like them or would he have stayed suburbia and somewhat low key. This is Memphis for heaven's sake not Beverly Hills. With all the craziness that was his life they talked about his great escapades being jumping on the main street on go carts and riding his horses.

Dane's favorite part of Graceland was listening to the headphones for the audio tour and dancing to all of the Elvis music that he loves from having watched Lilo and Stitch. He was as entertaining to everyone around him as the rhinestone jumpsuits were. People were following us around waiting to see what Dane would do next. Would he make a mad dash for the grand piano that hasn't been played since Elvis died - AGAIN? Would he try and blow out the eternal flame that burns at Elvis' grave - AGAIN? Would he try to pick MORE flowers in the Meditation Garden for his mommy? Then there are my cynical 7 & 8 year old who just wanted to know if they would see the toilet that he died on and wanted to know why the video said Elvis died of a heart attack and not from a drug overdose. They also were incensed that I wouldn't spend the $65 per ticket so that we could take the Platinum tour that included the airplanes, Lisa Marie & Hound Dog 2 and the car museum. I do hope the pictures turn out of the kids doing Elvis poses.

My sweet Erron is a Food Network junkie and he convinced us that Interstate BBQ is supposed to be the best BBQ ever. So we went from Graceland (in the hood of Memphis) to the BBQ joint (in the hood of the hood in Memphis). We were very conspicuous among the other diners there. The best way to set the mood is to tell you what the waitress said when she gave us the menus. "Well, you are not even a little black are you?" I have been asked if I was Mexican, Italian and Erron even told his mom I was Lebanese just for fun but no, no one has ever mistaken me for a black woman. Was it the best BBQ? Well, Dane wouldn't eat anything but the white Wonderbread. Kale wouldn't eat any ribs because they had sauce and were not the dry rub kind that our friend Todd makes. I thought the pork ribs were great but the brisket was not even in the top 10 and Reagan thought it was a little spicy but wasn't too hungry anyway. We all loved the pecan pie we shared.

The trusty GPS then took us to the Marriott and we swam in the outdoor pool. The front desk clerk gave us a treat out of the Market for our Platinum gift so I grabbed some M&M's and made the kids do laps so I would share with them. Now don't get upset, I did the laps too. It tired the kids out so they are sleeping and I am blogging and plotting our course for tomorrow.

Memphis has a very different feel than Knoxville. They may both be in TN but they are worlds apart. It is soooo humid here. We have added more states to our license plate list and only need 6 more. We might have to take another road trip to the NE this time to get the rest.