Great Barrington, Yale & Easter

First on the agenda after arriving in Great Barrington, was to see the chickens I've heard so much about.

Emma was excited to pick them up and show them off. We found fresh eggs everyday. I loved listening to their clucking.

We drove to Yale the next day, about a 90 minute drive. The campus with its gothic old style buildings seems crammed and squeezed between the traffic and noise of downtown New Haven.

Jason's photo exhibit was hung in a large lecture hall and its entryway. They looked stunning.

His slide presentation and thought provoking talk went totally smoothly with lively disucssion afterwards and involved questions.

Delicious wine and cheeses were served.

Back in Great Barrington we visited a friend's farm.











But mostly we just hung out and enjoyed the kids.










And then it was Easter. Jason took this photo of Katherin, it says it all.

Smoky Mt National Park & the Blue Ridge Parkway

When I drove through the Smoky Mountain National Park 10 days ago, the spring weather was warm and lots of trees were blooming.










At the higher elevations I also found ice on the rock walls beside the road.











I never saw any smoke in the Great Smoky Mountains. I was told I was a day late and the atmosphere was too dry - but a few days before, 'smoke' (mist) was everywhere.

I did find "blue" though on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The mountains are beautiful!

Kudzu and killing

Leaving Nashville and driving east on two lane roads, I saw complete hillsides covered with kudzu (a vine from Asia).

One woman in a small grocery store, told me the cows love it so the farmers brought it in. Now it's gone wild and smothers everything. In the summer it turns green and everyone thinks it's beautiful.






Rural Tennessee has some great old cemeteries.
















I drove by a small taxidermy shop and decided to stop.











The owner Robert Williams was just starting to work on a wild turkey someone had brought in. He invited me into the back room and didn't mind that I watched the whole process.









Robert told me he's been doing this for 28 years after 2 years (part-time) of taxidermy school.

After about an hour of careful cutting, he hung the bird and snipped the last of the hide from the body.

The Natchez Trace Parkway thru MS, AL & TN

Today is day #18 on the road. I've driven over 3800 miles since leaving San Diego and without a doubt, the most beautiful drive so far has been the Natchez Trace (French for Trail) Parkway - a 440 mile road through MS, AL and TN following the Natchez Trace road President Jefferson had made from century old Indian
and animal trails.









The drive goes through the most beautiful country. Almost the entire length, the Trace is shielded from civilization by walls of trees and brush.

The original road created 200 years ago was nearly impassable with sucking swamps and thick dense forests, hostile Indians, dangerous animals, heat, insects carrying diseases - I couldn't help comparing my journey on a nearly seamless smooth asphalt road with air conditioning and my favorite music.

200 yrs from now perhaps a traveller will want to recreate my car driven journey because teleportation may be the only means of travel?


There's more history along the Trace than you can read in a few days. Old buildings like this inn still exist, a short hike back in the forest.













Swamps all along the Trace are available to explore.











I found this orange snake eating another one its same size.













For a short hike, many pioneer graveyards could be found -










... and ruins of grand old plantations long ago burned to the ground.













Looking down a portion of the original old Trace.












Because there's no lodging on the Trace, I got off and spent the night in Tupelo MS and visited Elvis' birthplace.










The room where Elvis and his stillborn twin brother were born. Billy works at the site and tells fascinatings stories about it all.

Hello Billy, if you're reading this now! It was very nice to meet you!

Natchez, Mississippi

I was up early and planned to leave but as I looked around (and visited the Vistor's Ctr), I didn't get out of Natchez until almost evening.

Most of the town sits on a 200 ft bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. 'Natchez Under The Bridge' is a collection of art galleries, restaurants and this boat casino.









Natchez has dozens of beautiful Victorian mansions. Many are open to the public by tour.










The woman at the Visitors Ctr knew exactly the kind of cemetery I was looking for. She told me she walks weekly through here with her grandson and still they haven't seen all the graves.

I only spent about 2 hours - the multi levels, the brickwork, the old iron and the tombstones from the early 1800's were awesome!







Before I left Natchez I had to cross the bridge over to Louisiana and back.











I was glad to see they're keeping their young men busy over there :-))

I asked a LA park worker (in street clothes) working on a sprinkler head and he replied philosophically with a long southern drawl, "Welllll, I guess we all wear 'uniforms' of some sorts these days, now don't we?"

South to Natchez, MS

Heading south out of Memphis, I took Hiway #1 in Mississippi down the east side of the River. I was hoping it would be a river road, but it isn't. I made dozens of side trips driving west to the river's edge, mostly driving through uninhabited swamp lands.









The few homes that are built by the Mississippi, have quite a view.









In a park along the river, this woman (who was fishing) was kidding with me that she could duck while running and beat my shutter.

Thanks to digital, I won the bet.








One park displayed a whisky still, complete with recipe and directions on this board, how to mix the mash.

Graceland in Memphis

My next stop was Memphis. As a kid I never liked Elvis Presley. I thought he was greasy and dressed funny.

Now I find his music amazing and his life, well - pretty different than the ordinary.






Graceland got its name from the original owner whose Aunt Grace gave her the money to build the house as a wedding present. Elvis liked the name and never changed it.

I was suprised - rooms are small, halls are narrow and dark - it may have something to do with having so many walls and ceilings being fully covered with shag carpeting.







Other rooms like this TV room, was totally mirrored.










Several other large buildings on the estate have been turned into museums with acres of memorabilia, including his cars and planes.

The self guided tour was comprehensive, fascinating - and punctuated often enough with his music that it seemed all of us with headphones swaying to the beat, were easily transported back to somewhere in our past that was 'groovy' indeed.

"If ever there was music that bleeds - this is it". -Griel Marcus (in my high school class, M.A. '63)

Hot Springs, Arkansas

Hot Springs, AR is a pretty town, the old district was built at the foot of some low hills, that are now wooded parks with windy, steep roads to 360 degree views at the top.

The hot springs (134 degrees) are at the base of the hills and during the 1800's, dozens of huge elaborate Victorian bath houses were built over the springs.

A row of a half dozen or so of these massive buildings, is Hot Springs National Park, today.





People were out early the morning I visited, hauling dozens of plastic bottles to fill for free from the many watering stations, fed by the springs.










Only one of the huge bath houses has been renovated and is open to the public. It serves as the Visitors Center for the National Park - all 3 floors plus a basement with antique plumbing, are open for self guided tours.







Dozens of rooms had speciality baths. This one had a lift on rails (at the top) for more seriously ill patients. The rail system could move patients from room to room on that hanging board.

This bath was a mercury bath as well, if syphilis was your ailment.

Just West of Memphis

Unreal! (not a single photo, sorry) -

Yesterday afternoon as I was driving from Little Rock, AR toMemphis - all the radio stations went to TORNADO ALERT! - all scratchy with strange beeps and weird alert sounds. Talk of a little adrenaline while driving - I've never seen skies like that.

To the north of me was this BLACK WALL with strange streaks of muddybrown. It was totally evil and then they started warning people - "If you're driving, get out of your car immediately!" - they added, "Don't head for home if it's a mobile trailer! - get to a secure, stable structure immediately!" "If no structures are available, get out of your car, get into a ditch face down and cover your head with your hands!!" I tried to place to the county names they were talking about. I know I recogninzed some of the little towns they mentioned - but I was basically in farm land as far as I could see.

I started looking for an exit and the only one around - had one building (it looked substantial) - a big red structure by the side of the freeway - with a huge sign on top - *XXX ADULT FANTASY STORE*. I pulled off (while others were still driving on the freeway, but I noticed school buses stopped as well as some large trucks - (a convoy snaked and quiet along the freeway). In the XXX parking lot nobody seemed really concerned - they were just heading to the huge doors with blackened glass, to do some fun Sunday evening shopping I guess.

I asked a couple of the more normal looking guys, if they felt it was safe to drive. All nodded a "Sure, whatever". I swung open the dark glass doors and a very pretty young blond woman was sitting up high behind the check out counter. Behind her, hanging from the ceiling was a larger than life size blow up doll (blown up), with her legs spread wide.

To talk to the very friendly clerk, I kept having to stare into the pink crotch of this doll, LOL. The clerk assured me it was OK to drive too, even though the counties they were calling out were adjacent to where we were. OHDEAR.

I drove the next 10 miles to west Memphis with lightening bolts bigger than the cartoon ones - all around. Each time one hit close, I contracted my shoulders so I'd feel safer and not get hit. The black skies were a heavy sinister looking wall. Images of Dorothy's little dog Toto being swept away, were foremost in my thoughts -

The first motel I came to in West Memphis was a Hampton Inn by the exit. The two women working the deserted desk, asked me if I wanted to "Get into a safe place with them!" One shared with us that her now dead father was "horrible" about these tornadoes - he would insist the whole family wait until the very last moment before going into the basement, because he wanted the thrill of seeing them close.

Just looking at her concerned frightened face (the TV blaring warnings inthe lobby), I started getting worried again, and then the hail started!! Fortunately I was parked under the carport in front of the hotel. The golf ball size chuncks of ice were flying everywhere outside with lightening making everything glow. I left the frightened girls to go outside and stand by the Jeep just being amazed at the hail and wind. I called Brock again to let him know I was safe (I guess) finally in Memphis.

Whew! There was lightening all night here last night - just before I fell asleep the room kept turning bright white. This morning the lobby TV has announced 30 people died in this storm and more deaths may be found.

Oh GEEEZ!

Elvis Lives! --> on to Graceland this morning.

Leaving Oklahoma

Last night I nearly left Oklahoma. I stayed in Sallisaw (east OK) and drove a few minutes south to Kerr Lake when the sun was setting.

The evening was balmy and heavy with hundreds of frogs croaking. A wall of mosquitoes had formed at the water's edge.





Today I drove through the beautiful Ouachita National Forest into Arkansas.

Hogs & Memorials in Oklahoma City, OK

Not until I saw a freeway exit for 'One of the Largest Stockyards in the US!" did I decide to check out Stockyard City, in Oklahoma City.

Everything was open and I was able to wander. It smelled horrible and there were flies everywhere.

I guess they were done with cattle for the day, there were none in the pens, only a few hogs.







In another area, hogs that had been sold were being loaded onto a double decker trailer. The poor things were crammed in so tightly, they could barely move.

They were screaming and squealing, jumping and pounding on everything. It was very hot.











Some seemed desperate to breathe and stuck their noses throught the small holes in the side of the truck trailer.












On the other side of town, I drove to where the Murrah Federal Building once stood. The full block Memorial is beautiful and sad.

I wondered about the adjacent 'Museum' - a tribute capitalizing on death? I paid my $5 and because it wasn't crowded, I was ushered into a dark room by myself. The doors closed and I listened to the only taped recording that exists (a water rights hearing from a bldg across the street) of the explosion.

I spent the next 90 min or so, slowing moving from room to room - all senses on overload as dozens of TV's were loud with history and larger than life photos were displayed along with items, history, investigations, explanations, questions and conclusions.

No one eventually walked out of there without an ache in their heart and heavy damp eyes.



Photos weren't allowed in the Memorial Museum.

These 168 empty cement and bronze chairs on the lawn, are named for each person who died - the rows corresponding to the floor they were on.










The Cyclone fence around much of the Federal Bldg block has messages and items from people all over the world.