Day 26 – July 30

Our final day before we head home. Today we headed up the I-81 from Hagerstown, Maryland to Turning Stone in NY. It is so nice to travel on roads you’ve travelled so many times before. Needless to say this was a nice easy ride today. We are staying at the same campsite where we started our vacation, Turning Stone RV Park and it is one of our favorite campsites. We went to the Casino to have supper (at the Upstate Tavern restaurant) and we a chillaxing tonight.  I plan on writing a summary tomorrow of our kilometers travelled, favourite and lease favorites things etc .

Day 25 – July 29

Big day on the road today going through the mountains in West Virginia and Maryland. Never ever will I travel on the I-68 with an RV again. It’s a beautiful highway but oh my gosh you are up and down the whole time, truckers are smoking their brakes, it is very nerve racking!!

The ride was tough on Yanick and the truck. The good news is the fix (fuel intake lines) we had done in Syracuse worked.

We are resting this evening in Hagerstown. Ordered a pizza and sipping on a Baileys.

 Day 24 – July 28

We are on our way home driving through Kentucky, we are staying in Milton West Virginia at a KOA tonight.

Jasmyne my book worm has almost fished her sixth and final book of the Mortal Instruments and Jade finished her dozen of movies the first week. Jade is also considering taking up the guitar.

We also changed time zone, again. We’ve been in three different time zones during this road trip.

We been meeting so many great people on this road trip it’s been really cool. Our neighbours tonight are from Huntington, West Virginia and we will be joining them later for a fire.

Day 23 – July 27

We drove downtown Nashville and walked in “The District” this is where are the night life is and where many of the country singers got their start. We had lunch at the Honky Tonk Central bar with live music.  

Dinner and show this evening, we boarded the General Jackson Showboat apparently the world’s grandest showboat. We had a three hour river cruise, enjoyed some southern style cooking and live entertainment. We cruised down the Cumberland river to downtown Nashville and we also saw the Tennessee Titans stadium.  

The girls have seen three of the NFL stadiums during our road trip.

Day 22 – July 26

Relaxing day in Nashville. I was sitting outside this morning reading a book thinking how much cooler it was outside compared to the last three weeks. My thermostat in the shade was showing 39.2. We are comfortable at 39.2 in the shade that is how stinking hot it’s been! We drove by the Grand Ole Opry (next door to where we are staying), did a little shopping and bought tickets for tomorrow night to the General Jackson Showboat which is a dinner and show on a large paddle boat that travels down the Cumberland river to downtown Nashville.

Day 21 – July 25

We drove to Nashville Tennessee today. It was a short drive under 400 km. We are staying at the Nashville KOA on Music Valley Drive for the next three days. Beautiful campsite (huge) we have a pull through site that must be minimum 80 feet long. We are down the road from the Grand Ole Opry and Carrie Underwood was playing there this evening but unfortunately the tickets where all sold out. L

Tonight was the first evening we could sit outside and enjoy, because it’s been so hot!

Day 20 – July 24

Boring day we drove from New Orleans back to Memphis where we left the fifth wheel in storage. We spent the night in Memphis at the Graceland RV Park. We went for a walk across the street to have a final look at the mansion. Jade is a big big Elvis fan! She just loved it here!!!

Day 19 – July 23

We met Elaine at noon for our guided tour. We walked through the French Market, Jackson Square, stopped and had beignets at the famous Café du monde. We also saw the Louisiana Superdome (where the Saints play football) purchased some Saints gear and drove through the Garden District. It was a nice day visiting the city and having a local show us around.

Jasmyne is convinced she saw witches. If you are not aware New Orleans is big time into voodoo.

To sum up New Orleans, lots of great music, lots of booze, some voodoo, some many strange people but overall the people are great like Elaine!

Day 18 – July 22

We spent part of our day down by the Mississippi at an outlet mall and on our way back we got caught in …… you guessed it, a down pouring of rain.

We went to the Hard Rock Café on Bourbon Street for supper with the girls and then Yanick and I went out while the girls stayed in the hotel room (they are not big fans of Bourbon Street). Yanick and I walked Bourbon Street twice, what a place, you can’t describe it you have to come down and see for yourself it has lots of special people. But while we were sipping on our drinks (the famous Hand Grenade) and listening to a band at an outside café we met a woman from Florida that grew up in St Louis and spent time in New Orleans.  Elaine was her name and she offered to play tour guide on Thursday to show us around the city.

Day 17 – July 21

On our way to New Orleans and Jade is rocking to Elvis in the truck. The ride went well a little further than I originally thought, little over 600 km but it was an easy drive. We arrived in New Orleans during a down poor but it didn’t last long. We reserved a parking at an outdoor parking lot two blocks away from the hotel, because in the French Quarters there is no room for a big truck, the roads are very narrow.

We went for a walk down Bourbon Street with the kids. Jade did not enjoy Bourbon Street, it’s a little intimidating (very shady).  We had supper at Pat O’Brien’s and returned immediately to the hotel, unfortunately not fast enough for Jade. We are staying at a Marriott hotel called “The Saint” in the French Quarter

Day 16 – July 20

Today we visited the Graceland Mansion, Elvis automobiles and planes. It was very special to see where Elvis lived and his grave along with his parents and grand-mother (who outlived them all) on the Graceland property. He seemed very much like a party guy from what we saw and heard. I think Yanick enjoyed it the most, he thought it was surreal!

We were lucky to get on the first shuttle at 9 am so we didn’t have to stand in any line-up. But all in all the whole tour took about three hours; it was fun if you are an Elvis fan!

Latest on the heat…. We registered on our thermometer at 3:30 this afternoon 50.0 Celsius!!! That is hot!

Heading to New Orleans tomorrow and leaving the RV behind in Graceland with Elvis.

Day 15 – July 19

I believe the heat wave is following us around. Even the people here in Memphis say this is stupid hot and they live here! Because it’s so hot it is difficult to stay outside for very long. But we went browsing through the Graceland shops (where it was air conditioned) and browsed.

We went out for supper in an old pink Limo to Marlowe's Ribs & Restaurant. It was pretty cool but the girls where so embarrassed!!! The menu pretty much consisted of BBQ meat and pull pork on everything and anything, welcome to the South!

Everyone is so friendly here, they are happy, happy people!!