Elvis Presley's Graceland

These last few days of our trip seem to be combining very different venues – from a presidential library in Little Rock to Elvis Presley’s home in Memphis, TN. Visiting Graceland was nostalgic, looking back at Elvis’s career and listening to his songs. Graceland evoked a previous era with its furnishings, replete with shag carpets and gold colored appliances in the kitchen. However, most of the tour focused on memorabilia including a hall of gold and platinum records, an award from the City of Memphis for Elvis’s philanthropy, and his proudest award, a 1970 Young Man of the Year award from the Jaycee’s. The tour ended in the Meditation Garden where Elvis is buried, along with his parents and grandmother. There is also a memorial to his twin brother who died at birth. We couldn’t be in Memphis without eating BBQ so we went to Corky’s, recommended by friends who previously lived in Memphis, to get their famous dry-rub BBQ ribs. M-m-m-m GOOD!

William J. Clinton Presidential Center

Heading south from Branson to Little Rock was more of a task than the 170 miles indicate; it was a very curvy, hilly road and took longer than we expected. But we should be used to that kind of road by now! We spent about half a day at the Clinton Library watching the introductory video, viewing the displays, listening to the tapes, and also hearing an 87 year old lady who is an artist tell about the replica of the Clinton cabinet room. Some of the highlights of the center to Irene include seeing the duplicate of the Oval Office and the Christmas display from the White House, including a crystal Christmas tree created by Dale Chihuly, and listening to the artist friend of the Clintons tell about the Cabinet room and her attendance at the Inauguration. For George the highlight of visiting the center was briefly reliving a happier time in the country.

Branson, Mo

At this point in the trip we have decided to leave the camera behind as the remaining activities of the trip do not lend themselves to being photographed. Our Fantasy/Creative World RV tour of Branson, MO, which we won at Lazy Days in Tampa last winter, was a very interesting experience. The area is hilly and marked by large stacks of rocks which give Table Rock State Park in Branson its name. It reminded us of a combination Pigeon Forge, TN, and Myrtle Beach, SC – long strips of restaurants, shops, theaters, and LOTS of congestion, even though there was considerably less traffic now than during the summer. Our first day included dinner at the Dixie Stampede which began with bison running around the arena. The most outstanding feature of this show was the marvelous horsemanship. There was singing and comedy as well the “fingers only” dinner. A bit messy! Silver Dollar City was our destination on Sunday. George and Irene focused on the blue grass musical performances. Irene also enjoyed seeing the craftsmen’s demonstrations, especially the basket weaver and glassblower. Monday morning we attended the Buck Trent morning show, an energetic, fast-paced production. Buck, a banjo virtuoso, is an ex-Hee Haw cast member. In the evening we boarded the showboat Branson Belle for dinner and a show which rivaled any cruise ship’s evening entertainment. Two couples sang and danced, highlighting show tunes. A ventriloquist held a conversation with his Boston terrier which was hilarious. A Russian couple’s amazing dance/acrobatic performance was a highlight of the show. The Branson Belle was our favorite event in Branson.

Minuteman Missile NHS/Ellsworth AFB

On Saturday we drove north from Custer into Rapid City, SD where we could see the prairie as we descended the hill into the city. Our mission was to visit Ellsworth Air Force Base on behalf of George’s lifelong friend, Cliff Bagwell who was stationed there as a Minuteman nuclear ICBM missile launch control officer in an underground launch control center. Cliff and June were newly weds when Cliff began his career in the USAF at Ellsworth in 1969. We visited where they had lived in Rapid City before moving to the base two years later. We visited the Air Museum at Ellsworth which included a tour of the base as well as a missile silo training center. On July 24th we had a reservation to visit the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site where we were able to go down into one of the decommissioned missile control centers. This center, Delta – 1, was one that Cliff had served in as a member of the 66th Squadron of the 44th Missile Wing based at Ellsworth. We took many, many pictures to help Cliff and June relive their twenties in Rapid City, SD where their son David was born. George never imagined he would be able to go into the top secret missile control center, so he was very pleased to be able to see firsthand the facility he had head Cliff talk about his entire adult life.

Click HERE to see pictures of Ellsworth and the missile silo.

Click HERE to see pictures of the missile control capsule.

Cathedral Spires/Norbeck Scenic Hwy

Today’s drive partly retraced our previous day’s drive over Needles Highway as we headed to Cathedra Spires to hike the trail there, but we certainly didn’t mind seeing the sights along here again. Unlike the previous day which was warm by mid-morning, today was a bit chilly and quite windy though sunny. We set out on the three mile trail which began through woods and in sections was a bit of a climb over rocks and around boulders. As we hiked, we caught views of the spires from different angles – very impressive. The end of the trail was sort of an anti-climax. It just stopped amid trees at the top of the incline – no views from the top. In fact, there was a sign saying “End of Trail” – not something most trails need. In spite of this, it was a good hike and we enjoyed visiting with a couple from Minnesota at the “End of Trail” area. After lunch, we drove the Iron Mountain section of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway. Like the Needles Highway, this road has its share of hairpin turns and tunnels. Its three tunnels perfectly frame Mt. Rushmore in the distance. In addition it has 3 “pigtail-shaped” bridges which connect the tunnels to lift the traveler from one level to another without adding miles of road. (Interestingly, the designer of this technically tedious section of road quit school at age 13). We passed by Mt. Rushmore’s entrance and stopped at a pull out where we could see a profile view of George Washington gazing off into the distance. It was a spectacular drive.

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Needles Scenic Hwy/Rushmore

Returning to Custer State Park today, we drove the very scenic Needles Highway which is composed of 14 miles of hairpin turns, 3 narrow tunnels, and amazing views of granite formations reminiscent of needles, organ pipes, and spires. We were a little nervous driving through one of the tunnels in the truck because it was very close on the sides, but later we saw a tour bus on the highway – so it must have come through that tunnel, too. Unbelievable! We stopped at Cathedral Spires, really awesome rock formations, and watched 3 rock climbers on one of the spires. When we arrived at Sylvan Lake, we had lunch at the lodge which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Then we drove to Mount Rushmore to see the memorial of four presidents sculpted in the Black Hills under the guidance of Gutzon Borglum who, incidentally, began the Stone Mountain sculptures. Borglum selected the subjects for the memorial: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln representing the birth, growth, development, and preservation of the country. Despite having seen pictures of Mt. Rushmore for years, we found the memorial very powerful especially the profile view of George Washington which can be seen from a nearby highway. The visitors’ center was very informative, and we enjoyed the ranger walk along the Presidential Trail.

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Canyons Tr Wildlife Loop Custer

At Jewel Cave NM we hiked the 3 ½ mile loop trail. The trail descends via switchbacks into lithograph canyon then passes through open grassland into Hell Canyon where the original entrance to Jewel Cave is located. There were some very pretty sections with colorful rocks and canyon walls, though a fire in 2000 destroyed much of the forest land. We returned to the visitors center in time for Irene to take a cave tour which was led by a ranger from Nashville, TN – almost a neighbor to Rome! Then we drove Custer State Park’s Wildlife Loop which was a big success in that we saw bison and burros crossing the road and pronghorn antelopes along side the road as well as deer, prairie dogs, and turkeys. After stopping at Peter Norbeck Visitors Center, we enjoyed dinner at the State Game Lodge. George had pheasant while Irene had a spinach salad with salmon.

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