Graceland

Graceland. It's more than just Elvis' pad. It's the center point of the Elvis religion. The faithful come and pay respects. Now I liked Elvis, don't get me wrong. My mom and Elvis share the same birthday of Jan 8. I like his music. I even serenade my wife to the music. But the devoted at Graceland are something special. It's something to behold. The reverence. The awe. I highly recommend the place, and not just for the camp. The tour presents Elvis as a sort of "musician-philosopher-erudite-manofthepeople". He's all things to all people. Great pains were taken to emphasize the large volumes of books he took with him on the road (he was an avid reader of everything from the bible to Shakespeare to non-fiction) and his physical fitness (his black belt was bronzed - j/k).


At Graceland - just me and the kings. The guys were just regular tourists, like me. And yet, just a little different. I wanted the photo with Gen and me, but she wouldn't have it. Still, these guys were friendly, I think they were from Germany. And why not? They're here at the best place on Earth (for mutton chops).





Just a snippet of the graffiti on the surrounding brick walls.


At Graceland, Elvis is a superhero.




The grave. Hallowed ground.

xcountry

2,999.7 miles from Santa Monica Beach to the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

We started at the Casa del Mar in Santa Monica, California. We checked in there, relaxed, spent the night with friends, and headed off on our cross-country journey.




The view from my seat. We brought our african violet along for the ride to give to Gen's mom.










Sep 8-9: final move out of Gen's place, check into hotel for Sep 9. Typical problems you might expect.

Sept 10: leave LA (dip toes in pacific ocean)Sep 10-16: drive to North Carolina. Gen's grandfather(the one who married us) got married himself. He's83, his bride is 70.








The happy groom.





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Attacked by a roadside attraction.











Spencer, North Carolina



Sep 18: drive to outer banks of North Carolina, diptoes in Atlantic Ocean. Note: 2,999.70 miles fromocean to ocean. See Kitty Hawk, relax.Sep 20: drive to Cleveland, Ohio ahead of major rainstorm

Sep 20-Oct 6: Stay in Cleveland. Gen's dad is inOhio. We were supposed to relax during this visit butGen's mom is buying a house and needed my help, Gen'sOhio bar application needed work, and the final escrowto sell Gen's apartment in Beverly Hills was screwedup so we were actually very busy. Oh, and I'm takinganother accredidation exam for sustainable building("Green Building") so I'm studying for that.We also spent the jewish holidays so Gen and Iprepared the food for that. Also, for my birthday we went to a baseball game herein Cleveland and Gen had them put my name up inlights. It was fun, but scary (39!!!).




Smoky Mountains