January 28
Josh is sick. Poor thing has a cold. He and mom stayed in the hotel all day while dad and I were out exploring all afternoon. No horse and carriage ride, though.
Graceland rocked. I mean, it totally, 100% rocked. I hadn't expected a photographer there, but it's a neat reminder to take with you. We ended up with a big photo, a little photo, a magnet and a keychain, with me and dad standing in front of a huge painting of the gates of Graceland. The heat lamps over the line to get into a shuttle was a nice touch, especially with 35 degree temps under a cloudy sky.
Karey said that most people get giddy like a schoolgirl when they pass through the gates, but I felt more teary at first than anything. Many of you have seen me talk about my grandfather, Po, who was a huge Elvis fan. Po died a few years ago, and Elvis was always something we had in common, so I brought with a picture of the two of us. That way we could go Graceland together.
The tour was neat - I loved the audio programs. Really a clever way to let people do it on their own speed. The house is simply gorgeous. I wonder what it'd look like now, if it hadn't been frozen 30 years back. I'm sure the decor would be very different as he got older. I thought it was so neat, though. The mirrored ceiling in the TV room was too fun, and I loved the kitchen, and the jungle room! I loved it all.
It started drizzling as we left the mansion and headed to the other buildings, but we didn't think to grab the complimentary umbrella. Oops. No biggie, we just got a little wet. I took oodles and oddles of pictures, some of which I will post later. I found a web album program I can download to make nice albums to put on my website. The land is beautiful, though. I loved hearing all the music, and words from him and Lisa Marie, and just learning so much more. Interesting to know that he played Unchained Melody on the piano for friends the morning before he died. He has such an amazing rendition of that; brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. Reminds me of Po. I also couldn't believe the walls and walls of platinum/gold records and awards. Amazing. Okay, sure, a lot of it was kitchy, but I love that kind of stuff. I enjoyed every moment of it. The last pic I got was me and Po standing on the front porch. : )
We also did the auto museum (which was so neat!) and the personal life one (Sincerely Elvis). No time for the planes, though, but we did hit every gift shop. There was so much to see and choose from, I had the hardest time picking things. All in all, we were at Graceland for about 3 hours.
Next stop was Sun Studios. We came in about 5-10 minutes after the tour started, but the guy walked us up and we joined it in progress. Our guide was this cute guy named David, who also recorded a CD there. He was a great deal of fun, at one point emulating Elvis to the CD playing, and the tour was fantastic. Sure, I was the youngest by about 40 years, but it was great. I learned a lot, and saw a lot. Only one other person had a camera, and she only took one or two pictures, and so I felt a little silly putting on my huge blinding flash. So, even with the bad lighting, I got a pic of the piano where Justin sat for his photo shoot, a picture of me holding the mic on the spot where Elvis recorded, and then a shot of me with the juke box where Justin was. I tried to get dad to recreate it as much as possible without the words Justin, Timberlake, recreate or photoshoot coming out of my mouth. <.g> I was a little less than successful, but it was just for my amusement anyway. <.g> I got a tshirt, another for Karey, some stickers, and my tour guide's CD. He autographed it, too, (why not?) and said he'd be in Chicago for a concert come April. If I like his CD, I'll e-mail him for details.
From there, we headed back to the hotel. We checked the weather for I-55 tomorrow - rain here through Missouri, icy rain/sleet through central IL, and snow in northern Illinois through home. It will not be pleasant driving weather. MapQuest said 8 hours (and, amusingly, it has been dead on every single leg of this trip!!), but we figure it'll be at least 9. So we plan to leave around 8am tomorrow. ::whimper::
I can't believe this is our last night of vacation. On one hand, I am ready to go home. On the other, it's overall been a very nice two weeks and I'm sad to see it end.
January 29
Home! Home! We're home!
The alarm went off at 6am in Memphis. We didn't wake up then, though, really. No, we had all been up since about 2am, when Josh decided he would wait, awake, until we could finally go home. And hey, if he was up, we should be too! Lovely child.
It was raining in Memphis. It was raining in Arkansas. It was raining in Missouri. It was snowing in Illinois. Welcome home. <.g> 9 hours of driving, and we finally arrived home.
We were all so giddy when we finally got inside. Josh jumped out of the van and made a dash for his computer and boombox. Mom and I couldn't get over how BIG everything looked, and how bright and clean and airy. After 16 days of hotel rooms and the minivan, everything is positively palacial.
All along, they've been talking about how good it would feel to sleep in their own beds, under their lovely warm down comforters. I really had nothing to add, because I was just going back to my tiny little office with its narrow little bed and big ass treadmill and cabinets. But, man, when I went to drop my bag in my room? It looked so nice and big and comfy with my favorite pair of pajamas waiting for me on the bed. <.g> That was a pleasant surprise.
It's weird getting used to my computer again. My mouse feels so big and bulky, and the keyboard feels odd. I realized when I went to turn it on that I couldn't even remember what wallpaper I had on the screen. Two weeks away from my baby and I have to get acquainted with it all over again.
Now, however, my e-mail has been read, my list has been read, and it is time to head upstairs and watch at least this past week's new Gilmore Girls. Happily, TiVo recorded and kept each of the syndicated episodes without running out of space. Now my big problem is catching up and watching them all!! That's a problem I can definitely live with.
I hope you all had fun living my vacation with me. : )
