walking in the steps of a legend...

so- we went from being water-logged to having no pool.

wednesday was kind of hairy... kelvin took the van to the jobsite to pack up his tools, the stroller was in the back of the van and then the pool was shut down by the state inspector because there weren't enough chemicals in the water to even register on the meter.

i was all geared up for an epic bad day. no stroller, no van, no pool. thank goodness for hours-long "spongebob" marathons.

we survived the morning and lunch; after the kids' naps, i got this message on my phone: "do you want too leave for memphis today? if so u can start packing"

ummmm... i packed. fast.

we headed west toward nashville.

beaUUUtiful country!

even the rain is pretty.

we stayed in a hotel just a bit west of nashville that night, then kept on going west in the morning.

we found memphis.

and elvis.

it has been my dream to see graceland...

"elvis? where?!?!"

we waited in line for our tour for what seemed like days.
yeah, i was THAT excited... but it was also 101* and almost 100% humidity.
the line was NOT air conditioned.
(small price to pay, says me!)

we hopped aboard one of the shuttles, which cole insisted was a camper.
so we took the "camper" across elvis presley boulevard, through the gates to graceland.

it's impressive...

actually, i was surprised. i was thinking that the home of the king of rock and roll would be this massive, sprawling, outrageously ornate to-do, but it's not.

it's a bit on the small side, mansion-wise.

definitely not a disappointment though!

that would be a very reluctant cole with me on the step...

the living room

that couch is 15 feet long. not kidding. and the coffee table is 10 feet.

wow.

despite being on the fancy side, it felt kinda homey and welcoming.

vernon and gladys presley

(this photo is on display in the entrance- just shows how important elvis' family was to him, i think)

the staircase and foyer is impressive- and i just have to say that my photo turned out a wee bit better than the one in the official guidebook (which we got a copy of, naturally).

a certain little man decided that velvet ropes are merely a minor obstacle in the exploration of cool new places. he managed to get up a few steps before being pulled back down.

(only one guard noticed, and she chuckled)

lucky him- he has the "i can't read" excuse.

i wonder... if i claimed illiteracy, could i run under the ropes too?

the dining room...

... complete with a portrait of priscilla and lisa marie.

the kitchen.

gotta love that era-specific carpeting!

actually, it was kind of neat...

when we got to the basement to see the tv room and the pool room, cole noticed the mirrored walls and ceiling. he informed me that there were "ladies up there".

that was my cue to take a photo.

call it a different perspective...

part of the tv room

(the wet bar is off to the right)

the pool room.

yes, that is most definitely fabric covering every square inch of wall and ceiling.

the famous "jungle room"

very obviously a product of the seventies, eh?

his gold record of one of my personal favorites: "don't be cruel".

there are several out-buildings on the property, one of them holding the "hall of gold". it houses all his records and awards up to 1972.

his iconic gold suit is there, sitting at the entrance.

this shows a small portion of the "hall of gold".

you have to see it to fully grasp the enormity of elvis' career.

it's simply amazing.

just one of the many displays holding the costumes elvis wore for the movies he was in.

his military uniform is there too, along with his wedding tux and priscilla's wedding gown (and some of lisa marie's nursery furniture and baby clothes).

the racquetball building holds some workout equipment, as well as a lounge and this piano.

in the last hours of his life, elvis played a little ball and spent some time singing and playing this very piano with a few close friends.

the building also holds his 1972-1977 awards and show costumes.

again, there's no good way to show just what is really there.

and again, amazing.

behind the house is the meditation garden... it's quiet, peaceful and has a nice fountain and gardens. it's nothing super-fancy, just pleasant.

at the back of the fountain is where elvis is buried.

his grave was moved to graceland because security became a problem at forest hill cemetery.

they had to hire extra guards for his gravesite, so it was decided that he should be moved to his home.

both of his parents and his grandmother are buried here too.

there's also a memorial marker for this twin brother, who was still-born.

(ordinarily, i'm not so morbid as to post photos of graves, but this is elvis!!

part of our ticket included a tour of the car museum, which was right up kelvin's ally.

there were quite a few cars to see, including the famous pink cadillac.

pretty neat!

ladies and gentlemen... the man had a john deere!

how awesome is THAT!!

this one didn't have a "please do not touch" sign on it, so cole got to FINALLY touch something. he was insistent on "driving" every car in the building, but alas, it didn't happen.

this seemed to satisfy his craving a little.

our final stop for the day (due to the heat and the kids, we didn't get to see and do everything our tickets were good for- we hit the highlights!): the private jet.

we learned that elvis had no taste for alcohol (shocking, considering most people who reach certain levels of fame are known to imbibe on more than one occassion), so he stuck to water and gatorade.

i have to admit, i went slightly overboard with the photos... over 200. i know the quality isn't the best, but considering that no flash photography is allowed in any of the buildings or displays, some of them didn't turn out too badly. i had a hard time choosing just a few for this post...

by the time we got on the road again, we were hot, soaked with sweat, tired and hungry.

"tired" trumped "hungry" for both kids, who were asleep within minutes.

in cole's case, this was rather amazing, seeing as how the entire round trip (from home to loudon to memphis to home and every mile in between), he slept a grand total (yes, round-trip grand total) of maybe an hour in the van. it was impossible for kelvin or i, whoever wasn't driving, to get even a catnap in because of the constant chatter from the back seat.

and i DO mean constant.

(it was kind of exhausting)

we passed by the st louis arch on our way home- someday, we'd like to go there, too.

*

so... that was our visit to graceland. personally, i like elvis. i think his music and talent is amazing. some people don't like him. others could care less. but whether you like him, don't like him or have no opinion whatoever, it's undeniable that he's a legend. i learned a bit about him- his career, his accomplishments, the kind of person he REALLY was (seems that he was a lot more "average joe" than one might guess). now i can say i've been to his home, cole can tell people that he walked a few steps of the staircase, madison can someday tell her little friends that her pacifier landed on his kitchen floor, and kelvin can continue to be impressed with the fact that elvis owned a john deere (he had no problems memorizing the model and whatnot). it was an experience. an amazing, exciting experience.

and yes, in case you can't tell, i am a fan. :)

water, water everywhere!

water. it's been sort of a theme here the last few days.

for instance, there's a pool at the hotel.

(good thing, too, or we'd all be crazier than coons on crack... it gets boring sitting in a hotel room!!)

madison FINALLY grew enough to get a bigger suit.

finally.

so we found one from walmart... $4 on clearance.

not bad!

cole made a new buddy quite quickly the first time we hit the pool.

his name is rick, and he's the live-in maintenance man.

he's really nice, and was more than happy to let cole "help" get the bugs out of the pool and then top off the water level.

cole was so proud to be of assistance :)

saturday afternoon we checked out this place kelvin and andy had found weeks earlier.

he sent me a picture from his phone the first time they were there... and i thought it was beautiful.

of course, the real thing is breath-taking.

bald river falls is in the cherokee national park near tellico, tn.

it's awesome.

you have to drive through the mountains to get there (well, the beginning of the mountains).

good thing i had my bonine; without it, things would have taken a nasty turn.

cole saw his first waterfall.

he called it a "water fell-down".

he's right, if you think about it...

we went down the side to get close.

there were quite a few people down there swimming.

surprisingly, it's not as chilly as most mountain streams.

madison wasn't sure what to think, really.

we took the trail up to the top of the falls.

cole climbed it all by himself!

three hikers :)

after work today, we hung out with daddy at the pool.

cole's getting braver- he's been blowing bubbles on his own, and with his daddy's help, was able to "swim".

(that means that daddy held him up while his little feet kicked up a storm)

madison's getting braver in the water too.

she likes to climb the steps.

huh.

this swimming thing is easy!

the real water wing

photo credit to kelvin...

*

yes, our days have been water-logged.

actually, that's not too far from the truth- i think we've all got that sleepy, tired "water logged" feeling.

bed will feel good tonight.

and speaking of water, it's storming; raining cats and dogs outside.

just what we need: more water!

away we go!

so... now to the travel part of this whole catch-up. we left bright and early sunday morning- pulled out of the driveway at 3.45! i'd figured that if we packed the van the night before and in the morning just stuck the kids in their carseats and left, they'd fall back asleep before long.

i mean, it IS early, right?

so they SHOULD fall back asleep.

right?

ha!!!!

apparently, OUR children don't do that.

nope!

it wasn't until they'd polished off an entire package of graham crackers, a bottle of apple juice (divided and watered down, of course)....

... and we'd gone through chicago

(mid-morning on a sunday is the best time to go; traffic is significantly easy!)....

.... over the cool bridge and into indiana that madison finally lost the battle with her eyelids. she conked out for awhile, but cole kept right on jabbering and watching out the window.

he eventually dozed for a short time, and then promptly went back to occupying himself.

we have a barf bucket handy (just in case), which makes a great "ice cream hat".

the kids did amazingly- we pulled in to our motel in loudon a little before 6 pm (5 pm central time)... it was a long trip and we survived without any issues.

i'm so proud of our littles- they really did great.

somewhere in kentucky just before the tennessee border: i thought the sunspot on the rock wall looked kinda neat.

self-explanatory :)

the late-afternoon weather in knoxville

(too bad you couldn't see the humidity!)

we settled in to what will be our home for the next two weeks, and the kids slept reasonably well sunday night. cole thinks it's cool to sleep in a grown-up bed, and madison's happy with the familiar confines of her pack-n-play. unfortunately, she's teething some more, so the last few nights have involved less-than-adequate sleep for mommy, but this too shall pass. we're just happy to all be together!

*

tuesday afternoon we took the kids into downtown loudon. it's not a very big place, but it's got a few diners, an ice-cream shop, a town square with a fountain, a cute old courthouse...

... and the kids love riding in the new stroller.

seriously- cole thinks it's THE coolest thing ever.

we like it too- handles so smooth!

there was this cool old water tower that i was itching to take a few photos of.

too bad it's not a tad smaller and right on the ground- it would be a great vintage photo prop.

the tennessee river

we had supper at mark's diner (the store in the middle, with the green and white striped awning). they had a really good taco salad- a little meat with lots of beans. kelvin thought it sounded yummy so he had one too, not seeing the "bean" part in the menu description.

oops.

the fountain in the square is so cute- and peaceful.

a mischievious little boy eyeing up the unsuspecting fountain...

the iron park benches are nice- the midwest (aka home) might be safer, but the little towns here are more kept up. i think they really take some pride in what their communities look like. the courthouse, the little shops, the square... it's all so manicured and maintained, even though everything's old. perfect backdrop for photos!

a little boy's curiosity: satisfied.

two sets of sweet little toes cooling off in the water.

cole's shorts were soaked by the time we pried them away from the fountain to go get ice cream. he was devastated that we had to leave and made it known... but settled down once he realized where we were going. the ice cream shop next door to mark's diner is called 'tic-toc's', and they offer home-made ice cream.

best

stuff

ever.

seriously.

the kids had plain vanilla- it was creamy, smooth, and flecks of ground vanilla bean were visible in it. absolutely awesome!!

and to end this long post: a photo of the view from the hotel. if only it was in 3-D... this shot doesn't do the scene justice. hey- they have 3-D tv's and almost every new movie is offered in 3-D these days; maybe sometime in the near future, they'll make 3-D dslr cameras!

now THAT would rock...