June 2, 2012

Wow, June is upon us and the year is half over.  That us just so strange to thing how quickly days go by and time just flies.  Can’t believe I am writing another entry in not so many days.  I have gotten away from here for reasons that I don’t really know and lately it keeps coming back to me to get back on track and write more often.  Oddly enough, I am at work on a Saturday afternoon and the race is over, so here I am.

Mom and I had an enjoyable trip to Memphis, even with the circumstances of burying my dear uncle.  We hadn’t seen my aunt is probably 15 years and didn’t quite know what to expect.  She and uncle were odd birds so to speak and have been gone from here for nearly 40 years.  Both had been employed in number of careers and couldn’t really ever make anything work for them.  But they survived without us being anything other than distant relatives.

Driving to Memphis was quite fun.  We left early Sunday morning and stopped for gas and breakfast later down the road.  Mom and I agreed to split the expense of travel.  I filled up with gas at a Pilot station and then we went inside to get some snack items.  I used my credit card for the gas and slipped it in my pocket when I went into the store.  I forgot about it and on down the road we went.  Well 2 days later I looked for the card to pay for dinner at Olive Garden and couldn’t find the card.  Comfortable that I had just left it in my other pants pocket, I paid for dinner and we went with Auntie to take her home.  When we got to the hotel, I turned everything inside out, including my purse and suitcase and could not find my card.  We had free wi-fi and I got on my Kindle and found a number for Capital One and called to report my card as lost.  Well someone else "Found" it and helped themselves to my hard earned credit.  The card has been used twice after I had used it, at another Pilot gas station down the road for 151.  and then at a Big Lots in Memphis for another 35.  Well I put a stop to that, and Capital One said they would handle the rest.  Lucky me!

Other than that little bit of annoyance, we had a good trip.  Called Auntie and took her out for dinner on the night we arrived. Found what I had suspected as Auntie and hubby were hoaders.  Seems like anything that seemed like a good deal on tv or internet was something they couldn’t live without.  Sadly we could not visit at her house as there was no place for all of us to sit.  Sadly,  all of her belongings are going to go for a garage sale at her church and she is looking to move to an assisted living facility.  They have been deeply rooted in their church for years, and her church family are more family than mom and I.  After meeting and talking to many of the members, Mom and I felt very comfortable that they are taking better care of her than she could do for herself, and left us both feeling that she should stay put there, because if we move her here, she knows no one but us.  She was very thankful that mom and I had come and helped out just by giving support.  May never see her again, but feel that we did all we can.  She is actually step aunt, but still family.

Our Graceland experience was very enjoyable.  The church secretary had printed out directions for us to get to Graceland so on Tuesday morning, we set out having breakfast and making the drive into downtown.  We stopped at a tourist information center and were able to purchase tickets for a little over 31 a piece.  The lady said if we didn’t mind walking a little, we could park at a shopping plaza a few blocks up and walk to say ourselves the parking fee.  So we parked, walked and then you get a headphone set to tour the mansion, car museum and two airplanes at your own pace.  Mom and I spent several hours going thru everything that we could look at, and had a good day.  My mom hasn’t been on any type of vacation in years and she really enjoyed doing something different.  I enjoyed watching her see things that she remembered back in younger days when Elvis was King.  The mansion is really interestingm but you were not allowed to go upstairs in the private bedroom areas as that is where Elvis’s mother lived and it is still private.  But the man knew how to entertain his friends and keep people happy.  And he was quite generous to the average person and was giving in random acts of kindness.  He gave away cars and rings and just about everything that money could by.  My aunt said that her husbands security company had been the ones to guard the planes and the property while Elvis was alive.

When we left Graceland, a worker had told us of a great barbque restaurant and we went up the street to have a slab of ribs at Big Bill’s Barbque.  Mom had sauce up to her eyeballs, and I had a pile of napkins as tall as the table.  But the ribs were great and if I ever go back to Memphis, I’ll go back to Big Bill’s.

The next day we took Auntie to Applebee’s for lunch and then headed home.  Been a long time since I drove such a distance, but I really enjoy hitting the roads.  We ran a nice pace of about 80 mph all the way down and back.  Only traffic we hit was coming back thru Nashville on the way home.  Wish I had time to stop in Nashville, but not this time.  That is a city that I dearly love.

Well I think I will quit for now, I have some pictures and if I can figure how to download them from my camera, I may entertain you with something new.  Hope everyone has a good weekend.