Thursday 13th September 2012 Jackson – Memphis – Muskogee Oklahoma 485 miles

Thursday 13th September 2012  Jackson – Memphis – Muskogee Oklahoma 485 miles

It looked like my weather luck had broken, the day started cloudy with ominous black ones to the west. So I prepared for the worst as I set off for Memphis just after 7AM. It was  dry until about 10 miles from the city when I had one of those 30 second downpours, then it cleared as I hit Memphis itself. It was the first riding in rain I had had since leaving home so cannot complain. I hit Memphis for the rush hour, but once I hit the roads to Graceland, traffic cleared, and I arrived there just before 9AM. I had to ask a couple of times as to where the ticker office was, having gone around in circles, but eventually I made it. 

The whole area is Elvis oriented, all kinds of businesses, some cheesy. The actual Graceland tour is really well done. You park ($10), then go to the ticket office. It is a bit like a Government place, a few kiosks with numbers, and an announcement tells you which one to go to. Even at that hour is was busy. There are various tours (all prices), I chose just the house tour (seniors rates), you then line up for the shuttle bus to take you to the house. It is actually just across the road. Once there you are given a headset and a wireless  recording control for the tour. Each group is then basically guided around a set route, the upstairs is off limits, no idea why as I don’t think anyone lives there now. When you are done (you can leave any time or go around bits again), you get the bus back to the off loading area back across the road.

You can then visit other offerings like Lisa’s plane, his car collection, and other money making exibits. There are stores galore, even eating places, all Elvis themed. When he bought the place (for $100K), it was a farm and the whole area was cultivated. Not any more. I can see why he bought it, it is really a nice place, small compared to the 50K square feet that some athletes buy. The décor is really interesting, and it has a basement which he made great use of for a rec and media room. All his trophies and awards are on display, as are his charity contributions. The place and grounds are immaculate, and it is obviously still a big tourist attraction, and employs a large number of people. Whoever set it up knew what they were doing.

I am really glad I made the tour, it was a great experience, and of course he is buried there with an eternal flame by his grave.

Some pics of Graceland:

So once done, I paid a quick visit to Graceland Harley, then headed out for I40 W, to point the wheels westward. You cross the Mississippi river by a huge steel bridge as you leave Memphis, and you are in Arkansas. I have lost count how many times I have ridden over that river, amazing how long it is. So what can I say about Arkansas. Not a lot I guess. It was hilly at first, then flat, then hilly into the Ozarks. The highway did cross some serious water, and I experienced the worst construction hold up so far, about a 2 mile backup before Little Rock, where both sides merged into 2 lanes. Mind you the road needed some work in places, and when one is riding, one can take advantage of it at times and just cruise to where lanes merge. I hit another couple of downpours before Little Rock, but then it cleared until Oklahoma, and turned into a hot afternoon, the hottest riding since just after leaving home. I zipped past Little Rock (I don’t think Bill C is there these days), and it seemed to have a large number of churches, all with thin spires. There were quite a few of those along the highway, and into Oklahoma. A couple of interesting things about the journey, the big rigs were almost nose to tail from Memphis to Little Rock, where the traffic suddenly thinned right out. Also, I was occasionally passed by black Tahoes or Escalades, all blacked out and steaming past. No special plates, but I wouldn’t know anyway.

So it was into Oklahoma,State #49 just Hawaii to go. After a few miles the temperature suddenly dropped, even the bike noticed it as the oil temperature dropped by about 20 degrees. It had really clouded up and I ran into rain for the last hour or so. I had previously decided not to head for Oklahoma City, but to cut northeast towards Tulsa, where I will head into Kansas and then to Wyoming. I need to work that route out. I decided the bike was now road dirty enough from the rain, and pulled off at Muskogee for the night. No roadside information for lodgings around the area, so I actually used the GPS Points of Interest to find one. Amazing this hi tech.

State #49: