A Piece of History

Right below where we parked, we noticed a motel with a

wreath hooked on a balcony with

2 white cars parked in the lot.

It hit me that this was the place that Martin Luther King

was assassinated.

So down the steps I ran.

 The motel is part of the National Civil Rights museum

in Memphis.

Right across the street is this gorgeous mural of all 

the people that helped the cause.

I would've loved to have gone through the museum but

we were there right at closing time unfortunately and were

not going to be back in the area.

But now we now - when we go for ribs - go earlier.

However, I'm glad to see what I did.

the Blues Hall of Fame

Was very cool and housed  in a really

neat looking building.

 Found these two loitering on the bench. 

The statue (the one in bronze) is Little Milton.

He made the song "The Blues are Alright"

a national anthem in blues genre.

 Robert Johnson, who is said, made a deal

with the devil and the blues was born.

 BB - amazing.

Love his stuff. So glad I got to see him concert.

 John Lee Hooker.

Another big player in the blues.

 They have this huge "desk" with a big screen that

has all 400 inductees listed and you 

can scroll through the names and click on songs

that made them famous.

We had this muscial treat all to ourselves and

went through the entire alphabet.

SaveSave

Cotton fields, Crossroads & A Bridge

As we took off to explore Clarksville & Batesville MS

we found cotton fields as far as the eye can see.

 And work was in progress.

 Machines doing the pickin'.

 And the cotton gin where all good cotton balls

go to become awesome clothes.

 Rolled with some B&W because it just 

seemed cooler of some

structures around the town.

 Isn't this mural gorgeous?

 And the ground zero blues club that was closed

when we swung by so the only blues

we heard was on the radio.

Sigh.

And the crossroads sign signifying

the beginning of the blues. 

 Raise your hand if you remember the song

"Ode to Billy Joe".

Well this is not quite the same Tallahatchie bridge

he jumped off of.

It's the new one as the old one collapsed

in June of 1972.

This is the underside because quite frankly the

top wasn't very interesting.

There is supposed to be a plaque commemorating

the bridge but we couldn't find it.

You'd think they'd be more creative with this bridge.

Scrappy time!!!

Woohoo!!! Finally....

We are settled in NJ and hanging with 

friends and family.

So here's my set up from a different direction.

It's kinda tight but even at home with a drawing desk 

I end up with space this size anyway LOL.

 I converted some pix to B&W because I thought they'd look cooler.

Love the pix of me and Amelia. It was also when I decided

I seriously needed a new 'do.

Trying for a photo where Connor was "catching" the water.

Didn't quite line it up right. My bad.

 Little miss spent the night in the RV with us

and it was fun!

We got to stay up late and watch TV and everything.

 Converted the selfie of Connor and me to B&W

mostly because it really looked better that way.

 Our trip to Booth Bay and Hendricks Head lighthouse.

I used station in the title because I ran out of alphas LOL.

 This is the second time we were able to dine at Ken's so

I kept the menu and thought it would make a great background.

As explained before, we were too hungry to worry about

"before" photos. Bwahahaha.

 The Shakers were really interesting and I loved the

photo on their tickets and decided that it should be 

center stage as a title.

They are an interesting bunch, however, they

are on the verge of extinction due to practicing celibacy.

Pink Fresh with some Studio Calico, Tim Holtz 

and diecuts and stamps thrown in.

Grand Portage National Monument

This is very cool as it's a reenactment and reconstruction of

the fort and supply depot between the Ojibwe and fur traders.

 People dressed in period costume and

are very happy to share their knowledge.

 Lots of cool pelts for your stroking pleasure.

And some of them are soooo soft I can see why they were en vogue.

How cool - letters and documents.

Makes me swoon.

We arrived at the end of the day and things were starting

to close up but there were still enough

people to chat up and find interesting things.

Highlights from the Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum

I seriously don't want to spoil it for you - but it's a must see!

Absolutely amazing and needs to be on your bucket list.

It goes from boyhood to President.

(Ahem-my hubby's best side 😉 ).

 Mrs. Keckly and Mrs. Lincoln is the name of the book

written by Mrs. Keckly. They were friends until they weren't sadly.

It's a very good read.

 The Lincoln house in Springfield...

You get a tour with a ranger and of course I have inside shots.

You need to go see for yourself.

Amazing from a log cabin to middle class America.

A self-taught lawyer and legislator - then President.

How cool is that.

Scappy time on the road

Again, let me apologize for the photo, cropping.

Totally awkward.

Anyway its fun and since I rearranged stuff

I wasn't as annoyed tonight.

LOL.

Using Pink Fresh and various embellishments.

Got some photoshopping to do and

hoping for more downtown tomorrow.

Meeting up with friends on the road

Of course this caught my fancy on the way to Long Campground

in Idaho where we will be meeting up and hanging

for a few days with our friends Paul and Sharon.

We were able to meet up with them a couple years ago and it was so

much fun.

 It was a beautiful ride along the Clearwater River.

 Of course we went exploring and poked our

collective noses into all kinds of things.

 This was the first courthouse in Pierce Idaho

built in 1862. The town evolved when a gold rush

happened in the area on the Nez Perce's land (pronounced Nez Purse).

Anyway a treaty was drawn up because of all the trespassing

going on and the Nez Perce lost 90% of their land.

The gold ran out and basically left the Nez Perce pretty much screwed.

Sad.

 We then went to the Logging Museum that

had lots of stuff.

Naturally I photographed what interested me.

 First off, my gram had both of these items.

The wringer washer was in the basement where every

Monday she did the laundry and hung it outside.

The tub on the wall was where I had baths when I was a

kidlet in the middle of her kitchen. 

 As you may or may not know I had a career in the telephone

company (GTE) and my first job was the cord board.

NOT as old as this one mind you,

but it was a fun job.

 My aunt Toot (short vowels there) had one of these babies

and she used to love to sew and passed it on to my

cousin Judy. I, too loved to sew but I was never as good

as either of these two.

 This is a logger's cabin.

 It was cozy with just the essentials.

Except for those things that are essential to me, i.e., running 

water and a bathroom.

Just sayin....

 Check out the locomotive bell that was used

as a dinner bell at the logging camp.

 Sharon and I were really hot on finding out what the

heart of the monster was all about.

And here it is in a nutshell....

A monster was eating all of the animals. Coyote fooled the monster into swallowing him. Using a set of stone knives that he had brought with him, Coyote cut apart the monster from the inside to release all of the animals that were trapped in the monster. Upon emerging from the remains of the monster, Coyote cut it up and threw the pieces all over the land, creating the Indian people who inhabit the land. Fox asked Coyote about the land around the monster, it had no people, what was he to do? As Coyote washed the blood of the monster off his hands, the drops became the Nez Perce.

My artistic approach to black eyed susies that

were abundant in our campground.

 More Clearwater river pix.

And doesn't that railroad bridge make you swoon.