Bama Bound
Before I get started, let me get this out of the way. Family, you may again say, “Told you so!” This is my first extended trip using my smartphone, which allows me to access the Internet and provide a hotspot for my laptop without being dependent on finding an outside wi-fi source. Very convenient (but cheap, it ain’t). Moving on…. Woke up surprisingly early, so I left with the hope that Nashville’s morning rush would be over. HA!! Took twice as long to get to Fisk University as it should have. Got a few great pictures of Jubilee Hall (if you don’t know who the Fisk Jubilee Singers are and their connection with that hall, there’s concise information on the group’s site. I found a great, free parking space outside the campus library only to discover I had absolutely no motivation to go inside and study! So, I drove out…
The Singin’ Trekker on the Road!
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I did a re-assessment of the trip and decided to delay departure until Tuesday and reverse the direction of my route. This would mean missing Trekfest, but with a four-day convention on the schedule and the possibility of attending another year, I could work with this idea. So,... I spent a relaxed 3-day weekend in Grinnell. RB's mileage hit 137K over the weekend, so she will hopefully make it to 140K before this excursion is over. Beyond doing a reshuffling of what I'd prepped for the trip, I didn't do anything but catch the newly released I4 movie at the local theater. After a couple of false starts, got out of Grinnell just after 11 a.m. Tuesday morning. RB's starting odometer reading was 136,037 miles. Since my goal was to get to Nashville, minimally a 10-hour drive away, I didn't plan many stops along the way. The one I did plan was Snake Alley in Burlington, Iowa. It claims to rival San Francisco's Lombard Street for twists and turns, so I wanted to see it. Who am I kidding? I wanted to take RB on it.I set the dash cam, but it's new, and I didn't anticipate that extended use would result in the recording of the actual descent being overlain. Fortunately, I did take a few stills that are below:
[gallery size="large" type="slideshow" ids="93,101,100,99,98,97,96,95,94" orderby="rand"] The drive was pretty steady until I reached the outskirts of St. Louis and realized their evening rush hour was underway. Rather than get caught in it, I stopped for dinner. When I finally reached town, I was treated to this wonderful view of the Arch. I visited it a few years ago, so I'm settling with this view before I continued south.: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_0021-e1467177827127-225x300.jpg" alt="IMG_0021" width="476" height="635" />
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Other than a wild--or incredibly long--delay on I-64, the drive was uneventful. Stopped for the night about an hour outside Nashville with a busy day planned for Wednesday. Started my playlist from the beginning. Lots of A's and started the B's just before I stopped for the evening. For me, the steady driving, accompanied by great music, really does make me relax.: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% / 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer; top: 920px; left: 835px;">Save
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Nashville!! And Other Pre-Departure Random Thoughts
: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Map6-274x300.jpg" alt="Map6" width="425" height="465" />I looked at the detailed route--a 122-page TripTik, btw--for my scheduled trip and noticed that the return takes me through Nashville, Tennessee. I'd visited Memphis in the past--both as a conference attendee and as a tourist, but I've never entered Country music's center.
So, with a quick check of Tripadvisor, I discovered that the : //www.musicianshalloffame.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum is located there.
And, of course, Nashville is the home of : //www.fisk.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fisk University. I definitely want to visit, and if I can work things out so I arrive on Friday, perhaps I can get some research done. Also, if time permits, I might try for one of the music tours. All depends on when I arrive and how much time I have left to get home.
(I'm determined that I am not going to repeat that : //singin1.wordpress.com/2014/06/11/day-16-back-to-the-old-homestead/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">over 1,000-mile one-day marathon drive home I did in 2014, which ended with me getting only three hours sleep before going to work.)
Anyway, suggestions for a good place to eat or some other site I MUST see in Nashville are appreciated.: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/RiversideIASign-300x255.jpg" alt="RiversideIASign" width="352" height="299" />Also, the organizers of Trekfest have posted the schedule for their 2016 weekend festival. Based on past experience, I'd like to get there about an hour early so I can get a good seat for the parade.
I didn't see any information about Star Trek special guests, but I'm crossing my fingers that someone interesting will be there. Yes, I know I'm going to four days of Trek at the Supercon. So?!?I've started checking the weather forecasts for the area, too. : //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Atlantic_hurricane_season" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hurricane season, you know. Little Rock is expected to have highs of 100+, New Orleans in the low 90s and Gulfport, Mississippi, in the mid-90s. Thankfully, the most serious precipitation predicted is for scattered thunderstorms in Gulfport. I'll start checking Miami Beach before the end of this week.
I hadn't planned to fill up RB's gas tank until departure time, but gas prices just dropped to $1.999/gallon, which I couldn't resist. My hope for this trip is that gas prices will continue to be this low throughout, a pleasant change of pace compared to the prices I found on the West Coast during my last extended trip in 2014. Speaking of gas, RB goes into the shop Monday morning for a pre-trip oil change and check over. (Crossing fingers that nothing expensive-to-fix is wrong with her.)(6/20 Update: Afraid fixing RB won't be cheap, and since it's usually desirable to be able to steer her, we do what we gotta do. Still, I'm determined to make the trip despite the hit.)
: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/loudmusic-300x285.jpg" alt="loudmusic" width="331" height="314" />My travel playlist is finally ready. I added several tracks reflecting my wide popular music tastes: Pointer Sisters, Ray Stevens, miscellaneous Rock performers from the 1960s, etc. In a moment of madness, I put together a list of the performers represented on my playlist. The list is over six pages long--if I'd had any idea there were over 900 musicians or music groups, I'd have never done it.
Lastly, today is Father's Day. My father passed away in 2009, but he is very much in my thoughts, especially this week. This week also would have marked my parents' 57th wedding anniversary. I know this is an especially tough day for my mother, and I wish I could be with her just to share a hug. Have a great week, okay? My next post will hopefully be from the road....: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% / 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 0.85; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer; top: 1017px; left: 298px;">Save
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A Close Call and a New Site
Howdy, Y’all!! This is my first post under singin1.com, which succeeds both my Singin1 on the Road and Iowa?!? travel blogs. My proposed route for the upcoming Southeastern United States trip almost swung widely to the west when I thought I might finally have a chance to strike The Alamo off my travel bucket list. However, driving to San Antonio is just too wide a swing for this trip, so I’ll have to try another time. Anyway, one of my brothers shamed me into looking for an opportunity to experience the Delta Blues in its birthplace. As a musician, I certainly should avail myself of the opportunity, but I still feel the need to protest Mississippi’s “bathroom” law. So, I settled on adding Helena, Arkansas, with its Delta Cultural Center, to the itinerary. The town also boasts its historic Freedom Park, which was the site of a “Contraband camp”–a term…