If you grew up in the 80’s you may well be aware of how wonderful it was to get your first Cabbage Patch Kid. I remember looking at the wall of dolls in the toy store in the Venture Arcade in Penrith and the excitement I felt when I picked out my own kid, Renita Loveday Low!

So going to Babyland General in Cleveland Georgia was kinda like re-visiting that little girl I was when I picked out my ‘baby’. This was the site of the original cabbage patch that Xavier Roberts discovered! But as a 30-something girl, it also came across as really bizarre that this place existed. I had to stifle laughter..  a lot!

We entered the reception area and there was an older lady dressed as a nurse, stethoscope around her neck and all, who welcomed us to Babyland General and asked us to sign the hospital registry.  She seemed quite nice and explained to us how to enter the ‘nursery’. I thanked her and asked if it was ok to take photos.. ‘of course, the babies would love that!”..

o…kay.. *stifle giggles*

The place was quite overwhelming with the amount of crying babies..  speakers in the walls with baby wails going off! and loud mechanical sounds as cabbages moved to reveal newborn babies! Hilarious!

It was basically a big shop with a twist! The original kids were there behind glass.. and worth a fortune!

I did not leave empty handed and all the girls in the Durrant household will be very happy to see me when I return at Christmas

We stopped in Lynchburg Tennessee to be taken on a tour of Jack Daniel’s Distillery. So fun! The fellow who toke us was quite the character and the whole thing was thoroughly entertaining.

We were taken to Mr Jack’s old office and shown the safe that ultimately killed him.. He kicked it in a fit of rage and his toe got infected, he lost his leg but the infection was too bad and he died not long after!

At the end we enjoyed an icy cold lemonade.. Lynchburg is located in a dry county. The irony!

After the tour, we headed to the graveyard to toast Mr Jack Daniel’s with some of his lovely Tennessee Whiskey we’d bought early that day, in another county!

We’ve been traveling right through the middle of it for well over a week now and it has certainly made its presence known! Some states have been a little stronger than others. Mississippi seemed to have a church on every corner like we have pubs back home!

Apologies to any religious folk who may be reading this but… Some of the billboards outside the churches have just been gold!

Here are  some of the funnier ones.

‘They’re Commandments, Not Suggestions – God’

‘Don’t change your church to suit your life, change your life to to suit the church’

‘Exercise Daily – Run from Satan to God.’

‘Lost? Use your GPS to find the House of God!’

‘Swallow your pride = 0 calories!’

‘Forecast – The Son Will Shine Forever.’

Texas sure is BIG! We spent a morning in Fort Worth followed by an evening in Dallas. Fort Worth is a lot more entertaining than Dallas for a tourist. We watched a long horn cattle drive, past the stockyards, from the comfort of our saloon whilst sipping on icy cold Budweisers on a hot Texas day!

But Dallas, though an ugly city, now holds some great memories for us.

The Boy’s favourite band, Ween, played the House of Blues that night. And we had tickets! Such a fun and talented couple of blokes! We had so much fun and left the venue very hoarse but satisfied! The next day we went to Deally Plaza and stood staring up at the sixth floor of the old book depository, then to the grassy knoll, then to the X painted on the middle of Elm St, then back to the grassy knoll..

A couple of days later when we arrived in Mississippi, we headed to Leland. This was the hometown of a young Jim Henson, who spent his childhood playing along Deer Creek and forming the ideas for some of the most loved characters in history!

Sadly, we arrived on a Sunday and the small museum dedicated to this wonderful man was closed.. but we were able to peek through the windows and see the original Kermit the Frog sitting, with banjo on knee, in his swamp surroundings! Eeeee!!

Later in our holiday when we arrived in Atlanta Georgia, we headed straight to the Museum for Puppetry Arts. I will remember this day forever! I stood nose to (nearly) beak with Big Bird, made eye contact with a Skeksis (Dark Crystal) saw all of the Fraggle Rock cast (!) and many many more treasures!

Pigs in Space, Dr Teeth, Swedish Chef, Ernie, Labyrinth and Farscape characters.. the list goes on! I was in heaven!

Had to be dragged out of the gift shop! Sorry credit card, I didn’t mean to hit you so hard!

Wow! What a place and what a man! I have been reminded about why I was fond of Elvis in my teens and The Boy has a new-found respect for the King! So much Elvis but not as tacky as I was expecting!

I honestly thought Graceland was going to be a garishly, tacky and vulgar amusement. But my goodness! I would be so proud to have that place as my home. The decorating in the house was not short of awesome! We were both blown away! It was just so cool and surprisingly understated. The rooms were not very large, but then again at the time Elvis bought it, they may have been! It seemed he put all his money into cars! He had so many (very cool) cars it was a little over the top (Ah! There you are Elvis!)

We spent over 4 hours immersed in all things Elvis, wandering around Graceland and its grounds as well as some exhibition halls on the other side of the street, adjacent to our accommodation, The Heartbreak Hotel!

The Heartbreak Hotel turned on the tack as if to compensate for Graceland’s lack of! Elvis pictures everywhere, the  Kid Gallahad Fitness Room, 24hr Elvis channels (3 of them!) and a giant screen playing concerts down in the bar, The Jungle Room! Did I mention it was on Lonely Street? hehe

Here’s my boy letting out his inner Elvis in our room..

Another trip highlight for us both

Roswell, New Mexico is nothing much to look at. Flat dusty plains and quite a run down little town. But it was exciting! Just thinking about what might or might not have happened here in 1947 made it so worthwhile!

As did Main Street, with it’s tack filled shops and a visit to the ‘International UFO Museum and Research Centre’. The street lamps here are alien heads and the Roswell McDonalds is in the shape of a UFO! Love it!

I’m sad to report that I spent some time staring up into the sky but saw nothing.

Day 1.

I am writing this blog entry from the very bottom of the Grand Canyon, but will be posting it when I reach civilization again! If that does not impress you, it should, because it sure impresses me! But wait til tomorrow, the 15.3km hike out of here is going to simply astound me! the 11.3km hike in today was tough enough! Going down hill for that long, sure puts a strain on the ol’ legs! Took about 4 hours!

We have set up our tent and now are relaxing after a refreshing soak in the creek. (It’s about 35 degrees) The temperature got warmer the lower into the canyon we got. It was interesting to watch the vegetation change n our descent. The leaves became broader to soak up more sun.

Sitting here taking it all in, there is an abundance of wildlife. Butterflies all around! One just landed on my finger.. a snow white moment! Love it! And the cheekiest of desert rock squirrels is stalking our camp – he’s already had a chew of my back pack while my attention was turned the other way! I’ll be glad if we don’t see all of the wildlife though, there is something called the Giant Hairy Scorpion that lives around here. Sounds awful!

Down her in the inner canyon there is an excavated Hopi Indian Kiva  and we are off to a ranger talk in an hour about the first inhabitants of this very secluded  area.

Day 2.

It was difficult to sleep due to the heat and the thought of the following days hike out! But we headed to bed early with the fly off our tent so wee could watch the stars and the dozens of little bats flying around the night sky.

We awoke in the middle of the night to a mule deer nibbling at the bush next to our heads. The closest I’ve been to one! I was too excited and had trouble getting back to sleep.

The alarm went off at some ridiculous hour and we were packed and heading out just as light started to seep into the the outer canyon. We wanted to get some miles under us before the sun really woke up.

Our legs had stiffened over night from the hike in and the first part of our walk out had me very nervous indeed! But sure enough as the walk became a climb, new muscles were introduced to the Grand Canyon!

The first half wasn’t too bad and we made the half way point by 8.30am.  I was pretty chuffed. We rested a little and felt a bit re-juvinated. This feeling didn’t last long! The sun was getting hotter, the legs sorer and the terrain steeper! Suncream and sweat was dripping off me and I just felt awful.

The closer to the top, the worse it got! (& the worse we looked) And annoyingly the more people we encountered heading down looking all fresh and lovely.

Unlike the hike in, I forgot about the scenery (except at rest points) the camera battery died on us on the way out but i was unlikely to use it as we just looked so dreadful! (Kind of a blessing in disguise!)

When We finally reached the top, 7 1/2 hours after we left, the feeling was awesome! I am very proud of myself although I can hardly walk and my shoulders ache like crazy (did I mention I was the water bearer??) Without a doubt, the hardest hike I have ever been done and so so satisfying!

Though the canyon is Grand from the rim, I would never have realised how deep and intricate it really is and how much it plays with perspective if we hadn’t ventured to the inner canyon!

One of this trips biggest highlights so far! Though my legs don’t agree!

We spent our first night in Arizona in the wonderfully tacky ‘Arizona Inn’ in the town of Kingman – ‘the heart of historic Route 66′ and the beginning of the longest remaining stretch.

It was also the home of the Route 66 museum, so before we got out kicks, we went to learn about the history and many various eras of this famous road.

We had a cheeseburger and fries in an awesomely kitch  ‘Mom & Pop’ roadside diner, stopped at old trading posts and bought a few tacky mementos before turning off Route 66 and heading to one of nature’s wonders of the world!

Death Valley was the part of the trip I was most nervous about when it came to Toby, and after his recent dummy spit I was all the more apprehensive. But What a trooper of a van have we

The scenery was truly amazing. It was like being on another planet. Red and black rock, sand that kept changing from red to black to grey to white. We could see cars coming  from miles away as the road stretched forever in front of us and the desert dust blew up behind them.

The elevation dropped gradually, but it seemed really dramatic. 3000 ft below sea level, 2000, 1000, -214 ft! Signs along the lone road read – “Warning – Extreme Heat”. Really? I would never have guessed with this feeling of my face melting off!

Our over night stay was in a place called Furnace Creek, apt aside from the lack of a creek! We spent the evening in the spray mists on the porch of  the saloon watching the roadrunners playing under the water, and in the lukewarm, crowded swimming pool the ‘town’ had to offer. The showers after our swim, which we were most looking forward to, didn’t have any cold water!

A sleepless night with all the doors and windows open in the van followed by another stinking hot day. We saw a coyote panting along the side of the road no doubt in search of the roadrunners back at Furnace Creek! We didn’t have any ACME anvils on hand to give him

We braved the heat and walked out onto the salt planes of Badwater – the lowest point in America, and into a canyon to see a natural bridge (and a rattlesnake curled up under a small bush – Eek! )

We thoroughly enjoyed our desert experience – Thank goodness for spray bottles and our senses of humour!

Well, it wouldn’t have been a roadtrip without a breakdown right?