I’m going to Graceland, Graceland

I’m going to Graceland, Graceland
Memphis, Tennessee
I’m going to Graceland
Poor boys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland

Day 4? Seems like it has been forever and no time at all.

We are settled at our Harvest Host just outside Memphis. A Luthern Church with a beautiful playground and a very level concrete parking lot.

Today was a slower day than yesterday. We attended church services at our Host location from last night. It was perhaps a more conservative sermon than we would prefer, but the people were lovely. We sang with them, had a donut and packed up to be on the road by noon.

One issue. We had a flat tire. It had been loosing some air overnight but holding it other times. I got out the pump to refill the tire and discovered that the valve stem extension to the tire leaked when I wiggled it.

This was seemingly good news, but where to fix it on a Sunday? This Class C camper falls into a strange space. Too big for normal “car” mechanics and too small for “truck” mechanics. It is always interesting to find places to get work done. Even a simple oil change can be a challenge.

As these things are, we happend to be in a spot with 3 or 4 truck stops and the associated shops, lube joints and truck washes.

We tried one place…they dont do tires. Tried place two, they didnt have parts that would fit and cant get parts on Sunday.

Discount Tire who put these tires on, aren’t open on Sundays.

Tried truck stop three, Travel America. After waiting for the young woman at the counter to get off the phone, I started to explain my dilemma.

Two of the techs standing there started to discuss it and one guy says, “Let me take a look.”

Well, he looks, pronounces that the valve extension looks loose.

He walks back to his toolbox and comes back with a wrench and a bottle of leak detector spray.

Five minutes later, it is fixed and he will not take a penny from me. Seemed offended that I offered.

SO, if you can stop at a TA travel plaza, do it. Reward their kindness. What I thought was going to be a day sitting in a tire shop parking lot and spending hundreds was 10 minutes and free! Sometimes things work out.

Now, several hundred miles later and 6 hours of driving find the tire as full as we filled it in Knoxville. Seems good and fixed.

Warm but not oppressive heat today. Some off and on rain but good highway and no traffic. All in all, a good day to make a few miles. Saw the lowest gas prices of the trip but the worst of that is yet to come.

Otherwise, we made it to Memphis, tomorrow we’ll “see” Graceland. Not willing to spend the price of admission to see the Jungle Room. I “get” Elvis enough to want to cruise down “Elvis Presley Blvd. to the Graceland gates.” Not will to pay the price to see a Cadillac with Tennessee plates.

We’ll definitely honor crossing the Mississippi tomorrow, grab some BBQ, maybe cruise down Beale before making our way to Hot Springs.

Some numbers, overall mileage is down to 10.3 MPG. As measured last night, .5 gallons is the amount of fuel to run the generator for an hour. 40 is the highway we rode today. 0 is the dollars we spent fixing the tire.

Look for Susan to soon make her first blog post.