Our last night in Floyd should have been us celebrating the 4th of July with our American friends. At 4:00pm we headed into Floyd. Unfortunately there was no one around.They were all at the Floyd Fandango, the 4th of July celebration. This was a beer and wine festival where you paid an entrance fee and you could taste the wines and beer. That kind of took the fun away from me because I was the only one who could drive and at the same time I was the only one who wanted to drink. We decided instead to return to our favourite restaurant Odd Fellows.We once again made our way to the backyard of the restaurant. They have a real cozy courtyard. We used our time to skype different people while we waited for our food.Wehad a very nice dinner and then returned to base camp because we wanted a good night sleep before moving on the next day.

Our favourite part of the ride home at dusk wasseeing how many deer we could see at the side of the road before reaching Daddy Rabbits camping. The first day we saw 2, second day 8 and this night there were three. Thanks to my sister Suzanne buying the deer whistlers, we didn´t hit any. Deer whistlers are plastic whistles that send out a high pitch tone that only deer can hear and they get frightened and run away. Not sure if they really work because I can´t hear anything. The only time I ever heard them make any noise was the day we bought them and my funny brother-in-law Bill, put it up to his lips and blew into it saying this is the sound you can expect to hear while you´re driving. It sounded like a referee´s(dommer) whistle. They were attached to both sides of my radiator (køleren) with two sided tape.And yes, that's the only thing left. I can´t seem to get the tape off. Better keep an eye out for deer now.

Our plans the following day were to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is a highway which was built on the top of the Appalachian Mountain stretching 495 miles from Interstate 60,just 100kms west of Washington DC to Gatlinburg approximately 70kms from Knoxville .Ittook 30 yrs to complete the parkway and it gives you an incredible view from both sides. This was going to be great. Everyone in town says that this is a must.

We awoke the next morning to the pitter patter of the rain on the roof of the tent.s***…rained out again. The fog decided to show up as well. The visibility was not very good so we decided to drop the Parkway plans. There's no sense being on top of a mountain if you can´t see on either side. We also wanted to do the Dragon at the very end of the Parkway near the town of Murphy. This was a stretch about 11kms with 318 curves and at the end of the road there is a tree with different motorcycle parts hanging from it. This is to commemorate the idiots that went to fast and never reached the tree at the end of the road. Once again, rained out.

There wasn´t much to do about that. Perhaps another time. We took all our of worldly possessions 30 meters to the campground shelter where we could pack our things under a roof so they didn´t get wet. We filled 5 picnic tables with stuff and solved the mystery as to where it would be placed on the motorcycle. With this miracle solved, we headed off in the direction of Nashville, Tennessee.

It rained like cats and dogs most of the way. Very strenuous driving under these conditions. Nothing much to tell about the drive because we couldn´t see much. It was getting late so we pulled into the town of Kingston and found us a room at the Knights Inn Motel.Beautiful spot overlooking a little lake with the loveliest super black clouds in the background. We hurried to unpack so we could go shopping before the storm moved in. While out shopping we could hear it rain on the roof while standing in the shopping centre. That's how strong and loud it was. We waited until the worst was over before returning to the motel. Had a great sleep that night. We woke the next morning to a very pleasant surprise.

It was warm and it wasn´t raining. How good was that!! With the bike packed once again we continued towards Nashville. We drove for 4hrs and at noon we stopped for gas in the town of Lebanon just 30 kms from Nashville at Uncle Petes gas and food. We´ve seen a lot of restaurants since we entered Tennessee and all of them seem to be advertising for "Catfish".I remember as a kid catching catfish. For my Danish friends, they are black slimy fish without scales. And then there was a saying (ordsprøg) . "He was slimier then a catfish in a bucket of snot".

I had to come to terms with this. I was going to try this fish no matter what and I wasn´t doing this alone. I talked Karen Margrethe into joiningme in this adventure. When in Rome!!! While waiting for the fish I´m reading "GRITS" on the menu. I´ve always heard of this but never knew what it was.I asked the waitress what it was and before we knew it she came with a free sample in a bowl for us to try. Grits are actually the inside of the cob of corn. The white part.It is crushed into very tiny pieces. Its served like porridge (havregrød) in the morning with sugar and a touch of butter. Very tasty. The Catfish then arrived and to my amazement, it was simply delicious.

We also had a talk with Uncle Pete. He came by our table. He does this a lot with the customers. He gave us the whole history of why the place has different coffee cups on shelves. The collection is about 4000 as of this day. To make a long story short, the time he bought the place he didn´t have any coffee cups so someone came with 20 cups, none of which matched each other. Then someone came with ten more. He then inherited from an old lady who died and now people just come with cups from just about everywhere in the world. He has the trucker section, the European section, the Christmas, the music and so on and so forth. We promised to send one from Denmark when we get back. He only wants cups that have a picture of the senders. These pictures are placed inside the cups.Interesting character Uncle Pete. Gave us some good tips of what to see in Nashville.With our lunch finished we got on our way again.

The weather improved as we reached Nashville and our Gps found its way to KOA campground. It stands for Campgrounds of America. Didn´t have the heart to tell them that Campgrounds begins with a C and not K. It was a real nice camping place but for 44 american dollars, it wasn´t that nice. Wetried the next one just down the road. Yogi Bear Jellystone camping.24.95 with tax. Our new home was found. Didn´t take long to set up camp and then we drove in to do some shopping.We ended up just down the road at a huge shopping mall. Funny enough, this was also the home of the Grand ole Opry.My eyes fell on Bass Pro Shops.This is the most amazing outdoor store I´ve ever seen.To start with its super big.They have about everything there is to buy for outdoor use. There´s nothing like this in Denmark. This store I had to check out. As we walked in there were stuffed wild animals everywhere.A fish tank the size of my summer house and inside there is this catfish which the man said weighs 65 kg. He said that there are 50 to 60 year old catfish as big as small compact cars swimming around the bottom of the Mississippi river. He also said that there was a Power dam not to far from here . When they send divers down to make a safety check of dam, they are put in shark cages so the catfish don´t swallow them whole. So stay out of the Mississippi !!!!

We resumed exploring the store. I did find a pair of biker boots which I fell in love with. They were pretty cheap andat the same time waterproof. If I bought these I would not have to fight with my rubber boot covers anymore.I decided to sleep on it and perhaps return the next day. We then left to find a grocery store where we could get some dinner.It wasn´t long before we were back at camp.

The Grand Ole Opry was a must for us to see. We were lucky enough to be there when it happened this time. To my surprise, they don´t use the original Grand Ole Opry anymore for the big shows. It was closed in 1974. Its real name is the Ryman Auditorium. This was the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. They have built a completely new one a little uptown from the Old Ryman Auditorium.

The next morning I left Km at base camp and returned to Bass Pro to buy thoseboots. We had bought some shuttle bus tickets to drive us into town at 11:00 am so my time was limited.When I arrived at the store, it was still closed. The lady at the door was not letting me in.I checked my watch and realized that the day before we must have passed over a time zone again. I was an hour early. Ibought the boots and was then on my way to the Grand Ole Opry to buy tickets for tonight's show. I was also early for this. I was the first person in line and there was a half hour before it opened at 10 am. I then started to think about if Km was aware that we passed a time zone yesterday. If not, she will be wondering where I am at 11am which of course is only 10 am and we have to catch the shuttle. She did show up for the shuttle at 10 am up at the office and the people at the front office let her know the correct time. I bought the tickets for the show that did sell out. 4400 hundred seats. I returned to Jogi Bears camping and Km and I went up to catch the shuttle. It was taking us to Broadway street in downtown Nashville . This is where the Blues and Country bars are located. There are live bands and solo entertainers playing all day. Broadway St is where the Ryman Auditorium is located. Well its actually behind the bars on Broadway with an ally in between. There is a back door at the Ryman where all the big stars like Johnny Cash and co. slipped out and into the Famous bar Tootsies in between performances. Pretty cool place. Actually the whole atmosphere of Broadway was pretty cool. We returned home with the shuttle at 5pm andthen found "Bob Evans" Family Restaurant.My first shock in this restaurant was that beer was not available. I drank Ice Tea. Then she came… MollyParton. This big busted lady in a gown arrived at sat down by herself in a little area. She looked a little out of place. It so happened that her and a man who sat just over from us were both involved in the show we were about to see. She was one of three back-up singers and he was a guitarist.

The show which we were to see has been running non stop since 1925.That is, every Tuesday. It was a two hour show with 8 guest performers. They have about 15 minutes each and in between acts they made commercials. I found that very American. It sounded so stupid doing that between acts until I realized that it was live radio and like anywhere, they have commercials.

There were performers like Little Jimmy Dickens, Jean Sheppard, John Conley, Jimmy Wayne and Bill Anderson. It made for a very enjoyable evening.After the show, we drove out to find a place to buy some cold ones then returned to Yogi Bear camp to relax. We crawled into our tent at 10pm for a good night sleep . We were off to see Elvis in Memphis in the morning.

We packed our things once again and left the heat of Nashville at 9am for the open highway. Interstate 40 was the route.It was about 300kms to our destination. The weather couldn´t have been better. The sun was shining and it wasn´t raining. A good day by any means. The roads werefine and once we got outside of Nashville the traffic eased up. Just before noon we were passed up by a man on his Harley. Big smile and thumbs up to us. We followed him quite a ways then waved goodbye and turned off the highway to get some gas. He wasn´t letting us go that easy and followed us into the gas station. We had a nice conversation with him. He was from Brazil but lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was on his way to Alaska to complete his more or less South Pole to North Pole Journey.I noticed strapped to the back of his motorcycle was this large bag with a gas cap on the top. It was an extra gas tank he constructed with 5 gallons (20litres) of gas. He said he hated stopping for gas because you waste so much time. He was also going to need it when he reaches Alaska. When they write last gas station for the next 600 kms in Alaska , they mean it. He was a little nervous because the road up there was a 1000km gravel road. Glad it´s not us. He said he normally wouldn´t stop like this but the way we were loaded down with gear, he said we looked very European. Then he saw the Canadian flag which confused him. He was glad to hear his suspicions were correct. He gave me a Daytona bike week badge he used to sell. They didn´t have a badge for Daytona so he designed one himself.He said he paid 23 cents/piece for them and sold them at all the bike meets he attended for 3 dollars. This paid for all his vacations.We mounted our bikes again and said our goodbyes and returned to the I-40 again.Next stop for gas he followed us in as well. He must like us since he doesn´t like to stop. We decided to go and eat lunch together. The only thing in town was KFC. (can´t find the chicken).Our new friend Mouro (as in 2 Morrow) was not very impressed but there was nothing else. When we entered the KFC , his first question to the people behind the counter was…do you have any salad ?? That they didn´t . Anything that isn´t fried ?? They had grilled chicken so he took that but when they came with it he wasn´t convinced it was completely dead but they assured him it was. We got the impression that Mouro took good care of his health. When we left and were saying our goodbyes for the last time, he wanted a picture of Km and I in front of the KFC to show his friends where we made him eat. He gave us some silicone earplugs to try out. They turned out to be really great so we´ll have to get some at Wal Mart to take home with us. We exchanged address´sand we were on our way again. Looking forward to see Mouro again sometime in the future.

Just outside of Memphis, we rolled into the tourist office to get some information about the town. Really great places to stop into over here. If nothing else, they have free maps of the city or state.We asked them about camping in Memphis. She gave us a camping place just across from Graceland. The home of the King. It was nice to find a place within walking distance of where we wanted to go. There was also a shuttle bus that would take us into town and pick us up when we were done for just 10 dollars/person. They drive in on the hour and pick up on the half. They had a swimming pool here as well but Km needed a bathing suit. We set up camp and drove into find a Wal Mart. It was so hot that we decided to drive without our leader jackets on. We were risking Road Rash but it seemed the right thing to do. Found the shop and like Bilka back home, it didn´t take long to loose Km. It was really strange walking around and being the only White people in there. We found what we needed and returned to the parking lot to our bike. Then a man came by and told me I had great taste. Didn´t really know what he was talking about until he mentioned my gold chain around my neck. He just happened to have bought one himself but then realized he couldn´t afford it. I could have it for 80 bucks even though he paid 100 himself.He even went as low as 40 when he realized I wasn´t interested. I felt like saying to him that he should return it to where he bought It because the chain is not 14 karat gold. They ripped him off.

Back at camp we decided to order a limousine from Marlowes restaurant to pick us up for dinner and drive us home when we were done. On top of the free service they give you 10 % off the bill. At 8pm the limo rolled up to our campsite and the chauffer stepped out of the car and opened the door for us and we got inside. Now that's camping !!! We heard that in these parts of the states they have the bestBBQ. We heard about Pulled Pork which we found on the menu. There were also so many other things which we just had to try and we did. Fried green tomatoes were my favourite. After dinner we sat us in the limo and he returned us to our campsite.

The next morning we went to Rock and Roll café for breakfast. This was just across from Graceland which we would visit when we were done. Nice having someone else make breakfast instead.

Graceland was really beautiful. The house was not as big as I had imagined but the grounds were. No video camera´s were allowedand if you took a picture, it must be done without a flash so the pictures we took weren´t the best. My last picture of Elvis`s gravestone does not exist. The camera went dead. Just my luck !!We returned back to camp to relax and charge all batteries. In the afternoon we were off to the Civil Rights museum which is located the Lorraine Motel in a part of town you didn´t want to be in after dark. This is the motel where Dr. Martin Luther King was shot. Very interesting museum and they had saved the motel rooms as they were the day he was murdered. They even have the two cars (not original) which were parked out in the parking lot at the time. They are in behind a low brick wall so they won´t be stolen.On the way back to camp we passed through some pretty poor areas in Memphis. Kind of sad to see the way some people live. Now we know what the poor people are doing. We are very fortunate ourselves. We arrived back at camp and prepared ourselves for our shuttle ride downtown. We were going to Beale Street. This is where the Blues and Rock clubs are located. The whole street is closed off for cars. We decided to get something to eat for dinner and Rendezvous Restaurant was the place. Memphis BBQ was on the menu again.After dinner we headed on down to Beale Street. The place was alive with people.There were 5 black kids from age 8 to 22 doing flips on the road. They would take a running start and then flip after flip after flip they would travel on down the pavement. Incredible they way they could keep on going. They then passed around a hat to collect any change they could get a hold of. It was nice to see them doing something rather then getting into trouble.Just walking up and down Beale street was an experience. This was the first place I´ve seen where you were allowed to walk around with a beer so I did that. The police are here in cars, bicycles and some sort of driving thing on two wheels where they stand up on. I of course just had to go into BB Kings Blues Club. Had another beer and then it was time to head back to the shuttle bus. We had to get up early in the morning. We were heading out for Joplin Oklahoma. Here is where the best of Route 66 can be found. There was about 250kms from Joplin to Oklahoma city. This we had to try since we were so close. We woke a 6am and we were on our way by 7:45. The restaurant was not open yet so we hit the road. We took I-40 towards Little Rock and northeast to I-540N through the Ozark mountain region. Someone told me that Arkansas was extremely flat not to mention boring countryside. Yes it was an American so I took it that he knew what he was talking about. WRONG!! Arkansas is such a beautiful state with hills and mountains. The I-540 was even more spectacular. We crossed 4 state lines today before we ended near a little town called Vinita about 60kms east of Tulsa. We passed through Tennessee-Arkansas-Missouri and Oklahoma. A trip around 750kms.Checked into a Super 8 motel and did some washing of clothes.It was a while since I checked the oil on my motorcycle which resulted in me getting on the internet looking for a motorcycle dealer on our path tomorrow. Gas stations never seem to have it. Justfound one in Claremont on Route 66 so it couldn´t have been better.

Route 66… here we come !!!!