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TERLINGUA, Texas – We’re wrapping up a week at Big Bend National Park. These last few days we’ve enjoyed activities on the west end of the park, including a hike into Santa Elena Canyon, a drive along the Rio Grande River to Presidio and a memorable evening for dinner across the border there in Ojinaga, Mexico.

On Friday I hiked into Santa Elena Canyon on the west end of Big Bend N.P. The eight-mile long, 1,500-foot deep canyon was carved in the rock over many years by the Rio Grande River. The public trail follows the American side of the river for about a quarter of a mile into the canyon, but I was able to walk up the river another half mile to wonder at the beauty and solitude. Wearing my $12 Walmart water shoes, I walked up the river all by myself through one or two feet of clear water and along pebble and sand bars, walking on either side as the course of the river directed me. On Saturday morning, I returned with Elizabeth for a shorter walk up the canyon.  

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On Saturday afternoon, we drove about 70 miles west along Highway 170, which is rated as one of the most scenic drives in America. The road follows the Rio Grande River through Big Bend Ranch State Park and on to the Texas City of Presidio, population 4,400. The road offered some splendid views of the river and the green trees and the golden marsh grasses growing alongside it.

Our plan was to eat dinner once we arrived in Presidio, but I noticed before we left the RV that there were a lot more restaurants in Ojinaga, the Mexican city of 28,000 just across the river. We took our passports on the drive just in case. Once in Presidio, I persuaded my dear wife that it would be just fine if we crossed the river into Mexico for the evening.

The drive over the bridge took only a few minutes with no line of cars. The U.S. Border Patrol agents were friendly and basically waved us through. They said travel to Mexico is supposed to be for “essential” travel only but that there were no special restrictions for covid. On the Mexican side of the bridge, the border agent was also friendly and spoke fluent English. He inspected our passports and vehicle registration. He also looked in the back seat and the bed of our pickup truck. We chatted with him for a couple of minutes and even asked him if he could suggest a good restaurant. Ominously, we could see a long line of cars bumper to bumper waiting to get back over the bridge into the USA. The agent told us to expect two to three hours to get back!

We enjoyed a fine Mexican dinner at the El Mexico de Ayer (“The Mexico of Yesterday”) restaurant in the city center not far from the bridge. Mexico across the river here is on Mountain time, so the restaurant was less than half full at about 5:30 local time. Knowing the line at the bridge to get back would be long, we headed straight for the border crossing after dinner and got in line with the other cars at 7:20 p.m. Central time. We did not cross the bridge and clear the US border inspection until 11:00 p.m., three hours and 40 minutes later.

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One irony is that when we finally did pull up to the U.S. Border Patrol station, the agent was very brusque. He only wanted to see our passports and look into the back seat. He then waived us through. Another interesting point is that the large majority of vehicles entering the United States that night sported Texas license plates. It all left me wondering why the U.S. government could not come up with a more efficient system so that legal American residents driving U.S.-registered vehicles don’t need to wait so long to cross back into their own country. Perhaps such a border crossing needs an expedited lane for U.S. nationals with nothing to declare, such as you see at airports for international arrivals. Maybe an immigration policy analyst somewhere could investigate a better system!

[Editor’s note: This post was composed on Thursday, March 25, but posted on March 26 because of internet connectivity issues.]

TERLINGUA, Texas – Before sunrise this morning, I left the RV park to hike the South Rim Loop in Big Bend National Park. The trail covers 12.4 miles in the Chisos Mountains in the heart of the park and leads to a 2,000-foot cliff with views of the desert below.

It was just the right time of day and perfect weather for one of the most spectacular hikes I’ve been on. The skies were clear and the air cool when I set out from the Chisos Basin trailhead near the visitors center at 5,400 feet above sea level. The sunlight was just reaching the peaks as I made my way up the Pinnacles Trail. I then went through Boot Canyon, on to the South Rim, and back through the Laguna Meadows Trail.

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The trail climbed about 2,000 feet to the rim, past beautiful vistas looking back to the basin or out to the desert. When I reached the rim, all I could say was wow. The trail leads along a cliff that looks down on the desert thousands of feet below and a thin strip of green following the Rio Grande River to the south. If you look at one of the photos, you can see the cut out for Santa Elena Canyon where the river emerges to continue its course through the park. (Our plan is to hike into the canyon tomorrow.)

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The hike back along the Laguna Meadow Trail was not as scenic, but that’s OK, since I’m usually half brain dead towards the end of a long hike. It was more gradual downhill than the steeper climb up to the rim on the Pinnacles and Boot Canyon trails.

The trail grew more popular by mid-day although it was never crowded. I was content to hike on my own for long stretches at a time. I did have some Mexican Jays flit about me at one spot on the trail. On the way down, I followed a white tail deer with two small antlers for what must’ve been a quarter of a mile before the deer headed off into the junipers.

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Dashboard:

Miles towing the RV: 2,542; RV parks stayed at: 16; States travelled through: 6; National parks visited: 3.

The road ahead (Lord willing): Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns national parks.

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, Texas — We arrived at the Rio Grande Village campground yesterday after a 120-mile drive from Alpine. The campground is tucked in the east corner of the park, only a short hike from the banks of the Rio Grande River and Mexico on the other side.

This morning we hiked into Boquillas Canyon, carved through the rock over the years by the river. The trail follows the north bank, with rock walls rising hundreds of feet above us. The water was clear and the canyon quiet except for the sound of birds perched high on the rocks. Elizabeth and I agreed it was one of the most beautiful spots we’ve hiked to.

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On this hike and the trails near our campground, you can see an assortment of souvenir artifacts left in certain spots along the trail–such as ceramic cups, bead bracelets, wire and bead figures of scorpions–with a cup nearby to place your money if you buy something. On the Boquillas Canyon trail you can also buy tacos or tamales from the small group of Mexicans waiting just on the other side of the river. A small sign said they will deliver the food.

Our time in the park so far has not gone entirely as planned. I thought I had booked us a regular campsite with hook ups–at least water and electricity–but Elizabeth informed me from the fine print in the confirmation email as we were about to set off yesterday that it was a campsite with no hookups! So this will be our first experience with what RVers call “boondocking”–getting by on stored water, a 12-volt battery, and no sewer hook up.

Boondocking, also called dry camping, is like tent camping except you can sit on real furniture, use a propane gas stove, and enjoy hot and cold running water through a battery-powered pump. But this morning, the water pump seemed to be drawing extra power and our battery has lost much of its charge. At least we are camped right across the road from the bathrooms and fresh water spout. Our four days here may be more rustic than we planned!

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During our two nights in Alpine, Texas, the highlight was a guided tour of the heavens Saturday night by an entertaining young man at the McDonald Observatory north of Fort Davis. The amphitheater outside the visitor’s center is 6,200 feet above sea level and far from any lighted human settlements. For an hour, armed with a laser pointer, the guide showed us the highlights of the brilliant night sky, including the constellations, the North Star, Mars, the Orion nebula, and the Subaru star cluster. And he explained how the position of the stars had shifted over millennia because of the earth’s wobbling on its axis. After the presentation I asked him if he was studying for a Ph.D. in astronomy. He said he was an economics major who did this as a side job!

On Sunday we attended our first “Cowboy Church” a few miles east of Alpine. The folks were friendly and the preacher and many of those attending wore cowboy hats and boots. The service was very basic–a woman with guitar sang a few gospel songs before and after the sermon. The sermon contained solid teaching on Jesus and Nicodemus, with the frequent Texas winds providing a good sermon illustration of the workings of the Holy Spirit.

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Internet connection is spotty in Big Bend, but we’ve managed to find good cell service at the Chisos Basin Lodge and Visitors Center. As I file this blog post, we’re looking up at the sunlit peaks of the Chisos Mountains.

SANDERSON, Texas – After 10 restful days based at the Lone Star Corral RV park in Hondo, we hitched up the wagon yesterday and drove 230 miles west along US 90 to the once bustling ranch town of Sanderson. Along the way we crossed the 100^th Meridian into the desert southwest, another milestone in our cross-country journey.

The RV park where we stayed near Hondo, 40 miles west of San Antonio, is not your typical RV park. It’s a cooperative for exclusive use by members of the Escapees club. Escapees are RV owners who are 55 or older and many live full-time in their RVs. At the Lone Star Corral, almost all the people live there most of the year and actually own rights to a parking space and, typically, a storage shed next to it. We were probably the youngest people in the park during our stay.

Everyone was very friendly, as people typically are in RV parks. The clubhouse included a free library and two billiard tables and a snooker table. After envying the billiards rooms at the Biltmore and Graceland, I finally had one of my own, if only for 10 days! My dear wife indulged me by playing me six games, and we teamed up to play another couple at the park one night. Of course, the greatest blessing during our time in Hondo was enjoying the company of our neighbors Lyle and Melanie Brunson. (That’s me and Lyle trying to hitch a ride outside Hondo, which is also home to a state penitentiary.)

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As we left Hondo behind yesterday, we could see the countryside changing from black dirt and green fields to scrub brush. The 100^th Meridian has traditionally been the dividing line in the United States where, to the west, annual rainfall becomes insufficient to support farming without irrigation. The line runs roughly down the middle of the Dakotas, through western Nebraska and Kansas, and down the middle of Texas.

Sanderson, where we stayed last night, lies at 102 degrees, 23 minutes west longitude. It’s a town of a few hundred souls that was in its prime a century ago as a sheep ranching center along a busy railroad line. Today it has one gas station and one restaurant. According to a plaque we read in a nice memorial garden along its main street, on June 11, 1965, a flash flood brought a 10-foot wall of water roaring down Sanderson Canyon, sweeping away homes, tearing up roads and railroad tracks, and killing 26 people. Two bodies were never recovered.

This morning the sky over Sanderson is perfectly blue.

Dashboard: Days on the road: 40; Miles towing the RV: 2,290; RV parks stayed at: 13; National parks visited: 2

The road ahead (Lord willing): Alpine, Texas; Big Bend National Park.

HONDO, Texas – During our stay here at the RV park in Hondo, we’ve explored the beauty, culture, and history of the Texas Hill Country and San Antonio, with a side trip to the small enclave of Luckenbach, made famous by Waylon Jennings.

The Hill Country is an area of Texas that rises out of the plains west of Austin and northwest of San Antonio. Yesterday we drove about a hundred miles north to hike for a couple of hours in the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. The rock is a pink granite “batholith” [a giant volcanic rock protruding from deep in the earth’s crust] rising more than 400 feet from the trail head. We hiked to the top and then around it on a sunny, 80-degree day.

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As we were planning our trip a few days ago, Elizabeth alerted me that we should get advanced tickets to enter the park because spring break was starting this week. I answered that we probably won’t need to buy entry permits in advance for just a state park, and certainly not on a Monday.  But as we approached the nature area, sure enough a sign said no entry without advanced permits. To our relief, the park attendant said they had some extra permits and so we were allowed to join the throngs of families and others enjoying the scramble to the top and view of the surrounding Hill Country. (Guys, listen to your wife.)

We spent the afternoon in Fredericksburg, Texas, a town of 10,000 that reflects its heritage of German immigration. Many of the stores had a German theme, including the Old German Bakery, where we enjoyed post-hike pastries, tea, and coffee. I also spent a couple of hours in the National Museum of the Pacific War, where I learned details of such crucial battles as Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and the Coral Sea, and saw artifacts from those who served. The museum is located in Fredericksburg of all places because it was the birthplace of Adm. Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet during World War II.

One small exhibit told the brief story of the war in the Aleutian Islands, where my dad Donald Griswold (1914-2005) served as a captain in a photo lab for three years during the war. Dad had told me the Japanese captured two of the outer islands, Attu and Kiska, in 1942. He recounted how the US landed large forces on Kiska in August 1943, only to find that the Japanese had abandoned the island two weeks earlier under dense fog (a common weather phenomenon in the islands). Of the 35,000 US troops that landed, the exhibit said that 313 were killed or wounded, “mostly from friendly fire, booby traps, and frostbite.” Dad did not consider it the Army’s finest hour of the war!

My brother Harry also reminded me that Dad’s war service had a central Texas connection. In April 1941, his Uncle Clinton Griswold was on the draft board in our hometown of West Salem, Wis., and told my dad he was eligible for the draft and that he would be better off enlisting. After 8 to 9 weeks of basic training and more specialized training in aerial intelligence, he passed through what was then Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, probably in the winter of 1941-42, before he was assigned to service in the Aleutians.

As a post script, Dad had returned to West Salem on leave in the summer of 1945. He was awaiting assignment for more training in Miami, from where he expected to be sent to the East Pacific as part of the planned Operation Downfall to invade and finally defeat Japan. On his 31^st birthday, August 6, 1945, he heard the news that we had dropped an atomic bomb on Japan. Within days Japan had surrendered and he was soon discharged. The final exhibits at the Museum of the Pacific War said President Truman and his advisors had no hesitation about dropping the bomb—and neither do I.

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After our time in Fredericksburg, we ambled down the road a dozen miles to Luckenbach, Texas, an unincorporated spot on the map that proudly boasts a population of 3. It’s the place Waylon Jennings sings about in his famous country song, “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love).” Elizabeth indulged me as I played the song three times that afternoon. At Luckenbach we found a general store and a small outdoor stage with a laid-back crowd listening to a trio on acoustic guitars. We can attest first-hand, as Jennings sings, that, “Out in Luckenbach, Texas ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain.“

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Last week Elizabeth and I drove into San Antonio to visit two of the missions—the Alamo and San Jose–along the famous Mission Trail. The San Jose Mission is less well known, but it is beautifully preserved from when the Spanish first built it in the 1700s. We rode our bikes about five miles from the San Jose Mission along the beautiful San Antonio River to the Alamo and the River Walk downtown.

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One of the more consequential impacts of the coronavirus pandemic has been a sharp decline in births in the United States and other Western countries. A recent story in The Wall Street Journal warns that “The Covid Baby Bust Could Reverberate for Decades,” dragging down our nation’s potential for innovation and economic growth. The story sites a Brookings Institution study that estimates there will be 300,000 fewer births in the United States in 2021 than were predicted before the pandemic.

In a December policy brief for the Mercatus Center, I analyzed the impact of Covid-19 on US demographics. I found that all three components of population change—the birth rate, death rate, and net migration—all took a sharp negative turn in 2020. The result has been the slowest population growth rate in a century. (See the nearby chart for the trend line.)

This downward demographic trend will have serious consequences for our national prospects in the decades ahead. As I noted in the paper:

A slowing growth in population is normal for an advanced economy, but the sharp and largely unanticipated downturn in America’s demographic momentum in recent years raises worrisome implications for the nation’s future prosperity and influence in the world. An aging and potentially declining population may prove to be less economically dynamic and innovative than a younger, growing population. A slower-growing or shrinking workforce will be less able to support the faster-growing cohort of retirees. A shrinking population will also mean a smaller economy and tax base relative to other economic powers, including geopolitical rivals such as China. Modifying a nation’s birth rate or death rate is a difficult challenge for public policy, and immigration policy is the most obvious tool for policymakers who want to reverse what may prove to be a downward demographic spiral.

As I explain in the paper, government policies are generally ineffective in changing a nation’s birth rate and death rate over time, but the government does exercise direct control over immigration policy. As I conclude, “A more open policy toward immigration would be the single most effective step the US government could take to avoid the problems .. of a declining population and workforce.” 

You can read the full policy brief here, and you can listen to David Beckworth and I discuss the demographic future of America and its broader consequences on this recent episode of his popular podcast “Macro Musings.”

Austin, Texas – We hitched up the trailer again this morning after five days enjoying the sights, food, and outdoor activities abounding in the Texas capital. Austin is a great tourist destination, with lots to see and do.

Among Austin’s attractions are its scenery and natural parks. On Saturday, we enjoyed a walk in the warm sunshine along Lady Bird Lake in the center of the city. A popular walking and bike path run on both sides of lake, formed by a dam a few miles down the Colorado River. (You can also take a boat cruise to see hundreds of thousands of bats emerge at dusk from under one of the bridges crossing the lake.)

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One Monday we walked 3.2 miles round trip to Sculptured Falls in the Barton Creek Greenbelt. This city recreation area follows the creek through a rocky gorge. Some of the creek bed is dry, but other places are flowing with clear, spring-fed water. It was at the falls that the 14-year-old  still in me found a good swimming hole and a rock ledge perfect for jumping in.

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On Friday night, we walked around downtown Austin. A number of places had live music playing, but we also noticed a lot of homeless people encamped under an overpass near where we parked downtown. Homeless camps can also be found on the banks of the lake above the path. (We even heard an electrical generator whirring outside one of the tents.) Beggars were asking motorists for money at a number of intersections in the city.

At the recommendation of a local, we ate one evening at Valentina’s Tex-Mex BBQ. My  brisket sandwich was excellent–piled high and seasoned with Mexican spices. Elizabeth enjoyed her brisket taco. Because of Covid-19, the place is still takeout only, so we ate in the truck.

Other activities while in Austin included a couple of hours at the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas-Austin, worship service with a family we know on Sunday at Redeemer PCA in Austin, and a cookout that afternoon at our RV utilizing our new $20 Walmart charcoal grill!

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After a 120 mile drive this afternoon, we pulled into the RV park in Hondo, Texas, where we will settle into a 10-day stay. I will try to devote a few posts to what it’s like towing and living in a 30-foot travel trailer.

Dashboard: Days on the road: 29; Miles towing the RV: 2,063; RV parks stayed at: 12; National parks visited: 2

The road ahead (Lord willing): Exploring the Texas Hill Country.

AUSTIN, Texas – We arrived at a campground in this city today after covering 382 miles in two days from Hot Springs, Ark., to Waco, Texas, with a stop in Sulphur Springs, Texas, along the way. We are now deep in the heart of Texas, roughly halfway from one coast to the other.  

In Sulphur Springs, we stayed at what was arguably the loveliest spot in Shady Lake RV Park. Our “front porch” faced a large pond that was home to two flocks of ducks. I went for a run in Coleman Park in the city on the morning of our departure and drove by the ornate Hopkins Country Courthouse on the town square (pictured here).

While at the RV park, we had a few conversations with Tony, the park manager. He’s a 60-something Marine veteran who gave us lots of good advice about maintaining our RV while dispensing a few political opinions along the way! On the morning we left, Tony came by to remind me that I had left our front awning extended all night, a no-no for RVers. He invited me to contact him anytime if I run into any issues on the road.

On the evening we arrived in the campground we met two brothers and an older sister, probably aged 9 to 15, who told us they live full-time in one of the trailers, that their parents live in the one next to theirs, and that they’re home-schooled. Tony told us later that their grandmother also lives in the park and that they are model residents. “I wish all our campers were just like them,” he told us. In many of the campgrounds we’ve stayed in, the residents are a mixture of travelers like us and more permanent residents. At the campground in Smyrna, Tenn., the manager told me many of them are temporary workers in construction who stay at the park for up to six months.

On Wednesday, we drove 176 miles to Riverview RV Campground a few miles southeast of Waco, Texas. Waco will forever be associated with the Branch Davidians (you can actually visit the site of the compound that went up in flames in 1993), but there is much more to the town. It’s the home of Baylor University, the Dr. Pepper Museum, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame, and the Magnolia Market at the Silos.

That last tourist stop is a development downtown with a design shop, bakery, family-friendly public spaces, and two giant silos no longer in use. The sight is the latest project of Chip and Joanna Gaines, the hosts of the HGTV show “Fixer Upper.” Elizabeth occasionally watches the show, so this morning we spent a pleasant two hours at the Magnolia Market, enjoying breakfast and coffee and browsing the design store.

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After covering a lot of miles in a short time, we’re looking forward to staying here in Austin for five days and in Hondo, Texas, for 10 days. In Hondo, 40 miles west of San Antonio, we’ll enjoying being neighbors to our friends Lyle and Melanie Brunson, who have been staying there for much of the past year. With less time on the road in the next two weeks, I hope to write a few posts as promised about hitching up and towing an RV, living in a small space, and managing the various systems of this 30-foot house on wheels. I’ll also try to capture some of the wonder and culture of this giant of a state that will be our home for almost all of March.

Dashboard: Days on the road: 24; Miles towing the RV: 1,950; RV parks stayed at: 11;
National parks visited: 2

The road ahead (Lord willing): San Antonio, Hondo, and the Texas Hill Country.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – We visited our second national park on the RV trip during our time in
Arkansas, the unique Hot Springs N.P. located about 50 miles southwest of
Little Rock. We arrived at J&J’s RV Park on Saturday in heavy rain and with
warning lights flashing on the dashboard (more on that below), but the weather
soon cleared for us to enjoy this beautiful spot in God’s creation.

Yesterday we hiked three miles in Lake Catherine State Park, located about 15 miles
southeast of the town and recommended to us by someone we met at a local PCA
church on Sunday. Mile for mile, these were some of the loveliest trails I’ve been
on. We hiked past rushing streams, rock outcroppings, and Falls Creek Falls. We
took the Falls Branch Trail loop and then up and back on the Horseshoe Mountain
Trail.

We rewarded ourselves afterwards with a 20-minute soak at the Quapaw Baths along
the famous Bathhouse Row in downtown Hot Springs. The bath houses here are fed
by hot springs that discharge huge amounts of water at 143 degrees Fahrenheit.
You can pay to soak in public baths or you can pay a bit more for a private
room with a large tub, where they can add bath salts. The two of the nine original
bathhouses that were open during our stay were Quapaw and Buckstaff.

What makes Hot Springs unique is that it’s an urban-centered national park (the only one
containing a micro-brewery!) Congress first brought the hot springs under
federal management in 1832, and then made it a national park exactly 100 years
ago, in 1921. In the early 20^th century, the springs attracted professional
baseball players who came here to train and also to drink and gamble. Hanging out
at the same gambling clubs were mobsters such as Al Capone. No gambling today,
but lots of shops and restaurants on Central Avenue.

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Our brush with trouble came on our drive Saturday from Memphis. In hooking up the trailer
to the truck at the Graceland RV park, I somehow managed to leave the electrical
cord from the truck to the RV hanging too low under the hitch. The cord charges
the RV battery, controls the trailer brake and turn signal lights, and—most importantly—applies the brakes on the RV tires whenever the driver brakes the truck. As we traveled the 200 miles to Hot Springs, the cord gradually wore away as it bumped along the pavement at 65 mph.

About 20 miles out from the Hot Springs campground, a warning light flashed on the
dashboard that the right turn signal was no longer working. A few minutes later
another message came up, “Trailer disconnected.” I could see the trailer was
still fully connected physically, but it was no longer fully connected electronically.
We managed to pull into the campground and get set up without any trouble, but
it was only then that Elizabeth noticed the partly severed cable. On closer
inspection, three of the six wires inside had been cut.

On Monday morning, after a day of rest and a bit of worrying and self-flagellation over
my rookie mistake, I visited a local RV dealer, which recommended an experienced
local mechanic specializing in RV repair. This morning Mark Weatherford, owner of
On the Mark Repairs and Service, came out to our RV site and in an hour had
expertly patched up the three severed wires. He then attached the cord to the
hitch in a way that made it still able to reach the truck but unable to reach
the ground. An hour after that we were on our way to a campground in Texas. If
you ever run into RV trouble in the Hot Springs area, you’ll know who to call!

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The night before we left Memphis, we parked downtown and strolled through Beale Street,
the famous music district, and hung out in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel. It
was raining that night, and it made me think of the 1990s song “Walking in Memphis,” by Marc Cohn:

Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain …

[Chorus]
Then I’m walking in Memphis
I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel?

Rain has been a theme of our three weeks on the road so far. We managed to dodge the ice
and snow of recent weeks, but I would guess we’ve experienced a good eight
inches of rain in the places we’ve visited so far.

Dashboard: Days on the road: 22; Miles towing the RV: 1,466; RV parks stayed at: 8;
National parks visited: 2

The road ahead (Lord willing): The great state of Texas!

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — We toured the Graceland Mansion and exhibits today, learning more about the life and pulsating talent of Elvis Presley. The mansion sits on 13 acres about 10 miles south of downtown Memphis (right across the road from our RV park). The rooms in the house appear just as they were when Presley died in 1977 with his original furniture. The exhibits show his life, his career, and cultural influence.

Among the things I learned is that Presley was a twin. His brother Jessie was stillborn, and while his parents were grieving out came little Elvis 35 minutes later on Jan. 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Miss. The mansion is named after a relative of a previous owner. Presley served honorably in the US Army for two years, reaching the rank of sergeant (E5) before his discharge in March 1960. When stationed in Germany, he was allowed to live off base with family members but he worked late every Friday, staying to clean the barracks and latrines for Saturday inspections. He was an avid reader who would take a trunk-load of books with him on the road, preferring books on religious themes.

Graceland itself was full of colorful furniture and extravagance. It had 14 TVs, shag carpet, and specially designed furniture. The Jungle Room reflected his love for Hawaii. Like at the Biltmore Estate, I was jealous of the pool-table room. (See photos nearby.) Elvis would ride horses around the estate. Family films showed him looking like a very confident horseman.

As for his music, you can watch a lot of footage of Elvis performing on TV and on the stage in Las Vegas. He performed more than 1,100 times in 130 cities from 1969 to his death in 1977. I was too young to appreciate what a phenomenon Elvis was, but the archival footage showcases his awesome voice and energetic performances. Elizabeth and I found ourselves gyrating in our aging Baby Boomer way as we watched his performances.

We all have our favorite Elvis songs. One of mine is “Kentucky Rain.” The opening chords set the tone of longing and loss. These lines are especially rich:

Finally got a ride with a preacher man who asked

“Where you bound on such a cold, dark afternoon?”

As we drove on through the rain, as he listened, I explained

And he left me with a prayer that I’d find you.

In our modern culture, ministers of the faith are almost never portrayed positively. But I love how the “preacher man” asks such a sensitive question of this sojourner. And then he listens and sends him on his way with a prayer that he would find his lost love. That’s a good model of Christian ministry for our neighbor.

We ended our time at Graceland with a lunch of pulled pork, baked beans, mashed potatoes and cornbread at Vernon’s Smokehouse, the only eating place open at the complex. It was wonderful, upholding the reputation of Memphis as one of the great venues for BBQ.

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After arriving at our RV park last night, we drove out to the beautiful home of our dear friends Cal and Debby Beisner to enjoy good food and encouraging conversation. While in the Nashville area earlier this week, we spent precious time with our daughter Emily and her family. For the second time on this trip, we could play the parents from the trailer park who’ve come to their kids’ house to do our laundry!

Dashboard: Days on the road: 18; Miles towing the RV: 1,278; RV parks stayed at: 7; National parks visited: 1 

The road ahead (Lord willing): Hot Springs N.P., Ark.