Back in Memphis
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
After Jamie and I had spent our day at the Willow Springs Water Park in Little Rock, Arkansas, on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 6, 2011, we made the three-hour journey back to Memphis, Tennessee. Of course if you’ve been following this series of road trip posts, you’ll know that we had already spent Sunday in Memphis. But I had purposely made the plans so that we would hit it both coming and going. Following our long drive, we were both ready for a late dinner and we arrived at Uncle Lou’s Chicken at about 7:30pm. Read the rest of this entry »
Only future history will reveal how President Bill Clinton’s administration is viewed and rated. The sex scandal that led to his becoming only the second President in American history to be impeached is just too fresh in our minds. But even with the periodic scandals that marred his administration from 1993-2001, Clinton still ranks high in the list of all-time greatest Presidents and left office with relatively high approval ratings. His accomplishments in the areas of foreign and domestic policy have been unmatched since the days of Ronald Reagan. In my view, he was also the most fiscally responsible President that we have had in the last 50 years. 
I had warned Jamie that the first two days of our road trip were going to be incredibly fast-paced and extremely full. Saturday in Nashville had lived up to those designations with flying colors, and our day in Memphis on Sunday, July 3, 2011, would certainly be no exception. After the long day and late night we had had, I was amazed at our fortitude in getting up and ready, and departing our Nashville Howard Johnson’s motel by 7:15am. It was already hot outside as we bid farewell to the city, our lodgings, and the very creaky elevator. 
Our time on the road was winding down as Bob and I departed the Grand Canyon National Park on the morning of Thursday, March 31, 2011. We had only one more major city to hit and this would be Phoenix, Arizona, which I would be seeing for the first time. We headed out that morning at around 9:30am, with only the minor distraction of seeing a Smokey the Bear statue delaying us initially. Then we came upon the small Arizona community of Valle, where we were sidetracked for over an hour. The reasons for this: Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. 
Metropolis was cool. The Super Museum was amazing. The celebrity encounters were quite successful. And it was fun hanging out with my pal Dean. But still, if there was anything that had tipped the scales in convincing me to make the trip to this remote area of Illinois, it was the fact that I was going to have to get there one day anyway. That is, I was going to have to get to the neighboring city of Paducah, Kentucky, if I had any hopes of ever completing my Vice-Presidential grave visits and photo collection.