See the USA in your Chevrolet

Today's title is a tribute to Nashville, Tennessee native Dinah Shore. Our RV is built on a Chevy chassis and has a Chevy engine.

We started the day by driving to Whitwell ( the middle of nowhere is kind) to see the Paper Clip Project. The website instructed us to stop by the police station and pick up an audio tour. The officer on duty gave me a tape player and a key to the lock. I thought "just like at home" and we drove to the middle school. There was the train looking just like in the movie. It is so small in person and hard to believe so many people were crammed in to be transported to the death camps. Standng inside was eerie. Outside was beautiful landscaping and butterfly sculptures and more butterflies painted on the sidewalks. Earlier visitors had left stones, candles and addresses from all over the US and Israel in a journal.

Two couples from Philadelphia (small world) were there and some 8th grade boys were cleaning and trimming the bushes. They were anxious to chat with us and asked us about the mezzuzahs on the doorposts. It was a special experience and worth the trip.

We drove on toNashville and found a big city with modern skyscrapers. Made our way to the Jellystone campground - yea I'm embarrassed - right near the Opryland Hotel. With 2800 rooms in one continuous building, this is the world's largest non-casino hotel. Pretty impressive!

We hurriedly booked ourselves on an afternoon Gray Line tour and left to see the sights. As Jeff mentioned we saw the Country Music Hall of Fame and would have liked more time there. They had one of Elvis's Cadillac Limos and a 1962 Bonneville that had tooled leather everywhere including a saddle between the front seats. All the handles inside and out were pistols and there was a chromed rifle mounted on the trunk. Just a little glitzy.

The tour took us through several impressive city parks and into the original Grand Ole Opry. It is a beautiful building. We had a delicious dinner and you can check out Jeff's rack of ribs above. Now it's time for bed. Tomorrow we go to Graceland.