I'm going to Graceland...

After getting to visit for a bit with Robin in New Orleans, I took an amtrak up through Mississippi and in to Memphis. Made the trip to Graceland and the Lorraine Motel, and spent a good amount of time taking in the sites and sounds of Beale Street. Met a nice family at BB King's club on Beale, and played dice and ate fried pickles. Memphis is a place alive with blues music, great BBQ and fun night life.

The bus ride over to Nashville from Memphis was about 4 hours and took me through some very scenic rolling hills and forests. I had heard of a cool hostel in Nashville called the Music City Hostel that had dozens of beds and a fun environment. While staying at this hostel, I was happy to find musical instruments on the walls and a number of people who were willing to jam on them. Spent most of my time in Nashville out on the lawn playing guitar or walking around 2nd and Broadway in the heart of the city.

To get back to NOLA, I decided to take a greyhound from Nashville to Jackson, and then pick up the southbound City of New Orleans train out of Jackson. The bus I took was late leaving and had a broken AC unit, so the trip was very hot during the day. Overall, the ride took about 10 hours and I barely got any rest; arrived in Jackson, MS at 2:30 in the morning and decided to walk around a bit. I quickly found out that the cops were looking for somebody on the streets and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Got stopped by three different cops, and they questioned me about what I was doing with a black duffel bag in downtown Jackson. Decided to wait until dawn in the train station instead...

Took a better look at Jackson in the day, and got on my train in the afternoon. Before too long, I was crossing through marshland again en route to New Orleans...

Summertime...

...and the livin' is easy.

After facing a potential 120 degree day in the desert and dangerous crossing on the bike, I thought it best to amend the trip and make it a train/road/hostel adventure. Stepdad Scott joined me in California and we headed out on a fun road trip through the hellish heat waves of Arizona and California. While in Phoenix, we met up with a fellow backpacking pal before heading out on the road again. Despite dodging Texas Editions, battling banditos on the Juarez border and wolfing down truck stop food, we made to Austin safely, where we then thoroughly enjoyed a plate of Ironworks BBQ.

The following day, I made it over to Antone's Blues Club in Austin where Storyville, an Austin blues rock band featuring Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton (Stevie Ray Vaughan's band), was playing. The show was great, and I even met Tommy Shannon after the show. For the 4th, I watched the fireworks over town lake in Austin, and took in some local color walking fifth and sixth streets after the festivities. Austin is a great town with a lot of fun people, good food and great music. It was fun to be there, but I looked forward to heading out on the train and moving towards the swamps and marshes of cajun country. There, my next adventures awaited...