2013-08-25

Today marks the end of our second week in the Allegro Campground here in Red Bay (red clay and bay trees), Alabama.  We have not been called into a repair bay early.  Perhaps Norris was right when he said we would be here for 2 1/2 weeks.

Marty and Peggy McCauley arrived here at Red Bay Wednesday afternoon, so we went to Mr. J’s for a good pizza dinner night.  We have thoroughly enjoyed afternoon social hours with them.

Saturday morning, the four of us set off in Marty’s new Town & Country Van.  He drove north on the Natchez Trace, across the Tombigbee River to a little country road where Tom Hendricks had built a wall to commemorate the trails his Great-Great Grandmother Te-lah-nay (a Yuchi Indian) had walked when she and her sister had been driven out of northwest Alabama to the Indian Reservation in Oklahoma.  Te-lah-nay then walked back to the land of the Singing River.  Legends talked about building stone walls, so Tom Hendricks spent years, several pickup trucks and thousands of gloves hauling rocks from the river to his land to build his wall in memory of Te-lah-nay.  The wall stretches from one side of his driveway to commemorate her walk to Oklahoma, and in the other direction her walk back.

Here is a picture of Tom Hendricks (in the green t-shirt) who said I was capturing his Shadow.

 

These pictures are of the wall to Oklahoma, Marilyn, Marty and Peggy are standing at the end.. 

 

These next pictures are of the wall on her way back to northwest Alabama.   The first picture shows some of the things that visitors leave on the wall.  Along the way there are places where people may sit and meditate about Te-lah-nay’s journey.

Tom Hendricks has a journal written by a gentleman that spent several days with Te-lah-nay writing here story in 1847.  This journal has been converted to a book entitled “If The Legends Fade” which Tom sells to visitors who come to see the wall.

 

After leaving the wall, Marty drove us to Tupelo, MS where we ate lunch at Chick-fil-A and then stopped to see Elvis’ Birthplace.  There is more to the Birthplace than just the little 2 room house built by Vernon Presley (Elvis’ father). 

 

There is a museum, a 1939 Plymouth like the one that Elvis and his family moved in from Tupelo to Memphis.

Elvis returned to Tupelo to perform at a concert early in his career.  He gave all of the proceeds from the career to the city of Tupelo if they would buy the house he was born in, 15 acres of land and convert the property into a park for the children.  Over time, they have moved the church attended by Elvis to the property where visitors can attend a movie of a service like Elvis would have attended.

Of course, the museum has Elvis memorabilia, and souvenirs.  Following are pictures of the interior of the house Elvis was born in (it had changed hands several times so the furniture is what it might have looked like).

 

Finally, here is a picture of the four of us:  Marilyn and I, along with Marty and Peggy McCauley.

 

Hugs, and Type at You Later.