Jun 5 – Jun 15, 2026

First stop on the 2026 HorseDuck Road Trip Extravaganza was Mammoth Springs State Park for a picnic prepared lovingly by Julie herself.

Dinner and a show tonight at BB Kings Blues Club on Beale Street in Memphis tonight. Saw the first band then went walking the street and came back for the second band. Glad we did. She could WAIL! Fantastic!

Hanging out on Beale Street. Always fun things to experience. Avery got to participate in one of the street shows. Happy kid.

First stop today was the National Civil Rights Museum. Not our first time here but it was for Dave and Avery. Always a good reminder.

Lunch in Memphis today was Gus's Fried Chicken. We have Gus's in Kansas City but it's like Kansas City Joe's. You can have it several places but it's best at the gas station in Mission, KS. Gus's just tastes better in Memphis.

When in Memphis you have to stop in to Sun Studio where Elvis was discovered along with a plethora of other talents. I had a feeling Dave was going to enjoy this one and he was pleasantly surprised.

Definitely the most unique Bass Pro Shop we've been to. Guess we can check 'sports and outdoors shop in a pyramid' off the bucket list.

Ended the day watching the Peabody Ducks retire for the evening. I got video from up top while Avery got the 'in the pit' view. Enjoy!

I don't know what it is about these little roadside animal attractions but they're hidden gems. You get up close with them. Julie got a little too close with a camel which tried to get in the truck with us. Fun times!

Got to experience the birthplace of The King himself... Elvis Aaron Presley in Tupelo, MS. The area is nicely laid out. His house was a modest 400 sq ft. His church is also on the grounds. Learned a lot we didn't know. Good stop.

Today we visited a lot of stops along the Natchez trail parkway. Avery got sworn in at the national Park ranger station. It's a beautiful road to drive down even if you don't stop at any of the sites.

We took a driving tour of spots in Tupelo that were important in Elvis' life. They are in no particular order but include his elementary school, a park where he came in either 2nd or 5th (conflicting reports) in a talent show, the junior high school where he sang a farewell song before they moved to Memphis, a movie theatre where his mom would give him nickels to go see movies and a few other places. Pretty interesting.

Our first sunset in Gulf Shores

Good morning from Ft Morgan!

Good morning!

A little beach time is always good for the soul. Doing it with family and friends doubles that.

Blue Angels Air Show today. Great way to start the day. Crazy moves. Very impressive.

Second time to this museum. What made it special this time was two things. First, Dave really enjoys these air museums so it was good to see him excited. But mostly I had fun terrorizing Avery in the flight simulator. Started out letting Avery take the stick but he was being timid with it so I took it and ran him through the ringer. Definitely going to be a core grandpa memory for him LOL.

Ft Morgan museum and fort site. It was by the beach we wanted to go to and free for veterans so...

32nd Anniversary dinner is in the books...

Today's vibe...

Beach Day at Ship Island

Mocktails vs cocktails in New Orleans. Hope we got this right...

A bus ride, beignets, Bourbon Street and buskers today in New Orleans. Definitely sensory overload...overwhelming. always fun and interesting for a people watcher such as myself though. Fun times.

My crawfish etouffee was sooooo good tonight. Going to miss the food down south. Tonight is our last night on the 2026 HorseDuck Road Trip Extravaganza. Hitting the WWII Museum tomorrow then heading out.

We took a night time tour of St Louis Cemetery No 1. Pretty creepy and interesting. The big pyramid is actually Nicholas Cages for when he dies.

Our last excursion for the 2026 HorseDuck Road Trip Extravaganza was to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. Very large museum with a lot of content. You could easily spend all day in there and not see everything. I would definitely go again.

Duct tape fixes almost everything...almost.