did i miss the skyscrapers? did i miss the long freeway?

well this is going to be a very quick one. i am in memphis with amanda, currently, and it is, i guess, a very scary place. not sure on the statistics of the whole thing, but we were tenting at this rv park and pitched the tent and then headed downtown for grub and bars and whatnot. we get to the bar that used to be a church, then a drugstore, then a brothel, and find out we are staying in the most dangerous neighborhood in memphis, IN A TENT. so needless to say, we are not there now. we started searching for hotels we could afford, and luckily the bar staff were incredibly helpful and so so nice. found a super 8 that seemed close enough and had to go to dennys to get a discount coupon. memphis is weird! arrived here and it was scary as well but we felt like we had no other options. sleeping here tonight and pray my car will be there when i awake. seriously.

went to nashville yesterday and ran into my swiss friend jan, which was incredible and i couldn't stop saying "shut up!" went to a really amazing honky tonk bar on broadway and i love nashville. left this morning and drove to mississippi to visit graceland too, in paul mcleods house. couldn't get him to open the front door but met his neighbor who told us he was crazy and showed us some pictures of paul and his son elvis aaron presley mcleod. he also gave us something he called a minnet bullet, a lead bullet he dug up in his backyard that is from the civil war. his name was charlie. stopped at a gas station on the way out of holly sprigs, ms to pee and get some water and got asked if i wanted to drink whiskey and ride horses by a real true cowboy. then he left and called the lady working the counter ("ma") on the store phone to have her give me his number.

i feel weirdly ready to go home and like i am dragging this trip on longer than it should go, but i may just be in shock of being alone/in another persons company. running low on money and ebay is kicking my ass lately. having a rough patch, i suppose. i need to make it to michigan to see my kaitlin whom i love so much and maybe i can get to state college to hang with emily as well.

tomorrow we have to return to rescue our abandoned tent and try to convince the staff there not to charge us. not sure how that's going to work. then maybe we will see graceland (not sure about this either since it costs $26) then maybe to see sun studios or the stax museum and then back downtown to do a little shopping and maybe get some grub from a cool place we came across tonight. then back to old st. lou! wednesday i am going to do the st lou tourist stuff such as the arch and the BUDWEISER FACTORY TOUR. amanda has to work but her friend missy is going to hang with me, i think. so thats cool to have a companion in fun.

much love and please send me some good vibes. i really really need them.