I spoke to Sue on Sunday and it sounds like an absolutely awesome trip. I too am looking forward to the photos and hearing about her journey.
It will also be good to know of the music scene over there and I hear she will be promoting one of our own bands to a Nashville producer! How good’s that?
Purple Sue had a long time friendship with US singer Buddy Knox. A special part of this trip will be spending time with Buddy's son and visiting Buddy's grave for a final farewell.
This excursion is a big brave step for our Sue. I am looking forward to hearing the stories and seeing the pics.
Purple Sue has made it to America OK and is now in Tennessee. (She had the new Harry Potter book to read in the plane.)
She and her septic pal Tom will ride Tom's new HD to Sturgess. They are going the long way round to take in the sites. I am expecting the first batch of pics soon.
PS Shane, Sue reminded me that I was supposed to pass on a kiss from her to you because she was going to miss the BHR gig at the Gully. As you know I became distracted and forgot. I will give you two next time.
Extracts from the last two E Mails from Purple Sue. On Tuesday morning, Tennessee time, Sue and Tom were packing the bike and getting set to hit the road.
“It’s great over here. Have eaten two times now at a local restaurant/ truck stop named Vinegar Pie.
Have had Moonshine and biscuits and gravy. Americans eat almost all meals out. We have gone out for breakfast, lunch and tea.
You don’t get alcohol from restaurants. When ordering your tea, you have to say Hot or Cold and with or without cream.
Tom's new house has a great view of a very large water system. Not sure of the name, but when I send the pics to you, I will state where each pic is from. There is a great Vietnam Vets’ memorial up the hill on the way to New Tazwell. (Tom served overseas. Sue is a volunteer at the Boronia V V op shop.)
I love the hospitality, it is just wonderful down here. Was not rapt in LAX. LA people were all in a hurry, with no time to stop and talk, here is the opposite.
My hair is attracting a lot of attention. (If you don’t know Sue – she has a patch of purple in the front of her hair.) My girlfriend in Michigan wants to take me out when we get there, and buy Brown Hair Dye. They live in a very conservative area, and she isn’t too sure.”
She and Tom have ridden from Tennessee to Texas and onto South Dakota. They have been to Deadwood and, dig this Shane, the Black Hills.
All of this I got off a postcard. Apparently they have really been covering ground and have not stopped off to use the internet. Sue promises a bunch of pics when they do stop.
The latest instalment of the Purple Sue’s Rock, Scooters and Famous Graves World Tour of America.
The message was sent from Ann Arbor Michigan. Sue and Tom are/were staying with Janice and Terry, friends of Sue’s from way, way back.
“Ann Arbor has NO Rock’n’Roll, it’s a University town, very quiet. Janice wanted to dye my hair brown. Hahahahahahahahaha!”
“Made Pavlova tonight, Janice and Terry have had it whilst in Australia, but for Tom it is the first time.” ("Whilst " says Sue. Well lah-de-dah, it must be the posh Uni town talk getting to her.)
By now they will have visited the Henry Ford Museum, which amongst other items holds the world’s largest collection of Rock Star cars.
On Monday our time they will be preparing to begin the trip back to Tennessee. So far they have put 5,000 miles on Tom’s brand-new bike.
“We visited Tupelo, and went inside the house Elvis was born in. Eventually found Buddy Knox' grave. It wasn’t where it was supposed to be.”
“Ohhhh we fell with the bike on the day we arrived at Deadwood. Now that was an experience! Deadwood City is beautiful. Have been to Calamity Jane’s and Wild Bill’s graves.”
“Got my Sturgis tatt. Sturgis had about 450,000 bikers. Very hot weather, about 90 to100 most days; almost too much to bear. Ended up burning my arm on the hot exhaust pipes of Tom's Harley, it’s healing up fine now. Many people have come up to me, to get me to talk. They love the accent. Drank a lot of stuff including Moonshine, the original stuff.”
“Listened to a female singer, Rachel Stacey at Full Throttle at Sturgis. She is great, I bought her CD.”
Sue has discovered that she does have the camera stuff to up-load pics so she will bring all the photos home on a disk. Maybe she can sort things out before then when they get back to Tom’s place. She still has another two weeks of adventures in Septic land to go.
Just to get started this is a shot of Purple Sue and Tom at the start of the big two-wheel trip at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial near Tom's home in Tennessee.
Earlier on I explained that Tom was one of the Been There Boys and Sue is a volunteer with a suppport group.
They must be back at Tom's home now 'cos the photos are starting to dribble in.
- A pic of a horse rides place in the Black Hills. (Looks like Gippsland).
- Harleys lining up to enter Mt Rushmore Park. This is the Mayor's Run; a feature of the Sturgis Rally. (Mt Rushmore is where huge portraits of a few Yank Presidents are engraved into the rock.)
Hey Robeeee, the pic`s are fab !!!!! wish i was with sue, she is one hell of a person, can`t wait to hear her tails of fun, tanx for keeping us posted , Woo Hoo !!!!
Two more from Purple's Sue septic sojourn. We seem to be getting into the seamier side of the venture. I'm starting to be a bit concerned for Sue's moral well-being.
The first is the Knuckle Bar in Sturgiss.
Hey, they look just like us - but not as attractive.
I don't think the bloke in the black T shirt and black cap (bottom edge, left) really is spewing but he looks odd. Maybe he is drinking his beer through a straw?
The second is a waitress at the Roadkill Cafe in Sturgiss.
Hey, they look just like ... never mind.
Perhaps the food is not so good. Do you suppose that is a tatt on her tummy? What does it say? It sort of looks like "Mild". Perhaps on her back it says "Born to be".
After last week's worrying images of rowdy bars and topless waitresses it was reassuring to receive these latest, fairly wholesome, messages.
“First decent ride after Sturgis, we went to North Carolina yesterday, to a place called Hot Springs. Didn’t actually go to the springs, went to a local cafe to eat pizza. Not too bad. Then back to a biker bar called Bobarossa in Del Rio; Tom used to work there. Nice place on the banks of river called French Broad.”
“Tonight, Monday 27th, went to local Morristown Lions Club meeting. (Sue is very active in the Lions. Among her other projects she coordinates the really successful Cranbourne “Driver Reviver” rest stop on busy holiday long-weekends.)
Tom came along also, [hey, he may join them]. They made me feel very welcome. I had to get up and give a talk about my Lions group of Frankston-Bayside. I got presented with a State pin of Tennessee. Their President told everyone that he had heard of the Driver Reviver program before, and that was one of the reasons he joined Lions.”
“Going to drive a Chevy tomorrow, when the Harley goes in for a service, two things wrong here...
1. Steering wheel is on the wrong side.
2. You have to drive on the right side of the road, which by our standards is the wrong side, so look out Tennesseans.”
“Went to Marysville with friends for a late lunch/early tea. Had fried Green Tomatoes, steak cut into cubes, scalloped potatoes, and the best chicken salad (I am coming home with the recipe], nice home made fresh bread.
Then all of us rode to the Harley Davison dealership in Marysville for a Kentucky Headhunters’ concert. I love their music, and it was great to see them perform. (Except for the bloody dickheads in front of us who stood up and limited our view.)
Our next trip will be to the Appalachian museum.”
The pics are Tom modeling his new slippers and the sign welcoming visitors to Michigan (not sure why Sue thought this was worth a photo).
Hey RobE - good to hear Sue's having a great time over there but how about suggesting to Sue it's about time we get to hear and see pix of bands & dancing in the U S of A ........
From Rob to Sue - Hi Sue,
People here want to know about R'n'R dancing in the US.
Have you been dancing or seen real Rockers doing it? Is it like here?
I put Tom's slipper pic on Vic Rock; just to show people a different aspect of your scooter chauffer and trippin' tour guide. If he is going to hang out with a famous sheila he will have to get used to the exposure. You guys are the Posh and Becks of Cranbourne-meets-Tennessee Rockabilly.
XX
Rob
From Sue to Rob - Dear Rob,
I have only seen one couple dancing, and that was last Saturday night at the KENTUCKY HEADHUNTERS live concert, at the Harley Davidson distributorship in Maryville.
We are going to Nashville from next Wed 5th, and staying until Friday when I fly out, so will be visiting Grand Old Opry, the Opry Museum and Roberts Bar, so hopefully I will get to see more dancing... The bit I did see, was not so fast, even though the KH were playing fast stuff. I was tempted to ask the guy to dance, but it was between rows of seats, so not a lot of room.
I made contact finally with Michael Knox. He has been getting my messages, but his mum has been unwell (Buddy's first wife). I am to ring him on Wednesday as soon as we get into Nashville, and we will work out when we get to catch up. He is mixing for a band called ROAD HAMMERS.
Have taken a few pics of rods. Tom belongs to a Street Rod club with his 1966 Chev.
The only Rock’n’Roll I have heard on the radio is a little bit of old stuff; 60's. Its more COUNTRY in Tennessee. It depends what State you’re in. Nashville is mainly Country but it has an oldies station that plays nothing but the 50's - Everly Bros and more.
Looking forward to going to Roberts Bar, thanks to the info from Rhonda Berry, to check out the bands.
More soon.
Love Sue xxxx
I deleted bits about Tom questioning my mental health.
The pics are fancy seats in a Tennessee MacDonalds, check the headers mounted on the glass, and the State Fair.
One more pic. A doughnut shop they visited. Apparently the food was tasty and the staff were nice.
(Before she goes away the next time we will have a chat about taking pictures that tell a story. But, it's her camera and her adventure. Just 'cos some pics don't mean much to me does not mean they are not full of special significance. Purple Sue can photograph mud if she wants to. I just might not post them tho.)
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