Tennisy in Tennessee

TKO 1: It's technically knock out

Leaving the Michigan rim, I shapeshifted into an eagle and flew down to Memphis, Tennessee. I landed in the Wolf River of course, and went downtown for some brekkie.

I heard some howling coming out of a restaurant, and thought I recognised the voice, and when I entered it was none other than Howlin' Wolf; I realised I must have time-travelled back to the 50s or 60s without realising it when I flew down.

I left Memphis on the Blues Highway, and travelled up to Nashville. As I passed through I heard Dolly Parton singing 'Coat of Many Colours', and thought she must have been speaking about me.

Then I fancied a break from running so I caught a train down to Chattanooga, before heading up into the Appalachians. It was great to be up in the mountains again, and I made good progress up to the north-east of the state.

I passed through Newport to Bristol, and entered into a conversation about a strange game they were playing there. I thought it was kind of golfy, but my acquaintance thought it was more tennisy.

After leaving the game behind I rested up on the border with Kentucky, the second stage of my travel through TKO.

Midgee gun in Michigan?

WIIM 4: Michigan

I crossed into Michigan, the Wolverine State, from Indiana; I felt like a wolf amongst wolverines, and I guess I was.

Heading north through the mitten shaped land mass that makes up the southern territory of Michigan I felt I fitted into Michigan like a glove, and was enjoying my morning ramble.

Passing through Kalamazoo there was a great deal of noise, with many people blowing into a strangely shaped musical instrument.

I headed east from there, and reached Detroit for lunch. I travelled back in time there to witness a historic performance by legendary group, Kiss, who were so impressed by the city's people that they penned the song, Detroit Rock City.

Then I headed north-west, but the epic journey was starting to take its toll on my poor paws, so I bought a car in Pontiac and drove from there.

However, the car wasn't as luxurious as I wanted, so I exchanged it for another one in Cadillac, and travelled in style from there up to Alpena; where I lunched on Muesli.

After that I swam from the eastern side of the lower territory to the south of the northern territory, via Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, and through the Mackinac Strait that divides the two peninsulas.

I had to barter with some trolls on the mitten peninsula to pass through the strait; they live under the bridge that spans the Mackinac

From there I was drawn like a magnet to Iron Mountain and Iron Wood, before resting up on the north of the peninsula, and the shores of Lake Superior; I once again felt humbled.

It was a beautiful setting, and with fruit and berries in abundance I had a wonderful evening, and felt content and proud to have completed my journey around WIIM. The only downer was that there were loads of midgees, and I felt like I could have done with a midgee gun!

However, that was only a slight drawback, and once I'd got the campfire going they soon abated. I felt so at home in such an idyllic setting, and so euphoric about having another accomplishment under my greenygrey belt, that I started singing a song; thankfully nobody could hear me, as I'm a bit tone deaf! It went something like this:

Home, home on the WIIM,
I came here on a whim,
To the Lake Michigan rim,
I love travelling by acronym.

I hope you enjoy it as much I did.

Thanks to Wikipedia for providing great info on Michigan, and most of the other stuff that's helped my rambles on their way: http://en.wikipedia.org

Indy Anna in Indiana

WIIM 3: Indiana

Crossing the border into Indiana in the morning I headed over to Lafayette, as its the home town of Axl Rose and Izzy Straddlin of Guns n' Roses, one of my favourite human bands. Wolfmother are my top wolf group.

From there I headed south, drawn by some magnetic force towards the Angel Mounds State Historic Site near Evansville. I felt at home there, and had lunch on the prehistoric Native American site.

Travelling north in the afternoon I saw a load of horses, colts I think, and fast cars as I passed Indianapolis.

I had a bit of a swim in the Wabash when I reached it, but got into a little trouble. Lo and behold, who was there to rescue me, but the Anna that I'd met in Louisiana. After she'd pulled me out of the fast-flowing river I thanked her and asked how she was doing and where Louise was. She said that's fine, she was doing great, and her and Louise had gone in different directions for a while to do some independent travelling.

I thanked her again before heading further north, and slept just north of Elkhart. I, of course, didn't eat any elk-heart being a veggie.

ILL n' OI in ILLINOIS

I crossed into Illinois via Lake Michigan, and swam down to sweet home Chicago. As I got out of the water a car sped past with a couple of guys with shades on inside, and a veritable convoy of different kinds of people chasing them. What a welcome, I thought; and also that I'm glad I'm on a mythological/legendary plain, and don't have to deal with everyday events.

As I walked down the street a Chicago Bear was heading down the road towards me; no, it wasn't a grizzly, it was William 'The Fridge' Perry, the legendary American Footballer. I said 'Hi, Fridge', and he replied 'Hi, Greeny'.

Then I climbed up the Sears Tower for great views over the city, and had a spot of lunch downtown. It was quite windy in the windy city.

Then I headed south to Pontiac, where I had a bit of trouble avoiding all the traffic, and down to Normal, where I began to feel ill. Returning to Pontiac, I had even more trouble with the cars, and a driver shouted 'Oi, you in the greenygrey, get out of my way'. I suppose he wasn't to know I was ill when he oi'd me.

I headed east after that, and reached the border with Indiana by nightfall. I'd enjoyed Illinois, and soon recovered from my illness.

Whisk on sin in Wisconsin

WIIM 1: Wisconsin

Having reached the bottom of MIMAL I had to decide my route from then on, as explained in the last blog, and after a great deal of deliberation I decided to start from the north again, and so shapeshifted into an eagle to fly up to the top of Wisconsin; although I obviously love travelling overland, and seeing all the great places up close, for convenience, speed and panoramic views you can't beat flying!

So, landing in the Lake Superior Lowland I quickly changed into my greenygrey default shape once my feet hit terra firma, turned to head south like an Olympic 100m swimmer at the end of a length, and was off at a gallop.

Although I can get tired of running after a long while, a few hours of flying rekindles my enthusiasm, and it was to be running wild again, with the beautiful lake to my left.

It wasn't long before I reached the Northern Highland, and I loved running in the forests and glacial lakes there. I particularly liked the massive Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, and Wisconsin's highest point, Timms Hill.

I picked a few berries and pieces of fruit along the way, and really fancied a smoothie after all the running when I stopped for lunch. I didn't really have anywhere to make one though, and was looking a bit flummoxed when a snake approached. I said 'hello, my name is greenygrey', and it replied 'howdy, my name is sin; sin the snake'.

I told sin about my smoothie quandary, and it replied 'You can can whisk on me', so that's what I did. After whisking on sin I of course shared the smoothie with it. It was a most enjoyable lunch, and after bidding farewell to sin I felt refreshed and rejuvenated.

I drifted through the Driftless Area during the afternoon, which had a nice mixture of farmland and forest.

It was quite an eventful trip for the rest of the time too, as passing along the Door Peninsula I thought I heard the voice of Jim Morrison; I really felt at home in Green County; and thought I saw the Fonz on his motorbike in Milwaukee, which is home to both Happy Days and Harley Davidson.



Yep, it was an eventful journey alright, and good to be back on the acronym road. I slept well on the edge of Illinois; the next step on my trip through WIIM.

My travel route is planned

Sorry I've been away for a while, but I've been busy planning my route.

Having travelled across two-thirds of the US things got a bit complicated, as there are two-thirds of the 50 states in the eastern third of the country, so it gets a bit cramped and therefore harder to plot a coherent acronym route.

Anyway, I think I've got my plans together now, so in the next few weeks you'll hopefully be able to follow my trek through WIIM, TKO, MAG and F.

Yep, I'm looking forward to seeing the next eleven states, and hope you'll join me.

Louise y Anna in Louisiana

MIMAL 5: Louisiana

I crossed over into Louisiana soon after dawn, and it was already very humid; lucky my greenygrey coat kept me cool.

I made my way down to Monroe, and had brekkie in a diner there. A funny thing happened as I finished off my sunny side up eggs: a blonde waitress called Marilyn had her skirt blown up by a sudden gust of wind. And it had been really still beforehand. Wow.

I then made good progress down to Alexandria, which had a Mediterranean feel to it, before twirling my way over to Baton Rouge.

Between there and New Orleans another funny thing occurred. I had jumped into the Mississippi River to give my weary paws a rest, and was swimming merrily downstream, when I heard a call from the bank.

So I swam over, and one of two women said 'Do you speak Spanish?'. I replied 'un poco' (a little). She then introduced herself and her friend: 'nosotros (we are)Louise y Anna', and I did the same: 'yo (I am) Greengrey'. Then in Spanish they said 'Beware, there is a big whirlpool further down stream, and nothing can escape from it, not even a greenygrey'.

They looked serious and honest so I thanked them from the bottom of my heart and continued swimming. Then, not ten minutes later, I saw a whirlpool of gigantic proportions, filling up the river, and swallowing everything that crossed its path. So I quickly made my way to the bank, and escaped the liquid trap.

I ran for the rest of the way to New Orleans, and slept on a bayou on its edge.

I had travelled down MIMAL, and thanks to Louise y Anna I had reached my destination.