WALKING ROUTE 66
God Bless the Whole World — No Exceptions
I used to have a bumper sticker that said so.
The saga continues…
Four years ago, I walked Route 66 — from Chicago to Santa Monica and blogged about it daily. Now, I am reflecting on the lessons learned along the way. (Read from the start)
Cat and Zella were waiting for me when I arrived in OKC via Greyhound.
The first order of business was to get some brunch. Isn’t that what you do on a Sunday morning? Jeff’s Country Cafe on Classen Blvd. is where Pizza Hut used to be. That’s where Barney Paradise trained me to be a successful Pizza Hut manager.
The chili and cheese omelet is just what I needed to get started. After brunch, Jerry and Martha, aka Cat and Zella, dropped me off at the corner of NW 39th and Classen, where I would continue my journey westward. Zella’s shirt had the same slogan I had on a bumper sticker on my Mobile Domicile.
One of the things I did while I was in Houston was to have new shirts made. With the colder months ahead, I needed warmer and longsleeved shirts. I also had the Route 66 emblem as part of the design. If you’ve been following my journey, you may have noticed the change.
My destination for the day was Yukon, a suburb west of Oklahoma City and home to country star Garth Brooks. I had been communicating with someone via the Couchsurfing website who had agreed to host me or the night.
Shortly after I started walking, I noticed that the front wheel was low on air pressure, which was weird because I had just replaced the inner tube before leaving for Houston. I found a gas station and went to fill in the air. Those things are design for car tires and not little bitty bike tires. I heard a pop, more like a boom, and I realized the errors of my way. Fortunately, I was only pushing it, not riding it.
After I finished my training with Barney Paradise, I was assigned to a unit on NW 39th street, which meant I would go past the place. I already knew the building was no longer there. It had been 40 years since I managed that place, but it was still nostalgic going past it.
I got lost trying to avoid having to walk on the bridge over the lake with no shoulder. An hour later, I was able to get back on track with the help of a policeman.
My host came out to meet me on Route 66 as his house was a few blocks south of it. He was also kind enough to take me over to Walmart, where I was able to get another inner tube for my front tire. We had a little conversation over dinner, and I was beginning to wonder if I had made the right choice in picking my host.
He seemed to belong to a religious cult and told me that I could not say any prayers or meditate inside the house. I asked him if it would be okay for me to meditate on the front patio in the morning, and he said that would be fine. After dinner, I stepped outside to say my nightly prayers before hitting the couch.
As I think back and ponder.
It was my first day back on the road, and I was already facing unexpected challenges, from finding a flat to getting lost to meeting a host that made me uncomfortable. As long as I was going to trust God, He was giving me plenty of reasons to do that and take my trust to the next level, as I intended.
The answers to our prayers don’t always look like what we expected.
Stay blessed and be happy, my friends.
Day 96: It’s Like Coming Home (Original blog post).
Just for fun.
Here is something from Garth Brooks.
I invite you to tag along if you’re up to it. I am mentioning a few friends who may be interested in it. If you are tagged but don’t want to read my stories daily, let me know in the comments, and I will remove your name moving forward. If you are reading this and aren’t included in the list below, but you’d like to come along, let me know so that I can add you.
Michele Amy Trista Henery Timothy Tim P.G. Sherry Saloni Indra B. A. Linda Sharon Tree Linda Britni Desiree Elisabeth Simona Kristin Helen Julia Chris Rosennab Tom Truenorth Agnes Aurora LauraRaduenz Catherine Joe Stuart Gurpreet BFoundAPen Margie Bob NaNa’sworld Wolfie Rebecca Susannah Paul
As always, thank you for reading and responding.
Here are some of my other stories:
