WALKING ROUTE 66
Toto, I Don’t Think We’re In Kansas Anymore
Wait, didn’t we just get here?
After a good night’s sleep, I was on the road as the sun came up. No luck with breakfast at the c-store. Everything had pork in it.
I stopped at the info Kiosk and took some pictures, and headed for the Rainbow Curve Bridge. The original Route 66 had 14 miles passing through Kansas. That’s a day’s walk, but I split it over two days.
I made it to Baxter Springs by lunch. Rueben sandwich was acceptable. I went to the visiting center and left my mark there.
Then it was on to Oklahoma.
I had done my research ahead of time. According to RVillage.com, the cassino at Quapaw offered free camping. I am a member of RVillage, so I figured I’ll take advantage of it.
I stopped at Dallas’ Dairy Center on the outskirts of Quapaw to grab something to eat. We talked while he was preparing my quarter-pound Angus burger, and shared my flier.
A group of middle school football players came in while I was eating. Dallas told them about my journey, and they wanted to talk to me. Apparently, one of them was inspired by my attitude that you can do anything if you set your mind to it, and took up a collection among his peers to help me out. I didn’t even try to choke on my tears; I let them flow. On top of that, Dallas wouldn’t even accept payment for my meal.
The casino was about five more miles or roughly two more hours. I stopped under a shade tree after an hour. A police car made a U-turn. The officer wanted to know if I had a baby in the stroller and what I was doing on the highway.
After we talked for a while, he wanted to know where I was spending the night. I told him about the casino. He made some phone calls and said to me that the free camping was for RVs only, but he said there was a fire station about half a mile down the road; they might be able to accommodate me.
Billy was the man in charge at the fire station. He was more than willing to accommodate me. They let me use the restroom to freshen up and provided for me to charge my phone and offered snacks. He showed me the area where I can pitch my tent if I wanted to. I decided to sleep under the stars instead.
As I think back and ponder.
When I was visiting Houston and sharing my stories with my friend Cathy, she said something that stayed with me. She reminded me of the fundamental question from Access Consciousness. (Google it)
How does it get any better than this?
It is not a rhetorical question, but a curiosity. How does it get any better than this? When you pose a problem, your mind, connected to the Universal Mind, starts searching for a solution. You are acknowledging with gratitude the goodness of the present moment and pondering upon even a slight improvement of it.
“How does it get any better than this?” was my prayer of gratitude as I fell asleep.
Stay blessed and be happy, my friends.
Day 62: Toto, I Don’t Think We’re In Kansas Anymore (Original blog post).
Just for fun.
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Rasheed Hooda is a published author who has contributed to many of Medium’s top Publications; The Startup, The Ascent, P.S. I Love You, Rogues’ Gallery, and ILLUMINATION, to name a few. He is also a Top Writer for several topics. If you like his work, buy him a cup of coffee, he drinks a lot of it.
