October 2 – “Short cuts”

Decision time came yesterday morning.  East or West?  Alabama or Points beyond in the far distant west?  Stay around here for another day?    The plethora of Corvettes and motorcycles made one choice easy.  It was nearly impossible to get around the town with all the extra vehicles, all vying for attention.  Chris figured out the perfect souvenir of the trip.  It meant we had to drive back through the town, wade through the motorcycles, and step over the corvettes to get back out to the passion play site.  She wanted to buy a pot made by the potter guy we saw.  And as it turned out, we got the very last one they had available until he brought them some more.  The one we got looks a lot like the one we saw him make, so it will be the perfect memory jogger.  But the drive finalized our intention to move on.    We did make a stop not far outside of town on the road west.  It took us about ten minutes to see a chapel some guy built mostly out of glass in the middle of the woods.  It was really tall and had a boatload of glass in it.  It seemed strange.  It was obviously a God church.  You were intended to look up when you entered.  But all the glass is usually a "Holy Spirit church" kind of phenomenon, causing your eyes to look around.  Interesting.    The other stop was some kind of overlook panoramic view.  The look was nice, but the real reason for the stop was the antique store right there.  Chris had been waiting for that opportunity.    So West it was.  We had to retrace our route to get down from the mountains, and the whole way we were still not sure where we would go.  I gave Chris the opportunity to go into Missouri.  At one point we were just a mile or two away.  But we had discovered that the Precious Moments haven was not where we thought it was, so we moved on.  West.  The AAA way.  The night before I got a Facabook message from my first college roommate.  David said he lived not far from where we were.  Ah.  An opportunity for a short cut.  Why not.    We pulled into Gentry, Arkansas, around 12:30, so we stopped at the McDonald's and called David.  When he answered I asked him if there was somewhere else to eat in Gentry besides McDonald's and Sonic.  He invited us to come on over to his house and he would take us into the big city of Siloam Springs for lunch.  His directions to his house were great.  "Head south.  At the bottom of the hill you'll see a sign that says, 'Eggs for sale.'  Just past that there will be a red barn.  Turn right between the sign and the barn.  That's our street.  We're the third house on the left, but I'll be waiting for you out front."  We found him and had a great meal in he huge town of Siloam Springs.  It was good to see him again.  It was also good to talk to someone else who has significant hearing loss.  He is retired on disability now, but is doing great.  Our only regret was that we didn't get to see his wife.  He assured us that the next time we come through Gentry we had a place to stay.  Next time.  Wonder if he'll be there ten more years.   Our next decision was whether to follow David's directions or AAA's.  We were hesitant either way, because we didn't have a map of Oklahoma.  We did stop at the Arkansas welcome center, but they didn't have an Oklahoma map.  So off we went.   We soon realized that we were no longer in Arkansas.  No signs or anything.  Just the huge casino proclaiming the awesomeness of the Cherokee Nation.  There was no Oklahoma welcome center because we were apparently not in Oklahoma.  We continued on the AAA route for just a few miles when we made a decision on the fly.  Let's go the other route – David's suggestion.    That's the kind of thinking I like on trips.  Feels like another short cut this way.  We whirled around and headed back.  As we moved along Chris checked the Texas map and realized something horrible.  "Wait!" she exclaimed.  "This is the way to Texarkana!"  Instantly my short cut reflex kicked in.  We were approaching a different little state road, so I put the blinker on as I began the turn and asked, "OK.  Where does this one take us?"  By the time she had an answer we were already on our way.  Not far down the new road we passed the corporate offices of WalMart.  Definitely a high point.  Then we noticed that we were on the Trail of Texas Auto Tour Route.  Texas?  Sure, why not?  We crossed over the Arkansas River and discovered that we were now in Muskogee Creek Nation.  Still no Oklahoma.  We stopped in the middle of somewhere for gas, and I went inside.  It asked the clerk, "Do you have a state map?"  "No," came the reply.  All we have is this."  She handed me a state map of Oklahoma.  Boy was that confusing.                                                                                                                                                     Just as we reached a sign that said "Texas – 19 miles," we hit construction.  Almost an hour later we finally crossed the border.  Texas.  WooHoo.  7:30 p.m.  Since it was dark already, the first real evidence that we were in Texas came as we drove through Sherman.  Off to the side of the road was a high school football stadium.  It was packed to the gills.  Texas high school football Friday night.  We stopped at a Sonic in some place called Van Alstyne.  It was empty, and the usual oldies radio station was playing … McKinney high school football.  Ah.  Texas.  We finally pulled into Mansfield about 9:30.   Psalm 143:10 says, "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.  May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing."   Father, Thank you for firm footing.  That really helps when you live on a sand bar.  Amen.