Day 76 - Grand Prairie To Longview, day 1

Saturday, November 13, 2010

The wind howled most of the night, and at times would move the tent so much it pulled some of the pegs out of the rain softened ground. I finally got it secured enough to stay reasonably upright. I woke up around 5, and just laid there enjoying being warm until my wake up call came at 6. I was packed and moving around 645, heading for the McDonald's just down the road. On the way I first passed a movie theatre called the "Uptown Theatre". (All towns should have a theater uptown.) I then came to a really cool looking restaurant called Don Juan's. You have to see this place in person......makes you want to get something to eat. Hwy 180 through Grand Prairie is really scenic and nice. Before long I was in McDonald's enjoying breakfast and using their wi-fi.

Hwy 180 goes into Dallas and ends. I had no clue where to go after that, so did a mapquest starting at the McDonald's and ending in Longview. The directions sent me on a more southerly route, going through Batch Springs, Seagoville, and picking up Hwy 80 in Forney. It looked like a reasonable route, so I decided to take it. I also checked the on-line Star-Telegram, and saw the article by David Casstevens was there.......thanks David. About that time I received a call from Cleudis Robbins. Cleudis lives in FT Worth and is the uncle of my daughter-in-law, Michelle. We didn't connect when I came through FT Worth, so he wanted to come to Grand Prairie to talk a while.

About 30 mins of so after the call, Cleutis and his wife Mary (in photo) arrived. We had a great time discussing the trip, family, and lots of things. Mary is from Albany, TX, and knows Joe Dillingham (from an earlier posts). We had lots of laughs about that incident. Soon they had to leave, and me get back to my journey. I hate they had to drive so far, but really glad we had the time together.......two nice people. As I started out walking, received a call from Tom Hawthorne, a friend from Roanoke. Tom calls often, and is a regular follower of the walk. And, a friend from the Charlotte area, Wayne Mowery, is flying out today to spend a few days and walk some of the route around Dallas.......so lots happening out here.

I turned off of 180 onto 14th Street heading south. After walking a while noticed twp really strange things about the sidewalks in that area: 1) most mailboxes are right in the middle of the sidewalk, and are set in cement in a plastic bucket, or tire rim, or something similar (do they sink them in the river or something when no longer needed? 2) The sidewalks are slanted toward the road, at about the degree of the banking at Daytona Speedway. So to keep the cart on the sidewalk I had to maintain a minimum speed or fall off into the road. I guess the slant is to allow water to drain, but it's a little extreme. I haven't seen either of these before.

About the time I reached my turn off 14th, received a call from Wayne......they were coming to find me. His sister Carol picked him up at DFW, and was bringing him to walk the remainder of the day. They soon arrived, we loaded the cart and my possessions in Carol's car (don't have to push it today), and headed out across the Pioneer Parkway Toll Bridge. Toward the end of the bridge, sitting on a hill, is Potter's House........a predominately black, mega church in south Dallas. We walked a while longer and saw an elaborate Buddhist Monastery under construction. After about 2 hours, we stopped for a sandwich, rested about an hour, and headed out again.

Carol called around 430 to say she was on the way to pick us up. By the time she arrived, it was getting dark and much cooler. Before long we were back at her house, eating bar-b-que, and talking about the day. Wayne has had knee problems, and wasn't sure how it would hold up under so many miles, but he did fine. Wanting to go out again, and help me get around Dallas. I'll be in a bed tonight, just like you........