Race Day

Even though the gates opened at 5:30, we decided to wait until 9:00 to leave the hotel for the track.  When we got there, people were already everywhere!  Since we had been there yesterday, we knew the shortest route to our seat.  We quickly found where we needed to be and climbed the stairs up to the second to last row.  Since I have never been to an Indy 500 race, I had no idea if the tickets I bought were in a place where we could see too much.  As it turned out we were sitting at the start/finish line which was absolutely perfect.  There was so much going on before the race that sitting there for over 2 hours seemed like just a few minutes.  The day could not have been more perfect and the race started about 12:30.  It was amazing to watch the cars drive so fast and for about 150 laps there were no problems.  Then there were three wrecks, three yellow flags and finally a red flag which totally stopped the race to clean off the track.  The race got re-started with only about 6 laps to go an it was the second closest finish in Indy 500 history with only .06 seconds between first and second.  And we were in the perfect place to see it!  There were so many people it took about two hours to get back to the hotel.  It was an amaIng day at the end of an even more amazing trip.

Pre-Race

I left our hotel early to pick up our son at Chicago O'Hare airport.  He flew in from California to join us on the last leg of our journey- the Indianapolis 500.  Instead of driving straight to Indianapolis we planned to make a side trip to Auburn, Indiana to see the Auburn, Cord and Duesenburg museum.  The original factory was in Auburn and it was an amazing experience.  It would be very tempting to sell my hot rod pickup and get a 1937 Cord 812.  It is one of the most amazing and beautiful cars I have ever seen!  So much for dreaming.  After the museum we drive to Indianapolis. Today we spent the day at the track walking around and seeing old Indy cars and the museum.  Wow, what a day especially with Gene and Matt.  It was a fantastic day for all of us, and tomorrow is the big race.

The end was the beginning

We did not have that many miles to Chicago, but we did want to see one more amazing Route 66 attraction.  It was in the little town of Wilmington, Illinois.  It is called the Gemini Giant and is next to the recently closed Launching Pad Restaurant.  It seems to me that he is the cousin of Paul Bunyon.  While we were there we met a man who had driven  from Los Angeles.  He had an accent that seemed to be from Australia.  He was very excited to be there and maybe more excited than us.  Just think, grown men from different parts of the world excited to see a 20' tall statue of a guy with a space helmet on.  

After the Grmini Giant, we set the GPS for Lake Shore and Jackson street in downtown Chicago.  That was the beginning of Route 66.  We made it to downtown just fine, but it took just as long to find a parking space as it did to drive.  We parked and walked looking for the famous intersection.  It took some looking but we finally found the official beginning of Route 66.  So that beginning was our ending.  What an amazing 7 days that will be etched into my memory for decades.

It's not always bigger in Texas

We sadly said goodbye to Trisha this morning and got back on the road.  One of the stops for today was the President Linclon library and museum in Springfield.  I have never been to a presidential library or museum so I had no idea how long it would take.  As a result I did not plan too many stops today along the way.  However we did manage to squeeze in two stops that were well worth the time.  The first one was in Collinsville which is the he of the world's largest catsup bottle.  It was for a now abandon catsup factory started inthe 1940's.  After that we saw the presential museum which was well worth the time.  Then we saw another Route 66 site in Atlanta, Illinois.  It is a giant Paul Bunyon holding a giant hotdog.  Random-yes, but a unique Route 66 attraction.  We were not the only ones visiting Paul Bunyon today.  Three college students were there and asked me to take their picture with him.  In Texas we have a saying,"Everything is always bigger in Texas."  Well Illinois has us beat in catsup bottles and at least one other random item.

Time with family

This afternoon we arrived in St. Louis where our daughter Trisha lives.  After spending some time catching up she took us out on the town to two unique and famous Route 66 eating places.  The first one was the Eat Rite Diner.  This 10 seat diner has been around for decades and has served thousands of hungry Route 66 travelers.  Their speciality is 6 hamburgers for $6.60.  Their slogan is "Eat Rite or don't eat at all."  We got there just before the baseball crowd and had a nice visit with the cook.  She even let us go behind the counter and be honorary cooks.  The food was great and the place is amazing. We left there and headed for the next stop, which is another icon for Route 66 travelers- Ted Drewes frozen custard.  WOW!  That place has been a St. Louis tradition since 1929.  It was fantastic and after the burger and frozen custard we went back to Trisha's apartment and acted like the beached Blue Whale we saw in Catoosa a few days ago.

Old Fashioned Ingenuity

We left the Boots Court and headed east ready for another day of adventure.  We saw a sign that read, "With every sunrise there is a new adventure."  That certainly has been true for us on this trip.  And today was certainly an adventure.  We drove through several small towns and then finally came to Fanning. It was here we saw double evidence of old fashioned ingenuity. First we saw the world's largest  rocking chair.  It is 42.5 feet tall and weighs 27,500 pounds.  It was a great place for a nap instead of taking one in the car while I was driving.  Twenty feet away from the rocking chair was another amazing site.  It was something else I had never seen and as I looked I wondered why the inventor didn't mass produce it and make millions of dollars.  With all the lawn tools on the market, this one is by far the most creative one I have ever seen.  It was a push lawn mower welded to the front end of a bicycle.  This way you can mow the grass and get you exercise at the same time.  Why didn't I think of that?

A Simple Life

We had a restful night in Carthage, Missouri. It would have been easy to find a modern hotel with all the latest amenities.  However, we opted for a much simpler option to remind us of the times in the past when travelers only  worried about finding a roof over their heads.  But in Carthage there is a place called the Boots Court that was way ahead of its time because they offered something that few hotels had back then.  Their claim to fame was that they had A RADIO IN EVERY ROOM!

Leaving a mark on history

As we began this morning, we drove through the little town of Foyil, Oklahoma.    I had never heard of Foyil and I had also never heard of it most famous citizen, Andy Payne.  In 1928, a foot race wAs organized that would take runners across the entire width of the U.S.A. to promote the newly opened Route 66. Twenty year old Andy Payne entered the race because he had plans for the $25,000 prize money- he wanted to pay off the family farm.  He entered the 3,423.5 mile race and won, averaging 6 miles per hour over the 84 day run.  Isn't it amazing what we can do when we set a goal and give everything we have to accomplish it?  Andy Payne left his mark on history.  What kind of mark will you and I leave?

The Blue Whale

Ever since Gene saw the itinerary for the trip he has been focused on seeing the Blue Whale.  Well, today was the day!  The Blue Whale is at a roadside park in Catoosa, Oklahoma.  Before I began planning the trip, I had never even heard about the Blue Whale.  But one look in almost any Route 66 tour book of Oklahoma and the Blue Whale will be one of those "must see" items.  Well, I can say for sure that it certainly is now that we have seen it with our own eyes.  There is nothing else like it in the USA.  If you are ever even close to Catoosa, don't pass up the opportunity to see one one the most famous stops along the entire Route 66, THE BLUE WHALE!

Part of Disney history

Today we had the opportunity to see some of the most famous Route 66 sites in Oklahoma.  One of The first ones was the 66 foot tall soda bottle in Arcadia, Then we saw the round barn just down the road, and then the Rock Cafe in Stroud.  It is a cafe open in 1939 and was made from the rocks taken out of the ground as Route 66 was being built.  It is a small building but has an amazing history especially in recent years.  The owner of the cafe, Dawn Welch, was the inspiration for the car named Sally in the movie Cars.  It was an amazing stop and an even more amazing history lesson.

Amazing Small Towns

After Groom we continued east and drove as much as we could on Old Route 66.  Some of the road was hard to find but we kept searching until we did.  One section, know as the Jericho Gap was never paved and is still a dirt road.  We drove a few miles on it and can't believe what it would have been like to travel across country on a dirt road with no air conditioning. But thousands of people did looking for a better life. We traveled through many amazing small towns, like Jericho, McLean, Shamrock, Elk City and Clinton. A few of these and other towns are fine.  But so many towns are barely surviving since they were bypassed by the Interstate.  I am no one to point a finger of blame.  I too get caught up in the busyness of life and don't often slow down to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Maybe I am relearning that important lesson.  If so then this trip has already been worth it.

Groom is unbelievable!

We got up early and drove back into Amarillo to pick up old Route 66.  We drove down Amarillo Blvd and it was as if we traveled back through time.  On the east side of town the was one old hotel after another, some of them still in use.  We did not stop but left Amarillo in our rearview mirror and headed for the little town of Groom.  A few years ago few people had heard of Groom, but someone wanted to ale a statement and now Groom is known worldwide. The story I heard is that there used to be an adult bookstore in Groom.  One family did not like that Groom was only known to outsiders for the bookstore so they decided to do something about it.  Across the highway they built a cross to help peoe think of Groom in a positive light.  But they did not just build an average sized cross.  They built the largest free-standing cross in the U.S.A.  It is 190 feet tall and can be seen 10 miles away.

All this happened because one family decided to take a stand for Jesus instead of being silent.  I wonder what we could do for Jesus instead of staying silent?

Cadillac Ranch

A trip on Route 66 west of Amarillo would not be complete without a visit to the famous Cadillac Ranch.  I took some red spray paint so Gene and I could have some fun.  What do you add to something this famous that has never been added before?  Of course you paint,"Gene and Dean the traveling machine!"

Route 66 trip begins!

The day began early as my father-in-law(Gene) and I left Azle headed for Adrian, Texas.  Even though I had driven by Adrian before, I did not know of its significance in Route 66 history until this trip.  Adrian is the midway point on Route 66.  From Adrian it is 1139 miles to either Chicago or Los Angeles. It was interesting standing at the midway point today thinking about all the people who have passed by there since Route 66 opened in 1926.  Just today, whe eating at the Midway Cafe, we met people from New Zealand and Australia.  And that was just in one hour!  Isn't it amazing how many different people God brings into our lives?  Some are there for only a brief moment. Some are there for a few months or years.  And some are there for a life time.  Where they come from and where they go, we don't always know, but we have the opportunity to be a blessing to them for as long as we are together.  

Pre-trip thoughts.

How do you handle disappointment in life?  That is one of the most important questions of all.  From my perspective, it is not a matter of “if” disappointments come, but how do we respond to them when they come?  I will give my thoughts about this in the paragraph below, but first I want to give you a little background.  In February 1982, I bought my 1955 Ford F100 pickup.  I was never intending it to be a show truck because originally it was supposed to be my daily driver.  But one thing happened then another and it took 27 years for the truck to be finished.  About 1987, I saw an advertisement for a national Ford truck show in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  I thought to myself, “Now that would be a fantastic event to attend with my truck.”  Over the years, the more I saw pictures of other show trucks at that in Pigeon Forge, the more I wanted to go.  This year was going to be the year!  I scheduled time off a year in advance, made hotel reservations, and registered for the show.  The last thing that I needed was to take my truck to the paint shop and have a few paint chips repaired so that it would be show ready.  As many of you know, while I was driving to the paint shop, a part on the rear end broke.  This caused major damage to the paint inside the bed of the truck.  As soon as I saw the damage, I knew that my hope of going to the show again this year would not happen.  Talk about disappointing!  I have been waiting to go to this show for over 25 years, and all I know now is that it will not happen again.
When disappointments happen what do you do?  Let me tell you what I have done over the six weeks since that happened.
•    First, talk it out with other people.  Jake Allen was there with me when my truck broke because he was going to drive me back home.  We had a long time to talk.  When I got home, I talked about it with Diana. We also talked about it a long time.  Talking it out helped me think about some things I had not yet thought of.  What if I had not taken the truck to the paint shop and the truck would have broken on the first day of the trip?  What if the truck would have crashed when the rear end broke?  What would have happened if I was in the left lane when this happened instead of the right lane?  We need to talk to other people who help us get through the emotions of the disappointment, and also help us see the bigger picture.
•    Second, seeing the bigger involves more than looking at and asking “What if.”  It also involves thinking about “Plan B.”  Before the problem with my truck I had no “ Plan B.” Plan A was to go to the truck show and then drive to Chicago, pick up my father-in-law who was flying in from Memphis, and then drive old Route 66 from Chicago to Oklahoma City, and then drive home.  Simple plan, but then something happened.  Someone told me, “Your disappointments are only as big as your expectations.”  In this case the expectation was big, and the disappointment was just as big.  But with the help of Diana and other family members, Plan B was created.  Plan B is this: My father-in-law is flying here this Thursday; we are driving Route 66 from Adrian, Texas to Chicago; then our son is flying into Chicago; and then all three of us are driving down to Indianapolis to go to the Indianapolis 500.  Plan B is fantastic!  But I would have never had plan B if it was not for loving people who walked with me in the midst of my disappointment.
•    Third, don’t ever leave Jesus out of the equation.  Sometimes we get the idea that Jesus is too busy to mess with anything as unimportant as plans like this.  I believe just the opposite.  I believe that Jesus loves us so much that He wants us talk to Him about everything in our lives.  He wants to hear about our highs and lows as well as our joys and disappointments.  The apostle Paul wrote these words in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  As I was praying about this trip, Jesus gave me a peace about it before any Plan B plans were made.  I was also content with knowing it was ok if the trip did not happen because I was safe and there are people and an amazing God who loved me.
If you have disappointments, talk them out with others and with Jesus.  Let them help you see a bigger picture and if possible create a Plan B.
Well, Plan B is going to happen for me beginning this Friday.  If you want to keep up with what is happening, I will be occasionally posting pictures on my blog which you can access on the home page of the church’s web site.  
You are a wonderful congregation.
It is a pleasure to be your pastor,
Dr. Dean Posey