An Unexpected Adventure

Heading home to Texas at the end of January was a trip where my heart was heavy with the knowledge of how the trip would unfold.  I planned on going the same route I had gone so many times but this time I brought my Garmin GPS device just to break up the monotony.

Leaving Oklahoma City toward Perryton I noticed my Garmin was telling me to turn right in 31 miles....

WHAT......are you CRAZY

I've gone this way so many times I knew it had to be a mistake.  As I got closer to the turn off I thought Hmmmmm....turned off...then stopped...then turned around...then checked the GPS.  It was telling me I was going to get home about an hour sooner than I usually do......

Sooooooo...I thought.......Why Not.....

I was now putting my complete trust in a computer that was taking me to places I had never been and had no idea where I was going.  I was trusting this Australian Voice who had probably never been on the back roads of Oklahoma to get me home safely.  So the adventure began.

Much to my surprise I caught myself blown away by some of the beauty of the country side.  There were dried up creek beds filled with clusters of aged and tangled trees just waiting to have their picture taken.  There were small towns with one block main streets lined with store fronts looking the way they have for years and years.  There were old silent cemeteries scattered a cross the hill sides much like the small Ochiltree Cemetery where I would call my resting place one day.  The photographer in me was going crazy wanting to stop every half a mile or so and catch some glimpses of pure beauty with my camera but I knew the urgency to get home would not allow it this time. What amazed me most was that I was Smiling.....Smiling A Lot.

Again having no idea where I was but I was having an adventure that for the first time in a long time had me excited.

As I continued my trip I came across signs for Woodward Oklahoma. Finally I recognized a town I knew.  I hadn't been through Woodward in years....and I mean YEARS but it brought back some interesting memories.  I remembered one trip when I was maybe 5 or 6.  My Mom took my aunt to the doctor there.  She loaded up all of us kids and my aunts kids and headed out.  On the way back home my Mom and aunt were chatting away and before anyone knew it a police car was behind us with flashing lights.  Needless to say that was the first time I saw my Mom get a speeding ticket.  I also passed a large electrical plant or something....not sure what it is...but when we were about the same age we were headed toward Woodward one night on our way to a vacation somewhere.  The plant was all lit up at night and almost glowed.  Asking my parents what it was, they said that's where the Tooth Fairies Lived......yep...they did. Continuing through some of the small towns I remembered some of the names. I went to work with my Dad sometimes as he checked his wells and yep the old country roads out of those towns were where I first learned how to drive.

When I got to Perryton, I realized I was there an hour earlier and used a quarter of a tank of gas less than usual and that was good.....

But Most Importantly.....

I had an Adventure that I never expected.  My Australian Mate definitely knew where he was going and took me on a trip I won't forget for a long....long....time.