Overlooking the city of Dallas...

After Breakfast with Sgt Harris and Pastor Teo, I headed west towards Grand Saline. I had been having tire problems with my previous cart and such was the case on this day. Seems the back left tire had a hole in it and the product I was using to seal the hole just couldnt keep up with the demands. Eventually it went flat and I just kept pushing it. I made it outside Grand Saline and I pitched my tent for the night. It was mostly uneventful and I passed thru Grand Saline mostly unnoticed.

I walked into Wills Point the day of the 24th. Easter Sunday. earlier in the day I received a call from a Pastor that was notified by Pastor Teo that I would need a place upon arriving in WP. I arrived in WP and hit the subway and called the Pastor while I was there. His name was David Bridges. We met in the Subway and we sat for a minute and talked about many different things. Come to find out Pastor Bridges used to own one of the largest janitorial services in the state I beleive he said.... He said he felt that God wanted him to take over as pastor of a local church so he sold his business and became the full time pastor. Pretty remarkable if you ask me. Give up a million dollar a year business to pastor a local church?! Now thats faith! So, Pastor brides notices that I have a flat and takes me into Terrell, the next town, to find a tube and patches which we found. We drove back to the church and fixed up the buggy for the next day. Next to the church was a house owned by the church where a young family lived. I was able to take a shower at their place and freshen up. They had a young boy about 15 that talked with me for a bit about the military. He wants to be a marine one day and so we spoke about his future paths that he could take. Hopefully I have given him sound advice.
I slept on the floor of the fellowship hall in the church that night but I cant complain. I had AC and 4 walls with a roof along with electricity, coffee and a roof! A storm came through that night so I was especially grateful for the covering. The next morning I saw Pastor Bridges as he was coming in and I said my goodbyes and then I was on my way.
Next stop was Terrell Texas. The trip was uneventful except for the flat tire....again. It went flat again during the trip to Terrel and I ended up pushing it till the tire fell off...literally.
During the walk I did get about 45 mins of rain that caught me. I was about 6 miles out at the time at a gas station. I didnt want to sit and wait and have the storm kill my arrival time to Terrell so I put on my poncho and struck out.
I made it to Terrell and headed over to the west side of town towards the Walmart. Paul Peck and family live in the area and I was going to meet up with him and stay at his place for the night. He found me just outside the walmart and scooped me up. I had decided that I would just go ahead and buy a new buggy after having to push my old one with a flat tire and twice broken duct taped handle. Paul and I did some research and drove to several places to find a BOB stroller like a wanted and we finally found one. I bought it and we headed back to Pauls place to put it together and get dinner started.
Carla, from Tyler(has been helping me out in texas) and her friend Bobby showed up and brought me a few items to help me out. Gotta love those two.
Well, I finished putting the cart together and we all sat down to dinner.
I slept great that night and got up and had breakfast with the fam.
Paul took me back to where he found me at near the Walmart and we met up with a reporter from the Dallas Morning News. The reporter filmed me for a minute and then took several minutes of video of me walking along the roadside. The reporter ended up giving me his safety vest because he was worried about my safety walking along the road. Its probably good that he did because I have  actually founf need for it in the past few days.
I walked into Dallas and had a fine time trying to stay on a decent sidewalk or find a road where the cars were doing less than 90 mph. Not to easy. So many times I found myself on the road itself...... with my safety vest on.....hoping no one flew by and hit me. Im still here so I guess I made it ok!
I made it to around the east side of the 635 loop and called a friend that foolows the Trek named Louise. She actually saw me earlier in the day as she was driving back from an out of town trip. She had stopped and introduced herself and said she would wait on my call. So once I made it inside the loop I gave her a call and she came and found me. I had a little trouble directing her to my exact whereabouts since I was unfamiliar with my surroundings but she finally made it. While I was waiting on her a Mesquite Police Officer stopped by to see me. Seems I got called on AGAIN for having a baby in the stroller and pushing the baby down the road. It makes me so happy to know that citizens are so aware :)
The officer was perplexed as to how someone misjudged that one. I told him what I was doing and he was amazed. He wished me well and headed back to his car just about the time that Louise drove up.
I tossed my gear inside her ride and we headed off before any else calls out of concern for my backpack child. Louise took me to her house where I was able to clean up and wash my clothes. We ordered chinese food for the night and after dinner and a few TV shows, I hit the sack. I slept in late. I know that soon I will be in a part of the USA where I wont have these amennities so Im taking advantage of them while I can. After I got up and had breakfast Louise dropped me off about where she found me. We hugged and I was off.
Paul Hakes. Paul is a friend of Nico's. Nico is a friend/follower from the Austin area. Paul found me thanks to Nico and Paul and I hooked up via text message. I met up with Paul around lunch time in the Deep Ellum section of Dallas. We ate at the Twisted Root which is a great burger joint. I highly recommend their food. I noticed that a big production was going on across the street and I asked a tech guy what the deal was. According to him they were shooting the remake of the old TV show Dallas. I wasnt able to see much since the actors were inside a local establishment filming but I did happen to walk by just as they were all piling out onto the sidewalk. I think they were shooting a barfight scene cuz one dude came out nasty.
So after lunch I walked farther into Dallas and made it to the Red Museum. I called Paul back and he came abnd grabbed me up. He found me a great hotel in the area and put me up for the night. After I checked in we went to a local bike shop and he set me up with a few tubes and some thick green stuff that you put inside your tire to prevent punctures. From there we went to Rick Fairless's bike shop. This guy is a famous bike builder and has built numerous bikes over the years that have won the cover of many magazines. He came out and took a pic and wished me well. Quite a cool moment.
After that, dinner at Golden Corral and then back to the room for a good nights sleep.
This morning.... the 28th..... I left the hotel and worked my way across Dallas. IT was a bit of a time because some of the places I went thru didnt have any sidewalks but did have lots of bridges. No sidewalks. Lots of bridges. Get my drift. Yeah..... I had my safety vest on. I finally made my way thru to more pedestrian friendly places. I walked thru Grand Prarie and into Arlington today and made it to just in front of the Cowboy's Stadium. Jerry's World is the term around here for it.
At one point today I had to walk a section where there was heavy construction. Two lanes of traffic only. Concrete barriers on both sides. I walked right down the middle of the road. My little buggy was bouncing over the reflectors and traffic was less than thrilled to see me I can assure you. It wasnt a terribly long bridge and Im sure the motorist were thankful for that cuz I held my line. Yes, I had my safety vest on. It was a fun time.
Lane Davis is a friend of Donald Page and Henry McCoy from Ruston La. If you remember or saw the pics and story they did and then also the video by Jonathon Ford you will remember them. So Lane picked me up at the Stadium and Im staying at his place tonight. Go check out the pics of the Dallas skyline I posted on FB earlier. Its from his 7th floor balcony and its beautiful.
Ok, the plan for tomorow is to pick up where I left off of course......I should make it into Ft Worth without any problems and from there who knows. Hope you all have a wonderful night wherever you are and remember all those who have suffered because of the storms.
Goodnight.