Day 14

Wednesday 11/9:
I got up to a very nice morning, and I was warm, thanks to Tarrin and Turner last night.  I got out to the freeway and got a ride, after about 45 minutes, from David.  He's a very nice man who is living back in the USA after teaching in Germany for 10 years.  David was headed for a doctor's appointment in Phoenix.  We had a nice conversation all the way in.  He was going to try to get me through Phoenix a ways, and on to interstate 10, but before we knew it we were stopped on the freeway.  There had been an accident, so they were diverting traffic north on 60 and then on through streets.  The problem was, all the exits off of 60 were jammed, and David was running out of time for his appointment.  He ended up dropping off me 8 miles from hwy 10.  Ugh... stuck in a city again.  I started making my way toward 10, but ended up getting some wrong info from a city worker.  By three o'clock I still had a long way to go, I am tired, the knees hurt, and I have a flat tire on my cart.  Whine, whine, whine.... I decided to go into an Army recruiting office to see if they would help an old vet out.  There was only one guy there and he was swamped, so I borrowed a phone book and tried to find a church to help get me down to 10.  At 3:30 PM, I talked to gal at a church a few miles away and she was busy, but said she would work on getting me a ride, and call me right back, one way or the other.  I waited until about 5:15 PM and gave up and started dragging that red thing behind me toward 10.  The sidewalks were in very good condition, I was making some decent time, and I figured I would be there before midnight if I kept after it.  Around 7 PM, I called my friend and pastor to pray for me as it was obviously going to be a long night.  Fifteen minutes later, I came to St. Mathews Methodist Church.  I saw some people in back and decided to be bolder than normal, and ask for some help.  It was great.  They were having a practice/meeting.  It was a group of people practicing their sign language for concerts they do during Christmas.  I got the pleasure of watching them practice and really enjoyed it.  Patrick and Mary ended giving me a ride to a motel on 10, but before I could even go in the door they called to me back, and I ended up staying at their place, in their travel trailer.  I got to meet their son Josuha, and Mary's sister Rosie.  All very nice people.  They drive for over an hour just to practice with this ministry.  That's pretty dedicated.  123 miles today 1,941 total