Day 5

Day

Our day started out by Judy bringing me back to Milan from our host home farther down the road. Before stopping at the Marathon station I had stopped at the night before, Judy took me about a mile out in the country to the very nice, very large Milan City Park. Tennis courts, frisbee golf, baseball and softball fields (11 total) , swimming pool, YMCA, pavilions to rent out. Just a really nice park.

So, if you are ever in Milan......

I didn't get but just about 10 blocks when I was walking along side a very large, very nice cemetery. This man was walking toward me on the same sidewalk and I asked him if he had a moment to spare and if he had a story to share. "Wow, do I have a story to tell," he almost yelled out. "I got arrested on May 3rd...."

The rest of his story will come in a video in a few weeks.

Before I started my trip, I decided to stop and sample BBQ whenever possible and give a shoutout to the one I thought was best. The first contestant was, 

Also that morning, I ran into.....well, walked by really, ... an unlikely object, a 10-12 foot tall elephant. 

I stopped and met the owner who told me Greenway had been there for about 40 something years. I videoed him about his elephant but the video did not turn out well at all, sorry. He corrected me that it was not concrete, as it looks, but just fiberglass. It has chains around the legs to hold it down, and it takes only two men to pick it up and move it. He said it is NOT for sale, so don't ask. :( 

A few more miles down the road I had another cemetery experience. I looked across the highway and saw a man and a lady sitting under a 15'x15' portable awning next to a folding table and a few extra chairs. "There's got to be a story in this scene," I told myself. You normally don't just see people sitting next to cemeteries in the middle of the morning. Hopefully you don't see too many people sitting next to cemeteries in the middle of ....well in the middle of any time of the day. 

<Wait for Mr Williford's video in a few weeks> 

Shortly after the cemetery, I got off the main highway, US45, and went through the heart of Medina. Before  I got there, Judy and I had been told the natives called it Ma-Dine-a, and not the Meh-Deen-a, as it should be pronounced if you grew up in heavy Spanish territories of Texas, as Judy and I both did. My mother was born very near the Medina river south of San Antonio 100 years ago, and almost 38 years ago, 'woohoo', Judy and I honeymooned in Medina, Tex, just miles from where mother was born. I digress. 

As I entered town, a Medina police officer pulled into an empty parking lot and stopped. I walked up to try to talk and he asked me, "did a white Ford pick-up just almost run you over, driving kind of crazy?" "No sir, I didn't see any," I answered. Seeing he was busy, I walked on. 

In the next block, I stopped at the Main Street Grill. It was nice and kind of artsy for a small town like Medina. 

I know it wasn't the best choice for health and stamina for someone walking all day, but a giant order of fried cheese sticks sounded too good. They were fantastic. While there, I met a man, Mr Reece, who was a local artist who made his living scrounging for junk and making it into art. Two of his pieces were on the wall of the Grill. 

   

<Mr Reece gave me two minutes of philosophizing

 about life on an upcoming video>

After hearing about my trip, the owner of Main Street told me the cheese sticks were on the house. Thanks, Mr Woods. 

I walked another mile or so to end the day at McDonalds on the south end of  (wrongly pronounced)  Medina. 

Comments are certainly welcome. If you have ever lived in or visited one of the towns I walked through, tell everybody. If you know someone I met along the way, tell everyone. If something really touches you, well....scratch it. NO, tell everybody. Let this be interactive. Make any comments at the comments tab at the bottom of each page on the blog. But you have to go to the blog. 60Trip.blogspot.com 

sixtytrip@juno.com

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Day 5 map--Milan to south end of Medina