August 15, 2024 – The Parables Begin

    I had much success on my off-day in Council Bluffs, IA. I was able to complete the poetry/lyrics for The Book of Acts musical, and I started on the poetry for the parables of Jesus. I was able to turn seven parables into poems/songs. These are going to be my next two large projects. Both will eventually be folk musical albums. The Acts musical will be a musical with narration—a sequel to The Rising Son musical. The parables of Jesus will simply be a collection of songs that translates the parables into musical form. I am also coming up with ideas for another musical album (ideas for individual songs that will comprise a music C.D. eventually). I will most likely finish/work on the Acts musical first, the Parables 2^nd, and the music C.D. 3^rd. So, really there are three large projects coming down the road. I'm excited to create! Amen and amen!

    I left Council Bluffs yesterday and put in about 80 miles of travel to make it to Onawa, IA. This has been my longest single day of travel. I got a great view of downtown Omaha in the distance and passed through the towns of: Crescent, Honey Creek, Loveland, Missouri Valley, Blencoe, and then stopped for the day in Onawa, IA. I camped at a park in Onawa. It was a great spot with a pavilion, port-a-john, electrical outlet, and it was a quiet spot. I think it was called Gaukel Park. Nothing too interesting happened here. I just got some good rest and headed down the road in the morning on county road K45. This road had moderate traffic with no shoulder. I tried taking other gravel/dirt county roads, but the roads were much too soft for my bicycle tires. Some were slightly muddy and I couldn't really ride them at all. So, I was stuck on K45. The people in Iowa seem friendly, however. Everyone gave me ample space when passing. On K45 I rode through the towns of Sloan, Salix, and Sergeant Bluffs. I used the cycling GPS once I reached Sergeant Bluffs, and it took me to Sergeant Floyd's Monument on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. What a great sight to behold! Sergeant Floyd was the only member of the Corp of Discovery to pass away during the expedition. He died of a burst appendix (appendicitis). Even if he were in civilization, he probably would have still passed on. They didn't have medical procedures to treat appendicitis at that time in history. I took in the views and then rode my bicycle to downtown Sioux City...precisely, to the river walk, where the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is located. What a wonderful museum, but kind of eerie as well. The museum is made up into a series of exhibits. Each exhibit has a robot (who was a member of the Corp of Discovery) The robots, very lifelike, tell you a portion of the story of the adventure of Lewis and Clark. It was very interesting, entertaining, informative, and quite strange. By the time I left the interpretive center it was about 4:30pm. Beforehand, I parked my bike under a pavilion because it was starting to rain. Underneath the pavilion were two homeless people. A woman was covered with a blanket and sleeping on top of one of the picnic tables. Her male companion was sitting at one of the tables. They didn't say anything to me, so I commenced writing in my journal and doing some route planning with my maps.

    As I was writing in my journal, a 36 year old black male with dreadlocks walked up and started talking with me. His name is Jarrell. He is a very kind young man, and he shared parts of his story with me. Believe it or not, his home is in Mobile, AL, but he has lived in Sioux City off-and-on for the last 18 years. He has a 20 year old son and an 18 year old daughter. Now that she has graduated from high school, he is going to move back to his hometown in Mobile, AL. Jerrell has quite the story. He has worked in several slaughterhouses where they kill hundreds of animals each day. He said it was a very gruesome job, but it paid the bills. A friend of his started an irrigation installation business. That is what he has been doing lately. He works with his friend. When he returns to Mobile, he will work in the shipyard as a crane operator unloading cargo from cargo ships. He told me that Sioux city is a wicked place. He plans to never return. The people have opened doors that should never be opened and darkness has covered the land. He believes we are on the brink of another world war or something just as terrible. Despite his realistic pessimism, Jerrell is a good hard-working man. I had the opportunity to share my faith in Jesus, and told him we can't change what's coming, but we can love and be kind to others and work and help in the communities we live in. We talked for a while longer, then I told Jerrell that I was going to get out of Sioux City. He convinced me to leave as the place was seriously wicked and full of darkness. So, I said farewell to Jerrell and pedaled out of the city around 6:00pm or so. I made it 13 miles down the road to the small town of Jefferson, SD. I finally made it to South Dakota, and now, I am one pedal stroke closer to the Oregon coast.

    I would keep writing, but I must be off. God blessed me with a lovely blue sky, sunny day. I am heading to Vermillion, SD and then onward to Yankton, SD. I'm not sure how far I'll make it, but I think I still have a window to make it to the Rocky Mountains before the winter sets in. It's in God's hands. This is an adventure after all. There is no telling what will happen.