It had been a month or so since Sadie had left Colorado and Sam. Sam had been true to his word and he had been calling her whenever he got the chance. His visit in California had gone well and he was staying a little longer than he planned. With each phone conversation, they learned more about each other and found that they were growing closer. Sadie was beginning to realize that she looked forward more and more to hearing from him. She didn�t know how the relationship with Sam would turn out, but she knew that she wanted to take a chance with it. She had been alone since her divorce and she really didn�t want to be alone anymore. But first, she wanted to continue with her travels while she had the chance.

She had headed east, into Kansas and she had decided to head south to Oklahoma to visit some friends she hadn�t seen for quite a while. Joe and Norma lived in a small town in Oklahoma, not far from the Texas border. She had met them when they were visiting in Seattle about ten years ago. Sadie had been keeping in touch with them through the years and when she mentioned she was heading out on a trip across the country they told her if she ever got to Oklahoma to look them up. Joe and Norma were older than Sadie, but they were a lot of fun to be around. Joe had a lot of stories to tell about when he was younger and working as a performer. He played the guitar and sang and even had a radio show in the small town where he lived. They were retired now but Joe still performed occasionally.

Sadie was just ending her stay in Oklahoma City when she decided to give Joe and Norma a call. �Hey Norma, this is Sadie calling. I�m in Oklahoma City now and if you and Joe aren�t busy I�d like to come down to see you for a short visit. Would that be alright with you?�

�Heck yes gal, come on down here. We�d love to see you. It�s about time you got down this way.�

�OK Norma, I�ll leave first thing in the morning and I should be there by lunch time. Is there a good place to meet?�

�Well, let�s see. As you first come into town, there is a little spot called Hobo�s Diner. It doesn�t look like much but the food is good. Joe and I will meet you there, then you can follow us back to our place.�

�Sounds great Norma, I�ll see you and Joe tomorrow. It will be great to see you again.�

Sadie started off the next morning and found her way with no problem. Norma had given her good directions. She found the diner and pulled into the parking lot. As she walked into the diner she looked around and spotted Joe and Norma at a table in the back. �Norma was right,� Sadie thought to herself, �it really doesn�t look like much! I hope the food tastes better than this place looks!� Sadie chuckled to herself as she arrived at their table.

�Hi Joe....my gosh you�re looking good. And Norma, you do too. It�s been such a long time. How are things going?�

�Well Sadie, things are going pretty darn good here. I�m set to perform at Gene Autry Days this fall. Wish you could be here. There�s going to be a lot of good entertainers here, isn�t that right Norma?�

�Yes that�s right,� Norma replied. �Sadie, how long will you be able visit with us? I hope it will be a couple of days at least. We�d like to show you around a little bit.�

�I can stay for a couple of days Norma. As a matter of fact, I�d like to.�

�Great....then when we finish eating we�ll head over to our house. Joe has some things he�d like to show you I�m sure. From his days when he was on the road.�

�That would be perfect. I�d love to see them.� They finished their lunch and headed out to the parking lot. �You know Norma...you were right. The diner doesn�t look like much, but the food was good. The one thing I�ve noticed as I�ve been traveling is how friendly most people are. This trip has been fun for me so far. I just hope it continues.�

When they arrived at Joe and Norma�s, Sadie parked the motorhome and went inside the house. Norma offered Sadie a glass of nice cold lemonade and invited her to sit down at the dining room table. Joe had already had his scrapbooks and photo albums on the table for Sadie to look at. As she went through the scrapbooks and albums, Joe told her the stories about his career. He had played with several well known country entertainers and he sure had some great stories to tell. Joe was quite a story teller and before Sadie knew it five hours had passed.

�Joe, I never realized what a career you had. And all the traveling you�ve done. No wonder you are content to stick close to home now. Tell me about the Gene Autry Days coming up this fall. I wish I was going to be around for it, but I�m afraid I won�t be able to.�

�I�ve always been a big fan of Gene Autry Sadie. Did you know that there is a town here called Gene Autry? As a matter of fact, Norma and I will take you over there tomorrow and show you around.�

�I�d like that very much Joe. As a matter of fact, I�d better check to make sure I have enough film so I can get some good pictures there. I�m going to have quite an album to put together when I get home. My sons and their families will love seeing pictures of all my travels!�

While Joe had been showing Sadie all his albums and scrapbooks, Norma had disappeared into the kitchen and started preparing a light supper. �Come on Joe, let�s get the table cleared off so I can set the table. You�ve been boring Sadie long enough with your tales!�

�Oh Joe hasn�t bored me at all! I have loved looking at all his albums and scrapbooks. You should have told me you were going to fix something to eat. I would have been happy to help you.�

�Sadie girl, I had everything pretty much ready to go. But thank you for the offer of help. I hope you like ham and potato salad. I have lemonade to drink if you would like some. And I�ve made strawberry shortcake for dessert.�

Joe cleared the albums and scrapbooks from the table as Norma went about setting the food on the table. �This looks so good Norma. Thank you so much for everything you and Joe have done. I�m so glad I decided to come down here for a visit. It�s been way too long since we�ve seen each other.�

The next morning after coffee and breakfast, Joe, Norma and Sadie set out in Joe�s SUV to go to Gene Autry Oklahoma. It didn�t take very long to get there as it was just a few miles from where Joe and Norma lived. Sadie didn�t know what to expect. She had never heard of a town named Gene Autry so she was looking forward to seeing it. It was just a narrow two lane road they were traveling on as Sadie saw a sign that said �Gene Autry�.

�Well, here we are,� Joe said as he pulled up in front of a building that had a sign in front of it that said Museum. �Not a big town, but this is the Gene Autry museum. Let�s go inside and you can see all the displays.�

Sadie was rather surprised at what she saw. The building the museum was in was part museum and part post office! And the town was comprised of that building, about three or four houses that she could see and a small combination store and gas station. �You�re right Joe, this isn�t a big town at all. I guess I expected to see more, but I�m anxious to see the museum. Let�s go take a look.�

The museum was quite a surprise for Sadie. There were several rooms full of displays of several western stars. There were movie posters, articles of clothing, personal pictures and Sadie enjoyed everything. There was a small gift store there and she found a small red clay trivet with the outline of a bucking bronco and the name of the town on it. She decided to pick that up as a souvenir and it wouldn�t take too much room in her motorhome. After spending about three hours there looking over all the displays, they decided to leave.

�Joe, this was so interesting. I�m glad you brought me here to see this. I expected to only see things about Gene Autry, but there were several other stars shown here too. That was great. I�m sure glad I had plenty of film for today!�

That evening after dinner Sadie told Norma and Joe that she would be leaving in the morning. �You both have been so gracious and I�ve had a great time visiting with you, but it�s time I got back on the road again. I have some friends in Alabama that I would like to see and I think that�s where I�ll be going next.�

�Norma and I are sure glad you decided to come down this way. Let�s not let it be so long the next time we see each other.� They said their good nights and everyone hugged and kissed. It was indeed a good visit!

Sadie went out to her motorhome to get things straightened up and ready to travel. She decided she would sleep out there so she could get up and get an early start without disturbing anyone in the house. She had just gotten into bed and was about to turn out the light when her cell phone rang.

�Hi Sadie, this is Sam. How are things going? I�ve tried to call you for the last couple of days, but I couldn�t get an answer. Are you alright?�

�Hello Sam, it�s so good to hear your voice. Yes, things are alright. I�m sorry but I haven�t had my phone with me while I was here visiting Joe and Norma. I�m going to be leaving here in the morning, so I decided to stay in the motorhome tonight so I could get an early start and not wake anyone up. How are you doing?�

�Sadie I�m doing just fine but I need to get back to Kansas. My son called and my wife�s health has taken a downturn and I want to be there. I have a feeling that this isn�t going to be an easy time and I wanted to hear your voice before I headed back to Kansas. I�m not sure when I�ll get the chance to call you the way things are going. But I�m going to try.�

�I�m so sorry to hear that Sam. I know this isn�t going to be easy for you. Please don�t worry about calling me, I know you�ll call when you get the chance. Just be careful on the road and drive carefully. I�m on my way to Alabama in the morning to see some friends that I haven�t seen for a while.�

�You take care and drive carefully too. I do worry about you, that�s just the way I am. And I intend to keep in touch with you. Good night Sadie and sleep well.�

�Good night Sam....sleep tight.� Sadie hung up the phone and reached over to turn out the light. She was happy to have talked to Sam, but she was concerned about his wife. Alzheimers was such a terrible disease. It affected the whole family. She was hoping that things would go alright and Sam and his family would get through it without a lot of distress.

The next morning by 5:30, Sadie was on the road heading back to Oklahoma City. She wanted to head east on I-40 toward Little Rock, Arkansas. She figured that might be a good place to stop for the night. The weather was good and the traffic wasn�t too bad yet. So far, this trip was turning out better than she expected.

All of a sudden Sadie heard a bang and the motorhome became hard to steer. She immediately took her foot off the accelerator and tried to get the rig to the shoulder of the road. �Oh good lord....just what I needed.� It took all of Sadie�s strength to keep control of her rig. When she finally got the motorhome off the road and stopped, she just sat for a minute and tried to calm down.

�Wow, I need to get my heart back in my chest!� She just sat still till she caught her breath. �I�d better get out and take a look.� Sadie climbed out of the motorhome and saw that the right front tire was flat. She got the spare and the jack and got ready to change the tire.

�It looks like you could use a little help ma�am.�

Sadie looked up and saw a young man standing there. She smiled and said, �Yes, you�re right about that! Where did you come from? I didn�t know anyone had stopped.�

�Well, I was a few cars behind you when I saw you had a blowout. The other cars right behind you just went right on by but I thought you might need some help. You did a right good job of getting your rig off the road ma�am. Why don�t you let me change the tire for you. You look like you need to get yourself calmed down a little. By the way, my name is Bill.�

�Oh, thank you so much Bill, I really appreciate your help. My name is Sadie and it�s nice to meet you. In all the years I�ve been driving, this is the first time I�ve ever had a blowout. I sure hope it will be the last time too!�

Bill smiled at that and went about changing the tire. Sadie watched him as he worked and she realized how lucky she was that he had stopped to help. When he finished, he put the tire and jack away for her. �You�d best stop and get that tire fixed. You might need it again.�

�I can�t thank you enough for your help. I know it would have taken me a lot longer to do what you managed to do in just a few minutes.� With that, Sadie pulled a $20 bill out of her pocket and offered it to Bill. �Please take this for your help. I won�t take no for an answer!�

�Oh ma�am.....I mean Sadie. I couldn�t take any money. I was just glad to help.�

�Remember, I said I wouldn�t take no for an answer. Please take this. It will make me feel a lot better.� And she tucked the bill in his shirt pocket.

�Well thank you Sadie. It was nice to meet you and I�m glad I could help. Just take care and have a good trip.� He walked back to his pick up truck and waved as he drove away.

Sadie got back in her motorhome and sat there a minute thinking about her adventure. �That young man was a godsend. I could have changed the tire myself, but it was nice that he stopped to help. There really are some good people in the world.� She let out a sigh, started the engine, checked the traffic and got under way again.