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OC,SH ALERT:
Last week, we reached post # 200 of the daily “At The Heart” & “Daily Vehicle Choice” themes. This week marks post # 30 of the weekly themes. Check out all 30 “Story Sunday” entries via THIS LINK HERE.

POLL ALERT:
Vote (via THIS LINK HERE) in this week’s OC,SH express “Sunday Survey” query pitting 9 vehicles recently featured.

Click HERE for entire Don’t Forget Schuster.
Click HERE for entire Route 66-based story.
Click HERE for entire The Newspaper Limo.

mystery story sequel-continuation

Nearing the end of his 2nd night on the road to Nashville TN, Vern found himself in Illinois, driving on I-39 south, 11/03/2016. The time? 11:40p US central. On the radio? Chicago’s WSCR & these words from Pat Hughes: “…you are going to remember where you were right now for the rest of your life.”

“Oh, dammit, Pat!” Vern literally yelled out loud to absolutely nobody. “How can you say that right NOW? …& where the heck is that rest area!?”

When Vern left Wyoming 2 mornings earlier, he intentionally planned a round about way to Illinois, given the likelihood of being in Illinois about the time of Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. Coming out of Wyoming, Vern took US 20 on the northern edge of Nebraska, then took what most would consider a “side trip” farther north to spend his 1st night out in the Sioux Falls SD area. The morning of 11/03/2016, he slept in & then took a winding route, basically using US 20, to Illinois, including a longer lunch stop than most would take, just to be able to listen to WSCR during Game 7, which started ~7p Chicago time.

Now, finding himself hurtling down an interstate with his favorite team about to close in on their 1st World Series Championship in 108 years, he’d decided to stop at a rest area, but the area the sign had indicated was just minutes down the road didn’t seem to be in view. In a way, it was a bit of a ‘circle of life’ situation for Vern, considering he’d been driving north on that same interstate a year earlier when his favorite team knocked off their arch rival in the 2015 National League Division Series.

Then, Pat Hughes, ~30 seconds after the previous quote: “…& if you feel like your heart is pounding a little bit right now, you are not alone.”

“No kidding,” Vern again said out loud, though softer this time. “AHA!”

Just then, Vern spotted the exit sign for the rest area just south of I-39’s interchange at US 30 & steered his 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis down the off ramp. He eased the car into a parking spot &, while listening to Pat Hughes describe what could be the last batter of the baseball season, put the car in park. He glanced around & happened to see a younger couple in the car to his left. Like him, they seemed to be listening intently to the radio. When Vern made eye contact with both of them, he knew they were listening to the same game. The guy gave a “thumbs up” & Vern could see him mouth: “1 more out”. Vern grinned at the couple, & they smiled back.

Just then, the rookie closer, who’d retired the 1st 2 batters in the bottom of the 10th inning fairly quickly, walked the 3rd batter in the home half of the inning. The young guy in the car to the left of Vern lowered his head. Vern shook his head & shrugged his shoulders. ‘Still only 1 more out,’ Vern mouthed to them. The young lad & gal both nodded in agreement.

Vern turned his attention back to his car radio, as if it was an imaginary TV screen, & thought to himself: ‘See, I told you, Pat. You shouldn’t have said that. Now they have the tying run at the plate … again.’

The ‘again’ part of Vern’s thought was a pained reference to 2 innings earlier, when the same batter at the plate now smashed a 2-run home run off the highly-touted rent-a-closer to tie the game at 6. But, this time, the home-team game-tying hero only lined a single to center scoring the batter who’d walked, who had taken 2nd base on an earlier pitch. It was now ~11:43p US central with a pitching change.

Vern rolled down his window, & the young lady in the car to Vern’s left rolled down her window as well.

“Some game, eh?” Vern said.

“Oh my goodness, yes,” the young lad said from the driver’s seat. “Win or lose, it’s an exciting game.”

“Indeed,” Vern agreed, “but it would be a whole lot more exciting if we could close it out with a win.”

“Oh you’ve got that right,” the young lad responded enthusiastically.

“Where’re you 2 from?” Vern asked, basically to pass some time during the commercial break.

“Franklin Grove, Illinois,” the young lady said matter-of-factly.

“Ah, yes, along the Lincoln Highway!” Vern recognized the town from prior road trips. “But, wait, you leaving town or heading home?”

“Home,” the young lad said somewhat sheepishly. “Long story as to why we’re here, but we’ve decided to take the scenic route back!”

“Ah, OK,” Vern acknowledged. “Fair enough!”

“How about you? Where’re you from?”

“I live in Wyoming,” Vern began.

“Oh, wow,” the young lady exclaimed. “So, where are you headed?”

“I’m actually on my way to spend some time with my Nephew in Nashville Tennessee,” Vern continued his explanation. “I have reservations along Route 66 in Bloomington Illinois tonight, & will be in Nashville by dinner time tomorrow.”

“Cool,” the young couple said simultaneously. The young lad was about to add to his response, but was interrupted by the return of the game.

“Hang on, it’s back,” Vern said, re-focusing his attention to the radio, while the young couple did the same. Then, ~45 seconds later, ~11:46p Chicago time, on an 0-1 pitch to the 5th batter of the bottom of the 10th inning, Pat Hughes described the scene: “A little bouncer slowly toward Bryant, he will glove it & throw to Rizzo … IT’S IN TIME!”

Vern never did hear Pat or Ron Coomer’s words immediately after that; he was too busy screaming & celebrating the Chicago Cubs’ 8-7 10-inning Game 7 World Series win over the Cleveland Indians. Somewhat instinctively, Vern hit the center of the Mercury’s steering wheel to honk the horn … while the young lad did the same to his car. Then, with his cell phone in hand, Vern jumped out of his car to further celebrate.

“Hey, do you hear that?” the young lad asked. He & the young lady had exited their car as well.

Vern paused to listen intently, then answered: “Yeah, sounds like a whole lot of car horns to me!”

“Guess we’re not alone in celebrating then, eh?”

“No, sir, we certainly are not!” replied Vern, who glanced at his phone long enough to notice a whole bunch of texts coming from many people.

Vern was about to start answering the texts, but a booming voice interrupted him: “Hey, what’s all the commotion!?”

Vern whirled around to see a trucker hanging out of the driver’s door window of his cab & answered: “The Cubs just won the World Series!”

“Ah, hot dog, it finally happened!” came the exuberant reply.

“You a Cubs fan, too?” Vern asked, noticing a few more texts popping into his phone.

“Nah,” admitted the trucker, who thought the gentleman to whom he was talking looked a little familiar, “not really. For me, it means I can park now & sleep in tomorrow because the company in Springfield whose load I have told me earlier today they’d be closed the rest of the week if the Cubs won tonight. They’re going to pay for a hotel for me there, & I’ll deliver the load Monday morning.”

“Cool,” said Vern, half-distracted.

“Welp, I’m going to park. Enjoy your celebrating,” the trucker said with a salute.

“Oh, I will,” Vern noted. “Have a good evening & enjoy sleeping in in the morning!”

The trucker nodded & drove away to park his rig, but he couldn’t erase the nagging thought that the guy he’d just spoken to looked awfully familiar to him. He wanted to say something, but decided it wasn’t the right time anyway. Meanwhile, Vern turned back to the young couple, who had gotten back into their car.

“Y’all leaving?” queried Vern.

“Yeah, we should get going,” the young lad replied. “Besides, I’m sure you, like us, have texts to respond to before you head onto Bloomington, right?”

“Yes, yes, indeed, I do!” Vern laughed. “You folks have a great night now & get home safely.”

“We will,” the young lady said. “You have a safe drive & enjoy your time with your Nephew!”

“Oh, I will, especially now,” said Vern, the thrill of the World Series victory still fresh. With that, the young couple nodded towards Vern & drove away. Vern started typing a text response to Marty, with plans to also answer texts from Tom, Phil, Kyle, Tyler & Evan, but his phone rang.

“Uncle Vern! Have you heard the news?” taunted his Nephew.

“What news!?” Vern mocked.

“Now I know you know! Where are you, anyway?”

“Welp, I’m parked at a rest area along I-39 … about an hour away from my overnight stop in Bloomington Illinois.”

“You up to driving that far yet tonight? It is after midnight…!”

“Ha … after that exhilarating Game 7 win, I’m wide awake & probably won’t sleep much tonight anyway!”

“I thought as much. Well, I’ll let you go so you can get on the road. Drive safely & at least text me when you get there, would you please, Uncle Vern?”

“Absolutely!”

“Good. OK, well, I’ll see you tomorrow around dinner time then. Good night, Uncle Vern, & congratulations!”

“Thank you & good night!”

With that, Vern turned his attention back to his texts. He finished his reply to Marty, then decided he’d better make a bathroom break before doing anything more. Walking into the rest area building, he could still hear the hum & rumble of tires & engines along the interstate, with an occasional blast of a car horn, most-likely in continuing celebration mode.

After relieving himself, Vern exited the building & nearly ran into the same trucker who’d entered the lot earlier: “Oh, excuse me, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you.”

“No worries, sir, no worries!” the trucker graciously replied, continuing after a slight pause: “Say, I was wondering, have we met somewhere before? You look awfully familiar to me!”

“Hmm, no, I don’t think so,” Vern thoughtfully replied.

“Well, maybe you just look like someone I used to know, then,” the trucker suggested. “Sorry to have bothered you.”

“No bother,” Vern stated. “You don’t know if you don’t ask! Sometimes, when you ask, you find you have met & have a heck of a lot more in common than you ever imaged!”

The trucker nodded: “Heh, yeah, that’s very true!”

Vern shook the trucker’s hand & said: “Welp, time for me to get on down the road tonight. Take care & enjoy your few days off!”

“I will, thank you,” the trucker said, then hurried into the restroom area, realizing a bit too late he hadn’t asked the kind gentleman to where he was heading.

Meanwhile, Vern was about to answer the rest of the text messages, but decided he’d better respond while sitting down, figuring it might be cool to see what was going on the radio, too. He opened his Mercury’s door, sat in the driver’s seat, closed the door & put the key in the ignition to turn it back to turn on the radio. Now with Pat, Ron, Len Kasper & others celebrating on WSCR, Vern pulled out his phone & continued typing texts. When finished sending the messages, Vern sat back in the driver’s seat to relax & take it all in before driving farther south to sleep. Abruptly, Vern had a sense of someone sitting to his right; he turned his head towards the passenger seat & blurted out: “Amy!?”