GHAWG-- God's Hog: A Watchful Guardian-- LeoThreads Zapfic Entries 600-606

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^{Cover image is a screen capture of LeoThreads edited with MS Paint}

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TL;DR

● What is GHAWG?

● Zapfic Entries 600-606

    6️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ 2024-October-20 17:14:54

    6️⃣0️⃣1️⃣ 2024-October-21 23:25:24

    6️⃣0️⃣2️⃣ 2024-October-22 13:08:24

    6️⃣0️⃣3️⃣ 2024-October-23 19:37:33

    6️⃣0️⃣4️⃣ 2024-October-24 17:58:42

    6️⃣0️⃣5️⃣ 2024-October-25 18:25:42

    6️⃣0️⃣6️⃣ 2024-October-26 19:32:39

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What Is GHAWG?

#GHAWG is short for "God's Hog: A Watchful Guardian." This fictional story tells how David Guardia, a courier and business owner from Bayonne, New Jersey, US moved into the next phase of his life after spending the final ten years of his ailing father's life helping him.

More details can be found in the first post of this weekly recap.

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Zapfic Entries 600-606

6️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ 2024-October-20 17:14:54

Today we rode Interstate 55 out of Springfield. It was at Williamsville where we connected to the road whose actual name is Old Route 66. Before we reached Lincoln we rode by Mount Fulcher, Elkhart, Broadwell, and Fogarty.

@magnacarta/re-magnacarta-2ugwu4zlr

🏍️ This travel entry begins the longer-than-usual ride to Chicago, where Route 66 comes to its end at the eastern end. For GHAWG, this could probably be the longest day yet in terms of zapfic entries made for it.

6️⃣0️⃣1️⃣ 2024-October-21 23:25:24

"Why are we rushing through Illinois?" Sanjay asked me.

"I rushed through in July, Triumph, and it nearly killed me," I said. "We're not rushing. Besides, overnight lodging would be a problem before we reached Chicago."

@magnacarta/re-magnacarta-2kuhxbpeh

🏍️ Although this is the first time we see David Guardia refer to Sanjay Rampersad by his Felix Legion name in conversation, we have to assume that it's not the first time this has happened away from the visible text of GHAWG and Rat Bike.

🏍️ Since Sanjay learned about David after David and his co-pilot at the time, the uncanny Manny Rey, rushed out of Illinois and into Iowa only to have the ride abruptly ended by a near-fatal explosion of a fuel tanker, he doesn't have a full appreciation for what happened to David. His first knowledge of David came from watching that viral video of him being blown through the air only to be redirected 90 degrees from the expected trajectory of the explosion.

6️⃣0️⃣2️⃣ 2024-October-22 13:08:24

Old Route 66 out of Lincoln took us to Atlanta-- not "the" Atlanta in Georgia, but rather the one in Illinois. One of the attactions in Atlanta is a giant "Muffler Man" statue named Paul Bunyon. We made sure to take photographs.

@magnacarta/re-magnacarta-2hzrkwgxu

🏍️ While ancient cultures, due to their history and longevity, have figures who were epic and mythic, American culture has folk heroes who are just as epic and mythic. One such figure is Paul Bunyan (correct spelling), a lumberjack famous for his size, strength, and boundless energy. Although the name of the giant Muffler Man (statues of various larger-than-life figures from North American culture) is intentionally misspelled, his appearance is tied to that of the lumberjack folk hero.

6️⃣0️⃣3️⃣ 2024-October-23 19:37:33

Reluctantly, we left Atlanta behind after a short stop there. Next for us was McLean. We just rode through, so we didn't visit the Dixie Travel Plaza, the oldest truck stop in Illinois. We also missed the Playable Arcade Museum.

@magnacarta/re-magnacarta-39yp4xln7

🏍️ For a small area, Atlanta, Illinois, US is densely packed with tourist attractions (including those related to Route 66). The rest of this travel entry shows what Felix Legion didn't have time to visit due to the longer-than-usual ride to the major league city of Chicago.

🏍️ ...

6️⃣0️⃣4️⃣ 2024-October-24 17:58:42

Bloomington was our next milestone after leaving McLean. On the way we passed by Funks Grove and Shirley. We needed to get on Interstate 55 before we reached Bloomington. We continued past Normal, just a short distance north.

@magnacarta/re-magnacarta-28kvfb27j

🏍️ This is another travel entry, but I wrote it as I had just to play with the town name "Normal"; it wasn't something I was expecting to see when I was researching the area both using digital maps as well as my go-to-site for Route 66 destinations.

6️⃣0️⃣5️⃣ 2024-October-25 18:25:42

When we reached Normal, Illinois, we were 2 hours equidistant from the major league cities of St. Louis and Chicago. We were also riding into very populated areas. Not like NYC or L. A., but population density was increasing.

@magnacarta/re-magnacarta-6ubardzj

🏍️ Besides being tied to Route 66, Normal, Illinois, US is notable for being halfway (as the crow flies, anyway) between St. Louis and Chicago. By the time Felix Legion risdes through Normal, Chicago looms large.

6️⃣0️⃣6️⃣ 2024-October-26 19:32:39

About 6 miles northeast of Normal was Towanda. One of the Route 66 attactions is a 1.6-mile stretch of road called Dead Man's Curve. We slowed down on Dead Man's Curve before we resumed our ride to Chicago. Next stop: Lexington.

@magnacarta/re-magnacarta-339wgdrxq

🏍️ Dead Man's Curve on Route 66 is known for, among other things, being paved with red brick. It would have been virtually criminal for Felix Legion to ride through Dead Man's Curve at equal to or greater than the speed limit. It's not often anyone gets to ride on a road paved with brick; it's more common in the US to ride on cobblestone roads than on roads paved with red brick.

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Story Arc So Far

Felix Legion finds itself one day out from the eastern terminus of the iconic Route 66 in Chicago. Felix Legion will be have a longer than usual ride, and everyone in the crew senses a change in the look and feel of the ride they had been making since leaving Santa Monica in Los Angeles, California, US almost 3 weeks earlier (in GHAWG time).

NOW AVAILABLE! -- GHAWG, Uninterrupted for those who want to binge-read the daily zapfic serial one Act (or Interlude) at a time. Act 7 is in progress, so GHAWG-U proceeds through Interlude 3.

ALSO AVAILABLE! -- The GHAWG Diaries for those who want to witness the formation of The GHAWG Universe and how it's taking place. Published on Mondays when there is no GHAWG, Uninterrupted post (or, for that matter, any other post).

PLUS! -- GHAWG Behind the Scenes to see how elements of The GHAWG Universe take shape, from graphics to spreadsheets and other research. Included is a subseries called "Fun with Maps" showing the interesting things I find as I map out the David Guardia's ride. "Fun with Maps" is at South Bend, Indiana, US.

Catch the latest zapfic entries for GHAWG at LeoThreads. Get caught up with GHAWG with these weekly summaries at InLeo.

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GHAWG Navigation

To find other weekly summary posts such as this one-- or to read the serial without annotated commentary-- use the post GHAWGnav: Navigating The GHAWG Universe.

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That's it for this Weekly Summary. I'm ^[!!]
Thanks for your time and for reading #GHAWG, LeoThreads at InLeo's first daily zapfic serial. Give the post an upvote or a reblog if you liked it. Feedback is welcome. Until next time!

[!!] -- signature graphic was made by @ahmadmanga