He takes the detour

The detour isn't really a detour, is just a unfinished interstate route. Homer's car runs into the forest, finally crashing against a tree. Homer's clothes set on fire, so he jumps to a nearby lake. After setting off the fire, Homer comes out of the water, noticing that his clothes are completely destroyed. Now he's naked and far from home. He can do two things: try to walk to home, naked, risking that to many people see him naked, or try to walk to a gas station, naked, and call Marge from there, to help him.