ON THE ROAD

BTW, back in those days, the military still wore their uniforms in public. We rarely see that anymore, and I kind of miss it. Our son was a captain in the air force, and we never saw him in uniform in the twelve years he served, except for the time we attended his graduation ceremony in San Antonio. c.i.

On the Road
EdgarBlythe, I've never hitchhiked in my life and would be terrified to do so now.

Besides, I'm getting too old for that kind of adventure these days! What a shame too because now I would be heading for protests against this silly war of that bu$h person if I could!

I have given some thought to buying a motorhome and living the life of a gypsy in my old age!

Maggie

Save a couple seats for me and the wife - and a side car for our little Beagle/cocker spaniel mix.

On the Road
Ah Edgar, what a group we would be. I have a doberman pincher and a tiny mixed mutt who is part Chiwa wa .... lol .you know the taco bell dog and part jack russell terrier.

What a pair they are.... roudy too. The doberman weighs about 75 lbs and the the mutt weighs about 2 or 3!

Once when I took leave from the Navy I determined to go home to my family, even though I had no money. As a seaman I received about $144 per month in pay. Even in the 60s that was nothing. I set out hitch hiking and actually went from Long Beach, CA, to San Antonio, TX, in 36 hours. Not bad. I left to return in just enough time, but there was a run of bad luck. I had decided to ride the freight trains instead of hitch hiking. All went well, until I made friends with a railroad bum - a professional hobo - He was an okay guy, but in no great hurry. At Yuma the train stopped. We jumped off and he led me across a trestle to a catholic church of some sort - sitting in the middle of nothing, it seemed - The bo knocked and a woman opened the door a crack. Wordlessly she pushed out two butterbean sandwiches. We devoured them quickly - Mine went in two or three bites - When we crossed back to the railyard, the train we had been on was already rolling. It is just too dangerous to hop one like that. This made me about two hours late getting back aboard ship. Well, it turned out that no one at the quarterdeck was paying attention and though nobody had seen me, I was counted as present that morning. Then I ran into my leading petty officer. He panicked and brought me to the quarterdeck to log in or something. From then I was subjected to intensive questioning and given a rough time for a few days. I thought the matter was forgotten when I left the ship , but my discharge papers made a big deal out of it almost two years later, as if I had been found guilty of a great crime.

edgar, That's exactly the reason why the last day of military service still stands as the "happiest day of my life." Freedom at last! c.i.

A friend and i once had a little fun with hitchhikers. We were then refinishing furniture, and his mother and father were re-upholstering. So, we put an easy chair and a sofa in the back of the van, with an end table between them, and a nice little lamp which we had wired for 12 volts, and a refrigerator designed for vans at the other end of the sofa, stocked with beer and sodas. We drove up and down the highway picking up hitchhikers (early 70's, lots of them about), and taking them to the exact address if within 20 miles, and taking them to the best hitching spot if more. We did this for several days. We were mostly stoned to near stupefaction for the ride, and gigled a lot, which i'm sure made some passengers nervous. Most, however, on climbing in the side door were very much surprised to see what was basically the cozy end of a living room. "Oh wow, man!" was the response we heard the most. It was a lot of fun . . .

Where were you guys when I was hitch hiking?

What an idea, Setanta! I wonder if any of those people still talk about THAT?

Setanta, if I had been around then, you would have gotten a whole tray of my special brownies!

I have loved this thread, experiencing hitching vicariously. My uncle was murdered by a hitch hiker, so I was always preached to about the dangers of hitching.

Sounds like I missed some very good times.

CI
Ditto. I had more spring in my step than a grasshopper as I strode down the pier, my seabag over my shoulder.

How awful, Diane, murdered. No wonder you weren't interested. Actually none of the "nice" girls hitchhiked. Even I, bad as I was, only did it during that one period (well, except for my Newark Angels).

We have a women's prison by the highway here, and there are signs DO NOT PICK UP HITCHHIKERS, PRISON NEARBY.

One aspect of hitch hiking not touched on here is getting picked up by folks wanting sex. One woman picked me up and right away began a leading conversation. When I dozed off instead of taking the bait, she put me back on the road.
Homosexuals often have an eye out for the young man out there also. "Not that there's anything wrong with that," as Sienfeld says - But, I was out there to go some place, not be serviced by these guys. On one occasion one of them asked me to drive for him. He soon decided to place a hand on my leg. When I told him to stop he pulled a knife on me. It was so unexpected I almost wrecked the car. It was his wish to stop at a motel, in Alpine, Tex. I believe it was. I agreed while the knife was on me, but as soon as we got out before the motel I walked back to the road and began hitching again.

edgar, Geesh, you sure did attract some funny guys to pick you up. I did a whole lot of hitch-hiking, and the people were always very pleasant. I remember once hitch-hiking from Travis AFB to San Mateo to see my girlfriend, and got picked up by two new Caddies. One was a airline pilot, and he was telling me about the good money he was making. When I was driving from Chicago to California, I picked up a Marine going back to base in San Diego, and he helped with the driving which was great. I guess those days are gone; it's too dangerous to pick up anybody on the road. c.i.

I think, you are right, c.i., those days are gone!

25, 30 years back, I picked up anybody (well, nearly). Used to have a red button on the front window, showing that I was "doing public local traffic" [very common especially in university towns].

Did some hitch hiking myself as well, mostly in the UK. (And got there even a lift in a Rolls Royce.) Made thus the acquaintance of some very nice people, for instance the daughter of a real Marques (and thus got a invited to the beach party in her parents holiday villa).

I've only hitchhiked twice. The first time was in '76 - the pledges in our fraternity would grab upperclassmen, drive a couple of hundred miles, and dump them in the middle of nowhere. I was one of the lucky winners, and wound up outside of Raton, New Mexico. Took all day to get back to the Denver area.

The second time was when I was just out of school and working in the Farmington, New Mexico area. I drove up to Mesa Verde to play tourist, and the car died on the drive back. A kind rancher and his family gave me a ride back to town.

It's been awhile since I've picked a hitchhiker up (living overseas 46 weeks out of the year doesn't give me much of an opportunity). My general rule of thumb is that it has to be a pretty serious situation if I didn't. Once I was out in the middle of nowhere around four corners, it was dusk and a storm front was rolling in, and I saw two kids who were obviously Mormon missionaries hitchhiking. I figured the worse thing the kids could do was preach at me, and it could easily be life threatening if no one gave them a ride. They were kind enough to reciprocate by not preaching.

Well, after that mentioned ride with the RR, I met two Jehowas witnesses, who where hitch hiking through the south of England as well.
We made a contract that no-one was going to persuade the other - and started a wonderful week walking through Cornwall together.

I had one young man pick me up somewhere in the midwest who offered to let me sleep at his home overnight. We ate dinner with his family, then he began hinting he would like to put me back on the road instead of letting me sleep there. I pretended not to get it, despite the fact he seemed very nervous about the prospect. As it turns out, I didn't rob or murder anybody.
Also, in Abiline Kansas I asked a lady in a restaurant if I could work off a meal. She said there was a cot in the back; I could rest until time. Then she fed me a breakfast and dinner combination double what a customer would have gotten. The work was to sling a dirty mop around the floor. She wouldn't let me take the time to do a good job. Wonderful person.

I thought maybe some of our newer members would want to add to the thread.