DU hitchhikers and train hoppers - check in here

[mark414]

it is high time that the transients and vagrants (past and present) of DU get some recognition! i was out on the road for 6 months, before my adventures were cut short by a broken collarbone (jumping off a moving train, long story), so now i'm staying with some family while i recover (and then it's back out on the road).

i know there's gotta be a few of us out there...so share some stories - what you did, where you went, how long you were on the road, the best experiences you had...i want to hear.

the best hitchhiking experience i had was in el centro (way way southeast) california. after spending a couple hours talking to an old tramp (75 years old, 50 years riding the rails) about trains and life and everything else, he suggested that i (and my friend who was with me) hitchhike out of town instead of wait for a freight as they weren't too frequent in that town.

so after walking to the highway towards yuma, AZ (our destination), and waiting almost a day and half, me and my buddy got picked up just before sunset by a van full of mexicans who had been working in the area all day and had seen us standing out there in the hot sun, all day.

despite not being christians, while waiting for a ride my buddy and i were talking about what jesus would do if he drove past. of course, he would pick us up, feed us, help us get cleaned up, and give us a place to stay.

so what happened? this mother, brother, and her two sons pulled over, and were headed straight to yuma. on the way there, we stopped at a hot springs that they go to when they work in the area to do what? get cleaned up. in the interim between the hot springs and yuma, it was decided that me and my buddy were coming to their place so they could feed us dinner...the best mexican food i've ever had in my entire life. and as the night drew to a close, and me and my buddy were preparing to go find a field to sleep in, two of the people living there (7 people in a 2 bedroom apartment) laid out some blankets on the living room floor, looked at us, and basically forced us into one of the bedrooms so that the two of us could sleep in a bed that night.

the next morning, they drove us 10 miles out of their way to get us to the next highway we needed to be at, to get to our final destination.

as far as trains go? best one ever - 28 hours phoenix to LA, through the middle of the mojave desert. to make a long story short, therewas a span where there was NOTHING for hours, no roads no power lines no buildings, no signs of human civilization except the tracks. and when the stars came out at night...jesus christ i've never seen anything like it.

so share some stories, road dogs...

[bikebloke]

1. I made auto-stop around Europe in the 80's.

Also, did it in Israel and West Bank, though warned not to accept rides from Arabs. I did. No problem. Just nice folk giving a lift.

[mark414]

2. excellent - europe is next on my list

i'm probably going to be sitting still for a couple months over the winter to make some cash so i can head on over there...

[Jara sang]

3. I hitch-hiked out west for a month.

I love hitching. I used to hitch back and forth between Yellowstone and Grand Teton N.P. I was on the road for a month, went from Jackson to Dinosaur National Monument in Utah, down to Moab, across to Zion NP, down to Flagstaff, AZ via the Grand Canyon, across to Gallup NM through the Navajo Nation up into Telluride CO and back to Moab. Coolest thing: hitch-hiking out of Gallup NM on my birthday on old Route 666(no longer exists thanks to fundies) watching a tarantula cross the highway. Picked up by a couple of Navajo kids.

[mark414]

4. zion NP is righteous

i did a big U across the country recently, west to east, and passed through yosemite and zion and bryce canyon along the way...

here's some pictures...

http://oilpaintedeyes.livejournal.com/123288.html

http://oilpaintedeyes.livejournal.com/122181.html

[skygazer]

5. Hitchhiker here

I spent much of my teenage years hitching around, mostly around New England. Then one night at around 8:00 in 1978 when I was 17, I decided to see how far I could get. I was gone for a month, got as far as Texas (I kept getting picked up by truckers and they ALL seemed to have loads to Ohio - I hit Ohio about 12 times, I think).

Did the same thing pretty much 20 years later, in '98 when I was 37. Hitched from Vermont to California and back. I love the road - there's nothing like the freedom you feel when you have nowhere to go and all the time in the world to get there. You meet the coolest people, see the neatest places and you're completely and utterly free.

I also love to drive cross country - I've made the trip to and from Vermont to Cali 4 times now on various routes and I've driven or hitched through every one of the lower 48. Especially in the autumn, I get itchy feet bad.

Never did the train thing but always wanted to. Well, I did take a passenger train from Vermont to Kansas once which was great but I never hopped trains. There's something about a train, though...

[mark414]

6. never too late to start brother...

the adrenaline rush is unmatched...the first train i rode, i couldn't stand for an hour cause i was shaking so hard from adrenaline...

i met a guy down in arizona who's 24, been riding the rails for 4 years - and he used to have a bad junk habit.

someone threw him on his first train, and when he got off he said to himself, "okay. i can either keep shooting smack, or keep riding trains, but i won't be able to do both."

he never stuck a needle in his arm again.

[skygazer]

7. That's "sister" actually

And I don't discount the possibility. :hi:

[mark414]

8. well then right on sister

hope yer able to do it someday

[mark414]

9. nobody else?

[Jara sang]

10. Hitched from Lewes, Delaware to Virginia Beach once.

Thought I was going to have to spend the night in a corn field but I was able to make in one day. Had a friend of mine pick me up on the VB side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel.

[grannylib]

11. Hitched all over the place in the '70s. Best experience ever - went to

the Indy 500 to see Janet Guthrie race (first woman ever) and on the way there, first night out, my friend and I were planning on staying with friends in the city we were in. Friends weren't home, no place to stay, and we were wondering whether we should find a park or something, or head to the interstate and hope for a ride and some sleep in a vehicle (probably a semi) on the road...
So we were at a laundromat using the restroom and the pay phone, and this older gentleman heard us talking and invited us to come stay at his house with him and his son. We were pretty leery at first, but we ended up going, and we had the BEST time; his son was about our age, and they fed us and we played cards and they made up beds for us on the sofas in the living room, and there was no funny business whatsoever...just really good people and good company. Before the gentlemen went to bed, they told us they would be getting up really early (they worked construction together) but to make sure we helped ourselves to breakfast and the shower and whatever before we left...here's the towels, here's the fridge, etc...and when we got up in the morning, they had packed us LUNCH in bags in the fridge to take on the road, and each bag had his business card and some $$ clipped to it, and a note to call him if we had any trouble...it rocked. They were so nice...

Worst hitchhiking story: college guy waiting for a bus in a DOWNPOUR. Recognized him from a class I had; didn't know his name or anything, but took pity on him and stopped to give him a ride to campus. Ended up marrying the sonofabitch. Told me he would be a triple-A husband, which turned out to mean Abusive Alcoholic Asshole. Last time I EVER picked up a hitcher. That marriage lasted exactly one year, one month and one day. The divorce party was WAY better than the wedding!

[enigmatic]

12. You know I am

Hopped trains for a number of years around the early 90's, mostly around the Midwest and Mid-South. And I learned how to make Hobo Ice Cream too, though I'll pass on ever having it again....

I never felt more alive in my life than catching a hotshot and watching the world go by. There were some ugly times, but I wouldn't take any of it back. Read alot of Harry Crews during that time, too; he just seemed to fit..