Event Hitchhiking

Long ago I ended up south of Cancun, in Tulum, running out of money. For three days I hitched up an down that road, checking in daily at the Cancun Thomas Cooke office, praying that the dough my bro wired would arrive.

Everyone was great, treated me and my future wife great, but man, I would never do that these days.

 

Between my Jr and Sr years in HS, I thumbed a ride to and from Summer school as well as other other occasions...never, ever had any issues with the people who gave me a ride.

 

Ass, cash, or grass

 

First wife was a crazy alcoholic with a temper and loved to strand me somewhere after an argument and drive off....I've hitched a lot...longest was from Chicago to San Diego once...took 3 days and I had just gotten out of the Navy ..many times from San Diego to San Francisco in the early 70s

 

So... Is this a generational thing? I dont mean to be disrespectful, but the idea of hitchhiking seems totally foreign to me... I noticed one of the options was 1-10 miles, at that point Id just walk.

I know one person around my age who’s ever talked of hitch hiking but it was because he ran out of gas.

 

Oh you're right I misread that.

 

I've never hitchhiked as an adult, but I have hitchhiked a handful of times when I was younger accompanied by an adult. It was usually when the family car broke down around town, or on close by road trips. I remember hitchhiking once on the way to a concert (Oregon Jam 1984) at Autzen after our car broke down on I-5 really close to Eugene. We took greyhound back to Portland, but only after we saw Loverboy, Joan Jett, Night Ranger and Quiet Riot. Another time we broke down shortly after leaving Bagby and had to hitch a ride home. It was easy to find someone returning to Portland from there even in the middle of the night. My uncle used to babysit me and my brother at our apartment near St. Johns and he would sometimes hitchhike with us back to grandma's house in inner SE, probably because he wanted to spend the bus fare my mom gave him on weed. I've thought about hitching around Japan or in Europe some day.

 

When I won a trumpet state wide solo competition in high school I made my first hitchhiking trip to New Orleans to try to listen to Al Hirt and Louie Armstrong play trumpet....didn't end up seeing either but fell in love with New Orleans music....saw Professor Long Hair play piano and the street drumming was infectious....on the way I stopped in Tulsa Oklahoma and Leon Russel was playing there..;.another milestone of my teen years...it was easy to hitch back then....farm hands followed the harvest hitching rides or train hopping back in the 60s and early 70s.....

 

Never hitchhiked, never even considered it I am sure I would get sexually harassed.

 

I don't think it's been safe to hitch hike for at least 40 years now. Was really common when I was young...somebody was hitch hiking at most on ramps with a bedroll and a guitar back in 71 through about 74.

 

I've got two more hitch hiking stories:

1. When I was in my early 20s I picked up a hitch hiker in Southern Oregon while traveling from San Francisco to Portland on I5. This guy started tell me this weird and eerie story about how he was from Ohio and had terminal cancer and was hitch hiking around the country. Something about his story and his mannerisms didn't add up. I asked him where he wanted to get off while I secretly wanted him out of the car. It was late at night and he said for me to find a vacant building in Salem and he would sleep there. More weirdness. I found what looked like it might be a vacant building although I wasn't sure. He got out and the hairs on the back of my neck relaxed. I was so happy to have him out of my car.

2. When I was a tiny tot, my mom, and dad and I were on larch mountain to pick huckleberries. Our car got a flat tire which happened to cars on a rather regular basis in those days. We found another couple picking huckleberries and asked them to give us a lift to a garage where they could travel out to our car and fix the flat. The couple said fine but they demanded that we pick enough huckleberries for them that they could fill their needs. I vaguely recall picking huckleberries on a mountain but I have no recollection of a flat tire or picking berries for someone else although I do recall picking a few berries. I must have been about 2. To this day whenever the word huckleberry is mentioned, my mouth waters. I guess you could call this hitchhiking since we needed someone to drive us somewhere.

 

I've hitched a few times with my motorcycle out of gas ….wait for that truck and somebody that could help get it loaded...once happened outside Tecate Mexico..my old CB 450 Honda did so well on gas I'd forget to fill it up at times..

 

Hitchhiking out of LA, heading for Oregon where a couple young guys picking me up, about Van Nuys. The wanted me to buy them some booze, but it didn't seem like a good idea. So they decided to help me out. Went up the grapevine about as fast as their Ford could run. About 3/4 the way up and let me out. Snowing like hell, about midnight
and there I am.
Thank goodness for Navy issue Pea coats.

 

I also think hippies from my younger days started making money and bought cars by the end of the 70s...money brings that need for convenience and having a job makes you travel with a time schedule..or at least have bus fare..for the first half of the 70s you just needed to get to the next concert or party....I had my motorcycle in those days

 

I did get to second base with a good looking redheaded gal who played flute at the competition....flute player and trumpet player....that's some serious lip control!