Hell of a trip down the coast to San Francisco

I woke up in Portland to a phone call from Kimmie's friend Chris, he was going to drive down the Oregon coast with us. After a shower I left Scott and Rose's place, my couchsurfing hosts, and met up with Chris, Kimmie, and Rudy. Kimmie grabbed us a big breakfast and a new tent before we broke west for the coast.

Our first stop was at a beach when we first hit the coast, we ran around a while and had some dinner in town. It was getting dark, so we started south keeping our eyes peeled for potential places to camp. We investigated a few spots before deciding on a rest area park sorta spot, we turned back to the last town to pick up alcohol, two bottles of Night Train wine.

Back at our new camp spot we set up the giant 3 room tent Chris had next to a couple picnic tables, the pacific waves crashing just beyond the bluff we were atop. We sat in the tent smoking and getting hit by the Night Train, eventually only Kimmie and I were riding that ride, and soon enough we all crawled to bed. Not to sleep though, I found myself escaping from the tent with Kimmie to release and run around looking out at the ocean below, then sleep.

We woke up and looked out into the now sunlit ocean, whales swimming right by the shore putting on a little show for us and other people who'd arrived in the park. We packed the tent and kept cruising down the coast until we hit Newport, we stopped at the beach textured by dunes running down to the surf. We sat and enjoyed a joint and the ocean, Rudy and I decided to start running down the beach, we found a small shark washed up that we dug for a bit.

We left the beach, Chris had the idea to go to the "Dead Guy" brewery, I was thrilled, everyone was. We rolled up the brewery, it was actually the Rouge brewery, Dead Guy was the expensive six pack from Rouge I'd bought the night Mark and I went to Philadelphia unexpectedly some time ago.

We bounced in, I was more excited now, we went straight for the bar and all got samplers. By the time we'd got through our samples and bonus pours from the bartenders we hit the tour, then came back for food and more samplers, Rouge has a lot of good beer. I spent just about the last of my cash on a six pack of Brutal Bitter and a 20oz Double Dead Guy for the road.

We hit one more beach, just walked along it, then back to the car towards Corvallis where Kimmie had another friend who could put us up for the night, Chris dropped us off there and kept rolling his own way. The rest of the night we sat on the floor with beer, bongs, taffy, card games and raw vegetables.

The morning came, we were given a ride to I-5, the three of us ready to hitchhike again. Rudy and Kimmie waited at the on ramp and I went ahead onto the freeway thumbing the traffic on my own, our plan was to meet in Medford by night somehow. I walked a while alongside the traffic, sometimes thumbing, sometimes just soldiering forward. I was pretty sure I saw Rudy in the passenger seat of a green subaru as it flew by, I later found out it was Rudy, they'd got picked up without room for a third.

A pickup truck stopped for me, a 20 year old named Eugene going to Eugene. He liked the idea of traveling, we had good conversation. He stopped for gas, as we pulled back on to the freeway police lights started flashing behind we pulled over, slightly confused since there was no way we speeding. The cop came to the window asking for license and registration, he'd pulled us over for not using a turn signal. After some classic police behavior he let us go with a verbal warning.

I found myself alongside the freeway in Eugene soon enough, walking again. I noticed another hitchhiker just up the freeway, I stayed off to the side and walked up to him. He said he'd been selling in town for a while, he asked me for pot which I didn't have, I kept walking and left him with first dibs on the traffic. 

I kept walking and eventually a car pulled into the shoulder, weight off my shoulder. The driver was an older woman named Shirley, "Just like everyone my age, after Shirley Temple". She didn't say exactly how far she was going, "just up the road a bit". She told me about the drama in her family, grossly obese sister, drugie nephew, her husband passed 4 years ago causing her to have some tough times, but her spirits seemed high.

She stopped for gas and handed me $20 to grab some food in the market, she came in before I got to the register saying I should have a cooked burger instead, I dropped my gas station turkey and swiss and headed back to the car. Across the street I ordered a double bacon cheeseburger and waited for the order to come up, she drove back to the gas station to use the bathroom, by the time she was back I'd gobbled down my burger. "A growing boy like yourself needs ice cream!", I agreed, she grabbed my chocolate ice cream on a waffle cone and we headed back to the freeway.

"I can't drive you all the way to Medford, but I'll go a little ways", she told me as we drove and talked, we saw a sign for Medford, 70 miles away a little later. "That's so close... I'll go all the way!". We continued talking and driving, about 15 miles out of Medford I got a voicemail from Kimmie saying they got dropped off just 10 miles outside Medford in Central Point, Shirley dropped me off right at the gas station there and left me with $7, Kimmie came running to the car, it was dark now.

I used the $7 to buy beer, 24oz Steel Reserves, then we found a perfect camp spot behind the big truck stop in the woods a bit. We set up the new tent and drank our beers talking and telling stories before heading to sleep.

In the morning we began packing up, Kimmie went to the gas station to use the bathroom. She came skipping back with news of a ride she'd found for us with a couple rastas in an RV. We gathered our things and went and met Dread (or Terrance) and Eli at the RV. They'd just met recently, Eli dropped $1600 to help fix some of the problems with RV, but neither had any money now. Dread had a gas can out ready to panhandle gas and money for gas to get out. After some debating of strategy Rudy offered some gas money and we were on the road, heading back for the coast.

Dread had worked trimming jobs a couple times, and that was his reason for heading down to Willits, CA now. He was a poet and also made jewelry and crafty things. The RV always seemed on the verge of breaking down, and infact did three times before we met them, Dread didn't have any oil in there, "Another bonehead maneuver", as he said.

We rolled down the coast, rarely a moment without a joint smoking in someone's hand. Rudy rolled the first joint, Dread jokingly said "We're going to northern Cali now, you can't be embarrassing me", he pinched some shake and rolled a huge one as he picked it up all in one motion.

We eventually stopped just outside Arcata at Clam Beach after driving through the red woods, we got to talking to some other people drinking in the parking lot, Kimmie and Dread jammed out a bit, Kimmie with the tin whistle and Dread with his djembe and didgeridoo. The others in the lot were having various car troubles, Eli was helping all of them.

One guy Travis was pretty friendly, he'd lost his keys on the beach a day or two ago and now trying to figure out how to tow the car out of the lot before he'd get another ticket. We were going to tow him out with the old RV, Eli was rigging a towing system. I went into town with a guy Matt there and Kimmie to get food and a part for towing at the uhaul spot.

We got back and after some more doing the car was hitched up to the back of the RV. Travis was pretty drunk at this point, but Eli told him to sit in the car we were towing and not touch anything, but stay in there in case the car fell off the bootleg hitch system that was setup.

After 5 minutes of driving we heard heavy honking from the car we were towing, we pulled over to discover the car was in park and the emergency brake was on, we could smell the burnt rubber thick in the air. Eli got upset with Travis, he thought he'd put the brakes on in his drunken state. We kept driving until sparks started flying out and pulled over again. The tires were gone and the rims were shot, completely destroyed. Travis decided to abandon the car and we all headed a few miles away to a spot where he had a storage unit converted into his glass blowing studio.

We passed around bowls and stories until Travis had to leave, he had a date with the metal detector woman from the beach. He said we'd be fine to stay parked where we were and crash out for the night, he gave Eli a hug bag of pot, of which we were given a tennis ball size portion, Travis also gave us various pipes and things. Back in the RV Eli was still fuming about the whole situation, but chalked it up to a great day to remember.

We had to be out by 5am, so we headed to the heart of Arcata to park and continue sleeping. I awoke to transient culture, Dread knew quite a few people in town and they were by the door of the RV passing bowls in and shooting smiles everywhere. Many people were in town passing through or living out of their vehicles, Arcata's a hot spot. Some are just living, other causing problems in the park, many looking for a buck or some gas money, some demanding and others just asking. 

We grabbed some good beers at the co op and drank them in Lee's trailer, a friend of Dread's. We were back and forth a couple times in there talking to whoever was in at the moment. Towards the evening Kimmie and I found ourselves walking to the square to draw, just after we sat down we overheard someone saw "open mic", Kimmie inquired about it, they told us, and offered us a ride, two guys passing through town looking for work.

We rode just down the street to the spot, Kimmie jammed with Brian, one of the guys who gave us the ride. Her singing and harmonica brought everyone into it, even tin whistle. One guy they call shovel man played a few songs too, he had a guitar made out of a shovel and some looping pedals.

After the open mic some people were headed to a house jam, but Kimmie and I headed back to the RV, it was getting later now and we figured we should get in before Dread and everyone went to sleep. We got back to find out that we were leaving, right now. Eli was silent drunk in the front seat as Dread and Rudy explained what happened, and that is that Eli got drunk and was spotted pissing out the RV door onto the sidewalk, the cops said we had to be out, friendly enough though.

Dread was fuming, ready to head back to Clam Beach where he'd have Eli pay for the camp spot. I talked to Dread and figured it made more sense to continue to head south and find a free pull off or rest area, so we drove. We had to stop for gas of course first, Rudy covered it again, Eli drunkenly and stubbornly paid for oil for the engine.

We rolled south into the darkness, Dread becoming more frustrated with Eli, Kimmie and I in the back fooling around, Rudy falling asleep. Eli left the passenger seat and stumbled around the back, I had to pinch Kimmie's neck by my crotch every time so she would stop what she was doing for a moment while Eli settled or stumbled down again, after some back and forthing he landed on Dread's bed. Dread finally noticed this and stopped the RV until he got back to the passenger seat, and finally we found a pullout some hour down the road or more where we called it a night.

In the morning Eli was informed of what happened, he had apparently blacked out. "The mad pisser strikes again!", he exclaimed, "I knew from the way you said good morning something had happened!", this wasn't his first public pissing incident.

Before we got moving again Dread noticed his didgeridoo was missing, he tore up the RV looking for it. Determined to get it, he turned us back around towards Arcata, more gas and time to burn, but we went with it. Once in Arcata Eli bought us a great breakfast as an apology, then they set off asking people and retracing their steps looking for the didgeridoo.

We relaxed in Arcata for most of that day, but Dread didn't have any luck, by night we headed north again just a ways back to Clam Beach where we'd been before, we grabbed a campsite and started a fire with some wood we'd grabbed back in town. We had a mighty dinner of chicken and clam chowder that Rudy bought and Dread cooked. We set up our tent on the sand and drank whiskey until we passed out.

We had a great nights sleep, we immediately headed for the beach in the morning. The mist had rolled in covering the whole dune filled beach, it became thick and moved quickly as you got close to the surf and little pockets of clear air could be found. When we started packing up the tent we decided we'd likely move on from Dread and Eli to continue down the coast. They were headed south at this point anyhow, so we figured we'd keep rolling as long as they were.

We landed back in Arcata so Dread could put up flyers for his didgeridoo and we could get breakfast. While we were eating I got a message from Dread, he'd found it... wrapped up safely in the RV, never missing, "another bonehead maneuver". We made a couple shopping stops for Kimmie and Rudy, herbs and clothes, then headed back to the RV and started shooting south again.

We drove into the night, stopping once again for gas which Rudy covered, again, and picked up some porter beers that decidedly tasted like porter lite if such a thing can be, and landed in aSafeway in Willits, CA. We saddled up our bags, said goodbye to our RV friends, and headed for the bar where one of Kimmie's friends was.

10 blocks later we shuffled into the crowded bar, three backpackers, looking for Yossi. We saw shovel man first, he was on stage playing, seems he'd made it along this path as well. Soon enough we found Yossi, a nice guy who also got on stage to play for a bit as well. Rudy and Kimmie ordered drinks, I found a full beer on a railing that had been forgotten. We talked with all kinds of people, even the bartender came over and chatted a bit, mostly interested with Kimmie and Rudy being from BC in Canada, a place he loved. 

When the night was over the three of us and Yossi started wandering down the street in search of a suitable camping spot, we found one under a bridge, a bit of a leap to get down, but a nice flat spot for our tent out of the way. We drank the last of our beers and passed out.

Yossi woke up first and began exploring, I woke up second and enjoyed the peaceful scene we'd put ourselves in, under the bridge by a small creek. When Rudy and Kimmie awoke we packed it in and headed to paradise cafe to relax for a bit. Later that evening we went to the church in town that gave free dinners out on certain days of the week, there was a long line of all types waiting for food, we had a good meal of beans and cheese and cake.

After the meal we got to talking to some people outside, they had a nice campsite set up just outside town and room for a couple of us. We decided we'd instead go to the casino we were told about, there was supposedly some deal of signing up for a players club card and getting $20 free credit to gamble with, we could use the money, so we opted for that but got directions in case we wanted to hitch over later.

Yossi had bought some acid in san fran earlier, he wasn't sure if it was real or not, but on a whim he split it up and the four of us took a hit, then began walking to the casino. The walk was further than we'd all thought, but we made it ok and stashed our bags in the shadows. We all signed up and got our $20 in credit and began hitting the slot machines, at this point it was clear the acid was not acid at all, but we had fun. Between us we left with 70 or 80 bucks we didn't have coming in.

Out in the parking lot we pondered the best way to get back to town, we had the bar from last night on our minds. No one wanted to walk, and we considered a taxi, but were told their were none in town. Yossi was able to talk to a woman with a minivan, she gave all of us a lift right to the bar. I talked with Kimmie at the bar drinking great beers until last call came around. The bartender from the night before talked to us some more, he found out we were about to go looking for a place to camp again.

"What if you could have a roof over your head... the guy at the video store across the street may help you... he's kind of a jerk though", he was the guy at the video store, we were thrilled, he took us across the street and let us in through the back. He left the computer on with the internet, showed us the shower, and showed us a place in the back of store between the isles we could sleep, we just had to be out by 8:30am when his employees got in. When he took off we got some showering in and passed out amongst the movies.

Waking up on the store floor was peaceful, we all headed to the paradise cafe again, Rudy and Yossi went down the street to do some dumpster diving, but only came up with some orange juice and cookies. After a bit we decided to hit the freeway and start hitching, San Francisco on our minds. We walked a way towards the edge of town, when we got close I walked ahead, the three person hitching strategy I've been using so frequently lately. 

A guy and a girl appeared behind me walking, I wasn't sure if they were hitching or not, after a quarter mile they got close and got my attention, they asked if I had a pipe, I didn't, they asked if I wanted to smoke and we headed off to the side of the road behind the trees and bushes. They were headed to the gardening place nearby, he pulled out a decent sized tupperware container filled with buds, all different kinds, and started rolling a joint with some of the first outdoor crop harvested this year locally. Kimmie and Rudy came walking up on the road and we spotted each other, they came and joined us.

The five of us stayed talking and smoking in the field for just under an hour. They gave us a handful of buds and were on their way, we were on ours. We stood right there by the road with thumbs out and Kimmie with a tiny sign, "SANFRAN" it said. I walked ahead again, after a bit I was fairly sure I saw Rudy and Kimmie fly by in the ride they got, then I got my ride, and older guy who'd hitched all over the place and was now living in his car. He took me to Cloverdale where I got picked up by a woman on route to see her parole officer, she'd got caught with mushrooms while trying to cash a phony check.

Dropped in Santa Rosa I got a ride a few exits across town from a guy, and then waited a bit towards the edge of town. A guy in a white sebring convertible stopped, "I'm going a mile", fine by me, I hopped in. He was from Brooklyn, he actually knew where Astoria was, he was in town looking at electric cars for a possible business venture back in long island. "So you stink, have you showered?", his new york accent comforting, I told him how my past week went. He weaved in and out of traffic, cutting people off, New York was here in Santa Rosa.

Either because I was from New York or whatever reason he said, "Well I'll tell you what, you've hit the jackpot now my friend", he pulled of the freeway and into town, "You hungry?", I always am, we pulled into an Outback Steakhouse. He explained that he works for a steakhouse owned by the same parent company and can therefore eat free, we went in and I had a 24oz porterhouse steak and a Sam Adams Oktoberfest beer (not covered by his deal, but he paid for it happily anyhow).

After the feast he dropped me at the onramp of the freeway and turned back north, headed back to his hotel. It wasn't long until another car stopped for me, a guy in a van. He handed me a coffee cup and told me to open it up, inside was a big bag of pot and a pipe. I sat in back and had a few hits, he dropped me off in the center of Petaluma with a five dollar bill. At first I thought my location it to be an incovienance, but I was happy to walk through a town I'd never been to, I even stopped to talk to a slightly off guy named Steve who asked me to sit and talk.

I continued to walk towards the freeway until a man in a parkinglot signaled me over, he asked if I was headed for the freeway to go south, I hopped in. He drove me to the freeway and even a little ways south to a gas station. I thumbed out for my next ride up on the freeway, a guy whisteled my attention by the gas pumps and I jogged down, he was going straight through San Fran and further south, my final ride. His passenger was a cute girl named Sherry, she wasn't sure where they were headed, just "the lake", she was quick witted with a hint of mischief in her tone, I liked her. We all talked mostly of hitchhiking stories and travels all the way to San Fran, we crossed over the golden gate bridge in a complete erie fog, they dropped me near the park and I went searching for Rudy and Kimmie.

With Kimmie's phone finally working, it wasn't long before I strolled through the park to Haight street where they were just finishing dinner, I was still full of steak... happy. No couchsurfers or our friends were in town, we became set on camping in Golden Gate Park, a feat we were all told impossible. We wandered through the park investigating patches of woods before finding a spot we deemed suitable. We setup or giant 5 person tent right there in the park, somewhat hidden, Rudy uncorked a bottle of wine and I popped open a couple beers we'd just got, Prohibition Ale from Speakeasy, a brewery in town whose beer I had loved one night in Philadelphia at Heather's place. We only got through a little bit before we all passed out heavy.

We slept in until 10:30 or so in the morning, the sounds of park goers and tennis players all around. I peaked out of the tent, we weren't quite as hidden as we thought, but still pretty out of the way. We struck down the tent in record speed, we'd conquered the park as far as we were concerned. A guy came walking up the hill huffing and puffing shortly after on his way somewhere, he asked us if we had papers, but they were left in Dread's RV. This guy had papers anyhow and rolled up a joint, I think he wanted to prove that San Fran's bud was better than British Columbia's, we left the woods and went to smoke it on the big hill, "hippy hill" as someone later reffered to it as.

We spent the afternoon between the laundromat and a coffee shop finsihing the beers from last night and getting our clothes clean again, we were going to break into the wine and let our things dry a pinch more, but we'd forgotten it somewhere.

After all had mostly dryed we headed back to the park, the hill was now covered with people and a big drum circle was underway. I went to leak in the woods and came across the forgotten wine bottle, we drank that and smoked. At first I was trying to keep the smoke hidden, but thought nothing of it once we saw others openly smoking in the park, including a group who'd climbed to the top of a short tree in the middle of the field shouting "420!" as smoke billowed away from them.

Kimmie joined the drum circle, she danced her way in, Rudy and I stayed back talking, watching, listening. I'd look up to see her with a different instrument, she got her hands on a drum at one point even. After a while she came back with a friend she'd made, Starchild was his name, the plan was to grab a bite and hang out for a bit, so we headed for Haight to find food.

On the walk over he said it was fine to crash at his place for the night, we were all smiles. We had some food and headed to a music store to look around, then another girl we were hanging out with, Eileen, gave us a ride to Starchild's place. 

We sat around talking there for a while, Eileen had a little pug who slept beside her. She was very friendly and happy that we'd all met. She'd apparently seen UFOs a lot in her day, "They can sense your energy, if you go to certain places and put out that positive energy they'll come and check it out", she told me a few stories. 

Starchild was in and out of the room, he came back in saying he had to work, but he'd be back in a few hours if we still wanted to hang out or we were free to sleep. He's a prostitute, that's the work he was going to, but he showed us his room for clients that we could sleep in. It was giant bed with a mirror, loads of pillows and bean bags, a closet full costumes and toys, and bead lights on the ceiling. "Help yourself to any of the lube or toys", he told Kimmie when he realized we were claiming the room and Rudy claiming the couch in the living room.

The three of us watched a movie until he got back. We had some tea, I tryed an ice wine that was pretty nice, and we even played some scrabble, Starchild stamped out some buttons with his little machine, "Yes on K", he was going to pass them out tomorrow to support the legalization of prostitution. Rudy passed out on the couch and Kimmie and I retired to the sex room, Starchild to his room.

In the morning Starchild got ready for the fetish parade in the city, short shorts, chains, that kinda thing. Kimmie and Rudy got ready as well, I decided I should be getting to the couchsurfing base camp in Berkeley, so I hopped on the subway and they headed for the parade. Once in Berkeley I walked a little ways to get to the house, first therough a commercial area, then some trendy kinda streets, then through frat row where the house was.

I poked my head through the door and saw Rachel, she's in charge of saftey on couchsurfing.com and is an all around good person. She gave me the tour of the house, there's a lot of rooms. I grabbed a proper shower and cooked up some food for myself and relaxed the night away as more people I'd met in Alaska and others I hadn't met yet filtered in. Towards the end of the night I shared stories with Rachel on the porch before going to sleep, I do love porches and stoops.

It was a good sleep, alone on a comfy bed where I slept until I woke up. Tomorrow I plan on going to Sacramento one way or another, it's a 90 minute drive, so it should be a quick hitch, there's just the barrier of it being a city and all, so we'll see what the best escape is. It's been a great couple weeks, a great wedding coming up, and unknown but guaranteed awesome after... and just got a phone call, maybe a brewery trip to Speakeasy today. Awesome.

Hicth to Seattle and on to Portland where it all Started

The morning in Vancouver finally came for Walter and I to go our separate ways, him to the island, me to the south, somewhere. We had breakfast, he hopped on the transit and I headed back to Kimmie's place, where her and Rudy awaited to start our hitchhiking fun, Rudy is Kimmie's roommate.

I had coffee while they got the famous $3 breakfast at Bons Off Broadway, we then hopped a bus that got us pretty close to the US-Canada border, a few beers were enjoyed in the back. We waited with a joint on the street corner for Kimmie's friend to pick us up, no one in Vancouver has worries over smoking a joint anywhere. We got a ride from her friend right to the border, on foot we marched in to see our way across, Kimmie a bit worried because she'd been denied entry before. We had no problems though, some basic questioning and we were walking down the road, I was back in the United States once again. 

We attempted standing together, the three of us, hitching rides, but it wasn't long before I decided to walk ahead and split up for a better shot at some rides for all of us. I walked a couple miles, to my left was the full moon, to my right was the last breath of the sun, my new friends behind me and loose ideas and destinations in front.

A car slowed and stopped in the shoulder, someone always does, I ran up to the car and sure enough Kimmie and Rudy were inside, the driver on route to Seattle. We'd talked about going to Bellingham, but forgot why so drove right through and landed in Seattle. We loaded up on food at a grocery and set up our tent in a nearby park, a pretty hidden spot. We drank wine all night and laughed, Aaron called me laughing drunk telling me to get fitted for a tux, I drunk laughed right back at him, it won't be long until I see him in Sacramento.

The next day I got fitted for that tux, meandering into a Mens Warehouse with my big pack and my two friends with the same, but got fitted all the same. We wandered the lower part of Seattle, we had good beer at a coffee shop, eventually we wound up in the park by the water. We still hadn't found a place to sleep for the night, and were a good bus ride from where we were the night before, none of us were too concerned. None the less, Kimmie got the attention of a young guy walking and asked him if he may know a good park we could use.

This guy was full of life, as if he'd just had epiphany after another, he'd just arrived in Seattle not long ago. The conversation centered around religion, Christianity, and ways of living life. The basic concept being kicked around was what I think Kimmie's all about, and that's letting it flow, to her it was the Universe, to him it was God, I listened and watched the sun dip behind the mountains.

Another guy came over towards the end of this, he was looking for pot. We didn't have any, done before the border, but he stuck around anyhow and we all went looking for some after the first guy took off with a huge smile on his face, feeling generally happy about life. It wasn't long before we found someone, he grabbed some as did Kimmie, we headed back to the park by the water to enjoy it. After a bit my craving for beer grew strong, Kimmie and Rudy were easily convinced to journey out to a pub, our pot searching friend went his own way after suggesting we go to Capital Hill.

We headed that way, up hill mostly for the bulk of it, we saw some bars here and there, but settled on a place called the Coment. We walked in as the DJ announced Karaoke was going to kick off, that excited Kimmie, and beers were just a buck each. We enjoyed our beers, Kimmie signed up to sing. The scene inside was a mix of transgenders, gay guys, punks, hippy types and all kinds of colorful folk.

When Kimmie went to sing she announced that the three of us were trying to score a spot to set up our tent for the night, then sang "I feel good". One of the guys near the bar started talking with her and said he may know a place, we were all invited to his table and all the guys started buying us beers and feeding Kimmie shots of Jaeger and tequila. We left the bar, Joseph, the guy who said he could help us initially, bought an 18 pack of beer, we headed back to his condo complex where he said we could crash in the movie theatre viewing room there.

When we got there people were in the viewing room, apparently naked, we headed to the roof. A lot of us stayed up there talking and drinking for a while before heading back down, one or two of the hit on Rudy but weren't pushy about it in the slightest, I was let be, likely because Kimmie was hanging on me most of the night. When we got back to the viewing room it was still occupied, but they said they were on their way out, they eventually left and we started watching a movie.

The three of us were left alone down there eventually, we pulled out our sleeping bags and fell out. I came to with the lights on and Kimmie folding up her blanket, Rudy doing the same, a man at the door watching us. Apparently we were being kicked out, we gathered all our stuff and headed away, we all went to the elevator with intentions of going the roof and sleeping, but we were followed and told not to. It was then I realized I didn't have any shoes on, the guy took me back to the viewing room so I could find them. It seemed like he just lived there, so I couldn't be sure why he cared enough to make us leave, but I got my shoes and off we went, it was now light out.

We walked a few blocks until finding a suitable alley to sleep in. We woke up a little better rested and headed for the same park down by the water to relax in, Kimmie found someone with papers and we rolled another joint before heading for the freeway. We walked back up hilly Seattle to I-5, a busy freeway with a narrow shoulder. The three of us walked until the shoulder got wide enough for cars to stop, Portland on our mind, and this time Rudy walked ahead leaving Kimmie and I to thumb cars first.

A cop stopped before anyone else, as I've seen many time before, we were told walking on the freeway was illegal, but he decided to give us a ride to the next exit where we may be able to find a bus. Of course he saw Rudy a few miles up, he almost didn't, "You know this guy?!", we paused for a second and smiled at each other, "Ha, yes...".

He stopped and let us both out and told the three of us just to walk off the freeway, we did. After a lot more walking we got to a bus that took us an hour south to Tacoma for $3 each. Once there we had a great big meal, it was getting later, by the time we got back on the freeway it was dark, but we tried a while anyhow, again Rudy walked down the road beyond us. Again the first car to stop was a cop. He was friendly, but same story, so we walked off the freeway unsure of what would become of Rudy, if he'd already got a ride, if the cop would get him, we couldn't know.

Kimmie and I walked until we found a place that looked suitable for sleep, has a beer and talked, then walked some more to a better spot where we could set up our tent. We had more beers and enjoyed each other's company into the night until sleep took over.

In the morning we packed up the tent, Kimmie found a thermal blanket in the bush, still in it's original plastic wrap. We soldiered on to the freeway again, climbing a hill to the spaghetti mess created from many freeways coming together. Unsure of exactly which road we were on we just stuck our thumbs out. Someone stopped fairly quickly ready to give us a ride, but we then learned we chose the wrong road and were directed to the right one. We made it to I-5 South, where we wanted to be, and thumbed the relentless traffic. Again, the red and blue lights greeted us before anyone else.

This officer was also nice, but told us to get off the freeway and maybe try a gas station. We hiked off the freeway, grabbed some food, and hiked to the on ramp where we'd seen some hitchhikers waiting before getting food. There was a guy raking leaves on the other side of the fence near the on ramp who said hello. We asked about the other hitchhikers, he said they'd given up and went for a bus, but that the two of us might have better luck. A little later he came back with two ice cold waters and a plate of fried chicken, another reason I love the road.

We were picked up by three young guys going towards Portland, all around 19 years old. I caught some sleep on and off in the back seat, we'd also forgotten our tent on the on ramp, but neither of us could care too much. The guys drove us right into town to Powells bookstore, Kimmie called her friend in town, we got bus directions and also learned that Rudy had made into town. We hopped the bus started heading towards the house, a few stops later Rudy hopped on the very same bus oddly enough, we were all three reunited again. He'd apparently found a place to sleep there in Tacoma and have some of the beers too, the cop had never got to him. He got one solid ride that day into Portland without a problem.

We arrived at Kimmie's friend's place, it was a full house with kids and dogs and other animals too, we had a great pasta dinner. I called Tom, a friend of Larry's in Phoenix I'd met there before, he'd recently moved to Portland. I ended up catching a bus back to the center of town and meeting him there, he took me to the Scott and Rose's place, some local couchsurfers who had room for me to stay. We sat around and talked for a while before everyone started winding down.

I was happy to relax with a good beer and knock out a couple posts, stories have been building up so it's good I got some time to relay a few of them here. It sounds like tomorrow a phone call may wake up with plans of heading down the Oregon coast with one of Kimmie's friends, but only time will tell. Tonight, some good sleep and a shower in the morning would suit me well too. I'm back in Portland where I couchsurfed for the first time, a good time, good times have come between, and many more will roll.

Rounding out Vancouver

Vancouver was a great time. The first few nights were spent at Patricia's place near 18th and Commerical. Casey and Jelena got in late one night, I'd met them both in Alaska at the Couchsurfing collective and now they were on their way to San Fran. The whole next day we biked around Vancouver towards the beach, a whole pack of us including a hitchhiker Casey and Jelena picked up on the way down, it was a great way to fly through the city.

We had a picnic and bonfire of sorts the next night on the Spanish Banks, good food and drink had by all, the blazing gold city skyline relefcting the last of the sun on all of us. Walter and I made our was to Destine's place, a host in town who had 15-25 couchsurfers in her small apartment at any given time, it had a hostel feel to it.

One night we ended up at a bar for Vancouver's weekly couchsurfing meetup, that's where we met Kimmie, Walter had found her profile earlier and she recognized him straight off. I only talked to her a few minutes before tossing the idea of hitching down to California together. Walter and I went home with her, leaving the bulk of our things at Destine's for the night. We were treated like kings, Kimmie was free flowing and generous in every way one could be. 

The next day Walter and I met Mandie and co for pancakes and frisbee, Laura and Andrew were there too. Later we walked to Destine's place and grabbed our things, then some beer, then hopped a bus to Kimmie's, we always had late nights at her place, Kimmie and I exchanging stories and laughter, Walter half sleeping and enjoying.

We all went to a Canyon hike the next day, a beautiful spot on the planet. 

School Bus to Vancouver

Staying with TJ in Kamloops was a good time, we relaxed a lot, and spent the better part of one of the days on her university campus messing around while she was in class. After three nights we were set on hitching to Vancouver.

TJ dropped us off at the truck top on the edge of town, Walter and Mandie waited at the onramp for rides while I walked on the highway itself ahead of them. Shortly after passing a sign reading "No Hitchhiking, Pick Up is Illegal", I was picked up by a 56 year old in a pickup truck, a great grandfather as of a few days ago. He worked safety and rescue for mining companies, he enjoyed life. He drove me about an hour down the road to Cache Creek, from there I started walking and thumbing as cars came.

I walked for quite a while, it seems most of the traffic was turning off in a town just ahead, so I kept walking until I was past that town and threw my bag down, standing stationary thumbing the occasional cars that would pass. I saw a custom school bus roll past me, I dreamed of having a sweet ride like that, as I watched it roll by, it slowed and pulled over 100 yards down the road. Awesome, I ran for it, arriving at the opening school bus door almost out of breath.

Inside were two young guys, one probably my age and the other 18. They'd gutted the bus and set up bunk beds, tables, thrown some couches in there, even a big screen TV and a stove were inside. They said they were headed just south of Vancouver, their plans were loose, they were just tooling around Canada without any set destinations. Before long I had a beer in my hand from the cooler, we inched down the highway towards Vancouver, they liked driving slow to get better gas mileage, I liked drinking beer in a school bus looking out on rivers, mountains, and lakes.

They dropped me off on the side of the highway about 70km from Vancouver hours later. The traffic was heavy and steady, I walked backwards watching the traffic with my thumb out. I found a bottle of rum on the side of the road, still half full, I pocketed it for later. A pickup truck pulled into the shoulder and I ran to it, I think he stopped just to look at directions, not for me, but had no problem with me hopping in. He only took me a couple exits down and had to head towards the airport where he planned to go to a collectible car convention, he was towing a trailer in anticipation of buying one for his own collection.

My next ride was a woman and her son in a truck, they took me another 20km and dropped off on the side of the highway again. I walked longer this time, the traffic was still heavy and steady, no one was stopping and the sun was actually going down at this point. I finally sensed headlights pulling in behind me, I turned to see what ride I'd be scoring just to discover it was actually a cop car with his lights flashing.

He rolled the passenger side window down, I stuck my head in and said hi to my first Canadian cop. He told me hitchhiking was illegal, he checked my license, minutes later I was in the back of the car joking around with him as he gave me a ride right into Vancouver. He dropped me off at McDonalds where I called Patricia, a couchsurfer living in Vancouver who I met in Alaska at the collective. Walter and Mandie had already got to town, I found out where they were and hopped a bus to Broadway and Commercial.

After dropping my stuff off at her place, we were headed to a random party in town another surfer was hosting. I drank the rum I'd found earlier and met some interesting folks, everyone was having a good relaxing time, I was enjoying snacking on all the food there, I'd forgotten to eat all day. We took the long way walking home and got in pretty late, but once there Patricia made my one of the better sandwiches I've ever eaten, and we all fell asleep on our respective beds, futons, and sections of the floor.

The vibe in Vancouver's a good one, there's still a lot to explore. I haven't a plan as to where I'll spend each night or how long I'll stay in town, but I'm up for staying for a little while. Good times a rolling.

Prince George and a quick hitch to Kamloops

We went to the ancient forest outside of Prince George with our host Sandra and a handful of other friendly folk, big trees, clean air, good times. Back at Sandra's we all relaxed, had some drinks, great food, even played some games. The next morning we planned to hitchhike to Kamloops.

We were out the door by 8am in the morning and Sandra dropped us at the edge of town, the rain fell on us steady, but not too heavy. Again I walked ahead of Walter and Mandie so cars would see them first, and then see me a little ways down the road, the idea being if they picked them up they may have room for one more, me, or if they only had room for one they'd at least stop for me down the road.

A car did stop for me, a nice older man named Henry, he asked if the two he had passed were my friends, and then we were turning around to go and pick them up as well. He was really nice to talk to as we drove down the highway, he was a logger and told us about the current state of the environment with the beetles who ate up the trees causing all sorts of problems. 

As we passed a little restaurant he asked if we had eaten, we hadn't, and he was set on buying us breakfast. We had a great one, coffee, eggs, sausage, hashbrowns and toast with jam and butter. We got back on the road full bellied and bright eyed, Henry took us a little ways more before pulling off to his mill, "one of the top four in the world, which one of the top four I'm not sure", he said.

Yet again I walked down the road from my new Dutch and Aussie friends, but this time they were the ones to get the first ride, soon enough they were stopping in a pickup truck picking me up with an 80 year old Ted at the wheel. Ted was full of life that he let out with guilty chuckles at almost everything that was said. The conversation stuck to the lighter topics, philosophy, the environment, politics, and religion. I was quiet for most of this listening to the opinions of the other three, I find myself with little to add when speaking of topics I have no control over when they're spoken of in a broad sense, I can usually only get into it when people start talking about solutions.

We stopped at a McDonalds, Ted offered to pay, but Mandie and Walter wouldn't have it, Ted's meal was comped (as was mine, awesome), and we shot rode down the highway with the same conversation topics until we hit Cache Creek, in total he drove us over 300km and we were now in front of a sign saying "Kamloops 84".

For the third time on this day I walked down the road from my friends, and Mandie took the third picture of me doing so. Just as I rounded the bend minutes later a minivan pulled into the shoulder, at the wheel was a girl younger than me and her friend in the passenger seat, I hopped in mentioning my hitching friends behind me, but they were in a rush and with little room. I'm not sure anyone told her she was driving a minivan, she was holding the wheel to a slick sports car shooting past everyone in her way, rap music playing at full volume, the lakes and rolling hills out the window disappearing as fast as they came up.

In no time at all I was getting out in front of a gas station, I was happy to find a seat in the restaurant with free wireless internet. I scrounged up some change and gave TJ a call, the girl with whom we'd be staying with that night. She picked up and was in the middle of something and said it would be a little while before she arrived, but I was happy to get online and catch up on some things, and also let Walter and Mandie catch up to Kamloops.

TJ came and grabbed me, we picked up Walter and Mandie in town, they'd got a ride shortly after I did. We should be staying in Kamloops a couple days or so. On our first night we went to an irish pub for one of TJ's friend's birthday parties, I had a beer called Kilkenny, my parents had once brought me a can when I was a kid, it sat full in my room growing up as a souvenir. 

My friend's Aaron and Jessica have a wedding I'll be at in just a month now, I'm looking forward to that and possibly the excuse to cut through Seattle and see Portland once again, and of course Vancouver's on the list before as well. Good times are down the road I'm driving on, in my rearview, and on both sides of me in case I do some off roading.

Hitchhiking another 1600 Kilometers down Canada

Waking up for the second time in Whitehorse I headed outside to the main road, the Alaska Highway, and hitched a quick ride into town. Mandie and Walter, my current traveling partners, had a lazy relaxing day back at the house while I spent the bulk of the day caffeinated at the baked cafe coding away, ear buds in my ears playing good times kinda tunes, a position I've found myself in cities throughout North America, each time more excited than the last about one thing or another.

Just as I was polishing off a chunk of code I'd been working on for a while Walter and Mandie arrived in the cafe, food on their minds, a bar in our future. We all grabbed a bowl of Chili at Tim Hortons, a Canadian institution, and then headed to the Lizard bar where we'd poorly organized a couchsurfing get together.

We had beers and wine between ourselves, and then with the girls we were staying with, Caley and Pam, then headed home, now with hitchhiking on our mind. Our target was Prince George, our method and route was hazy at best, but we did the things you do the night before venturing into the unknown of a multi day hitch - laundry, showers, etc. We toyed with the idea of a hitchhiking race, Walter and Mandie taking the Alaska Highway to Prince George, the busier road, and me taking the Cassiar Highway, a pinch shorter, but much less traveled.

In the morning Caley dropped us off at a grocery where we got the types of travel food we wanted, the rain promptly greeted our arrival to the road. It picked up to a heavy rain, when it settled we moved towards the traffic, but Walter managed to talk a mini van girl into giving us our first ride towards the center of town.

Back on foot, we decided to split up, me walking far in front so the two of them would have first dibs on cars and potentially catch a ride with room for me and talk the driver into stopping. The idea was that if cars passed them with only room for one they'd then see me up the road and get me a little further. We decided we'd meet in Prince George, about 20 hours straight driving up the road, or along the side of the road somehow.

A blue pickup saw me and gave me a ride towards the edge of town, I walked further, I looked behind and saw another hitchhiker emerge on the corner far behind me, not a great sign, but I kept walking. It wasn't long before an old man, a 30 year local to Whitehorse, gave me a ride just out of town and past a gas station. After another small stint of walking, perhaps a couple hundred yards, a German turned Whitehorse local stopped for me. He gave me a ride down the road another 40 kilometers or so, telling me how much he loved Whitehorse and didn't care for my eventual destination of Vancouver, it being a big city and all.

He dropped me off at the same corner another young hitchhiker was standing at. I approached my fellow hitcher to let him know I would walk up the road so he would still have first shot at rides, he'd been standing there about an hour and a half with a wooden sign with "edmonton" scribbled on it. He seemed interested in talking to me, but I didn't want to ruin his chance of getting a ride by appearing to be two people rather than one, I started walking up the road.

I wasn't 40 yards away when a big white suburban type truck pulled over next to me, the hitcher on the corner didn't turn around to notice. I told the driver I was headed towards Watson Lake and that the guy on the corner got her first, Jon, the driver, clearly had plenty of room in this truck, the kid finally turned around and I waived him over as he grinned and started running for us as every hitchhiker does after a long wait for a ride when one finally arrives. Niall was his name, I hopped in back and let him take shotgun, we started shooting down the road.

Jon was transporting this car more or less, he was happy to fill his abundance of extra seats with a couple guys to share stories with. His plan was to drive past Watson Lake, camp out, then drive to Fort Nelson in the morning for a flight. Initially I figured I'd skip the Cassiar highway to go this distance with him, and Niall seemed set on camping and continuing in the morning as well. When we got closer to the turn off I decided as long as the weather was decent I'd take the Cassiar after all.

The three of us talked about camping, rafting, hitchhiking, things like this. Niall was 19, just started hitchhiking, he had lots of interest and questions for me about hitching and living out of my pack. He was pretty savvy as far as camping and survival in the wilderness, Jon had a definite outdoor sense, I caught a business man vibe from him as well. The weather changed throughout the ride from sunny to dark clouds and rain, as we got to the 37 Junction, the Cassiar, we were in a sunny patch and I decided I'd go for it, they dropped me there and I began walking.

After a couple kilometers I stopped to strip some layers and have a couple slice of bread. I wondered how Mandie and Walter were doing finding rides and when we'd meet up again. I made my bear spray a bit more accessible and continued walking, before long the rain was threatening again and my layers came back on just in time for a heavy down pour. Few cars passed me, but more than I expected, many packed full without room for me even if they'd wanted to stop. The rain finally ceased, I was still walking.

I could hear cars coming long before they could see me, I heard one coming now, I turned around when it was in view, a VW Van, I could make out that it had Utah plates from a distance, Utah's are pretty distinct. My thumb went out and my hopes went up, as it got closer I could see Walter riding shotgun with a big smile on his face that I instantly mirrored. I slid open the door to see Mandie cozied up on the bed in back, I introduced myself to the driver, Mike, and we all had a good laugh of relief as I hopped in.

Mike was a laid back, he'd been working as a guide in Alaska and was now headed back towards Utah, Walter had seen him at a gas station way back in Whitehorse and scored the ride, I later learned him and Mandie had convinced him to drive them by chipping in on gas money, something I wouldn't of had the funds for, but here I was shooting down the Cassiar with my travel partners having a great time, great music filled the van with good vibes.

We stopped as darkness approached to set up camp, Walter with his tent and Mandie and I with the one a woman had gave us along the road before the Canadian border. We cooked up a random assortment of foods and had hot chocolate with mint chocolate baileys. A curious fox popped out to see what we were doing a few times, and soon we went to sleep.

We woke up and got ready to go, we also noticed a pile of bear crap and some prints nearby, we weren't sure if that was there the night before or not. We cruised down the winding Cassiar road making great time, still stopping to rest or admire one beautiful sight here and again. As darkness overtook we rolled into Prince George making our way to a couchsurfer's place, his name was Goji, he left me a message saying he had a tent set up in his backyard we could crash in if he wasn't home. It was late, so we didn't bother knocking on the door and went straight for the tent.

We thought about getting some alcohol until we discovered Canadian prices, so settled for McDonalds, we even scored a free bag of fries I asked for knowing they were closing. We passed out in the big tent with random spurts of rain dropping on the tent here and there.

We met Goji in the morning, a slightly older, long hair and a beard wearing white robe like attire with various phrases drawn on the front and back. He was quiet at first, the three of us showered. He was a yoga laughter leader, and seemed interested in many "spiritual" type activities. Turns out his real name is Kevin, but he changed it to Goji a couple years ago because it was his "real name", Goji meaning "abundance of joy".

We headed down the street for food and coffee, Mandie checked her messages and saw a response from another couchsurfing host in town, Sandra. We gave her a call and it was decided we'd spend this night with her, we went back to Goji's and packed our things and eventually Sandra picked us up. Sandra was very friendly, we went back to her place and met her daughter as well as another couchsurfer staying with her named Jon, a wildlife photographer.

We soon found ourselves at one her friend's houses down by a river for a barbecue, Walter picked us up a 15 pack of Dude Beer, we set up a beericade of rocks in the river to keep them cool. Everyone at the barbecue was friendly, Walter was heard saying multiple times "This is the reason why I use couchsurfing!", and it's true, I'm not sure how else one could find themselves by a river in Canada eating moose meat and drinking dude beer with a group of friendly people you knew not of hours ago.

After a night with Sandra we have plans to go to an ancient forest with supposedly very large trees. At the moment we're thinking of hitching another 500km south in the morning, the destination is Kamloops where TJ lives, a girl we all met at the collective in Homer. Vancouver is also on our minds, I'm sure we'll end up there at some point, we're enjoying every moment.