I Jump Around

Phoenix proved to be a great trip. A couple nights ago, after some great food, I was waiting in line with Larry and Trish at the Sand Bar, when after 10 or 20 minutes we made it to the entrance. It was there where a bouncer told me I couldn't come in, not with the solid white t-shirt. I dress to impress. We hadn't an idea of how to fix this and were considering leaving, that was until a guy waiting in line behind us took the shirt off his back for me to use, he had an Ecko shirt underneath a button down. Pretty cool thing to do, but with the bar the size it was, I never did find him on the way out to return the shirt, nor was I sure he even expected it back.

The last full day in town was spent hiking and driving through tortilla flats. A bunch of us rode in the back up the pickup as we breezed through the canyon spotted with various kinds of cactus and sparse yellow flowers. While hiking we snapped off a lot of photos, many standing on rocks hanging off cliffs and that sort. That hike finished with the redish sunset hitting the superstition mountains.

In the morning I planned to hit the road. Before this, two more couchsurfers arrived at Larry's, I spoke with one about his train hopping which is something he does frequently, he had a lot of good stories and advice. I pulled up a map and took note of some potentially useful routes.

Now I was ready for some hitchhiking towards Tucson, which is only 2 hours south driving. Trish had some extra time and gave me a great ride about half the way which was a huge bonus. The downside was the narrow shoulder by the on ramp where I now found myself, it's always best to have a wide shoulder and a straight away so people driving have time to decide to pick you up and be able to do so without stopping traffic behind them.

I was happy to be that far already though, and waited patiently with my thumb out as 45 minutes and plenty of cars passed. I thought I might have better luck walking further away at the gas station, and within 5 or 10 minutes a window rolled down asking where I was headed, I said Tucson but they were Phoenix bound, but the woman on the passenger side insisted I take the 4 dollar bills she was sticking out the window, "for a coffee or something".

It wasn't too much longer when I was on the verge of walking a ways instead, when Shawn picked me up, a young tile worker in Tucson who comes up to that area on Sundays to see his daughter. He drove me all the way to Tucson, "to start getting some good karma", and dropped me off in the northwest part of town where I gave Kelly a call, she was happy to come pick me up with Jess and ride back to the apartment.

My little towel and key chain were waiting for me here, although I've realized I've forgotten something again, this time it's my sweatshirt in Phoenix, which may come into play while hitchhiking to NYC. That'll be starting tomorrow, although I've considered train hopping as well, but might hold off this time as a pretty simple track mistake can land me stuck in Mexico.

I'm looking forward to finding the way to New York from here, and should prove an interesting trip. It probably serve me well to grab another loaf of bread beforehand, but I'm sure I'll figure something out down the line.