oh shit, here they come

hello, denizens of /b/! for all of you who just joined me, i wish you a happy hello.

um... so yeah. since my last update, i haven't really done much, i'm sorry to say. i've been painting stuff for peter, and looking for jobs. that's... about it. we did go eat at a vegetarian cafe the other day, the only time he's bought me food since i've been here. not that i'm complaining, i'm just trying not to be a leech.

anyway, this is probably my shortest update so far. all you need to know is that i'm safe! and clean! and warm! and inside! but not at a [10]. or even a [1]. wish i could rectify that.. :/

damn, i'm behind.

I know, I know. I'm behind. I'm dealing with that right now, damnit.

so. i'm currenly couchsurfing in long beach. which is where i think i want to move, actually. long beach. or one of the beach cities. or somewhere cheap near los angeles, really. i dunno.

over the past couple days i've met some ents, hung out with a bunch of really cool people from all over the world, and made some connections i think may pay off in the future.

as to what exactly i've been doing. well, i'll just continue from where we left off. robert took me up to long beach the night after i stayed there, because that's where he worked. good stuff, good stuff. i sat at a mcdonalds for a while trying to find a place to couchsurf, and i finally did, so i headed downtown to meet the guy. there, i hung out with some people i'd just met, talked about a bunch of really interesting stuff. eventually, the guy who was hosting me for the night, ara, came and got me from the coffee shop. we went back to his house, and other than a little misunderstanding, everything worked out fine.

cut to the next day. i'm walking around downtown long beach, trying to get to hermosa beach so i can see tosh's marathon. i come up like, 60 cents short of the bus, so i message another guy who offered to let me couchsurf, peter, and he took me down there. after watching a couple hours of daniel tosh act like a maniac, i hung out with an ent, and we headed down to citywalk, to see HBO, in an attempt to get in for free. an attempt, sadly, that failed miserably. citywalk was still a ton of fun, though. crazy place. i met a really nice comic while waiting outside. his girlfriend couldn't believe that i'd hitchhiked here.

the next day, devon and i met up with his friend kouresh. really nice dude. we went and explored the redondo pier for a bit, hung out on the beach far into the night, and eventually i was deposited back at peter's. i've been looking for jobs and apartments here ever since. (two days).

anyway, i'm updated now, damnit. i'll let you know as things progress!

-hitchbro

been a while.

sorry for the lack of updates for the past few days, i've been without internet, and we took an unscheduled stop in lake forest for a couple days. so, from where we left off.

nick and i left the rest in, headed for the bus station. managed to walk a mile before i told him that we probably wouldn't make the 8.5 necessary to get to the bus station in time, so we grabbed a cab. woo. got to the bus station for the grueling daylong ride to LA. on the bus, we met crackheads, grandmas, and more children than we really would've liked. but! we made it to los angeles, and that's what matters.

nick's friend mark came and got us from the bus station, we went over to his house, chilled out, and sat for a while, before nick's friends came up from lake forest. we went to downtown la, walked around for a bit, not accomplishing anything, but seeing all the super fake people trying to get into super hip clubs. it was fun to see the part of LA i'll never willingly go to again.

so. the lake forest guys take us back to their place, where we immediately pass out while watching the power rangers movie. the next day, they had a welcome back party for nick. at least, a bunch of people came over, got super drunk, and played beer pong. nick was sick from a del taco burrito, so there wasn't so much partying for him. oh well.

the day after that was the fourth! so, we hung out at nick's friend sam's house for the day, ate some grilled füd, and watched the fireworks. also, shot a crawfish out of an air cannon. directly back into the creek, mind you, but he must have thought it was fun. this was followed by going back to the place we'd stayed previously for another round of drunkenness.

i woke up at around noon on the sixth, and we started to head down the PCH. we got as far as huntington beach before it got dark, so we met up with yet another of nick's friends, and stayed with him. we got to sleep in beds (BEDS!) and everything was fantastic. he dropped us off the next morning on the pch.

that's when nick got the news. he'd had a death in the family, and he had to go to a funeral. i don't blame him at all, he is a true friend and was a great traveling companion. i wish him and his family the best, and send my condolences.

so, i was back on my own. i went to the actual beach at huntington beach, sat on the sand for a bit, then retreated to the shade to wait for the guy who was gonna put me up for the night. met some cool people (a guy walked over, asked me what my story was, then gave me 25 bucks, which i spent on my first In-n-Out). then robert picked me up, i stayed the night, and here we are.

once again, i'm so sorry it's been a while since i updated, but i hope this one was meaty enough for you. i'll be updating regularly again soon.

-hitchbro

oh what fun

Alright, update. Here's what's been going on...

So, a guy picks me up outside of the pilot I was at. I was on the onramp, even! Sorry vince, but he was totally a trucker, and totally a great dude. Hiz name was zulu, and his copilot was hot rod. If all is going according to plan, they should be reading this. Hey guys.

Anyway, they took me as far as san antonio, which was exactly where I needed to go. There, I met up with nick. We hit it off immediately, thankfully, and we started over to the onramp. We stayed there til dark, with no luck. Headed back over to the petro, got some food, them sat with our sign out at the petro, looking for a ridel within 10 minutes, an off duty cop came up and told us we were trespassing, amd that we had to leave, etc. So we head back over to the onramp, where we met a colorful gent who we believe was malicious in intent. So we go back to the pilot, regroup, and call parents, etc.

Nicks dad, upon finding he hasn't slept since sunday, offers to buy us a room at the rest inn across the street, and we gladly accepted. 24 hours later,  here we are. We're both well rested, and ready to get back out there! But, apparently, this is a notably shitty part of town. People keep telling us as much, at least. And that we are unlikely to find a ride out of here. A bigass trap, san antonio is. Current plan- our moms appear to be buying us bus tickets out of here, to LA. Once we get on the coast,  it'll be cake. I know this somewhat defies the goal, but its so awful here i'm willing to do that.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll let you guys know when I get to la or if my plan changes. <3 thanks for the ticket, mom. I really needed it.

-hitchbro

and another day passes

well, hell of a day so far. but first, we gotta catch up to last night.

so, okay. at the tiger truck stop. people kept giving me money, completely unasked. not that im complaining, but it gives me a bad look. oh well. after five hours a retired army ranger stopped and told me to hop in the back of his truck and that hed take me to houston. awesome stuff. actually, he should be reading this . thanks, john.

so, ive just gotten out of his truck, and i realize that i left my phone. not my tracfone, but my nice phone. shiiiiiiit. tried to chase him down, but hed already driven off. so i asked my dad to send  him an email. this guy drove an hour back to the stop to give me my phone. and get this, he had to fight off two black dudes whod stolen my phone from the back of his truck and were trying to sell it to him. good shit, john.

so, i sit for a couple hours before i decide to give it up for the night, and set up my tent. slept for four hours then got back at it. i was on the on ramp for all of two minutes before vince picked me up. vince was a hitchhiker himself, in the day, and he took me to katy, tx. all the while giving me good advice. so, i stopped in katy, took a shower, and changed, and now im headed back out.

hitchbro   n

well, that was awkward.

so, i didn't manage to escape baton rouge last night. i stayed at the pilot in denham springs for five hours, being just as nice as i could be. saying hi to people, asking how busy they've been. even asked a few people to call out on their cbs and see if anyone was going texasward. not a goddamn one of them. really, the hardest part of hitchhiking is waiting. it's interminable. however, you have to abide by the one rule of hitchhiking: someone will always pick you up. last night, i would have, i really would, but the manager ran me off after five hours. he said he was originally only gonna give me five minutes, but revised it to five hours because he, too, was having a shitty day. at least he was nice about kicking me off, he could have just called the cops and been done with it. oh well.

apparently nick (as his name is nick, not kearns. fucking facebook. [also, i know you're reading this, nick's family. i curse a lot. deal with it.]) has been waiting at the pilot in san antonio for almost a full day. he went on a little adventure last night, apparently involving rattlesnakes and men with phones. but! he's still safe and sound at the pilot, waiting for dear old me. i feel bad, but it was either give up the ghost for the night, or get arrested, and i surely don't want to get arrested.

so, yes. new plan! i called ahead to a small town truck stop, one that didn't have to bend to corporate policy, and plainly explained that i was hitchhiking across the country, and i've had trouble at other places, and i need to find a ride. i won't bother your customers, and i will be buying stuff as long as i'm there, i told them. and guess what? the manager okayed it. at least, i think it was the manager. a lady gave him the phone after i started trying to explain what i was doing and why i was calling. i suppose, in retrospect, that it was kind of an odd call.

ME: excuse me, what's your policy on hitchhiking?
HER: umm... whut?
ME: you see, i'm hitchhiking across the country...
HER: (interrupting) yeah, just let me give you to this gentleman right here
HIM: (whispered) who is it?
HER: (whispered) this is definitely a call for you, man.
HIM: hello?
ME: hi, sir, i was just wondering... you see, i'm hitchhiking across the country, and i've had some problems at other truck stops. i'm just trying to find a ride to houston...

blah, blah blah. you get the idea. apparently questions of policy are far too much for a simple worker bee.

in any case! tiger truck stop, in grosse tete, louisiana, will be my next stop. then, to houston! then, san antonio! and then, hopefully, all the way to LA. damnit. it's gonna happen.

EDIT: i totally forgot, a guy gave me 20 bucks and told me i'd be better served buying a bus ticket. i used his money to buy jerky. :3

-hitchbro

and so we begin again

well hooray. i seem to have found a partner to accompany me on this epic quest of mine- a stranger i met on the internet! that's kind of the theme of this whole journey you know. using the internet to make my adventure happen. i would imagine the title of the blog gave that fact away. in any case, his name is kearns, and he lives in san antonio. he's originally from socal, it seems. the la area, in fact, which is perfect! i have a lot of ents that want to meet up in the socal area. anyway, i met him on derpchan. yes, you know the one. he seems like a fairly well balanced guy, and i think we'll get along great. (famous last words, right?)

in any case, here's the plan over the next couple of days: i'm leaving here tomorrow afternoon, headed west down I-10 to san antonio. there, i'll meet kearns, and we'll start heading towards las cruces. we're trying not to stop in el paso for any reason, so we're attempting to find someone who will take us through it. hopefully we can find someone going all the way to la! that would be ideal.

so, we'll stay in la for a day or two. give him a chance to see friends, me a chance to meet some people from the internet. all good stuff. after that, up the coast to san francisco, then to portland. and from portland it should be incredibly easy to find someone going to the rainbow family gathering, as it's the closest airport/major city to the site.

all very very exciting stuff, i assure you. i'm gonna do a post about the rainbow family tomorrow before i leave, then updates will become more sparse. i intend to blog from my phone as much as possible, once i get it.

in any case, peace.

-hitchbro

some random stuff

people have been asking my strategy. well, here it is.


ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

*Find a place with a long stretch of road in front of it. The longer people can see you, the longer they have to decide if they're gonna pull over.
*Have a sign with a town/city that's closer to where you want to go, but not your final destination. you can always tell them where you're going when you get in the car.
*When someone pulls over, you have to judge them pretty quick. I like to take a picture of the back of their car and send it to family. they can tell the make, model, color, and license plate from that, if they have to.
*Try to make eye contact with the people driving by. Smile, wave. Don't look desperate.

AT A TRUCK STOP

*Find somewhere visible to people going in and out.
*Set up your sign.
*Wait. Say hi to people, if you want, but don't bug them. That's not gonna get you a ride. If they're gonna pick you up, they're gonna pick you up.
*Since you're at a business, buy something. It will keep you from getting kicked off the property.


yeah. just some random strategy thoughts. more further down the road.

well. hello.

so, plenty of people have been telling me to start a blog, so here's your damn blog.

here's the story so far: i decided at the beginning of may to hitchhike across the country. so, i set to planning. in this case, planning means: i sat around, drank, smoked, and read about hitchhiking for a couple weeks. once i was sufficiently informed, i started packing stuff to go. then, a friend (debatable) of mine told me she wanted to come too, so she came along.

and then, on may 31st, at around 5 pm, we headed out. walked out to dallas highway with a sign that said  278 (hwy 278, the way to our first stop) and started going. within 10 minutes, a guy pulls up and takes us all the way to the highway and a little further. within hours, we were at our first destination, huntsville alabama. yes, there are stories in between all these places, but those are for a different day, and a different post.

so we leave huntsville, where a kindly ent put us up for the night, and head south for new orleans. we actually hitchhiked through the whole night to get there, finally arriving in new orleans on june second. we stayed for two days, had further misadventures, and couldn't escape the big easy. why? hitchhiking is illegal in orleans parish! damn and blast. oh well. so we're stuck there for two days, finally escaping because another ent from NO gives us a hundo, smokes us out on some fine-ass dank, and helps us get out of the city.

then it's the fourth, and we're at my dad's house. hooray, we're gonna take a short break. short break turns into three days, then five.... alright, i say. we gotta get the fuck outta dodge. so, we're driving to the truck stop for our next leg... and keely starts crying. she doesn't want to go to houston, she says, she wants to go home. the boy she just broke up with is taking her back, and she wants to go back to atlanta. next day, she's on a flight home.

which leaves me where i am now: in baton rouge. i should be on the move soon, but until then, expect more posts with the tales i've skipped, pictures, and of course more adventure in the future.

-hitchbro