Before I begin, let me explain what a Rainbow Gathering is.  A Rainbow Gathering is a gathering of individuals in a wilderness setting who for a period of days, weeks, or even months practice ideals of peace, love, harmony, freedom, and community.  No one person is formally in charge of anything and they strive for more of a perfect anarchy.  Individuals who go to Rainbow Gatherings often consider themselves part of the Rainbow Family of Living Light, or simply the Rainbow Family.  They refer to each other as brother and sister.  My simpler definition is simply “It’s a gathering of a bunch of hippies to live in the woods for awhile and share everything.”  In particular, I went to the National Rainbow Gathering.  This is the big US Gathering with anywhere from 10,000 to 25,000 attendees over the course of the event.

When Alex and I parted ways I went to seek out a kitchen called Turtle Soup.  What I had learned about the Rainbow Gathering was that the basic set up was that kitchens would form that often have different themes and then communities of like-minded people would build up around them.  These communities would work together to make sure the kitchen was staffed, people were fed, water was gathered, and latrines were dug.  As I traveled across the country I kept running into people who told me “go to Turtle Soup.”  I found it really strange that the first person I talked to about the Rainbow Gathering in Florida told me to go there, then a woman I almost traveled with in Michigan told me to go there, and then a guy who went by Taco who I met at Wall Drug in South Dakota (who just so happened to know the woman in Michigan) told me to go there.  I figured “Hmm, I think this is a sign,” so off I went to seek it out.

It wasn’t long before I had passed through Kid Village – a village intended for Family who had families – and Home Shalom – a Jewish community that attends gatherings – and ended up in the middle of the woods with a giant tarp laying on the ground and a bunch of family sitting around chatting.  I introduced myself and asked if they knew where Turtle Soup was.  One of the brothers, with a thick grey beard and wild hair wearing a tie dye t-shirt told me to come closer.  I stepped closer and again he said, “Come closer.”  Again I stepped forward.  He said “Welcome to Turtle Soup!” My heart sunk a little.  After just passing two very well-established kitchens that had impressive tarp networks creating a canopy over their kitchens, fires burning, water flowing, and people working in harmony to keep things running, I was now standing in the middle of the woods with six brothers and a sister sitting around in a circle with a supply tent behind them, two simple tables constructed from logs and twine, and a big pile of tarp that seemed awfully confusing.  I didn’t feel very welcomed here, but I attributed it to not really knowing how any of this worked yet.  I told them I intended to camp here and asked if there was anything I could help with.  They all just sort of murmured and continued on with their conversation.  I left and found a nice place to set up camp.  After setting up my tent I returned ready to work.

I again established I wanted to help out, it was obvious this kitchen still had miles to go before being ready.  Three of the brothers were working on getting this tarp up into the trees, and no matter how I tried to help, I just ended up standing there with nothing to do.  It was nearing time for dinner, so I decided to shift my focus.  I spoke with one of the younger brothers and he said we could start preparing dinner.  This process started with washing up.  Sanitation is very important at Rainbow.  Living in the woods with few comforts of modern society is dirty and its easy for sickness to spread if you aren’t thorough in keep things clean.  I washed my hands well using this great stuff called Doctor Bronner’s  Magic Soap and water that had been collected and filtered from a spring source.  I was deemed the “fire troll.”  My function was simple – tend the fire and make sure it kept on burning so dinner could be cooked.  It wasn’t long before there was a delicious-looking wok of vegan chili that was hand-crafted by a few of the brothers cooking up over the fire.

When dinner was ready, it was time to feed the community.  Everyone in the kitchen joined together to yell “FREE FOOD IN THE WOODS!” into the forest.  It wasn’t long before around 20 people wandered out of the forest and into the kitchen with bowls and spoons ready, which were referred to as blissware or simply your “bliss.”  Your eating utensils affectionately earned this name because they are essential to your happiness and staying well-fed.  I quickly learned that basically everyone at Rainbow keeps their bliss attached to them at all times.  You could hear the jingle of soup cans clanging against spoons throughout the gathering as people traversed the forest with can and spoon strung to their belt loops.  Everyone washed their hands and a very strict process of serving food was followed.  You do not ever hold your bliss over or even higher than the serving container, and never EVER touch “your thing to the thing.”  That meant immediate expulsion of that tool to the wash bin.

We were soon sitting in community eating a meal (that was also super delicious) and talking.  There were joints being passed around freely and the hippie love was obvious at this point in time.  I made it a point to not accept any drugs when I was here.  Even though it was completely accepted and encouraged at Rainbow, it wasn’t my scene and in my mind it’s not a good idea to try drugs for the first time in the middle of the woods with a bunch of strangers – I mean family!  I was surprised at how no one even batted an eye at my refusal of joint offers.  It became apparent as my time at Rainbow went on that people were accepted here regardless of what they were and weren’t into.

It was getting late so I decided to head to bed early.  I hoped to do a lot of manual labor in the morning and I wanted to get some rest.  That night I fell asleep to the sound of the forest alive with the crackling of fire, faint music, and the beating of drums far off in the distance.

The next morning I went down to Turtle Soup to get some breakfast and see how I could help out.  Only two brothers were up and talking about setting up their water line that was run down from a spring far up in the hills above the camp.  I offered to help them with the structure and they passed me off like I was ignorant and would be of no value.  I didn’t really feel welcomed here, so I didn’t bother mentioning I was a mechanical engineering student with a background in survival education and wilderness water purification.  I left them to their own devices in search of a community here that was more inviting.

It wasn’t long before I was being drawn into the Outer Circle’s Pancake Kitchen by a dreaded woman with a welcoming smile who asked if I was hungry – which I was!  Soon I was sitting on a stump at a makeshift table with a lovely mossy branched center piece playing Apples to Apples with some rainbow kids.  I noticed one person in the kitchen who didn’t quite seem to fit in.  Amongst the dreaded, free-flowing clothed hippie types and the rough-around-the-edges grungy street kids was a girl wearing plain blue jeans and an average hoodie.  For a person who would blend right in out in Babylon (what the rainbow family called the outside world), she stuck out in this forest.  Knowing I probably stuck out as much as she did, I wanted to know her story.

I introduced myself and she told me her name was Liz.  She was an intern with a Christian group called Outer Circle (part of a larger organization InnerCHANGE) from San Francisco who work with marginalized communities in an effort to improve their qualities of life.  She told me she had never heard about Rainbow before and, like me, only knew she was coming here a short time before showing up.  I felt really welcomed by this kitchen, and considering they just filled my belly with a bunch of delicious pancakes, I wanted to help out.  I helped clean up and washed dishes.  When We finished I asked if there was anything else I could help with.  Outer Circle had been here for a few days already and had everything set up, so they directed me over to Jesus Kitchen next door who were still setting up their kitchen and community area.

I was a little astonished by how much of a “traditional” religious presence was at this event.  From what I had learned before arriving at Rainbow, the event was very spiritual, but in a very undefinable way.  I found it interesting to have come across these camps that proudly defined themselves as Christian and were respected like everyone else.

I was a little concerned stepping over to Jesus Kitchen that I’d soon have an attempted indoctrination, but was pleasantly surprised to see they didn’t bring up the topic of religion at all.  In the coming days I learned about their methods.  It was simple and appropriate.  Practice the teachings of Jesus and be genuinely good to the people around you, and they’ll start the conversation themselves.

It wasn’t long before I was collecting logs and chopping fire wood.  I started working with a man named Chris.  He was there with his wife Fantasia and sons Morgan and True.  I got to know them very well over the coming week and beyond.  It wasn’t too long before we were designing an elaborate seating arrangement with stadium seating for their kitchen’s community campfire and evening worship.  My opinions were heard and suggestions were considered.  I felt like an equal and was valued in this kitchen.  I found my community.

Welcome Home.

In Missoula Jessie and I searched for a ride to the Rainbow Gathering.  We had little luck on a dreary day in the cultural center of Montana.  As we sat playing guitar with another rainbow kid, Jessie was on my phone looking to see if she could find a ride through her network of friends.  Suddenly she handed me my phone – it was ringing.  She said “this is a guy who has room for two in his truck to Rainbow.”  A man picked up and I introduced myself.  I stumbled through the conversation because I didn’t really know where she found out about this ride, but eventually we were on the same page.  He posted an ad on Craigslist.  He said his name was Alex and that he’d be happy to give us a ride.  We set up a meeting at a coffee shop down the street.

We made our way down to the coffee shop and a short time later a young guy wanders into the shop.  He had an untamed beard that hid his neck and long brown hair hardly contained by a baseball cap.  His attire was simple, jeans cut above the knees and a tight t-shirt.  On his hip he had two handcrafted sheathes.  One contained a trowel with a custom handle made from a deer antler with two tines sticking out the end giving it a lot of character..  The second contained a blade with a more modest custom antler handle.  His feet were protected by old tires that were refashioned into sandals with strips of leather wrapping them functionally to his feet and ankles.  I knew this guy had to be my ride.  As he passed I called out his name and he stopped and turned towards me.  I introduced myself and we talked for a few minutes.  We got along well enough and nothing seemed off about him, so we set up where to meet in the morning to leave for the Rainbow Gathering.  He was off to do some last minute errands before leaving tomorrow, so we parted ways.

Shortly after it became apparent Jessie and I didn’t have a place to stay that evening, so we decided to see if Alex would be willing to let us stay at wherever he was staying for the night.  I sent him a text and he explained that he was staying at his sister’s place because he’s not from Missoula.  He checked to see if it’d be alright if we stayed, and she was okay with it.  An hour or so later he returned back to the coffee shop with his sister.  She was quite pretty and Jessie and her immediately hit it off.  As they spoke I could tell that Alex was happy to have her distracted.  We made our way to Alex’s truck and were soon on our way to his sister’s place.

Alex’s truck was an extension of his image.  It was a small manual truck with a cap on the back to protect his worldly possessions.  Alex lived a nomadic lifestyle and this was basically his home.  On the front he had a deer skull wrapped to the grill with leather strap.  Through the windows of the truck bed cap you could see wrapped animal skins, a bison skull, several large woodcutting saws and a rifle half wrapped in a deer skin.  The truck bed was packed almost to the roof with the most interesting things.  Inside the cab there was a dream catcher with dangling feathers hanging from his rear view mirror.  His seats were backed with wolf pelts and his dashboard was  covered with various bundles of sage, bird feathers, arrowheads, animal teeth, and trinkets.  The air was thick with the smell of nature.  I wanted to learn as much as I could about this guy.

After a short ride we arrived at his sister’s place.  We learned she shared the house with four other people.  Two of them were brothers who worked for an adventure company and were on two different adventure trips.  The other two were, as far as I could tell, a strange couple that just worked in Missoula.  Something about the two rubbed me the wrong way, but I was polite to them and things went well. I also met Alex’s dog, a German short hair pointer named Lucy.  She had a lot of energy but was very well behaved.  You could tell that whatever it was that Alex did, this dog was a companion and needed to be obedient.  Alex briefly explained that Lucy was technically his girlfriend’s dog and that they parted ways a month or two ago and she left the dog with him.  Alex went on to say that was his main motivation for going to this Rainbow Gathering – his girlfriend, who did not have a vehicle, knew they could fairly easily meet back up with one another at the event.

I didn’t get to talk too much more with Alex that evening because his sister dominated the conversation, but I did learn that his sister thought he was one of the only people who could pull off jean shorts and has complimented Alex on his good looks his whole life.  Oh yeah, and that Alex could squeeze himself into her jeans.  That was impressive.  We all had a few beers together and while Jessie and Alex’s sister traded some clothing (Jessie was doing a little pre-Rainbow bartering), Alex cooked up some delicious bison meat.  As I ate, Jessie wrapped a black bandana around Lucy’s neck.  Jessie said “she loves it!” and Alex seemed surprised because Lucy normally hates stuff around her neck.  Something just seemed right about that bandana, so Jessie gifted it to her and the rest of the night Lucy seemed to strut around as if she was a peacock showing his feathers.  As the night progressed, I tried striking up conversation with Alex but he wasn’t very talkative.  He asked me to forgive him, but explained his mind wasn’t all there right now and that he’d be more talkative tomorrow.

That evening Jessie and I shared a room in the basement across from Alex.  The bed he slept in was covered in animal skins that he had tanned himself for blankets.  I still didn’t know what his story was, and hoped to talk at length with him during our four hour ride the next day about it.

The next morning we packed up Alex’s truck.  Alex and I sat up front and Jessie and Lucy shared the back seat.  It took only minutes before you could see the stress leave Alex’s body.  He again said sorry for acting somewhat closed the previous night.  He explained that there was a lot of tension between him and his sister.  Although she was very friendly and kind towards Jessie and I, Alex knew another side to her and it ate at him as he watched her interact with us.  Alex began to talk with confidence and the conversations started.

I asked Alex about what he did for a living and how he acquired all of these interesting belongings.  He told me he was a rewilder.  Not having a clue what that was, he began to explain without needing me to ask.  The process of rewilding involves restoring and protecting wilderness areas.  Alex and the group he worked with focused on roots and plants that were abundant during Native American times.  They go into large forests and find where these plants are abundant and then dig some of it up and replant it in areas where it is not.  Well, that’s what he did to the best of my understanding anyways.

He went on to explain to tell me about how he got started with rewilding.  The leader of the collective, who he referred to as his mentor, was a woman who was extremely strict and hard on her team.  When he arrived at her home in Washington looking to work with her, she started the process by berating him and making him feel like trash for how he was a materialistic pig ruled by a consumerist mentality.  She made him weep for his wrong doings.  Once he was knocked down a few notches, she taught him everything she knows about conservation and rewilding.  Alex told me about how he met his girlfriend, Chelsea, through this group and the nomadic lifestyle it entailed.  He told me about how his dog had to start carrying his own food after their work horse fell off a cliff and about the two donkeys he was given by a farmer after hearing about the loss of his horse.  He pointed to the hills and called out the names of plants and their values, how he was unable to utilize them because they were on protected Native American lands operated by individuals who were too far disconnected from their heritage to know the kinds of resources they were letting go to waste.  It was all so interesting.

Eventually the topics turned to music.  As it turned out we shared similar tastes in music.  We conversed about bands such as The Mountain Goats which most people give me a blank stare when I mention.  It was nice being able to talk about things such as what we liked and disliked about John Darnielle’s musical style.  We were soon listening to one of my Pandora stations listening to tunes my friends typically tolerate but he actually enjoyed.  Alex later told me he was part of a band called Mirror Fauna with Chelsea.  He explained their style and I wished I could hear some of their work.  After awhile he remembered he had a copy of their latest album and soon we were listening to the sweet voice of Chelsea accompanied by talented musicians as they sang their themed album about the destruction of the environment.  I really, really liked it.

While Alex and I were talking Jessie was in the back finishing some postcards she wanted to mail out.  When she finished we stopped in a small town to mail them before we got to Rainbow.  As Jessie was in the post office we noticed a tannery next door that looked open.  Alex and I went over to talk to the tanner.  He gave us a tour of his small facility.  The tanner was working on a lot of about 15 bear pelts at the time.  Alex and the tanner talked about their tanning styles.  Alex’s process was a lot more basic since he basically did it out of the back of his truck.  As we were preparing to leave, the tanner gave Alex a large deer fur that was scrap to the tanner.  Alex happily accepted and threw it over his shoulders like a shawl.  His face brightened up immensely and, like his dog, wore it with such pride.  We returned to his truck and we were on our way again.

We drove for a few more hours and eventually we arrived at the Rainbow Gathering.  We scoped out the parking situation and eventually we found a spot he needed to engage his 4WD for, which I had to give him encouragement for since I am experienced in driving places one normally doesn’t go.  We unloaded our gear and loaded ourselves up, including Lucy.  Alex explained that he was looking for a camp called Green Paths, which focuses on green initiative activities.  That sounded like a camp for me, so we traveled into the gathering together.  We soon lost Jessie because she got caught up in conversations with several people, but I figured I’d run into her within the next week.  The walk was pretty easy, but the elevation and my extra heavy pack made keeping up with Alex difficult.  We found Green Paths had not yet set up, so we decided to part ways ourselves.  I heard about a place called Turtle Soup I wanted to check out and he wanted to continue searching for Green Pathers.

I thanked Alex for his help and went on my way.  I ran into him three more times throughout the Rainbow Gathering, but you could tell our time together was done and he was glad to move onto the next thing.  I eventually met his girlfriend Chelsea as well.  She was frolicking through a muddy field with some others completely nude and completely happy.  That’s one way to be introduced.  I was happy to see they were reunited.  They planned to drive to Washington and fly up to Alaska to spend a month exploring the great state.  I wished them luck on their travels and hoped people would be as good to them as Alex had been to me.

Snagged this picture of Alex and Chelsea from their Mirror Fauna page.

As I was standing in line to check in at the rescue mission that night, I received a call.  I saw it was a local number and picked it up.  “Hello, this is Karen from CouchSurfing.  Are you still looking for a place to stay this weekend?” Success! Although I would have been perfectly content staying at the rescue mission, I much preferred the idea of staying in a house for the weekend and not consuming the resources of these people that need it more than I do.  I told her I was and asked if it was alright if Raymond tagged along.  It wasn’t a problem so Raymond and I grabbed our things and Karen came and picked us up.

That night we stayed at her boyfriend Eric’s house.  Eric has hosted over 600 CouchSurfers over the years and was a really awesome guy.  We were told that two other surfers would be joining us this evening and that another would join us the next night.  When we arrived Eric was in the middle of grilling some food for dinner and his brother and a co-worker were hanging out on the patio.  Raymond and I mentioned we already ate, but it was no matter.  We were going to be having a second dinner.

Soon the two other CouchSurfers arrived.  They were sisters from North Carolina on a road trip around the country.  It was interesting to find out that their upcoming itinerary was quite similar to my first road trip and their budget was $15 a day each, which was quite similar to my budget as well on my first trip.  We discussed pretty in depth their route and I gave them suggestions on things to do, see, or even do differently.  They told me about how they planned to take Route 1 from Eureka to San Francisco and I warned them about how terrible of an idea it was.  It’s a coastal route and an uneducated person (like myself the first time) would think it’d be an awesome way to get to San Francisco.  An educated person (myself and also Eric chimed in) would say “NO NO NO NO! That route is boring with little to no view of the ocean, extremely windy, and awfully tiring.”  I really hope they took that advice.  Everything else about their intended route got Traveler Gerik’s Thumbs Up of Approval.

It was soon dinner and we all munched away at the delicious food.  We all got to know each other for the next few hours and eventually everyone went to bed.  In the morning the girls left bright and early and Raymond intended to get to a truck stop to meet a trucker he had gotten in contact with.  The trucker was able to get him somewhat close to the Rainbow Gathering.  Eric took him up to the truck stop and while there noticed two vans clearly going directly to the Rainbow Gathering.  He talked to them and got Raymond set up with those guys.  It was clearly I was getting closer to the Rainbow Gathering.  I decided I should put up a Craigslist ad about offering rides to Rainbow on Monday when the car was fixed.

That day I helped Eric put up a fence in his back yard.  It was nice being able to help out my host because he was taking good care of me all weekend.  In the evening I met up with another CouchSurfer from Canada (Vancouver I believe) who was busing across the US to New York.  He was a quirky character, but we got along pretty well.  Karen brought two of her sons over and we all interacted into the evening.  It was a laid back evening and I enjoyed it a lot.

On Sunday I decided to head into town and check it out.  When I arrived in Downtown Rapid City I was met with a wine tasting and arts festival. I spent a few hours there and enjoyed the environment.  I checked out all the tents with various artist’s work and was surprised by the amount of interest there was in my travels.  My shirt definitely got a lot of attention here.  After telling my story for the eighth or ninth time I was walking past this one tent when I got a “Hey! Traveling on Kindness, come here!” The woman behind that announcement was one of the CouchSurfing hosts who I put a request out to but was unable to host me this weekend because she was out of town. The evening before she got called home because they needed her to work this tent.  We sat and spoke for awhile and I thought it somewhat ironic that I ran into her, but I was getting used to these strange coincidences.

My favorite part of the day turned out to a performance by a local dance studio.  I was a little skeptical at first because it was a group of younger girls and they were doing this performance with buckets of paint and I had a feeling it was just going to be a goofy experimental dance attempt and not be all that great, but I was so glad to see differently.  These young performers were quite good and their incorporation of the paint into their performance was awesome.  I left the festival after that satisfied with how I spent my day.

Afterwards I was contacted by two separate parties hoping to travel with me to Missoula.  Two of the people were looking to go directly to Rainbow Gathering and two were hitchhikers from Chicago who were just looking to go west.  I told them all that I would be able to drive them all as long as they were cool with being a little close and having a very packed station wagon.  Everyone was cool with the option, so it was set.  I was definitely utilizing this car to the max for this next stretch.

My last evening in Rapid City I spent at Karen’s house.  Eric was going out of town and although I was welcome to hang out there alone, I’d rather spend time with Karen and her kids.  I hung out with her youngest son mostly who loved playing Legend of Zelda.  I watched him play until it was late and I was off to bed.  That night I got to sleep in Karen’s Westfalia out back.  I was super excited.  I made sure to sleep in the pop up section and slept like a baby.

On Monday I spent the morning help one of Karen’s friends install some screen doors on Karen’s house.  I called the mechanic every few hours to make sure progress was being made on the car.  Around 3:00 the car was finally all fixed up and Karen took me over to the mechanic so I could get going.  I thanked Karen for her awesomeness as a host and soon I was off to pick up my new friends.

A short time later I picked up my fellow Rainbow travelers.  The first was a girl in her mid-twenties.  Her name was Jessie but her nickname was Strawberry.  The second was a man I’d guess to be in his sixties who went by Giver.  He had been going to Rainbow Gatherings since 1976 and he lived to go to Rainbow Gatherings and spend the rest of his time floating down rivers in various vessels.  Jessie had picked him up as she was traveling out to Rapid City the day before.  They were both quality individuals, so we packed up the car with their stuff and headed to the other side of town to pick up the two hitchhikers from Chicago.  They were two dudes in their early twenties and looked as normal as I.  Their names were Elan and Justin.  They were college students who wanted to go on a unique adventure.  We got along well.  We packed the car to the brim and were on our way.  It was going to be about 14 hours and we decided I’d just drive until we arrived in or near Missoula.

The ride was filled with interesting conversation.  We learned about Elan and Jason’s adventure and Giver told us about his experiences at Rainbow Gatherings.  We drove for quite a few hours and finally took a break as the sun was setting over Montana.  The view was beautiful and we all stood around and enjoyed it.  Jessie and Jason did some yoga as Giver continued to tell us tales from Rainbow Gatherings.  It was really great seeing how this group of travelers who had all just met so quickly felt so comfortable around each other.  Anyone passing by would have thought we knew each other for years.

Before we left someone discovered there was sage growing in the field next to us.  It was explained to me that sage was special and was used for cleansing so we all picked some and made sage bundles.  Shortly after we were off again and the sun finally set over Montana as the scent of sage filled the car.  Shoulders soon became beds and the car got quiet.  I drove until about 4:00 AM and got to about 45 minutes outside Missoula.  There was a rest stop coming up and none of us had a place to stay at this hour, so I stopped at the rest stop and we all got comfortable.  I snagged two or three hours of sleep and we arrived in town around 8:30 AM.  I dropped off Jason and Elan at their friend’s place in town and Jessie, Giver, and I ran some errands in town before I dropped the car off with Scott. I was so glad to have had the opportunity to help transport five people.  I got to be a hitchhiker picking up hitchhikers for awhile.  My time with the car was done, and it was time to work on getting a ride the rest of the way to the Rainbow Gathering.

Before I started my journey I came across a Craigslist ad about a gentleman named Scott out in Missoula, Montana that needed a vehicle driven out to him from Philadelphia.  I gave the guy a call and found he already found someone to drive the car out, but had another car in Ann Arbor, Michigan he was looking to get driven out.  I told him I’d keep it in mind as I was traveling in case I was passing through the area.

As my travels commenced I kept being told about checking out the national Rainbow Gathering that was going to be held a few hours south of Missoula this summer.  As I was leaving Florida I made the decision I would indeed make my way to the event.  I initially planned to head into Arkansas and spend a few days with my good friend Ashton, then hitch out to Colorado and then into Montana.  Ashton, as it turned out, was going to be moving back home to Pennsylvania a few days after I arrived at his place in Arkansas and would be making a detour to go to Toledo, Ohio on his way there.  Toledo just so happened to be 45 minutes from Ann Arbor.  I gave a call to Scott and found out the vehicle was still there and he still needed a driver.  I decided to make the goofy route back towards home with my friend and snag this car to drive out to Missoula.

The ride first took me out towards Oklahoma where I met some friends of Ashton’s who were really cool.  We spent a night looking out at the stars having stimulating conversations about the universe. We spent a night at a big paintball event in Oklahoma and then backtracked towards Pennsylvania. I met Ashton’s grandparents along the way and we spent a few days in Dayton, Ohio with some friends of ours who recently got married.  When we finally arrived in Toledo we got some lunch with Ashton’s relatives and Ashton dropped me off at the edge of town.  It was finally time to hitchhike one again.

I needed to get a mere 45 minutes up the road, but finding the ride wasn’t easy.  It took quite awhile, but a gentleman picked me up and told me about how he used to hitchhike and could take me a few miles up the highway to a place he thought was a better hitching location.  It’s been my general policy to trust the judgement of locals for where to go to maximize ride exposure.  I took him up on the offer and got dropped off in a rather desolate location.  It seemed to me this guy had no clue what he was talking about.  I didn’t have much other choice but to get to the on ramp and wait, and an hour went by with hardly any traffic getting onto the highway.  I was preparing myself to disregard the “no pedestrians” sign and head down to the highway and stand in the grass to (hopefully) abide by the law when I saw one car preparing to turn onto the ramp.  I told myself “last chance” and sure enough, the vehicle pulled right over.  The gentleman in the car just happened to stop for gas down the road and was getting back on the highway to go home to Ann Arbor.  Yes!  I’d be picking up that car today after all.

When I hopped in the gentleman said his name was Jim and told me about how his son was thinking about hitchhiking around the country and he wanted to start paying it forward in hopes that it’d return good travels for his son.  I thought this was funny because my own father wanted to do the same thing when I left home.  We talked for the entire duration of the ride and he dropped me off at a gas station near the location of the car.

I got in contact with the guy who currently had the car and he was kind enough to come pick me up at the gas station and take me to his house where the car was.  When we got there he mentioned the fact that the car had a manual transmission.  Oops.  Scott forgot to mention that.  Luckily I knew manual transmissions from riding motorcycle and had some experience driving manual cars.  Soon I was off… well, right after I failed to put the car in reverse and was in first gear and tried to drive away with the e-brake engaged.  The two things I forgot were different from a motorcycle.  After probably making the guy think I knew nothing about manuals, I eased the car out of the driveway and was off.  I was really excited to be driving a car and looking forward to picking up hitchhikers along the way.

I ended up in Chicago, Illinois in the evening and stayed with some friends outside the city.  The next day I explored a bit in Chicago and that evening my friends Greg, Matt, and my friend from home who just happened to be in Chicago for work that week, Mike, all got dinner together.  It was nice catching up with everyone.  I asked Greg about a state park called Starved Rock State Park that Jim told me about the previous day, and Greg got all excited and said I had to go down there and check it out.

So the next morning came along and I ended up at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois.  It was indeed worthwhile.  Unlike the rest of the state of Illinois, which to my knowledge was rather flat and boring, this little gem of an area had these beautiful little hills and several waterfalls.  I spent a few hours walking through the park and met this cool guy who makes YouTube videos and we walked through some of the park together while he took footage for a little Starved Rock State Park video he was making.  We saw some really beautiful scenery and eventually we parted ways.  I headed back to the car and away I went; next stop: Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

Not long into my drive there was a construction zone coming up and everyone was merging into the left lane.  As we merged over one of the tractor trailers went back over to the right lane after merging and kept moving over into the shoulder.  As I thought he was intending to stop  he continued off the shoulder into a ditch.  He managed to keep it upright for several hundred feet but made the poor decision to try and bring it back up to the highway.  He luckily wasn’t moving very fast as the whole truck tipped over onto its side.  Two other truckers and I pulled off the road and ran over to help.  I called 911 as the truckers, who were much more familiar with tractor trailers than I, climbed their way up the undercarriage and to the driver side door.  The driver had fallen down into the passenger seating area and was alert but had some back pain.  It didn’t take long for emergency crews to arrive and they worked on getting the man out of the vehicle.  Emergency crews took our statements and asked us to leave the scene.  We all complied, because it was clear they had it from there.  As I was leaving the scene they were prying out the windshield to get the man out of the cabin.

As I reflected on what just happened I began to think about where I wanted to end up that evening. I checked Craigslist to see if anyone needed a ride in the direction I was going and gave one guy in Sioux Falls, South Dakota a call, but his phone wasn’t in service.  I decided to drive late into the evening and go to Badlands National Park early in the morning.  That evening I ended up about two hours west of Sioux Falls at a rest stop and called it a night.  In the morning I received a text from the guy in Sioux Falls and he was still hoping to get a ride. I decided to just go for it and drove back to Sioux Falls for him.  He was trying to go to the Rainbow Gathering as well and didn’t have many resources to get himself there, and I wanted to help.  We met up at a McDonald’s and it was clear Ray was a decent guy so we were off on our way.

It took about 5 hours to get to Badlands National Park and when we finally arrived we were both happy to take in the sights.  Although I’d been to Badlands multiple times, it’s one of my favorite places.  Ray had never headed this way so it was a treat for him.  We spent a few hours in the park and ended up blazing our own trail up into some rocky hills and ended up with a beautiful view of the park.  We were satisfied with our accomplishment and decided to head on to Wall Drug  outside of the park.  Right as we were leaving the park and coming up to a stop sign, I engaged the clutch and moved the transmission over to first gear as the clutch pedal let loose and I skid to a stop.  Uh oh.

The car just broke down in pretty much the middle of nowhere.

Leaving Lake City and Jonathan’s Farm so soon was a somber decision, but I wanted to get to Arkansas to see my friend and needed to get moving.  Jonathan and Laurie were kind enough to drive me out to the interstate and dropped me off at a gas station down the road.  After we said our goodbyes, I headed to the back to search for a decently sized piece of cardboard to write “ATLANTA” on.  I ended up finding a real quality piece in white to really have my Sharpie pop on the background.  I started heading towards the interstate and had to use the bathroom.

I stopped at the next gas station down the road and noticed a few officers talking to a guy sitting out back who had a few bags next to him.  When I came out I asked him if he was traveling and he made a grin and said that he was.  I told him I was too and sat down with him to chat.  I don’t know what it was about this guy, but he was about 40 years old, wore dress pants with a tucked in button down plaid shirt, was a little rough looking with a five o’clock shadow, and the most piercing eyes.  He introduced himself as Bill Moore and we were soon telling each other about our recent travels.

Bill’s story was a sad one.  He was living in a small trailer in Oklahoma when the recent tornado came by and destroyed his home.  He took cover in the bathtub of the trailer with his dog and the tornado threw his trailer several hundred feet.  Upon landing his dog had been pierced through the chest by a pole and he had to suffocate his own dog because it was suffering and had no chance of survival.  As he told me this his eyes watered up and it was clear how much this experience had affected him.  He was also under rubble and was only able to get out after the rescue workers came by with their long poking poles and heard his calls for help.

After he was rescued he needed to relocate because there was no home here for him anymore.  He traveled to Tallahassee to see his son who was living with his ex-wife.  He stayed a few days enjoying the time he had with him before his ex-wife forced him to leave because she didn’t like him around.  He told me about how he had no money left and would be getting a big insurance check in the next week or so, so he hitchhiked out to Lake City the day before in preparation to head north towards Indiana where he had family he was going to stay with. He told me about the night before when he slept on a bench in front of the IHOP across the street and had the cops called on him.  He explained to them that they had no shelters for homeless and he had no choice but to sleep somewhere in public.  They eventually let him be and the next morning he went into the IHOP in hopes of getting a free meal.  By the time he left, he had a free meal and $30 in donations.

As we talked he asked me if I wanted a soda and I told him I had water and that it was fine.  He insisted on buying me a soda so I finally accepted the offer.  He returned with a beer for himself and a soda for me.  That’s when his story started to seem strange.  When he sat down again he started over with his story and recalled the tornado, suffocating his dog while in tears, and traveling to see his son.  Shortly after two other homeless fellows came over and he introduced me to them by name.  I was starting to wonder if his story was an act.  He seemed to know the names of the gas station attendants as well and a few people who walked by.

Act or not, Bill was a really interesting character and gave me all sorts of advice for my travels.  He seemed to know a thing or two about being on the road and kept telling me I’d be really successful in my journey.  He felt like I was the type of person someone would want to help, such as himself who wanted to buy me a soda when he didn’t even have much money.  As I was preparing to leave I thanked him for his time and told him I was off to hopefully make it to Atlanta today.  He looked straight into my soul with his piercing eyes and told me “Not hopefully, you will make it to Atlanta today.  The good Lord is looking out for you.”  Something felt a little weird inside me and then he shook my hand and I was on my way.

I got out to the on ramp and set up.  It was going to be a hot day so I lathered up on sunscreen and waited.  It took about an hour, but someone stopped and picked me up.  I noticed he had PA plates so I was excited to see where my ride was from.  In the car were two guys named Royce and Brian.  Royce was from the Allentown area originally, which is down the road from where I go to school.  He and his wife moved to Georgia four years ago on a whim and were planning to return to Pennsylvania in the next year or so.  Royce was not going to pick me up initially, but his friend Brian who used to be a truck driver told him to stop.  I was certainly glad Brian was in the car.  We talked for a little and then Royce told me to sit back and relax as we made our way an hour up I-75 to Valdosta, GA.  Royce turned up the radio and it was a Christian talk show.  We quietly listened to that until we reached Valdosta.  When we arrived they let me out at a gas station, I thanked them, and off they went.  I appreciated the ride because I was now in a much better location for getting another ride north.

For whatever reason, I saw a Wendy’s and decided to take a break in there for a little while.  When I went in the atmosphere seemed different from other fast food joints.  There was a woman working there who had this clearly noticeable positive energy surrounding her.  She came over to me and offered me a cup of water and eventually we started to talk.  She told me about how she treats all of her customer’s like family and that she finds it amazing how the most unexpected people end up in her store such as myself.  She asked me if God told me to stop in here to meet her, and I just sort of chuckled.  I didn’t know what to say.  I did recall almost walking into a KFC and deciding to turn around and go down to the Wendy’s instead for no real reason. She loved the idea of what I was doing and thanked me for coming in and talking with her.  She wished me the very best and told me I’d be in her prayers.  I was ready to continue and walked towards the interstate.

Sometimes as I’m walking towards the interstate I keep my sign out to the side just in case I get lucky and someone passes who is willing to pick up a hitchhiker before I set up shop on the on ramp.  I was not out of the Wendy’s for 30 seconds before I noticed a guy stop along the on ramp.  I was still a little ways away from the on ramp but I walked a bit faster in case this guy had actually stopped for me.  Sure enough, as I got close he waved me over.  I was astonished.  All he could see of me was a big blue rain cover over my pack, some legs, and a sign and he decided to stop and wait a few minutes walk up the road for me.

As I approached his truck he was pulling a trailer full of dirty looking barrels and the back of his truck was filled with an assortment of dirty tanks.  He looked like quite a character with a bandana around his neck, cowboy hat, and gruff looking facial hair and a mustache.  He told me he was heading to Atlanta and to jump in.  In his truck he had a CB radio and a laptop set up like police have in their patrol cars.  I noticed he had a handgun holstered to his hip as well.  I could tell this man was a stand up guy, so noticing the handgun actually put me at ease.  It’s my opinion that if a person has an appropriately holstered weapon on their person, they are likely much more trustworthy than someone who isn’t. He introduced himself as Gil and we were off.

I was quite curious about what the deal was with his setup and asked him about it.  He explained to me that he used to be a federal agent (case and point about the firearm) and that he likes to remain connected to the world.  He explained all the stuff he was hauling was for collecting vegetable oil as fuel through his truck.  He was just in Valdosta to pick up a large supply of oil.

Gil is a true confederate through and through.  He told me all kinds of stories about the Civil War and the atrocities that got covered up by the Yankees after they won the war.  He pulled up a website about the Civil War on his laptop and had me read about this and that about the war.  It was actually really interesting and I enjoyed hearing a southerner’s version of what happened.  It was interesting that he noted that most southerners weren’t mad because they lost the war, but because of how the north treated the south and trashed the south after the war.

Gil also told me about how he used to hitchhike while he was in the military told me this really funny story about this one time he got picked up.  He was hitchhiking back to base once in his uniform and came across a hippie.  The two of them ended up at a really bad location and a cop ended up stopping and telling them to jump in the vehicle.  They both went to get in the back of the car and the cop told Gil to sit up front.  Gil complied.  The officer then drove off knowing where Gil was trying to get to and started berating them on the stupidity of walking where they were and was just in general really hard on them.  As they arrived at the base the officer let Gil out and Gil went to open the door for the hippie and the officer said “Don’t you dare open that door!” Gil asked why and the officer said “I’m letting you out here, but this ones getting dropped off in jail tonight!”  The hippie’s face had a terrified expression and the officer waved to Gil and drove off.  That poor hippie!

Gil and I talked for the full three hour ride, and as it turned out, he lived right up the road from my friend who I’d be staying with in Atlanta that evening.  He dropped me off at a Waffle House and was on his way.  My friend showed up and we went off to see the town.

I guess Bill was right, I would make it to Atlanta today.

My morning started in Tampa.  I hadn’t needed to hitchhike for nearly a week, so as I arrived at the on-ramp I analyzed the best way to position myself to get rides and what kind of message I should display.  I decided to set up in between the forks of the on-ramp’s Y and display my sign to each side as vehicles passed.  I also went with a simple “75-N” sign because I just wanted to go north.  As I stood there the time slowly passed and I had terrible fortune.  Two hours went by and I decided to take a break.  I changed my strategy a little bit and wrote “OCALA” on the other side of my sign.  It was the next bigger town an hour up 75.  Another hour went by and I had feelings of defeat and pointlessness creeping up in my mind.  I started to think about just giving up and going home and that I’d only been lucky to hitchhike to Miami.  Time continued to pass and finally as the fourth hour of standing at this spot came near – someone stopped.

The gentleman who stopped was named Bill.  He was a nice guy and he was able to take me about a half hour up 75 to Brooksville, FL to a much better intersection.  We had a short conversation and most of the ride was pretty quiet.  I was exhausted from, yes, standing for the past for hours.  When we arrived we exchanged business cards and he went on his way.  I walked down to the gas station to use the bathroom and wash up a bit.

After I was done there I decided to walk over to a McDonald’s across the street and use their Wi-Fi and charge my phone for a bit.  When I got there I sat my pack down and started to look for an outlet.  Within a minute someone was asking me about what I was doing and where I was heading.  I explained to them about my intentions and they offered me their extra grilled chicken wrap.  I was feeling pretty hungry so I gladly accepted.  I sat down and started talking to them.  There were three people in their group: Jonathan, Laurie, and Laurie’s daughter Savannah.  They were going back home to Tampa from the Lakeland area (where I was the night before for a bit) after Savannah’s bowling tournament.  Savannah had bowled really well and I could see how proud they were of her.  As we continued to talk Jonathan offered me a ride up to Lake City two hours up I-75.  I was happy to accept.

The ride there we talked about this and that, and I started looking for a couch to surf on when we arrived to the town.  I learned that Jonathan was a cattle farmer and that the family had gone to not eating meat because it was more healthy.  I thought this was a bit ironic since Jonathan was raising cows for beef, but soon learned he would wander off down the road to get dinner with other friends so he could eat some meat from time to time.

As we got close to Lake City Jonathan offered for me to stay at his farm for the evening.  I was very glad to hear that because how Jonathan talked about his farm, I was very interested in seeing it and learning more about this family.  They told me they couldn’t offer me a bed because they were currently living in a small trailer because they were still building their house, but I was more than welcome to set up camp on their lawn.  That was fine with me!

We soon arrived and I instantly felt at home here.  There was a small house that appeared to be pretty well along in its construction and a short distance away was a barn with a cement patio in front with a small camping trailer across from it.  Next to the barn was an open air shower and inside the barn was a bathroom and small kitchen area.  Dotting the property were trees with Spanish moss hanging from them and beyond that sat 100 acres of well-maintained farmland.

Jonathan offered me some wine and we sat down and relaxed for a bit.  Jonathan needed to go check on a new calf that had been born the night before while he was away and Laurie wanted him to go pick some squash from her garden, so when we were done I asked if I could join him and help.  We jumped on his ATV and went to pick some squash first.  As we picked squash Jonathan explained to me all sorts of interesting information about farming.  I learned that tomato farming was no longer a profitable business for the average farmer because of regulations that didn’t allow you to sell more than 3 crates of tomatoes to any one person in a day.  He told me about his feelings with money and that he doesn’t really care for it and doesn’t live his life to acquire it.  He told me about the extremely intelligent men he was fortunate enough to interact with while he was in college for horticulture.  I could tell her didn’t think of himself as one of these men, but I knew I’d be telling people about my good fortune in being able to interact with this extremely intelligent man.

We soon finished picking a shopping bag full of squash and headed off to check on the cattle.  As we rode Jonathan picked up a piece of squash we’d dropped and told me he had a donkey among the cattle who liked treats like this.  We arrived and he started pointing to various cattle and telling me about them and their successes in bearing calves.  We found the donkey and Jonathan fed him the squash.  The donkey was a little skittish, but he eventually took the squash.

I noticed a small calf with its umbilical cord still hanging and asked if that was the one we were looking for.  He told me that one was born four or five days prior in a really remarkable way.  The calf was ready to come out and he saw it’s front hooves and nose sticking out of the mother.  From how it looked it appeared the calf had died.  Jonathan told me about how he worked the calf out of the mom and that it was the first time he ever birthed a calf standing up (dead or alive).  When the calf was finally out of the mother it laid motionless on the ground.  He checked to make sure it was in fact dead and could feel a slight pulse.  He thought to himself “this calf if going to make it” and not a moment later the calf took in a deep gasp of breathe that brought life into its body.  It was alive.  I could tell how important these creatures were to Jonathan by the way he told this story.  He wanted to be good to them and treat them with dignity and respect for what they offered.  That’s when I decided that not only was this man intelligent, but had a good heart too.

We continued on in search of the new calf and Jonathan continued to explain how he moved the cattle around and would work their manure back into the fields to fertilize them.  I really enjoyed learning about the farming process.  We drove into the small cypress marshland in search of the calf and I saw the skeleton of one of the cows that had lived it’s whole life through on this farm.  We were soon back into the field and finally found the calf hiding in some bushes.  He looked it over and it appeared healthy, so we were on our way.

As we rode back he showed me his crop land for the year.  It was three varieties of peas and they were all extremely green and healthy looking.  He said it looked like they were going to yield a high volume this year.  We soon returned and Laurie had made dinner.  It was all very good and included some squash from last season.  I sat in the family’s camper with them and joined them in a home cooked meal.  I felt so fortunate to have met these kind people.  After dinner, their big lovable dog named Tater took care of clean up.  They told me about how much they spoiled him and that he probably ate more human food than dog food.  I could tell how happy Tater was to be part of this family.

That evening it rained quite a bit and Jonathan and Laurie didn’t want me out in the rain.  Jonathan moved some equipment around in his barn and set up an extra sofa bed they had in the barn.  Jonathan kept apologizing that he couldn’t offer me a real bed, but this was more than enough for me.  I told him about how I was perfectly satisfied with the arrangements and how it reminded me of my fond memories at summer camp sleeping in open-air Adirondack cabins.

That night I slept quite well and in the morning Laurie prepared a tasty breakfast for Jonathan and I after Savannah was off to her second to last day of school for the year.  I asked Jonathan if he minded if I stayed another day and helped him out on his farm.  He told me he didn’t have anything fun to do, but that I was more than welcome.  So that morning I helped him change and rotate the tires on Laurie’s jeep, and then we went out to replace some fence posts for one of his gates.

Working on the fence posts was pretty labor intensive.  The day was very warm getting close to 100 degrees and we needed to dig out one of the posts because it had broken in the ground.  I dug the post out after much effort and we worked the new post in.  Jonathan taught me the proper method for setting the posts and packing the dirt back into place.  After awhile I needed to take a break so I didn’t get a headache (which I so easily do).  We ended up returning to the barn for awhile because a good rain came down.  After the rain we went back out and replaced a second post which went by much more quickly since it hadn’t broken.  We replaced the barbed wire on the fence and called it a day.  It didn’t seem like we got a lot done, but I know I felt satisfied with our accomplishment and we called it a day.

Afterwards we took showers and Laurie prepared dinner for all of us.  We had stove top stuffing, okra, some not-meat (but would have fooled me) beef tips, and a squash casserole made from the squash we picked the night before.  Jonathan wasn’t quite hungry yet so Laurie and I sat and ate together for awhile.  It was nice having the opportunity to learn more about her.  Laurie told me about the area and the nice springs and parks one could go to nearby.  Eventually Jonathan came in for dinner and we all ate together. When we were done we sat in the barn for a few hours and relaxed before heading to bed.

In the morning it was time for me to get moving again.  I really wanted to stay longer, as well as Jonathan and Laurie, but I wanted to get to Arkansas to see a friend of mine before he moved in a week.  Laurie again cooked a delicious breakfast and she made some cheesy grits so I could try them.  I’d imagine she made the to the limits of grits tastiness, but I decided grits just weren’t for me.  Jonathan and Laurie drove me into town and dropped me off at the best location they could think of.  I thanked them so much for how good they were to me, and they told me they hoped I’d come back in the future and stay with them again.

I’m so thankful for the opportunity to have met these great people, and I know if I’m ever in the area again, I’m going to be sure to see them.

Waking up on a cool morning in Shenandoah National Park, I knew I’d be back to hitchhiking in an hour and was told that on a Sunday morning in the direction I desired to go it wouldn’t be easy.  I took my time to get to the road and decide what the best thing to write on today’s sign was.  When I finally arrived I could tell it wasn’t going to be easy.  One car came by every two minutes or so and half of them were going to Shenandoah.  I decided today’s sign was going to say “New Market” which was a town maybe 30 miles down the road.  Right as I was about to get out a piece of cardboard, I noticed a car coming so I threw out my thumb.  They stopped.  Seriously?  I didn’t even have a sign out and someone stopped.  In the car was an Indian couple with their two young sons.  They told me they were going to Luray and that they could take me that far. Luray was about half way to New Market, so I gladly accepted.

As we traveled towards Luray they offered me some chips, so I accepted them.  Their one son couldn’t care less about me being there and was reading a book, but the other was quite interested but a little shy.  I asked him his name and he was silent and turned away.  He then threw on some sweet shades and kept looking at me.  His father asked him why he got so quiet since he was talking up a storm before I got in the car.  He stayed quite the rest of the way, but I could tell her was really curious about me.

When we got to Luray the couple continued on, I had misunderstood that they were actually going to Luray Caverns down the road.  It was a bit further so I didn’t mind.  When we arrived the husband asked me if I had ever been to Luray Caverns.  I told him I hadn’t and he offered to buy me a ticket to go in.  I was hesitant to accept because I didn’t want to take advantage of his generosity, but remembered something I had read about the most challenging thing to do is to accept a gift purely because it will make the other person happy.  So I accepted his generosity and got a ticket to see the caverns.

When I went into the caverns I was so happy I had accepted his offer.  They were quite beautiful and I particularly liked the body of water in the caverns that perfectly reflected the top of the cavern.  As I was enjoying the sights a woman came up to me and asked if I had any rope.  I told her I had some parachute cord.  Her prescription glasses had gotten bumped off of her and over a ledge about ten feet down into one of the caverns.  She was hoping I could possibly fish them out.  I told her I’d give it a shot, but wasn’t overly confident I could do it.  I spent maybe fifteen minutes trying to fish them out.  I was able to lasso a side of the glasses, but knew it’d just come off if I pulled.  I mentioned that one of the staff was probably able to get it a lot easier than I could, and eventually a staff members came by and just snuck around a railing and walked down into the cavern and grabbed them.  I didn’t mind my efforts, it was kind of fun and I’m sure entertaining for the spectators (we gathered a bit of a crowd).

The woman thanked me for my efforts and introduced herself as Kris.  She was a really sweet woman and we ended up walking together and talking for awhile.  She even gave me some money and wished me well on my endeavors. I thanked her and eventually we parted ways.

When I was done in the caverns I checked out a few of the other attractions and then headed off to New Market.  This time I knew I’d be needing a sign so I wrote it up and got to a half decent spot along the road.  I was surprised to see yet another Indian couple stop and pick me up within about fifteen minutes of waiting.  I found this a bit peculiar because so far only white people had picked me up.  I don’t really care what ethnicity a person is, but I had read that typically it’ll only be white people that pick up hitchhikers.  I was glad to see this not turning out to be the case.  The couple was able to take me half way to New Market from Luray Caverns, so again I figured that’s further than I was and accepted.

When I arrived there only a minute or two went by and a truck full of people drove by me and they were pointing at me.  I figured it was the typical “oh look, a hitchhiker” response I get a lot of the time, but a few moments later they had turned around and stopped on the side of the road.  They told me they could take me to New Market, but I’d need to sit in the bed of the truck.  I was thinking “heck yeah, that’s cool” and jumped in.  As we started down the road they opened the back window and told me “You just can’t get rid of us today!” I was a little confused and they told me they were the family that I helped with the fallen glasses.  I didn’t even realize!  I had only really spoken with Kris, her brother, and a young man who was part of their family.  In the truck I could only see… everyone else in the family.  So when this was now understood, I thanked them again and said how fortunate I was to have helped out.  They dropped me off in New Market and I wished them well and off they went.  I’m glad I took the time to help out!

I hung out at a gas station in New Market and headed to the local gas station’s dumpster for some cardboard.  I opened it up and saw a bag full of recently trashed hot dogs and various other grab-n-go items.  I was half tempted to eat them, but figured I had money so I didn’t need to do that.  I grabbed some cardboard, went inside and bought myself a delicious hotdog and sat outside for a bit.  I made a sign saying 81S and and hung out in front of the gas station to see if anyone would happen to take interest.  I ended up speaking with a gentleman who had recently hitchhiked from Richmond, where I hoped to end up that night, and said it’s really hard to hitchhike in this area.  A little bummed at this, I decided I needed to get to the on-ramp and maximize my exposure.

I was hardly there a minute before a van stopped with a family visiting from (I think) Brazil for one of the men’s son’s graduation from college.  They were really nice and friendly.  They told me they could take me to Harrisonburg, the next town.  That worked for me and off I went with them.  They were really into what I was doing and asked me all kinds of questions.  The driver told me about how he and a friend rode motorcycles all the way from the southern tip of Argentina to Prudhoe Bay and back once.  I thought that was so awesome.  We talked some more and eventually got to the next town.  They dropped me and one of the men wanted a picture with me before they left.  After they took the picture they were on their way and I was off to the on-ramp again to get to the next town.

I was standing on the second on-ramp to 81S of the day, and hardly before I could be there a few minutes another car stopped.  Inside were two young guys.  The conversation went like this:

Me: “Hi there, I’m trying to get to Staunton right now, are you going that far?”
Them: “Yeah, we’re going through there.”
“Oh, you don’t by chance happen to be going through Richmond as well, are you?”
“Actually, we are!”
“Oh… so where are you headed to?”
“Miami!”
Here I was flabbergasted because I was also going to Miami ultimately.
“Wait, seriously?  That’s where I’m trying to get to! Would you be willing to let me ride with you the whole way there?”
“Absolutely, jump in!”

And off we went.  It turned out these guys left just minutes before from the Harrisonburg, VA, a relatively out of the way town that didn’t seem to have a whole lot going on, and were headed towards Miami.  Just like me.  At exactly the right time.  Stuff like this just makes you wonder.

I really enjoyed the ride with them.  Half the time I was quiet in the back and Xose and Iban, as I learned their names were, spoke in Spanish up front.  I could tell they were really good friends by the way they spoke to one another.  As the ride continued we’d all talk about this and that, and I found it funny how similar they were to my best friends Evan and Ashton.  I mean, it was uncanny.  These two guys were basically the Mexican/Colombian/Honduran versions of them.  Similar appearances and personalities.  We all got along really well and the next 17 hours of driving went by in total comfort.  Iban even got an extra bonus because a friend of mine saw a picture of him on my Facebook, thought he was really cute, and they’ve been talking for a bit and will be meeting up next month.  Just call me cupid. 😉

We eventually got to Miami and I had them drop me off in the Fort Lauderdale area.  We all shook hands and they headed off to their destination in the city.  I spent the next few hours enjoying my accomplishment and relaxed on the beach.  I did it.  It took me seven days, but I made it to Miami from Pennsylvania purely by Traveling on Kindness.

When I arrived at Shenandoah National Park, I decided I wanted to stay in the park for two nights and hike.  I had plenty of food, access to water, and camping gear.  However, when I arrived to the park I realized I didn’t have access because I was without my National Park Pass.  I tried to reason with the park rangers and show them photos of the card sitting on my desk at home, but not luck.  The one ranger came out of the booth and walked behind the building with me and handed me a map.  She explained to me that I could just go over to one of the trails down the road (which was outside of the park) and simply hike the trail into the park and avoid the $8.00 fee for hikers.  I thanked her and headed out for the trail.  Typically I wouldn’t avoid paying access fees to a National Park because I think they deserve every penny, but I had already bought access and was just stuck in a technicality.

As I was hiking I was feeling great.  The weather was perfect and the trail was gorgeous.  I decided to go to the Dickey Ridge visitor center and pick up a backcountry camping permit so I could camp in the park that night.  It was about five miles away and would take me a few hours to get to.  It wasn’t long before I remembered that I stink at hiking, I really stink at hiking up hills, and it stinks even more when you have a 50 lb pack on your back.  Shenandoah is a mountain range and I opted to hike up one side of it.  I persevered though and eventually made it to the visitor center drenched in sweat.

When I arrived at the visitor center I discovered I was 20 minutes too late.  The center closed for the evening.  I thought about how I wanted to go about my evening in the park, and ultimately decided I’d just let my dad know approximately where I’d be in case anything happened.  I took a look at my super official trail map (this is sarcasm) and decided to head towards an old mill and camp nearby.  The hike there was pretty easy, and I eventually arrived.  I was tired and had never really camped like this before.  I decided to set up camp early to make sure I did everything properly.  I looked for a good spot to set up my tent out of sight of the trail and a certain distance away from the mill as Shenandoah’s camping rules stated, but found that the only decent spot I could find had some fresh bear poop nearby.  This freaked me out so ultimately I broke basically all the rules and camped right in front of the mill next to the trail.  I hadn’t seen a single person hiking all day so I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal.  Sorry Shenandoah, I tried!  I decided to eat a bag of Campbell’s soup cold and then repacked all of my food into my dry bag and hung it up in a tree downwind of me.  Didn’t want any hungry critters bugging me in the night.  I got into my tent around 8:30 and listened to some tunes as I drifted off to sleep.

The night was rather cold and I remember waking up chilly around five in the morning.  I tried to stay warm until the sun came up and drifted in and out of an uncomfortable sleep.  I discovered then that a low of 40 was pretty much the limit for my camping setup.  Once the sun came up I packed up my gear and made sure to Leave No Trace.  I began my hike towards the Appalachian Trail which I wanted to hike around 10 miles of.  It took me a few hours and again it was a solitary trek, but I arrived.  On my arrival I was halfway through my water supply and had no idea where the next spring would be. I hiked the trail a short distance and concluded the destination I wanted to get to was simply too far to hike in the time frame I wished.  I decided to try hitching a ride to the next visitor center.  I was very fortunate because I noticed a guy walk over to his car and I asked if he could take me down the road 15 miles.  He said he was headed that way so I jumped in and off we went.  We talked for awhile and I found out he was a JAG officer and was hiking some trails for the weekend.  He was a nice guy and we soon arrived at my destination.  I thanked him and was on my way.

By this time my phone and backup charge was just about dead, so I spent some time at the visitor center to charge it up.  I sat out in the grass enjoying the weather and within a few minutes an AT thru-hiker popped a squat next to me.  He said his name was Spider-Mack (I think!) which was his trail name.  He had been hiking the trail from Georgia to Maine since March 7th.  He was a really cool guy and we talked about gear and our motivations for doing what we were doing.  I met some of his thru-hiking friends and they were all really cool.  He kept trying to offer me some of his food, but I continued to decline.  With what he was doing, food was much more critical for him than it was for me. I think I ended up chatting with him for two hours, but I needed to get going if I  was going to get to my evening’s destination.  I thanked him for all the advise he gave me about hiking and gear and the like, and was on my way.

My hike on the AT started off awful.  It was a very steep hill and it was grueling for me.  Eventually it leveled off though and I started passing a bunch of thru-hikers who were very friendly.  The majority of the rest of the hike was really enjoyable and I decided to head towards an AT hut for the night a few miles away.

When I finally arrived I was exhausted.  I had hiked about 15 miles mostly up hill, and that’s just not something I do.  I had read that the AT hut was reservation-based and that I’d need to set up camp nearby the hut, but was informed by the occupants it was first-come-first-serve and there was plenty of space.  The hikers were all very nice and I have to admit that I felt a little embarrassed when I was figuring out how to cook my dinner.  These hikers all had great gear and other than my pocket rocket burner, my cooking set kind is basically terrible.  I decided to make some rice and put my second bag of soup over it, but before I could start cooking the rice one of the hiker’s offered me her instant cheesy potatoes she said she wasn’t going to eat.  They looked delicious and she said she had no need for them, so I graciously accepted.  I boiled some water remembered how bad my cooking pot was as I spilled half of it as I lifted the pot (terrible design!).  Luckily I didn’t get burnt and there was enough left for my potatoes, so I mixed it up and made some really tasty dinner.

After dinner I cleaned up and started chatting with two of the younger hikers.  One of them was a crazy fast hiker who started a month after everyone else and had already caught up.  The other gentleman was from Germany and was only hiking for four weeks and started a few days prior.  We discussed CouchSurfing and proper ettiquette with that and hitchhiking in Europe.  I found out that hitchhiking in Eastern Europe is much more common and accepted than in Western Europe.  It started to get late (8:30 PM!) so we all headed to bed.

The night was pretty chilly again, but sleeping in the warmest corner of the hut (as per the suggestion of the hikers) made my sleep pretty comfortable.  In the morning I packed up my gear and headed out to the cross road that I planned to take out of the park a short 2 mile hike away.

My time in Shenandoah was interesting and I met some really nice people, but that was enough hiking for me and it was time to continue my way towards Miami.