E-Hitchhiking- It's Easier On The Thumb (Part IV)

Craigs List is cool. It doesn't always work like I want it to, but it's always there, and when it works, it works very well. Half the reason I was able to go to Austin is because I found a ride from Austin to San Diego before I went to Texas.

Vince provided me with both my ride and my renewed faith in Craigs List. He replied to my post and told me that he wanted to leave Austin before I wanted to, but that he could start his trip late if that was better for me. So instead of leaving Austin on Sunday in the afternoon, I found myself rolling out of bed at an absolutely ungodly hour on Monday morning and hitting the road. Vince had come by to meet me the day before, and I have to say, his laid back attitude really made me look forward to the trip.

Not only did Vince open up his car to me, he opened up his food and his schedule, and he even let me sleep for about half of the ride. Which was great, because I was exhausted. Almost as soon as I was in the car I found myself sleeping. And although Vince was in a hurry to get to his destination, he took the time for me to do a few things that I wanted to do. We stopped on the highway to get some pictures of the views, he pointed out Mexico as we drove near it, and towards the end of the drive we even went into my first casino (which doubled as a convenience store- they'll take your money, and they're not picky how).

We also had a small adventure around three in the morning. There are various checkpoints along the highway near the Mexican border, and the guards seem to get bored in the early morning. Since we were the only ones on the highway they decided to stop us and walk their drug-detecting dog around our car. And wouldn't you know it, but the dog smelled something. So Vince and I sat down on the hood of the police car as they pulled out our bags and let the dog have a look through them. So in the end I did get a good nights sleep. Surprisingly enough, the benches in lockdown are surprisingly comfortable.

Which isn't true. The cops actually found nothing and we left after a few minutes. But it makes for a better story.

When I rolled into San Diego I found that Cindy and Mike, my next hosts, were every bit as welcoming and awesome as everyone else was. They left me a key to the back door, a bedroom that was set up for my stay, and instructions that I should eat whatever I want. There are worse ways to start a visit.

San Diego is a fun town. I didn't get out into the city much, but I did get to know Hillcrest pretty well. Hillcrest is a very cool district with several small bookstores, a handful of coffee shops, plenty of restaurants, and more than a couple of stores to peruse. Since I was still living out of my father's old army duffel bag I didn't avail myself of the stores terribly much, but I did find some books to add to my traveling library. And one afternoon I tried my first Afghanistani cuisine with Irena, a friend and former co-worker from N Street Village.

In addition to wandering through and enjoying Hillcrest, I found myself at a national park with an unbelievable collection of cacti. San Diego has outlawed all smoking on beaches and at parks, and those signs were untouched. This struck me as odd, though, since the plaques announcing the variety of cactus that I was looking at were illegible, being completely covered with graffiti.

And I also visited the San Diego Zoo, which completely blew me away. I walked away with pictures of macacas (thank you, George Allen), big cow-like animals that I never saw or heard of before (they're from China and belong to a completely different family of animals), saw the pandas, and saw a remarkable impromptu exhibit at the gorilla habitat. An enormous silverback gorilla stood in front of the watching crowd, and he gracefully lifted his arm as if in greeting to the people. Then he lowered his arm and turned around and leaned on one of the rocks in the habitat. It was at this point that the people started pointing and laughing, saying "look at his butt!" "I need a picture of that!" And when I found myself in the midst of this exhibit of people, I began to wonder why we think of the gorilla as the primitive one.

My trip has been one of college campuses and college students, it seems. I didn't plan it that way, but that's how it turned out. Cindy is studying at the University of San Diego, and I dropped into her lap in the middle of the week and in the middle of exams. And in spite of this, she took the time to show me around town, take me to the beach, show me some restaurants, and just spend time with me. I am continually amazed at the hospitality and generosity of my friends.

E-Hitchhiking- It's Easier On The Thumb (Part III)

America is a wild place. Everyone is here, and everything is here. I never expected most of what I saw, and I didn't anticipate going where I'd go and doing what I did. When I realized that my trip was going to take itself and that all I could do was hang on for the ride, I just sat back and let it be. Best travel plan I've ever had.

When it came time to leave DC (finally), I realized that my cross-country Craig's List rideshare adventure wasn't really going to work. It could be great transportation sometimes, but it wouldn't always work out. I made this discovery when I was looking for a ride to Madison. I posted in New York, Philly, and DC, and I was looking for a ride to Chicago or Madison. The only offer I received was from Philly to Chicago, but only if I would pay for all of the gas and tolls. Between that and the cost of getting to Philly, I decided to hop a flight directly to Chicago instead, which saved me both time and money, both of which came at a premium after my two week delay in DC. From the airport in Chicago I was able to catch a bus directly to Madison, and it even dropped me off pretty close to Heidi's place.

My weekend in Madison was great, and I had a wonderful time with Heidi. We went out with her friends to a sweet little town bar the first night. The real fun came on the second night of my visit, though. We went to the last home game of the Women's Professional Football League (the players earn $1.00 per game). Afterwards we went out for drinks with most of the team, which was one of the most entertaining nights I've had in a very long time. One of the player's girlfriends had sports cards with pictures of every team member, and Heidi's friend Della and I went around getting them all autographed. It was a win-win situation- I got to be a sports fan for the first time in my life and the atheletes got to sign autographs.

The next leg of my journey was a two-parter. I had to leave Madison on Sunday afternoon so that I could catch my ride early Monday in Chicago. So I hopped the same bus (driven by the same driver) and returned to Chicago, where Laurel (my old roomate Brett's girlfriend) generously offered to put me up for the night. Laurel had only just returned home from DC, and I had only met her for the first time about a week before. When I arrived, though, Laurel treated me like an old friend. We wandered out to find dinner and enjoyed a terrific meal (which she helped me to re-build after I nearly burned out my entire mouth with peppers on my first try. To my credit, they were inadequately labeled, with the only warning being "for God's sake, don't eat these"). And after dinner she brought me to see a series of houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, a small jewel in the Chicago suburbs.

Craig's List failed me again on this next part of my trip. Amtrak, on the other hand, provided a lot of support. And not only did Amtrak provide me with transportation, it gave me what I had hoped Craig's List would have. We passed through St. Louis, and I was able to get some pictures of the Arch. Better still, I was able to enjoy the conversation of a very sweet but saddly uninformed woman in the seat behind me. She had some interesting thougts on smoking (she had to switch from extra long filters to regular length lights, what with her asthma and all) and she prefers the Clinton Administration to the Bush Administration (apparently there were no wars under Clinton!), but she doesn't think Clinton will run again (because of the trouble with that woman...what was her name again?).

Late in the afternoon, Amtrak deposited me in Jefferson City, MO. I honestly can't recommend Jefferson City. It's tiny and it shuts down entirely at five o'clock. Which is about when I arrived. I was able to peruse the bookstore (I'm not sure why I couldn't find anything; there were at least four shelves filled with books!) and enjoy a smoothy at the local coffee shop that was still open.

It was here that Megan found me after about an hour, and it was from here that Megan whisked me away to magical Columbia, MO. Please don't assume that I am being sarcastic; I did enjoy Columbia. The weather is nice, the university center is very pleasant, and the campus abuts the center of town, which is a great place to hang out. For five days I spent my mornings watching the Gilmore Girls, my afternoons drinking coffee and wandering around the commercial strip, my evenings dining with Megan, and my nights drinking with Tom, Megan's fiance and an old friend of mine (we went to Germany together one college spring break). Megan and Tom are wonderful hosts. If you know them, you should visit them. If you don't know them, you should get to know them so that you can visit them.

I had planned to go directly from Columbia to San Diego, but I found that a side trip to Austin, TX would fit into my schedule better than I'd anticipated, so I headed south. My host there was Kip, a guy I only knew very briefly in DC, but who I have found to be a great friend. With only a couple days notice he opened up his room to me and obtained a couch so that I wouldn't have to sleep on the floor. And then he gave me his blanket, insisting that he only needed a sheet. I'm really not sure how I became so fortunate, but I'm not going to question it.

Austin was a fun town, but I don't think that I would return if not for Kip. He really made my visit great. He introduced me to all of his friends (which was easier than it sounds, since he lives in a commune. No kidding), brought me to a party that one of his professors was hosting, and took the time to show me around town. We stopped through the Capitol Building (very, very large. And salmon colored), drove through the 'burbs, and went to one of my favorite destinations- a small, local coffee shop. Somehow I've found the time to stop through coffee shops and used book stores in just about every town I've visited.

It was also great getting to know Kip's housemates. The first thing that they did when I arrived was invite me to join them for drinks. Being the horrible friend that I am, I abandoned Kip to his studies that evening and went to a local bar/vegetarian restaurant with a handful of diverse and engaging people. We must have had each hemispheric division of the globe covered, and more academic disciplines were represented than I know. And as if this warm welcome weren't enough, one of Kip's friends was kind enough to put me up for the night when we returned to the commune after he had gone to bed. Whatever contemporary CW may claim, the kindness of strangers continues to work its wonders in America even today.

When I left Vermont to see how I would get to Tahoe, I had hoped to find a big ball of twine. I'm glad to be able to report that I didn't find anything like that, but that I did find a lesson in respect. En route I found a football league that I didn't know existed, pieces of artwork strewn throughout the U of Missouri campus from all over the world, and amazing architecture that I didn't know existed. Hopefully I'll be able to head off on my next trip with a slightly less patronizing attitude.