10/16- Entering California

I was still on my high the next day of "stand still, don't rush". I didn't feel like rushing, and I felt no need to rush. Instead, I woke up around 9 or so, meandered up to the picnic tables, and cooked breakfast while writing a few more letters. Locals started pulling in to walk their dogs, and travelers were pulling in to stretch their legs, use the bathrooms, and stare at the ocean from something other than a moving car.

About three hours passed while I lazily went about my morning. One guy, who I'd seen the evening before, returned to practice his swing by knocking a rubber ball into the dunes for his dog to chase. I found it amusing to watch then ended up chatting with him for a bit. After about two hours I decided it was time to phase my laxidazical morning into a half assed attempt to hitch by moving my things to a more prominently located table on the south end of the rest area.

By about noon I ended up talking to a lady there who had come out of a southbound camper. Lynn asked what I was up to, and after I told her we somehow got into a discussion about my walk across the country. Apparently she really wanted to do something like that, but her husband, Dom, wasn't quite there, so I think the camper was a compromise. Either way, it was a short talk and she went back to her camper and I went off to the north end of the rest area pull in, figuring it gave people time to see me then pull in and come back around.

I stood there maybe five minutes again when I saw Lynn and her husband pull out in their camper to head south. I watched them drive off about 100 yards before they pulled a U-turn about a 100 yards down on an extra wide corner designed for scenic stop ins and head back up the road again toward me. Pulling up next to me Lynn popped her head out and said they didn't think I was ready to leave yet, but seeing me head out as they headed out they spun around to see if I wanted a ride. Why, certainly.

My pack went in the camper in back, which I know is a big hitcher no-no but I've stopped caring about what the rights and wrongs of safety are and just gage by the people. Up front, in the cab, it was still a bit cramped quarters, but Lynn sat in the back giving me and my long legs the front. She and I spent the whole way down talking about travels, where they'd been, where I'd been, and got into interesting places to go. She has been fascinated by Egypt, which has been a slowly growing curiosity for me as well, so she recommended a few books to me to pick up when I can.

They're turn off was in Brookings, just north of the California border, and I really wanted to stay on the coastal road, so I got out there with an exchange of email addresses, phone numbers, and regular addresses for the possibility of post cards. I've been slacking on those this year though. Thinking of my believed lesson the day before of standing rather than walking I waved goodbye and strutted right up to the busy intersection nearby half expecting a ride to pop up within five minutes given my luck with Rodney, Russ, and Lynn.

I stood there for about 10 minutes maybe and it felt completely wrong. The uneasiness was back in me about standing there and it just didn't seem like I was doing the right thing. In my mind, I believed the lesson of yesterday was to change modes of travel and get comfortable with standing in one spot to enjoy it, rather than continually keeping myself in motion as I generally like to do. It seemed today that that was old news and now something new was building on it. Again, I do recognize that all of this is just what I'm thinking is going on, and the accuracy of it is up for interpretation, but its hard for me to explain my actions if I don't put in the reasoning behind what I'm did through out the day.

What I concluded this day was calling for was to really learn the heart of the previous days lesson; not to rush. It wasn't just about standing vs. walking, it was about not freaking out that I wouldn't make it to my Dad's birthday 2 weeks and 4,000 miles away and just trust that I would. In the meantime, the act of not freaking out is to embody the behavior of just enjoying where ever I am while I'm there. This thinking lead me to remember it had been a while since I'd checked email and I had three letters to mail, so I went to the Post Office and the Library for a bit.

It took me a little bit to find the library since everyone I asked told me it was right across the street, regardless of which street I was on at the time. It turned out to be about five blocks away and about two or three off the main road I was on. After some time there I made my way back up deciding now that I'd adequately relaxed and was now ready to move on. Todd is quite likely rolling in laughter reading this now, because he often accuses me of trying to manipulate fate to get what I want. This was a prime example of what he's talking about, because I do concede it happens on occasion. It takes a bit of practice to really let go of the wheel.

I ended up hanging around town for another 45 minutes to an hour wandering up and down a few blocks on the main street standing at one corner, then over at another. I wouldn't quite describe myself as antsy, but its not too far off either. I was liking being in that little town, and I even got to enjoy a sudden Homecoming Parade that appeared down the street. Finally, after an hour, I decided I just didn't want to be in the town anymore so I turned to see what was in the next one, and that was when I ran into Zack.

Zack, as it turned out, was one of two Zack's. He was on foot and had seen me roaming corner to corner while he cooly drifted about town in sunglasses and an iPod. I was surprised when I passed him for the third time and he asked where I was trying to get to. When I told him anywhere south he said he might be able to help me out, but needed to check with his homie. I started going with him, but noticed he was uncomfortable with that idea. I'd been warned twice now, by other roaving drifters, that the cops were none too keen on hitchers in Brookings and I would get hassled should I stay too long. With that in mind I told him I was going to head across the bridge, which was the end of town, and if his chum was up for giving me a ride just pick me up, and if not don't worry about it. He liked that plan and off he went. Not more than five minutes after I crossed the bridge the Two Zacks gathered me up.

Both Zacks were just under 18, so it was a bit of a giggle fest for the 20 mile jump to Crescent City as we bantered about what cool things we could each think of in our heads. Traveling with teenagers is always such a surreal experience for me these days, partly because it seems strange that those days are so far from me now and I only seem to recognize that when I'm among them again. Breaching the California line was another typical thing of my traveling mentality. As soon as we crossed in it was old news, though I was happy to be there, where as up until that point it seems like some forbidden fortress you may just yet cross into one day.

As we got closer to town they started asking around where I wanted to be dropped and giving me suggestions as to where I should aim for on the way out. Arcadia being top on their list of suggestions. Once I described what I tend to look for in a spot one of the Zack's then made a suggestion and I soon found myself standing on another corner at the south end of town with a pull over, and little else, behind me.

Once again I shuffled my bag over, my straps still folded in since the day before, and threw my thumb out. Another forty-five minutes passed as I watched cars head south in droves. This time my head didn't wander. It did feel right to be there this time, unlike that intersection in Brookings. Instead my head wandered around what it was I was meant to be learning then. This is where many tell me I'm over processing, that there isn't a lesson in every little thing, and every little wait. I disagree with that, but I also really like symbolism, patterns, and other such mind occupiers when standing on corners waiting for someone you don't know to get you.

Jay eventually came to get me. He was a bit funny about it, both funnies, the ha ha and the odd sort. Pulling up he had his sunglasses on and looked like he wanted nothing to do with anyone. To this day I still don't know why he picked me up. He rolled down his window, to my surprise, and leaned over to me roughly barking out "you don't have shit load of pot in there, do you?" When I told him that it was just your basic camping gear he told me to hop in.

It reminded me somewhat of the family in Kansas that took me in while I was walking. They seemed nervous to have a stranger off the road staying in their house despite having invited me in to stay. In fact, when we all were heading for bed the husband went so far as to tell me they didn't have much in their home and there was nothing to steal. I found it to be rather touching, rather than offensive, that they'd still put me up for the night as a sense of honoring hospitality despite clearly not being comfortable with the reality of doing it.

Jay was different, but similar, in that it seemed he really didn't trust hitchers since they often were just couriers for the heavy marijuana economy in Northern Cal, and generally wanted a ride plus whatever else they could get. With all of that he still offered me a ride, and a really good one, it turned out, too. He took me 220 miles south to the, in Jay's words, "hitching mecca" of Willits, CA. We spent all day speeding south raving about all the really completely outlandish government conspiricies and spiritual beliefs. So much so that I was the conservative one in the conversation.

When we eventually landed in Willits it was well into night with a heavy fog in the air. He dropped me off at the south edge of town by a gas station and wished me luck. Everything we'd talked about on the way down was still running around in my head, more as food for thought rather than revolutionizing my sense of the world. A lot of what he had to say was still on the outer limits of what I was ready to start considering reality, so imagine the topics when on here I'm already going on about money showing up when needed as a reality based theory. I went through about half an hour or so of standing by the intersection before deciding bed was a better option for the nights events.

Past the gas station the road fell into darkness and was lined with trees, so I managed to squeeze myself into some brush between a large tree and some barbed wiring. It was quite a nifty, snug little spot actually.