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THE LONG ROAD TO NEW YORK
I was just 19 years old when I decided to travel to Europe. My
problem was that I was flat broke and was my family was not going to give me any
assistance with that dream. So I took some action and put a free ad in a local newspaper
saying I was available for work. I
would do any kind of work. I did not list any amount of
money I was expecting. I just left it up to the people I did the job for to decide. I
was rewarded far more then I was worth. I found people were willing to
help me get the money I needed to take my journey.
I had an old Honda 50
motor scooter that I had bought from a friend. It got over 100 mpg and it did a
fine job of getting me around to all the jobs I had. I finally had made enough
money to purchase a round trip ticket to Luxembourg. The only problem was that
it was from New York City and we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area.
There were originally going to be about eight of us guys going on this
trip. Every one talked big about hitch hiking to New York and flying off to
Europe together. When I got my passport and my tickets, I began to sense that no
one else was going to go with me. They all began to try to talk me out of going
by telling me how dangerous it was. They also had fears about not having food
and a place to stay all the time. They thought that I
was crazy to go on this trip alone. I had my tickets and only about fifty dollars
cash. My sister Melody came through with a gift of one hundred dollars and my
aunt bought me a sleeping bag and back pack for the trip.
I figured it might take several weeks to get to New York from California. When I learned that my aunt and grandma were going to drive to
Fresno I asked to go along. My own family showed no concern that I would be traveling by himself across this vast nation with
very little money and
no ticket back to California. My grandma felt sorry for me. When we got to
Fresno she stopped at the Greyhound Bus Station and bought me a ticket to
Barstow. I know she really cared she did not realize how far that was from New
York. She felt much better seeing me leave on a bus instead of thumbing a ride.
I got to Barstow at about midnight. It was very hot and dark. I walked to the
edge of the town from the bus stop which was many miles from where I was left
off. I
had made a sign out of old cardboard that read " Boston". I thought it had more class then
New York and besides, fit better on the cardboard sign. I was not worried. I felt I
would get lucky and get a good ride that night. I was out there for just for a short
period of time when a car slammed on it's brakes. It stopped about twenty yards
down the road from me in the darkness. I ran up to the window and asked if they
could take me as far as they were going. They said they were only going as far
as St. Louis, Missouri. I said that would be just fine. I sat in the back seat
and went to sleep. The car was being driven by two college students going back
home. They seemed real friendly but they thought I was crazy for thumbing
across the country all alone. They kept telling me no one would give me a ride.
TROUBLE IN TEXAS
All was going well until we got to Texas.
We got stopped by a
state trooper. When he found out that I was a hitch hiker, he instructed the driver to dump me out on the highway and leave me. He
told them of the dangers of picking up strangers. He wanted to check my ID. I gave him my
passport and shot records and all kinds of identification. He ran a check on me
feel like an escaped criminal of some kind. I also felt that if
they left me that this cop might just turn around and come back to either beat me up,
or arrest me for something. He finally drove off. I stood on the roadside
while they debated if they should do as the cop ordered them. They looked around
and saw the vast desert and realized that I would be in big trouble if they left
me. I got back in the car and laid down in the back seat as we drove down the
highway the rest of that night. They just did not have the heart to leave me out
there. I was grateful for that. I was finally let off in East St. Louis,
Illinois.
I managed to get several more rides and kept pushing myself
without any sleep for the rest of the trip. One ride I got in Indiana the driver was so
tired that he asked me to drive for him. I was also very sleepy and the last thing I
remember was that I was going 65 or 70 mph down the highway. I was awaken up out
of a sleep by the sounds of tires sliding sideways and in circles. I looked out
the windshield and saw trees all around the car as it turned around and around
kicking up huge clouds of dirt and dust in the air. The car just went in-between
all these trees just missing the car by inches. The guy bolted back from his
sleep and almost had a heart attack in the car. He told me, after we both sat in
silence for several minutes, that he would drive the rest of the way. When we
looked around us, it looked impossible to have driven that car into all those
trees, at that great speed and not hit something. It was my luck holding up
again, there just seemed to be no explanation for how we managed to survive the
near crash. We traveled in silence. We were both wide awake for the rest of
the trip together.
One night I got a ride into a little town in Pennsylvania by
two young and beautiful girls. They felt sorry for me and took me to their
family home. It was late at night so they told me to just sleep on the sofa for
the night. In the morning, I could hear the mother and father telling them how crazy
they were for bringing a total stranger into their home. When they met me I was
treated to a large and quick breakfast and taken down the road to the highway.
The next night I was left off at a gas station that was closing up. The guy that
worked there told me I could sleep in one of the cars that they were working on.
I woke up and used the rest room to clean up and left.
I got one ride with a Catholic priest, who started asking me
for advice about life and God. We traveled together for about 400 miles and all
I can remember was that he was not very holy and his thoughts seemed too worldly.
He keep talking about masturbation and sex. I was happy to get out of the car.
I got another ride from a state judge in New Jersey. He picked me up so he could lecture me about the dangers of hitch hiking. He
drove me only about 30 miles and I was glad to leave his car.
NEW YORK CITY
When I was only twenty miles from New York City, I
could not get a ride to save my life. I was stranded on the turn-pike and
finally gave up and took a bus into the city. It had taken me only four and half
days to get from California. I was tired and dirty. My airline tickets had a
date that was still two weeks away, so I explored the city. I was excited and
awed by the size of the buildings and all the people. I wandered around all day
with my back pack and my sleeping bag. I could not afford to
stay there. I found the prices for a room would eat my entire budget
up. I got on the subway and headed for the airport to find a way to leave early.
I went to the airline office where I told the beautiful women there that I
was stuck with no place to go. I wanted to go standby if possible, on any
earlier flight that was leaving. She was very compassionate and felt some
pity for my situation. She put my name on the top of the waiting list, then that night,
she told the security guard that I was to be left in the ticket office, so I
could sleep on their couch. I was locked in their office so no one would bother
me. It was strange that they would trust me enough to do that.
The next
morning she brought me a breakfast then helped me get on a flight that very night. I
got on the airplane and sat back to rest, thinking about how luck I had been so
far. I was now on my way to Europe. I felt almost holy about it all.
It was like I was supposed to have gone there to find some part of myself. I
looked out the window and watched the city fade from view and wondered with all
of my 19 year old mind, about what adventures awaited me when I landed. Hawaii had
been a mini test, this was a much bigger step and I felt calm and peaceful
knowing that God would protect me and feed me. This all proved to be the case.
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