Adventures in hitchhiking

[67 Florida Deluxe]

[Zundfolge1432]

Ever seen the movie Sideways which Thomas Haden Church ? Don’t be that guy.

[Zundfolge1432]

[67 Florida Deluxe]

[Abscate]

[LAGrunthaner]

Best story so far.

[Malokin Martin]

We used to do this for fun as a family. Looking back now it’s pretty crazy.

For example: One holiday around 1990, we drove our perfectly running vehicle to the on-ramp and parked it. We then hitchhiked 600 miles to my aunts for Thanksgiving. We stayed for several days and then hitchhiked back. One of the better rides we got was a semi because he had a Nintendo in the sleeper that I got to play for several hours.

I’ve done it as recently as 2010 with minimal problems here in Washington. And I always pick up people if the family isn’t in the car. I feel like it’s a regional thing

[Wheelie Pete]

[Iowa Mark]

Early 70's and hitching out to Colorado. It was illegal to hitch on the interstate, but out in the middle of Nebraska the on ramps got used about once a year. So down to the traffic with the thumb out. On the opposite side of the four lanes a highway patrol car goes by and is motioning to stay put. He is already past the exit and has to find the next exit or a turn around to come back for me, so I run across the concrete and the median and end up heading the other way. A few minutes and he sees me and looks pissed! Back across the median and someone stops and picks me up. The guy is telling me all about Jesus and I see the patrolman heading back in the other lane with his lights on. That bible thumper was a very nice guy. Even offered to buy me a hair cut.

[2type2]

Back in '97 hitching from Anchorage airport to Denali NP(220 mi?,), I got five rides, four of whom were young mothers travelling alone with babies in carseats, and one very elderly man in a Cadillac who drove me to the door!
In mid 70's hitching back from Worcester,MA to NJ, got picked up just as entering NY state by a guy who said he was from Montvale. I said I know one guy from there, who is currently dating my sister,.. Turns out this guy was his best friend, so another ride to my front door. More than one way to get lucky when hichhiking.I miss the GoodOlDays.
_________________
"A life of peace and happiness depends on your own gratefulness"

[oprn]

Late 70's holidaying with a buddy and driving my Super Beetle, picked up a pretty young lady who turned out to be so drunk that she completely missed the action when a semi tried to squeeze us down to motorcycle width against a guard rail up and over an overpass at 70 mph. Let her out pronto and went home to change our badly soiled underwear!

[Manfred58sc]

Leaving Ft Collins at 2 am after missing our ride ( don't ask), my buddy Joe and I headed to I-25 on ramp to make it home to Colorado Springs by morning for work. Sure enough an older Polish man driving a moving truck obliges us. After about 5 miles he offers us a "pull" off a vodka bottle ( already 1/3 gone), well ..ok... soon after he nods off behind the wheel and Joe grabs the tiller to keep us from running off the road. Driver says "thanks" and offers another round. We decline, but he hits the bottle again. Soon after another nod off, another save and Joe informs him " hey, we are here already!!" directing him to the offramp ( not even close to where we needed to go). He lets us out with well wishes and goes down the road.

We were saved by a van load of Mexican construction workers that got us home and to work on time ( barely).

Much less traffic in the 80's!
_________________
Fat chick owner/operator

[Raymond73]

My parents picked up a hitch hiker in the early 80's. I was somewhere between the ages of 10 and 12. He lived with us for a short time while my parents helped him get back on his feet. Nice guy. I recall that he bought me a yellow, plastic truck for a birthday present and traveled eighteen miles, round trip on his motorcycle to bring me a pizza from my favorite place at the time (Big Cheese). Everything had slid to one side as one would expect in a saddlebag-style compartment, but the effort wasn't lost on me. It was delicious by the way.

He eventually married and they moved on to better opportunities in another state. Sadly, trouble found him after he left us. If my parents' always vague explanations are to be believed, he had a run-in with a drug dealer that did not end well.

R.I.P.

[sb001]

Sort of.
When I was about 9 or 10 my dad was driving me and my 2 sisters across town in the bug, sure enough it broke down on the freeway as these cars are prone to do. We were about 3 miles from my grandmothers house so we started walking, some cool cat took pity stopped and gave us a ride. Imagine a time when it was OK for a dad to scoop his 3 young kids into the back of some stranger's car without a 2nd thought, or maybe he just snapped cause his car sucked
_________________
I'm the humblest guy on this board.

1969 autostick sedan, family owned since new
1600 SP engine
Solex 30 PICT 3 carburetor
Bosch 113905205AE autostick distributor

[Zundfolge1432]

Maybe people are more wary of trusting strangers nowadays and that probably has to do with being bombarded with negative stories and sensational stories presented as entertainment. I was talking to a waitress ( is that politically correct) anyway she’s in her early 70s now but back around 1969 she hitchhiked from Oklahoma to California by herself and didn’t encounter any maniacs. Truck drivers always have some of the best stories about life on the road. A friend of mine long haul trucker had great stories. One in particular highway patrol was stopping every truck because somebody had hit a woman and kept driving. Just think of all the craziness that happened along Route 66.

[Abscate]

It’s a safer world we live in, despite the drum beat of self interested parties telling us we need SWAT teams in every town in America. Ridiculous.
_________________
.ssS!

[calvinater]

What is that book ? " Jitterbug perfume " by Tom Wolf?
_________________
"Albatross"!

[Abscate]

[Zundfolge1432]

Last time I gave someone a ride was dead of winter very very cold wind blowing getting dark and I see this poor guy wading through snow. Not even very many cars on the road so he was glad to get a ride, he had to walk home after work about 4 miles. That would have been miserable. That’s just helping a brother out

About 4 years ago I was parked outside a Mickey D eating some junk food when a panhandler guy asks me for a ride across town and I told him no because I was actually going opposite direction. He got real pissy because I didn’t help him
He was a scam artist pure and simple. Worked the same corner for 6 months sitting in a lawn chair holding a sign with a bullshit story. Sorry off topic.

[nsracing]