Sherri gets me started towards Royal Oak.

“The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” – Alan Alda

***

A Tricky Hitch

It is only about 45 miles from Ypsilanti, MI to Royal Oak, MI, but it is a tricky hitch.  It is in suburbia and there are a lot of different highway switches.  Check here for a Visual: View Larger Map

Must Make Dinner

I am trying to make dinner tonight in Royal Oak to see my Grandma and my Aunt.  I finished up my breakfast with my new friend, Sherri, and she drops me off at Route 23.  I was at this exact intersection about 3 weeks earlier and it had taken me about 3 hours to get a ride.  I am feeling good about my chances though.

After an hour, I leave my spot to search for a large piece of paper to make a sign “Royal Oak!” when a red jeep swings up.  Drew says he is not going towards Royal Oak but he can take me to the other side of town.  All aboard!

Underwater Recovery

Drew. A photograph from a recent trip of his to Italy.

Drew is from Ypsilanti and is dating a woman in the Traverse City area.  Drew is an Underwater Recoverist!  He doesn’t bring up dead bodies, which some UR’s do, but he and a friend gear up in scuba suits and pull boats or other valuable equipment from the bottom of lakes and rivers.

He just began this line of work.  His friend started an Underwater Recovery business in April.  

Drew explains they almost hit the jackpot.

Underwater Logging

On a nearby river, which I have forgotten, way back in the heyday of the logging era, huge virgin timbers would float down the river towards the mill.  Well, naturally some became waterlogged and would sink.  Drew explains that the cold water on the bottom of the river preserves these logs very well and if you can go down and scoop one up, they are worth around 30 or 40 THOUSAND dollars!  With dollar signs in their eyes they were about to begin, when their permits were pulled by the Environmental Protection Agency.  When one of these logs resurfaces it unearths much sediment that could be harmful to the river.  

Drew is going to keep at it though for the mean time.  

Drew went on his own journey of discovery a bit back, except in his Jeep.  He would drive to a town and stay until he ran out of money.  Then use his guitar or pick up a short term job to make it to the next town.  He traveled for about a year.

He lets me off at the mouth of Route 14, which heads into the heart of Detroit, MI.  I still have quite a ways to go to make Royal Oak by dinner time… and as I wait not many cars are passing…

Tommorrow, the rest of the story…

Create Our World.

Ben.

“I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts.” – Albert Einstein

 

Tags: adventure travel blog, Benjamin Jenks, create our world, hitchhiking, roadtrip around the USA, underwater logging, underwater recovery
Categories: Hitchin Stories., People.

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