Pell City to Long Beach.
Today I travel almost 400 miles on the way to New Orleans.
“Traveling is almost like talking with men of other centuries.” – Rene Descartes
Today is a day to remember!
Meet Clark, John, Ryan, Tracey, Remy, and Brad.
This motley crew takes me from Pell City, Alabama to Long Beach, Mississippi. That’s 359 miles as the driver drives. One of my favorite days so far on the trip.
Meet Clark.
“I think I may be a racist.”
Clark starts off saying he is only going about 10 miles but ends up taking me about 40 miles. We have a deep talk. He tells me he almost committed suicide. His wife walked in on him when he had the gun on him. I ask him what he learned. “Tommorrow is another day.” Clark loves his wife.
John.
Meet John.
“He’s kind of a blow hard though.”
John drives a rickety pick up and is also only going about 10 miles. We listen to Rush Limbaugh, whom John thinks is a blow hard. I ask him his views on health care reform. He explains, but I had no idea what he was talking about.
Meet Ryan.
“Free Tibet.”
After John I hit a little dry spell. A bearded youngster drives past with a bunch of bumper stickers on his car, one which says, FREE TIBET. I give him the hard sell with my thumb. He drives on… But sure enough, 10 minutes later comes back. He felt bad.
Ryan is into Speleology, which I learn is cave science. He explores caves. Ryan is without a house too. He has been crashing on couches and working on organic farms around Austin. We plan a meet up when I hit Austin. Ryan has a good beard and plans on being Abe Lincoln for Halloween.
Tracey's truck.
Meet Tracey.
Although Ryan tries to get me a good hitching spot, the exit he drops me off at is dead. Totally dead. I wait for 20 minutes and don’t see any cars. Normally I don’t go on to the interstate to thumb, but I am feeling very motivated. I stroll out and frantically thumb. Sure enough a semi truck brakes hard and swings over. I run off. I feel great running with my pack, things are just working out.
Tracey is headed deep into Mississippi. He is listening to Kid Rock. I hop in. He turns up the Kid Rock music and we start trucking.
Tracey likes Kid Rock.
Tracey has a mustache and a cowboy hat. His truck has a custom dashboard that looks like leather and his knobs and levers are a shiny metal. The metal could be chrome or at least meant to look like it. After awhile of listening to Kid Rock, he tells me how he made millions owning a trucking company in California. He found his niche. Tracey then sold it and bought a big house and property in Mississippi. ”I don’t think any of my friends have a spread like mine.” He is a happy dude.
Meet Remy.
Remy was having a rough day. His insulation spray machine broke. It sounds from his disgruntledness that this is an expensive machine. Remy doesn’t take me far. Remy drops me at an exit that is about 50 miles from New Orleans. I can smell the place. But the sun is setting and this is another slow exit.
Meet Brad.
I am about to give up. The three cars that pass aren’t stopping although I even wave one down. I go to the gas station which closes at 7pm. It is now 6:40pm. I stand near it and accept defeat. I start thinking of where I can be camping for the night, when Brad offers to take me south. “There ain’t nuthin’ here.”
He is headed not to New Orleans but to Long Beach. This is about 30 miles away, but he says that there will be good spots to camp for the night.
Brad helps build houses. He works for “the boss man.” Brad tells me a story of when he had to fire the boss man’s son about 2 years ago. “If he ain’t making me money, he’s costin’ me money.” This is the boss man’s philosophy. Brad believes in this philosophy and also believed the boss man’s son was costing him money. He was lazy. Brad says he thinks he made about 35 million dollars for the boss man. Brad drops me off near Long Beach. It is dark but I find a place to camp although it is a little spooky. I sleep and picture heading into Louisiana tommorrow.
Create Our World.
Ben
“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey.” – Fitzhugh Mullan
Tags: adventure travel blog, Benjamin Jenks, create our world, hitchhiking, roadtrip around the USA
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Hitchin Stories., People.
