Hitchhiking

Back in November I traveled up to Santa Barbara to enroll in an online course at the city college, visit with my sister, see some old friends, and recover property from the ex(or what was left of it). Getting onto the freeway to return home I spied this crusty lump on the on-ramp. "Look at this dirty crust ball trying to hitch a ride in Santa Barbara. Does he really think someone is going to pick him up. Oh wait, that's probably what I looked like in Europe." Hitchhiking is one of the best ways to travel. It's an opportunity to give another person the pleasure to feel that they are a good Samaritan and spend a few hours getting to know a total stranger. This fella was just a humble traveler skilled at hopping trains and moving about the country. He was polite, well spoken, and entertaining. 

More recently, I had driven in to Capitol Reef National Park to have dinner with Crystal and the other Rangers. Crystal works in the guest center despite her aversion to customer service and general disinterest in helping tourists find the bathroom. She told me about a clumsy guy that had knocked over a display rack and spoke with a strange accent. He was wearing a fox hat and she guessed he was from Europe. When she left work he was trying hitch a ride to the Grand Canyon "Oh, he must be French. Only a Frenchman could be walking a desert road at night in dumb glee," I said.


We were seated in the back yard sipping Absinthe when along the highway came a bizarre man. His backpack was decorated with all sorts of cardboard signs, stuffed animals, and empty water containers. It took me a bit to cross the river between her house and the road and then run him down, but yes he was French. Aurelien was all smiles, laughs, and apologies so I invited him to abandon his hike and have a refreshing pastis with Crystal and I.

Aurelien had long since surrendered to the anglo tongue and had shortened his name to shortest phonic, "Oreo." Oreo was doing an internship in Calgary because he wanted to experience the famous Canadian winter. He had 23 days free before exams and was taking the opportunity to hitchhike to the Grand Canyon. 

Well as the night wore on I knew that we needed to make this stay memorable for him. With a little coaxing, one of the rangers pulled out the artillery for a little demonstration of crazy Americans with guns. 


In the morning I had, what the French would call, a gaul du bois or " head of wood." A word to the wise, never drink more than one glass of Absinthe. I took Oreo for a hike up Cohab Canyon to see the glorious red cliffs and retreated back to Crystal's to drink water. Oreo was not suffering as poor as I and set himself to baking French cookies to thank Crystal for her generosity. 


While in France, I did a good bit of hitchhiking and train jumping. It was all good experiences... accept for that one time. This older guy in a van was a bit drunk and every time I talked to him he would begin swerving. 


I was always able to get a ride without much difficulty accept the one time I hitched with a girl. No one wanted to give us a ride. 


So the moral to the story, if you see a hitchhiker, why not give them a lift.... heck, it might be me.