I was sitting on my pack on the side of an on-ramp outside of North Little Rock, Arkansas. People in nice cars and trucks, all dressed up for church, rode past and ignored me.
All of them did.
I finally went to the cops and they drove me out to a series of ramps outside of the metro area.
As I limped up to a guardrail, a trucker drove by and hit the air horn.
Fifteen-minutes later he returned.
He told me that he didn't have enough time to stop when he saw me the first time (which was true, because where I was at the traffic was racing up pretty darn fast) and so he drove up ahead and turned around for a second try.
He picked me up and we took off down the interstate...far away from Arkansas!
We stopped and ate BBQ, then he bought me a cane for my foot at Wal-Mart, talked to me all night and dropped me off where I am now: Colorado.
Before he pulled away, he took a gold necklace with a silver crucifix off his neck and handed it to me.
"Go with God, my Sister" he said and I did.
I stayed in a nice little motel last night and am supposed to be boarding a Greyhound bus to another small city about seventy-miles away. I'm not going to make it.
And I don't care.
I'm pretty sure that someone will pick me up after I amble out to the Love's store and stick out my thumb.
I'll mail the ticket back to the lady who bought it for me.
This library offered me hours on this terminal, and I have decided to make the most of it.
My left foot is in bad shape, the face on my skin is burned and peeling and this update is long overdue.
[UPDATE 2008:]I did get a ride out of there that night. And I consider myself blessed. Because a killer tornado hit that part of Colorado the very next day.]
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Ruthie On The Road, Update III
I woke up later on in the morning and smiled. The sun was up and the roaches were hiding.
I took a shower and left Hooterville behind.
It took forever to get a ride! And after I got around Birmingham, I opted to go to a hospital.
My left foot was swollen up so much that it looked like it was ready to give birth to another one!
So, the folks there got me some authentic Alabama cookin' and a comfortable room at a Day's Inn. The hot water in the shower felt good and nothing ever crawled across the floor. Or anywhere else, for that matter!
I decided to return to Ontario, Oregon and slept on the grass, in plain view at a truckstop in Tennessee and Arkansas. I finally got a ride out of Tennessee...but Arkansas turned-out to be a hitchhiking curse!
I took a shower and left Hooterville behind.
It took forever to get a ride! And after I got around Birmingham, I opted to go to a hospital.
My left foot was swollen up so much that it looked like it was ready to give birth to another one!
So, the folks there got me some authentic Alabama cookin' and a comfortable room at a Day's Inn. The hot water in the shower felt good and nothing ever crawled across the floor. Or anywhere else, for that matter!
I decided to return to Ontario, Oregon and slept on the grass, in plain view at a truckstop in Tennessee and Arkansas. I finally got a ride out of Tennessee...but Arkansas turned-out to be a hitchhiking curse!
Ruthie On The Road, Update II
The officers got me into an old motel at about 4 a.m.
After I put the ancient key into the lock, opened the door and turned on the light...the current tenants scattered.
Yes, Campers, I'm talking about !!ROACHES!!
They scampered across the bed, they raced across the floor and one really big, brown one took a swan dive from the ceiling.
"Holy shit!" I thought and almost backed right out into the parking lot.
But I decided that I was too tired. So I walked in, set my pack down on a rickety table, laid down on the bed and pulled the spread up to my nose.
My last thought before I fell asleep was: "As long as I don't have to eat these critters, I'll be alright."
After I put the ancient key into the lock, opened the door and turned on the light...the current tenants scattered.
Yes, Campers, I'm talking about !!ROACHES!!
They scampered across the bed, they raced across the floor and one really big, brown one took a swan dive from the ceiling.
"Holy shit!" I thought and almost backed right out into the parking lot.
But I decided that I was too tired. So I walked in, set my pack down on a rickety table, laid down on the bed and pulled the spread up to my nose.
My last thought before I fell asleep was: "As long as I don't have to eat these critters, I'll be alright."
Ruthie On The Road, Update I
HELLO EVERYONE! Okay, I know that I have said it before, but I have been out-of-touch for two reasons: 1.) I took several weeks off and rested my old body and injured left foot in a motel in Ontario, Oregon. 2.) I got back on the road.
I left Ontario, Oregon and I ended-up in a little town that's located south of Birmingham, Alabama. I had been traveling with a woman, her two dogs (one of the dogs looked just like that smart pup on "Frasier" and the other mutt was HUGE and shed it's red fur EVERYWHERE!)and one spastic, psycho cat in a 1987 JEEP.
We got along alright until we reached Alabama. Then she started to spend more and more time in the ladies room. When she got back behind the wheel, her eyes looked like fifty-cent pieces. Finally, when she almost ran into the trailer of a big-rig, I bailed.
It was about 3:30 a.m. when I walked up to a lonesome Waffle House set-up in the middle of nowhere.
Just as I reached the front door, several cops showed up in their cruisers. It was time for their donut break.
I considered it to be perfect timing from God.
I left Ontario, Oregon and I ended-up in a little town that's located south of Birmingham, Alabama. I had been traveling with a woman, her two dogs (one of the dogs looked just like that smart pup on "Frasier" and the other mutt was HUGE and shed it's red fur EVERYWHERE!)and one spastic, psycho cat in a 1987 JEEP.
We got along alright until we reached Alabama. Then she started to spend more and more time in the ladies room. When she got back behind the wheel, her eyes looked like fifty-cent pieces. Finally, when she almost ran into the trailer of a big-rig, I bailed.
It was about 3:30 a.m. when I walked up to a lonesome Waffle House set-up in the middle of nowhere.
Just as I reached the front door, several cops showed up in their cruisers. It was time for their donut break.
I considered it to be perfect timing from God.
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