So, I guess I wasn't totally done traveling for the summer after all. I was sort of peer-pressured into going on The Great Hitchhiking Race 6!!!!!! ...and so glad I was.
I've thought about going on this race for about 4 years now. My friend Aaron is the biggest hitchhiker I know. He's used this means of travel since he was 17...and 6 years ago, he came up with the idea of creating a race to North Carolina with this travel style. The race usually takes place during the week of Memorial Day, which is finals week for me, and has never allowed me the chance to go...until now!
This year, Aaron had jaw surgery and postponed the dates of the race. I was still skeptical about the possibility of entering this race. First of all...yes, I have also watched the same "America's Most Wanted" hitchhiker stories that you have...so I'm not going to pretend like I was completely free of fear.
Second, I was supposed to have volleyball last week. And, third, I've been running at a 90mph pace all summer and I am TIRED. This was my last week of open freedom before my school calendar began to rear its ugly head...and strange as it sounds, I thoroughly enjoy completing to-do-lists...especially one's I have put off ALL summer already for the sake of adventure.
So my plan was to drive to Van, TX Sunday night to hang out with Aaron and Darby. I was going to get to meet lots of people, eat yummy food, and have some gym fun with dodge ball etc... When I left my house, I was 80% sure I was NOT going on this race, but would just have a night of fun and return the next morning. Perhaps I was actually less than 80% sure...because I definitely threw my backpack and a few things in my car just in case ;)
Obviously I was overpowered by my wanderlust and said "YES" to the trip...
I am well aware of how absurd this trip sounds. And, have been made even more aware since my return. But if it is any comfort to you...here is a picture of just how many "crazies" of us there were...24 I think? In the picture, I am 5th from the left.
Every team has two guys and one girl. They also try to put at least one veteran racer per team (several people have completed this race multiple times). And what did God provide for me on my team? Cody Carver and a guy named Kyle. Cody and I grew up together...so it was easily comforting to travel with my church-buddy from childhood who had already been on this race a few times before. So that was peace #1 on this trip that lead me to feel like I should go.
I guess hitchhiking sounds exciting to some and dangerous to others. Either way, the concept has sold gillions for Jack Kerouac. However, the less glamorous side to this endeavor that you don't see, is the long sweaty wait in the southern sun, the nowhere to sit because there are ants everywhere, the lack of time for snacks because it seems impolite to be chowing down while begging for a ride, and after a while...it gets old holding a sign and smiling.
The next picture was our first hitch. Leo and his amigo on their way to work in Longview, TX. Can I just say that 3/4 of our first day hitches barely spoke English? I am amazed at the kindness of a people who would pull over to help someone they can hardly communicate with, for nothing in return. It's also becoming more and more pertinent that I find fluency in Spanish.
Our next hitch was extremely generous. With a dad and 4 kids, they maneuvered things in both the front and back of their vehicle to accommodate us, for about the next EIGHT HOURS driving us from Longview, TX all the way to the other side of Birmingham, AL. He and his daughter opted out of the picture. Ok by us, but look at these other cuties!
The little guy in purple on the right is 6yrs old. When I first got in the truck and closed the door, I got settled in and looked to my left. There he was, wearing his little Luchador mask! Haha. He didn't talk for a couple of hours and I was beginning to wonder just what was under there! I think he was just shy though...because eventually he carried long conversations with me about his pit bulls and babysitter, eventually removed the mask, and eventually made himself at home falling asleep in my lap. Such a cutie!
In Alabama, we were eventually picked up by Miguel. It was late and he had already had a long day at work roofing, but decided to help us out anyway and took us all the way to the north side of Atlanta. Again I practiced a little of my terribly broken Espanol.
It's nearly impossible to hitchhike at night but we we were racing and had a destination! So Kyle meets Kenney at a gas station, and leery of hitchhikers, drives us anyway to Commerce, South Carolina. Kenney was nice, but he kind of killed the race for us. I found out the key to winning this thing, is convincing your last hitch. "Hey why don't you skip work this week and come camping with us?? There's food and waterfalls and 24 other people it'll be a blast!!". Needless to say, the top two winners this year included a driver named Will, a 20yr. old kid who ended up camping all week. And in second place, a driver named Paige, an adventurous girl who ended up staying only one night.
Below, is a picture of our destination. I am pictured on the left sliding down Turtle Back Falls at Gorges State Park in North Carolina! Superfun!
Here is our group photo in front of Turtle Back Falls. (I'm in the middle)
Ladies on the log, and guys sliding down Turtle Back in the background! I had such a workout for those three days of camping. It's hard to explain exactly where the day goes...but by the time you hike to the top of some water fall and everyone slides down, then its about time for dinner. Or by the time you all jump off the cliff and then rock hop all the way down to Seven Falls, the sun is setting. Then its time for everyone to reconvene around the campfire for a fantastic dinner of hamburgers, hot dogs, kabobs, or even steaks if its date night! (Date night simply means on the last night everyone actually shampoos their hair and puts on more clothes than a swimsuit...)
I didn't get to jump off the bridge on the last day because Darby and I were in the hospital waiting room (Pictured Below). I'm sure I would have been terrified, but I also wanted to do it just for the experience. However, remember the driver Will? He cut his toe open and had to go to the Emergency Room. So Darby and I went to wait with him. Which actually worked out okay because we got to shampoo our hair in the clean sink with clean water!!! Score!
The next morning it was time to pack up and head back to Texas after an exhausting, yet fun-packed week. Below, was our third hitch of the day. He reminded me a lot of my brother Wes for some reason...I guess they had the same mannerisms.
Our 6th hitch on the way home was Shane. Talk about hilarious! I would pay money to listen to this guy talk he was so funny.
God provided everything I could need on this trip. And our last hitch was probably the moment I felt nearest to Him. Six hitches is a LOT to have an still be in Alabama. Everyone was only taking us 30miles at a time and I was beginning to worry that night would come and we would have to camp on the side of the road somewhere. I'm sure it would have been fine, but the side of the road is not the same as camping grounds...so you never know if you are on private property, or if there will be cattle or dogs or what not about. I prayed all the way through this trip, but I was especially earnest after our 6th hitch and it already being about 2 or 3pm. So I let the guys walk ahead a bit, and I whispered something like, "God...you have been so gracious in providing everything already on this trip...I'm nervous about it getting dark...could you PLEASE provide someone nice who is going all the way to Texas??".
So our 6th hitch, Shane, pulled over after an exit in Alabama. We got our packs out of his truck, and I began to pray. We crossed the intersection and began walking up the on-ramp. There was a man already pulled over on the side of the road checking something on his truck. It's Greg...an incredibly nice man who happens to be on his way to a job in Texas, and he doesn't mind if we come along....
I have nowhere to credit that but to God. I stopped believing in coincidence a long time ago.
The icing on the cake is that Greg has a sweet dog named Patches. I happen to LOVE dogs so this worked out real well and I pet Patches for the next 12hrs all the way to Van, TX.
When we were saying our goodbyes to Greg at 2am in a Loves parking lot in Van, TX...I told him how he was an answer to my prayer. That I had been praying and he is what God brought to us. Little did I know, that Cody Carver had been praying the same prayer. I guess where two or more gather in His name...
We then found out the under normal circumstances Greg would have parked his camper for the night at a normal bedtime. But he decided to keep driving, all the way to Van, TX at 2 in the morning (like 5hrs longer)....out of the kind generosity in his heart...the generosity that I firmly believe God placed there.
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Here's the thing. I'm not saying that hitchhiking is the safest mode of travel and I'm making a habit of it or anything...I'm just saying, as much as the media thrives on murderous hitchhiker stories...well here is the other side to that coin. There are ALSO some very sweet, loving people out there who just want to help someone out. Sometimes they "know what its like to hitchhike", sometimes they "have kids our age and they would want someone nice to pick them up", sometimes they decide we "look harmless and are curious about the race"...whatever the deep-seeded reasoning...I believe God leads people by His Spirit.
Now, I'll address the portion of your brain that is ready to admit me to the loony bin, and is convinced I'm going through some sort of 29yr. old crisis. I don't want to talk as much about what is "crazy?" as I do about what is considered the "norm?". I've been thinking about this a lot, and I bet if you separate yourself from some other "norms"...they could seem crazy as well. I don't mean to step on any one's toes here, so just hear me out.
Like take war for example. Again, I mean absolutely no disrespect here, I am extremely grateful for the freedoms I have in this country, and I love enjoying them. But think about it...hitchhiking sounds crazy because you have heard murderous stories, you don't trust strangers, and you could be killed. Right?? And if you sign up for war, you are willingly deciding to jump out of a plane, into hostile territory, with little more than vest and helmet, while risking your life being shot at, for a war you don't know the exact details about...and sometimes this is all done for the price of getting your college paid for? This can sound crazy, yet it is the norm, so it's seemingly less scary, and actually sort of noble.
Or what about texting and driving? You've heard death stories about that. Yet you continue to hurl your body down a highway at 70mph in really heavy machinery, near other heavy vehicles going just as fast or faster, while typing AND reading with your eyes off the road and onto a tiny screen in your hand because your patience won't make it to the next redlight to check your phone. Sounds like a death wish to me, but it is the norm.
I once paid like $200 to go skydiving...and I know for a fact people pay at least that much ALL around the world DAILY to willingly jump out of a plane, attached to a complete stranger, with sole trust in a parachute, all in the name of adventure. But this is the norm.
Or missionaries for example? People move to unwelcoming countries all the time in order to talk about God with complete strangers. If death occurs from this, they are praised as martyrs? I got to talk about God with several people on my trip last week, but if I had died, I would be considered crazy for going in the first place.
These are all just my thoughts people. Nothing more. I'm not asking you to agree with me or rebuke me...just ask questions if you've taken the time to read this far. Just ideas flowing through my head during the many hours I had sitting in cars and trucks last week. I wonder how things would be different if hitchhiking WAS a norm. What if it was just "normal" for everyone to help each other out whenever they saw need?
Also, I'd just like to take a moment to apologize to my mother who I sort of lied to when I told her I was going camping in North Carolina for the week, and she said, "Oh, are y'all driving??"...to which I replied, "Yeah...some one's driving us."
I put my mom through a lot and she loves me anyway. Thanks for the wonderful weekend mother.
LOVE YOU MOST!!!!
