This is the 3rd and final chapter of my hitchhiking adventures. If you haven't read the previous chapters, you'll want to catch up before reading the finale.
Part 2, see: http://liveforeverdietoday.blogspot.com/2013/08/adventures-in-hitchhiking-part-2.html
It was shortly after midnight when the Goo Goo Dolls dropped us off at the gas station. Steve, Sam and I continued laughing about giving them such a hard time. Figures the first time I meet someone famous I would put my foot in my mouth.
"What should we do now?" I say. "It's a little late to hitchhike and we can't camp in the city."
Steve says, "Let's see if we can catch a ride to this Valley City and use the hotel vouched the guy in Minot gave us. It can't be THAT far away."
So we start asking gas station customers if they're headed East, but with no luck. We are in the middle of the city in the middle of the night, so there are few people on the highway. Some college kids come in on a "beer run" and ask if we want to join their party. Hoping we could get an actual hotel room tonight, we turned down the offer and continued our hunt for a ride.
About an hour later, the college kids came back. "Everyone passed out, but we're sober and wide awake. Where did you need a ride to?" "Valley City!" "Hmm... I think that's a long ways away, but let's do it. The party was boring and I want some excitement."
Valley City turned out to be 135 miles away. Our kind valets had sacrificed a 4 hour round-trip, but we made it to Valley City! This is not a city at all... it is barely a village whose main attractions were 2 gas stations and a rustic motel. The Wagon Wheel Inn.
We arrived around 3am, and the clerk insisted our voucher was only for 1 night, so checkout would be 11am. We had 8 hours to sleep! Inside is all polished pine wood reminiscent of the Old West with hunting trophies, cowboy boots and wagon wheels decor. We got a nice big room and slept like babies. We woke up shortly before 11am, got a continental breakfast... and low and behold, there was a Greyhound Bus!
Steve pulls us close and says "I have an idea! Remember our friend in Havre who told us about hitching a ride in the bottom of a Grehound bus? I bet we can pull that off." Sam and I looked at each other nervously, "I don't know, man. Seems risky. Why don't we just hitch-hike." Steve thinks for a bit, and then walks over to a shaggy haired kid smoking by the bus. "Where is this bus headed?" "Fargo/Moorhead, and then North to Grand Forks." Steve comes back over... "Alright, if we can hop this bus we can make it all the way to the Minnesota border! C'mon! We can do it!"
We walk around behind the bus, and Steve tries the cargo door latch. It pops open! He dives in, and yells for us to follow. We all crawl in and Steve starts to shut the door. "No, wait!! What if we can't open the doors from the inside??? We'll be stuck here til we reach the bus station. We have to get out before that!" Steve nods and we agree to take turns holding the door to keep it from latching.
It's dark, noisy and smelled a bit like diesel fumes, but we were comfy resting on top of bags of clothes. Our only light was the crack in the door, as we watched the highway race by. The bus keeps stopping, and each time we peek out to see if we are in a city. The longer we rode along, the more antsy we became.
Suddenly, Sam yells out "We're here! We're here! I see cars, a Subway and big buildings." I try to peek out, but all I see is traffic. "Okay, let's do it." We jump out of the bus and grab our bags. We immediately realize that we are NOT in Fargo.
Far from it! We were at the edge of a tiny town where the gas stations cluster around the freeway! Steve goes to open the cargo door when we hear someone yelling from the gas station. We look over and see the bus drive running out, yelling "Hey! I need to talk to you!" We look at each other nervously, Steve closes the cargo door and we wait. The bus driver catches up and gives us a funny look, "Is this where you want to get off?" I nervously reply "Yes!" He looks around at the desolation, "Are you sure?" We nod our heads emphatically. He shrugs and says "Okay, I just need to check your tickets and your baggage claims."
We stare at him in horror. I say, "We don't have them."
He frowns. "Well I need your baggage claim stubs or I can't let you take that luggage."
We stare at each other in silence. He says "Look, I'm already running late! I need those tickets!"
My heart is beating rapidly and images of police and prison-time run through my head. And there was nowhere to run. The pressure builds as we stare at each other, and I suddenly blurt out "Look! This is my bag... it has my name on it... SEE?? We don't have tickets! We hitched a ride in the bottom of the bus. We're sorry. Please don't call the police!"
He looks at us completely bewildered. He grabs his radio and keys the mic and we prepare to run. He sighs and puts the radio back on his belt, shakes his head and climbs back in the bus. We all let out a huge sigh of relief! That was close!
We walk up to the freeway ramp and stick out our thumbs. Within an hour, a sherrif pulls up and tells us we cannot hitch-hike on the freeway. So we are stuck at the gas station again. We take turns begging for a ride, but everyone is headed AWAY from Fargo. Finally, a big jolly man agrees to let us ride in the back of his pick-up... which was being hauled on a trailer!
So we climb in, lie down and once again we are on our way! Turns out we were only 10 miles from Fargo, and the trucks stops. The driver asks us if we want breakfast. We frown and say "We don't have any money." He smiles and says he'll give each of us $4. Over a big plate of eggs, hashbrowns and bacon we share our story, and learn that the driver is a used-car salesman from Forrest Lake, Minnesota. Turns out he had just picked up the truck in Great Falls, Montana which is fairly close to where we started. If only we had traveled South instead of East!
4 hours later we arrived in Forrest Lake. We waved goodbye and danced down the street. We made it!! Technically this was part of the Twin Cities metropolis... so we should be able to walk downtown from here. Or so we thought. It's actually 30 miles north of Minneapolis. And it was late. The buses stopped running hours before and we were penniless. So we walked over to THE "Forrest Lake," took a swim, relaxed and discussed our options for the night. Now that we're in the "big city," we are all a bit freaked out about sleeping outdoors.
Steve spies a small round building near the beach... which turns out to be a changing room... with locking doors!! So we locked the door and settled in for the night. It's not easy sleeping on wood benches.
In the morning we set out walking towards Minneapolis. We walked... and we walked... and yet were still so far away. Steve continued fishing for a ride with his trusty thumb, and once again his luck caught us a break. An older gentleman was on his way to work in Blaine. Once in Blaine, we realize we are STILL a long ways away. So we walk a few more hours from Blaine thru Fridley to Brooklyn Center. The sun is setting ad we STILL haven't made it to Minneapolis! We stop to rest in front of a big church, and Steve yells out "I have an idea!" He jumps up and runs into the church. A few minutes later he comes out with an older man who tells us he will give us a ride to Salvation Army in downtown Minneapolis. He was the minister of the church and Steve had told him our story and begged for a ride.
30 minutes later we arrive at the Salvation Army. There was a long line of seedy looking homeless people waiting for dinner service. Suddenly we felt like country-bumpkins, and I was certain we would get mugged any minute now. So we quickly walked towards the big sky-scrapers of downtown.
Wide-eyed like newborn babies we were completely awestruck with the size of the buildings and how busy the city was! We walked into nearly every store giddy as school children. Indian Bazaar with all it's weird brass trinkets and pushy salesmen, Bob Marley shoes with they're $70 shoes, Sachs 5th Ave with their $200 jeans. They don't have that in Montana! Someone suggests that we should go to the Uptown Neighborhood, which was about an hour walk away.
We walked to the intersection of Lake and Hennepin and were amazed at the stores and the culture! Trendy rich art students, teenage misfits and gutterpunks galore. It was total culture-shock as we suddenly discover we are just ants in a giant anthill... and after being in the spotlight as rural outcasts, it felt wonderful!
We found a public phone and called our only friend in Minneapolis who offered to let us stay in his living room for a week. Soon we found jobs and places to live. I began working as a cook at the Uptown Perkins and the next chapter of my life began!
This is the end of the hitch-hiking adventures. We travelled 900 miles of desolate landscape in 1 week aided by the kindness of many strangers, and I continue to pay-it-forward and help those in need whenever I can. I didn't have a camera back then, so all of these pictures were borrowed from Google. This was my one and only hitch-hiking trip... but there are many more stories to come!
It was shortly after midnight when the Goo Goo Dolls dropped us off at the gas station. Steve, Sam and I continued laughing about giving them such a hard time. Figures the first time I meet someone famous I would put my foot in my mouth.
"What should we do now?" I say. "It's a little late to hitchhike and we can't camp in the city."
Steve says, "Let's see if we can catch a ride to this Valley City and use the hotel vouched the guy in Minot gave us. It can't be THAT far away."
So we start asking gas station customers if they're headed East, but with no luck. We are in the middle of the city in the middle of the night, so there are few people on the highway. Some college kids come in on a "beer run" and ask if we want to join their party. Hoping we could get an actual hotel room tonight, we turned down the offer and continued our hunt for a ride.
About an hour later, the college kids came back. "Everyone passed out, but we're sober and wide awake. Where did you need a ride to?" "Valley City!" "Hmm... I think that's a long ways away, but let's do it. The party was boring and I want some excitement."
Valley City turned out to be 135 miles away. Our kind valets had sacrificed a 4 hour round-trip, but we made it to Valley City! This is not a city at all... it is barely a village whose main attractions were 2 gas stations and a rustic motel. The Wagon Wheel Inn.
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| The Wagon Wheel Inn in Valley City, ND |
We arrived around 3am, and the clerk insisted our voucher was only for 1 night, so checkout would be 11am. We had 8 hours to sleep! Inside is all polished pine wood reminiscent of the Old West with hunting trophies, cowboy boots and wagon wheels decor. We got a nice big room and slept like babies. We woke up shortly before 11am, got a continental breakfast... and low and behold, there was a Greyhound Bus!
 |
| Oh look! A Grehound! |
Steve pulls us close and says "I have an idea! Remember our friend in Havre who told us about hitching a ride in the bottom of a Grehound bus? I bet we can pull that off." Sam and I looked at each other nervously, "I don't know, man. Seems risky. Why don't we just hitch-hike." Steve thinks for a bit, and then walks over to a shaggy haired kid smoking by the bus. "Where is this bus headed?" "Fargo/Moorhead, and then North to Grand Forks." Steve comes back over... "Alright, if we can hop this bus we can make it all the way to the Minnesota border! C'mon! We can do it!"
We walk around behind the bus, and Steve tries the cargo door latch. It pops open! He dives in, and yells for us to follow. We all crawl in and Steve starts to shut the door. "No, wait!! What if we can't open the doors from the inside??? We'll be stuck here til we reach the bus station. We have to get out before that!" Steve nods and we agree to take turns holding the door to keep it from latching.
Suddenly, Sam yells out "We're here! We're here! I see cars, a Subway and big buildings." I try to peek out, but all I see is traffic. "Okay, let's do it." We jump out of the bus and grab our bags. We immediately realize that we are NOT in Fargo.
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| Gas stations outside Casselton, ND |
Far from it! We were at the edge of a tiny town where the gas stations cluster around the freeway! Steve goes to open the cargo door when we hear someone yelling from the gas station. We look over and see the bus drive running out, yelling "Hey! I need to talk to you!" We look at each other nervously, Steve closes the cargo door and we wait. The bus driver catches up and gives us a funny look, "Is this where you want to get off?" I nervously reply "Yes!" He looks around at the desolation, "Are you sure?" We nod our heads emphatically. He shrugs and says "Okay, I just need to check your tickets and your baggage claims."
We stare at him in horror. I say, "We don't have them."
He frowns. "Well I need your baggage claim stubs or I can't let you take that luggage."
We stare at each other in silence. He says "Look, I'm already running late! I need those tickets!"
My heart is beating rapidly and images of police and prison-time run through my head. And there was nowhere to run. The pressure builds as we stare at each other, and I suddenly blurt out "Look! This is my bag... it has my name on it... SEE?? We don't have tickets! We hitched a ride in the bottom of the bus. We're sorry. Please don't call the police!"
He looks at us completely bewildered. He grabs his radio and keys the mic and we prepare to run. He sighs and puts the radio back on his belt, shakes his head and climbs back in the bus. We all let out a huge sigh of relief! That was close!
We walk up to the freeway ramp and stick out our thumbs. Within an hour, a sherrif pulls up and tells us we cannot hitch-hike on the freeway. So we are stuck at the gas station again. We take turns begging for a ride, but everyone is headed AWAY from Fargo. Finally, a big jolly man agrees to let us ride in the back of his pick-up... which was being hauled on a trailer!
So we climb in, lie down and once again we are on our way! Turns out we were only 10 miles from Fargo, and the trucks stops. The driver asks us if we want breakfast. We frown and say "We don't have any money." He smiles and says he'll give each of us $4. Over a big plate of eggs, hashbrowns and bacon we share our story, and learn that the driver is a used-car salesman from Forrest Lake, Minnesota. Turns out he had just picked up the truck in Great Falls, Montana which is fairly close to where we started. If only we had traveled South instead of East!
4 hours later we arrived in Forrest Lake. We waved goodbye and danced down the street. We made it!! Technically this was part of the Twin Cities metropolis... so we should be able to walk downtown from here. Or so we thought. It's actually 30 miles north of Minneapolis. And it was late. The buses stopped running hours before and we were penniless. So we walked over to THE "Forrest Lake," took a swim, relaxed and discussed our options for the night. Now that we're in the "big city," we are all a bit freaked out about sleeping outdoors.
Steve spies a small round building near the beach... which turns out to be a changing room... with locking doors!! So we locked the door and settled in for the night. It's not easy sleeping on wood benches.
In the morning we set out walking towards Minneapolis. We walked... and we walked... and yet were still so far away. Steve continued fishing for a ride with his trusty thumb, and once again his luck caught us a break. An older gentleman was on his way to work in Blaine. Once in Blaine, we realize we are STILL a long ways away. So we walk a few more hours from Blaine thru Fridley to Brooklyn Center. The sun is setting ad we STILL haven't made it to Minneapolis! We stop to rest in front of a big church, and Steve yells out "I have an idea!" He jumps up and runs into the church. A few minutes later he comes out with an older man who tells us he will give us a ride to Salvation Army in downtown Minneapolis. He was the minister of the church and Steve had told him our story and begged for a ride.
30 minutes later we arrive at the Salvation Army. There was a long line of seedy looking homeless people waiting for dinner service. Suddenly we felt like country-bumpkins, and I was certain we would get mugged any minute now. So we quickly walked towards the big sky-scrapers of downtown.
Wide-eyed like newborn babies we were completely awestruck with the size of the buildings and how busy the city was! We walked into nearly every store giddy as school children. Indian Bazaar with all it's weird brass trinkets and pushy salesmen, Bob Marley shoes with they're $70 shoes, Sachs 5th Ave with their $200 jeans. They don't have that in Montana! Someone suggests that we should go to the Uptown Neighborhood, which was about an hour walk away.
We walked to the intersection of Lake and Hennepin and were amazed at the stores and the culture! Trendy rich art students, teenage misfits and gutterpunks galore. It was total culture-shock as we suddenly discover we are just ants in a giant anthill... and after being in the spotlight as rural outcasts, it felt wonderful!
We found a public phone and called our only friend in Minneapolis who offered to let us stay in his living room for a week. Soon we found jobs and places to live. I began working as a cook at the Uptown Perkins and the next chapter of my life began!
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| Hitch-hiking Adventure of 1996 - Havre, Montana to Minneapolis, Minnesota |
This is the end of the hitch-hiking adventures. We travelled 900 miles of desolate landscape in 1 week aided by the kindness of many strangers, and I continue to pay-it-forward and help those in need whenever I can. I didn't have a camera back then, so all of these pictures were borrowed from Google. This was my one and only hitch-hiking trip... but there are many more stories to come!
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