Hitch-Hiker's Guide

I got a call on Monday morning from Jeff. He was planning on hitch-hiking down to Dallas from Winfield. He thought it would take a couple of days to make it. He showed up Tuesday night at about 6:00. It is only about a six hour drive but he got stuck in Oklahoma City for about 24 hours. He was pretty surprised that people would not pick him up in the big city.

He walked through most of the city before hitching a ride in the southern part of OK City. He camped in a wooded area by a truck stop. He had brought some food with him so he was able to take care of his physical needs. Its good to know that all of those years of Boy-Scouting paid off. Fortunately the weather was good, not raining, not too hot. Maybe the Hitch-hiker's Guide should say that you are not likely to get picked up in the middle of a big city. Maybe this is because people in the city are not going out of town. Another big reason would be that a lot of people are just not going to pick up a hitch-hiker. I can honestly say that I am one of those people. I have heard way too many stories.

On Tuesday night Bob suggested that he look into getting a job on the Gulf Coast doing Hurricane Ike clean-up. Jeff made several calls and they were returned the next day saying that if he wanted to work all he had to do was show up with reliable transportation and steel toed shoes. He had the steel toed shes but he had left his reliable transportation in Kansas. His original plan was to drive his bike back up to Kansas and continue to look for a job up there.

He worked the next day trying to get his motorcycle running. It had been sitting in the garage for almost two years. His battery was not able to hold a charge. After he solved this it was still apparent that the bike could in no way be construed as reliable transportation. He decided to take the bike back up to Kansas and get his car and drive back down to Texas for the work. He called me yesterday at about 5:00in Tushka, OK and said that the bike was running ok, but not great. When he took off he was not wearing a helmet. I took a picture of him before he took off on my camera phone. I always take a picture of him before he takes off on a big ride because it may be his last. He always rolls his eyes when I tell him I'm going to take his picture but he always smiles.

So, I have not heard from him since yesterday. The good news is that I have not had a policeman come to my front door regretting to inform me. I am such a worrier. What is more dangerous? Hitch-hiking across country or riding a motorcycle without a helmet? I think my worries are justified.

Update

I called his phone repeatedly today and got nothing. Finally I called the guy Jeff has been staying with and asked him if he had seen Jeff. He let me know that Jeff had come in at about 5:00 AM. He had not anticipated that the weather would cool so much. He had to make several stops because he got too cold because he was wearing inadequate gear for the conditions. Maybe this is something he should put in his yet to be written book, Motorcyclist's Guide to America.