West Memphis

First Monday in October 10-02-06 Same exit. Camped just before dark 8-9 hours rest and feel great. Beatiful weather listening to NPR on the road @ 7:45 am doing a double shot of Taster Choice..I never have any food with me I'd rather stay hungry and lose weight after spending the summer in front of a computer 8 hours a day and camping in the Helena National Forrest in Montana and sppending my days at the best public law library in the world....
12:30 pm same exit 7 hours just turned down another ride to downtown Memphis..looked like a Dr. with a green smock on. Another big cup of coffe; which reminds me; kinda bad form to get in a big truck haulin ass 600 miles and you need to piss....bad. More trucks than ever. Fedex trucks times 5. Lots of traffick gettin up to 89-90 degrees just jammin on my headphones (classical) Not one state trooper or sheriff. unbebelievable amount of trucks on interstate 40 smack in the middle of the country the skys are pretty powder blue criss-crossed with vapor trails from cross continent commercial airliners. very little four wheeler traffic at this exit. Oh, I am at the Shell Lake exit 25 west of memphis. Misssed one ride early this morning when I didnt see the tractor trailer pulled over for me unti it was to late.

hitchhiking Interstate 40

%:09 WEST Memphis Interstae 40 25 miles west of Memphis Flying J. Trucker (50 Santa Clause lookin from Wisconsin haulin Domino's Pizza dough to Dallas Texas gave me a free shower credit talked me into going 25 miles out of my way to avoing getting dropped off in downtown Memphis... kinda bust truck stop..turned down two rides wanted to drop me off in the middle of Memphis...been there and done that and aint doing it again...just mad a "Gulf Coast" sign 88 degrees 2 hours of sun left...good camping if need be...getting hungry..

Hitchhiking from montana

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO Exit 91 Jason Johnson, Moondance Transportation Milaca, MN 56353 763-772-5767 (he gave me a pen with all this on it) left me off at one of the worst (best?) exits ever. rather disappointing knowing I could be standing at a Flying J on ramp is a lot faster but I know time dosen't matter anyway...longer the wait the better the ride!!!

Hitchhiking montana to mississippi

10-01-06 St. Mary, MO. 500 mile ride after a couple of false starts; tatooed old man on way to casino at Iowa-MN line...Left Mitchell, SD after a ride with a fat Ohio truck driver coming from Shelby, MT with no load; said he took switches up there. Looked like 300 pounds over weight and the last thing he said to me when I was climbing out of the cab of his truck; I'm hungry, I gotta get something to eat...

Mitchell, South Dakota South Bound & Down

               Hitchhiking is not a sport. It is not an art. It certainly isn't work, 

for it requires no particular ability not does it produce anything of value. 

It's an adventure, I suppose, but a shallow ignoble adventure.

(Tom Robbins, "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues")

         Mitchell, South Dakota

 Camped next to the Walmart 

nice and quite although in plain view of the highway but little traffic.  Two nights ago in Rapid City, SD 

I camped on a little hill overlooking a Flying J 

truck stop.    Just bought two packs of Taster's Choice coffee and doing a double shot while I break camp which takes all of 15 minutes. 

 Sunshine and blue sky.

South bound and down...

North Dakota Grain Elevator Inspector

Homeless In Heaven
6PM Mitchell, SD 150 miles to MN Rode with a USDA Grain elevator inspector Marc something. Loved my http://cowboycabbage.blogspot.com idea and fear he may have swiped it...looking at a Walmart Super Center and call it a day I think....

Walmart Siders

Homeless In Heaven
Trying to catch up where I left off (I have about 20 rides to post); Rapid City, SD 9/29/06 8:55am Wound up walking about to 1st exit at Buffalo/Ucross-swiped two cookies and got new water. Two "siders" gave me a ride 2 hours to here. Camped here-perfect weather. One other ride; 60 year old smelled of whiskey drywaller had a $1,500 87 Jeep 115K miles needed someone to drive to Denver for him; blew him off I ain't going to Denver or Colorado and was driving 50 miles to cash a $700 check he got. Dude in front of me at the Albertson's Foods left his check book on the counter in front of me and I called him back to get, everyone in line looked slightly amazed...

Homeless In Heaven

Homeless In Heaven Gainesville, Florida Universtity of Florida Law school computers are stripped of the features I need the most and I have tons to post here. Beaituful town though....

Homeless In Heaven

Homeless In Heaven
I live simply and peacefully so I can write savagely. Flaubert

Habeas Corpus Winners

Habeas Corpus Winners
Gainsville, Florida lot to post but having computer problems

In Tallahasse, Florida updates soon

Be updating this blog soon. markamania2002@yahoo.com

Rapid City, South Dakoda

9/29/06 8:55 am 

 RAPID CITY, SD

Wound up walking to 1st exit 

BUFFALO UCROSS 

South Dakota 

 Swiped a pack of cookies and got fresh water at a convenience store....

And they watched me like I was fix'n to steal something...

Two "Siders" (Aluminum siding installers) 

gave me a ride 

two hours to here in a Ford cargo van he had just bought for $1200. 

 Camped on a small hill overlooking a 

Flying J Truck stop...

perfect weather.

Hitch hiking from Helena, Montana to Biloxi, Mississippi

__________________________

When you ain't got nowhere to go you just keep going....

__________________________

9-26-07 HELENA, MONTANA Journey begins at 2:20 pm

BILLINGS, MONTANA 9-27-07 jumped out of an 'old loggers pickup truck after he pissed me off at Boulder River, Montana just south of Big Timber, Montana.   A "Pinger" picked me up after walking nearly four miles.  Said he was stationed at Keesler AFB in Biloxi and described how a small electrical device he trained on was why they Air Force recruits in Biloxi) were known as "Pingers." I told him I thought it was because they all had bald heads and your first thought on seeing them (always in groups) was to "Ping" them on their heads.   Never got on the ramp good when a guy hauling used oil from oil change shops gave me a ride all the way to the east side of Billings, Montana to a Flying-J and turned me on to a small bud.  First pot I had smoked in months. Told me he made extra $500 a week from stations paying him to pick up their used oil because they did not know his company would pay them to pick it up because they turn it into heating oil.  Showed me a whole wad of money and went on and on about how great he had it....
      Never even went inside the Flying J and waited and hour before going to the other side of the interstate to camp because it was quieter.  Camped on a small hill overlooking the entrance ramp in full view of everyone and got woke up at 2 am by loud:

"SHERIFF's OFFICE,

LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS!!" 

Cop asked for my ID and I told him I didn't have any and gave him a phony name and told him I didn't know my social security number. I have a minor misdemeanor warrant that only appears in Montana.  He wrote it down and left when he seen I wasn't a drunk.  Went back to sleep.  Trucker picked me up hauling a portable saw mill going to Caper/Sheridan, Wyoming.  Dude was chewing Red Man chewing tobacco and loved my Cowboy cabbage idea (I chew fresh Parsley I started to quit dipping SKOAL and Copenhagen instead of tobacco). Could have rode another 100 miles with him but 'aint going near Colorado or Wyoming and am at the Interstate 90 west and Interstate 25 South turnoff. Very little traffic but beautiful day out in the middle of nowhere....
12:21 pm
 Gonna need some luck getting outta here...

That's exactly what it looked like....

Helena, Montana to Biloxi, Mississippi took (11) eleven days hitch-hiking:  i don't hitchhike at night..

Biloxi, Mississippi Meltdown

October 17, 2006 Second night of pouring rain....woke up in 4 inches of water with everything soaking wet; even my journal and radio/headphones. Everything drying out I hope. Gonna post my journal here of my hitch-hiking adventure from Montana which lasted 11 days and recorded every ride. I have always said living on the street is 95 percent wonderful and 5 % misery. The 5% kicked in two days ago. More later