If I die on this trip, please bury me here, wrapped naked in a buffalo skin:

(Bagdad, AZ)

Interesting crop circle spotted near Bagdad, AZ:

Tom

We have a second blog now!

http://helpahungryhitchhiker.wordpress.com

wordpress has this amazing thing where you can update by phone. Not having a smart phone, I realized that this would be a good way to update from the road. So this blog will still be getting attention. Hell, it will be getting most of the attention. But I'll only be able to update it from libraries and places. So check the other one after departure (Aug 3!) to hear our dulcet voices describing the trip and places.

The date is rapidly approaching and our successes finding places to stay is encouraging to say the least. Security is our highest priority of course and no precaution is going unnoticed. Soon our road beans will come in handy and our thumbs will be solidly brazened.

My mother does not bid me with a blessing at this point.

My father's faith is encouraging.

We throw ourselves at the mercy of the road; to the sympathies of psyches indoctrinated by a modern media. Here's to hope.

-Michael

I forgot to put up this picture of Steven and I just before we went in to buy supplies for our hitch trip from Santa Cruz to Los Angeles. In fact, I forgot to mention the trip at all! We made it in just under 24 hours (including a full night's sleep and a few long breaks) in a total of seven rides.

Ride number one came from Christie (Kristy? Kristi? Christy?) a 53 year old elementary school teacher in a convertible. She was pretty nice! Gave us a bag of food (sandwich, banana, yogurt, iced tea!) all meant for her boyfriend. Took us to Watsonville where we camped on a beautiful beach.

Ride number two came from an old-ish man in a little car who took us up the highway a ways and dropped us off at a better place to hitch from.

Ride number three came from an apparently wealthy man in a Prius and his débutante, and they told us bad jokes and told us about the precepts of comedy and took us to Monterey before going to a golf tournament. Nice enough folks. We had a food break and made friends with birds trying to steal our bread.

The next ride came (I think!) from Jamie, owner of Horsefeathers, an equestrian company. She was extremely nice, and stopped for us despite having to unpack some stuff from her car. She gave us a ride through some beautiful country. If you have any equestrian needs in the Bay area, she's your lady. http://www.horsefeatherstraining.com

The next guy we got a ride from was named Alex, I think. He drove fast, passed people faster, and drove us all the way to Big Sur. It was a long ride, and I took a nap for a while, so I don't know what happened. We ran into his mom at Big Sur, and he said hello to her, and then dropped us off by a very nice stone beach. We ate, explored, had a beer, found some ticks on us, and carried on.

KT Joy picked us up next and gave us a ride to the middle of nowhere. She was phenomenally nice and optimistic, and really really wanted us to follow our dreams and passions and such.

Once she dropped us off some 40 miles outside of San Luis Obispo, it looked like we would have to pitch camp. But then we got picked up by Alex and Elsa! We saw them drive by and then they drove back a few minutes later. Elsa is here in CA from France for an internship, and convinced her counterpart that we looked nice enough to pick up. So they drove us all the way to LA, and even dropped us off at Steven's door. Stand up people! In case that wasn't enough, Elsa hung out with us a week or two later, and even lived at Alica's apartment for ten days! Here's a picture of the lovely, kind, and talented girl!

We leave in just a few days! August third! Keep the support comin'!

“Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.” – Alan Keightley

Liam Odien!

Hey! Five lovely ladies that we know are roadtripping across the country too! They have a blog you should check out and follow! Sarah bought me a hat and a new shirt today. Can't back out of the trip now!

http://tickbride.wordpress.com/

That's the lovely ladies' blog!

LIAM

Hey kidz, Steven here letting you in on the latest hitchhiking newz.
As the fateful date rears its dusty head, the boys scramble to find mace, make granola, and hydrate. With luck, the Fates will smile upon our sunkissed scalps, and the road will be soft and dewy.
For your health

Hello! Deadlines! Giveaways! Updates!

The date of our departure draws near. One month from today, the adventure will begin.

That said, we will be having a few giveaways. They will each consist of a limited edition print by Steven Amrhein (numbered and signed by all the hitchhikers), and other surprises that we'll throw in. It could be anything, from a t-shirt to a mix tape. The winner of the donation giveaway gets extra cool stuff! Here's the criteria:

Giveaway 1: The prizes will go to whoever gets us the most followers. Have them comment on this post and say who showed them the blog. Whoever gets the most wins. We'll say that the deadline for this is Aug 1, 2010.

Giveaway 2: The prizes will go to whoever gets us the greatest dollar amount in donations, either by telling people to donate or by getting the followers you bring to us to donate.

Our paypal is helpahungryhitchhiker@gmail.com, and anything helps. We've already had a couple of donations, and would absolutely love love love some more. Have whoever donates comment with your name when they donate. The winner of this giveaway will get some extra special stuff. This giveaway is going to go until Aug 1, 2010. The winner will not only get the print and some extra surprises, but they will get some sort of souvenir from our travels when we return.

Keep your eyes peeled for more giveaways and more details on our fabulous prizes!

Be well, and happy trails.

Liam Odien