I did a lot of hitchhiking in my Ames years and soon after. It felt very free out on the road, you were dependent on others but felt sure you would arrive.

I did Iowa to LA by way of San Francisco in 1972. That was to work in the California Presidential primary for McGovern. It was a great experience and I and Don Swanson were put up by the theater critic of the LA Times and we got free tickets to the musical Hair.

Also hitched from Iowa to Miami that year for the Democratic National Convention. The convention was interesting but the peace protestors including VVAW in Flamingo Park was where some of the action was at. By the way Hunter Thompson’s book Fear and Loathing in Campaign 72 was the best coverage of that time. I also did hitchhike from Miami to DC another time. I did lots of Iowa to/from Chicago trips.

I met a few whackos along the way. I usually got out as soon as possible if it was strange but I met a lot of interesting people. Also did some hitchhiking in Mexico and South America.

Some friends of mine were into jumping trains ( Hey Ron) but I never did that