Adventures in Hitchhiking

The last day of 2005 was pretty fun. Amy and I decided to hitch across the island to Kaanapali. This is the tourist area where we like to go pool hopping. (Tanning and swimming at nice hotels, trying not to get caught.)

We got picked up very quickly for each leg of our adventure. The rides were very interesting.
Ride #1: We wanted to go to Costco and we got picked up by a guy in an old ghetto BMW. He was also planning on going to Costco so it was perfect. Midway through the ride, we learned that he had just had two Bloody Mary's before we got in the car with him. Lovely. There was only one point where I feared for my life. Then we got to the Costco parking lot and he seemed to want to hang out with us but we ran ahead.

Ride #2: We got picked up by some guys in a pickup truck. The bed of the truck was completely filled with stuff but we told them we could make room. Amy ended up sitting precariously on top of a cooler holding onto bungee cords for dear life. I tried to hold her down as well. I was sitting on the tailgate (it had a guard thing on the back) and on top of some pears. There was also a spearfishing spear, bottles of water, four surfboards and who knows what else in the bed of the truck. Midway through our winding ride we smelled the strong scent of weed coming from the cab. Neat.

Ride #3: Our last ride on the way to Kaanapali was an odd tourist guy. Usually tourists do not pick up hitchhikers. This guy had just driven around the island by himself and was going to meet some "friends." He had that child molester vibe complete with the standard issue handle-bar mustache. He talked really quietly. I kept watching his hand to make sure he didn't try any funny business with Amy, who was unfortunately close to him in the front passenger seat. He tried to come with us to see the Hyatt pool but we ran off as he was trying to bargain with the valet guy.

We had fun sunning ourselves and pretending to be wealthy tourists. Then it was time to go home and we again kept getting picked up right away by strange people.

Ride #4:We got picked up by this woman who seemed familiar. Amy figured out that it was our waitress from Bubba Gump's a week ago. Amy even remembered that the girl used to live in Hana and went to school in Buffalo. The girl was extremely talkative but cool so it was a good ride.

Ride #5:The bulk of our journey home was in the car with some college-age guys. They were driving a nice SUV. They seemed nice in a non-creepy way. They played some quality music like Ludacris. They were very hospitable and offered us a beer. That did not bother me though I did decline the offer. The thing that did bother me was that halfway through the ride, the driver took a sip of a beer that had been previously hidden from view. Awesome.

Ride#6: We were only 4 miles from home when we began ride #6. This middle-aged guy and his son picked us up in their two-door coupe. We crawled in the back to find the messiest back seat I have ever sat in. There was trash everywhere and old rice on the seat where I was to sit. Score! I had no choice but to sit on the old squishy rice. Amy just laughed at me. She found her own treat next to her seat- half of a cheeseburger-rock hard.

So, there were some sketchy moments during our hitching adventure but we made it safe and sound and had a good time. I have been thinking about getting my car fixed. I am going to look into price stuff soon.