Cop Ride Service...
It was a blissful day of chillin' in my tent, watching movies, getting stoned, and taking naps...
Woke up just north of Stamford, TX. 'Do I hitchhike from here, or head back closer to town?' I'm about a mile out. In the boonies. 'It might look better if I head back to where it's a more obvious place to be dropped off, instead of looking like I probably got kicked out in the middle of nowhere.'
I decided to leave from where I was camped. Trash gathered. Chargeables in small day pack. Sign just in case. Off to the gas station for coffee.
Coffee secured I hit walmart hoping for an out of the way outlet. Inside. A couple bananas because my muscles feel like they want to cramp. Some popcorn chicken 'cause it's cheap. Outside. Around the building looking for that magic outlet...
Nothing that wasn't gonna require a possible unfortunate incident with the authorities.
I find a spot out of the breeze on a stack of red pavers. Bags of mulch and fertilizer stacked on pallets around me. Breakfast and coffee while watching semis coming in and out waiting on loading docks.
Breakfast finished, trash in a nearby trash can, I head for camp.
When I get there I immediately pull the rain fly off. I'm in some colder temps than I've been in lately, but sweating profusely while packing my gear is not on my list of fun things to do.
Gear packed and out of tent. Tent dropped and on pack. Gear up. Casual look around to make sure I'm not leaving any trash (or any of my stuff). Out of the thin stand of Mesquite trees I've been hiding in. Across the road/hwy.
'I kinda feel like walking. Might as well go back down to the entrances/exits.'
Twenty minutes later gear is down, stool is out, and I'm chillin' smoking a cigarette and contemplating the success of hitchhiking on Easter Sunday.
Another twenty minutes a car pulls over. "¿Rulé?" "Yeah." "(Something in rapid-fire Spanish I didn't understand.)" The gestures assured me he wanted me to get my stuff and get in. I do.
Off we go. "¿Habla Espańol?" "No." He finds the translator app on his phone, says something and hands it to me. 'Where are you going? Is there somewhere I can take you?' I hit the button to flip from Spanish-to-English to English-to-Spanish. "I'm going to California." I hand him his phone.
Judging by the smile and the look on his face he definitely thought I was crazy. Eighteen miles later he drops me at the gas station in Rule, TX. Hands me a large, unopened strawberry banana yougurt drink. 'Nice! I was thinking about yogurt yesterday.' We say our goodbyes. He takes off. I grab my gear to head to the edge of town.
From the first step I see stuff I should take pictures of. I must've wandered around that town for almost an hour setting stuff down, taking pictures, picking stuff back up. The only business I could see that wasn't long abandoned was an Allsup's. Surprisingly, open twenty-four hours.
Wandering around like a tourist finished, I make the eight minute walk from the center to the edge of town. Gear down. Thumb out. It's 2:04pm.
Not a lot cars, a few one-hitters, and a delicious yogurt drink later... Three hours have gone by. I'm scanning places I've already seen looking for a spot to camp. On one side is town. It looks like a junkyard is the first thing I'll hit. It has a few trees, but I've seen kids from the house close by playing there. 'Not enough cover. Way too small.'
The other way is a ranch compound with a few houses and buildings, and almost zero trees. The nearest trees are a couple miles up. I'll hike it if I have to, but I really want to be closer to town for food tonight.
Another hour goes by.
Finally someone pulls over. I had no idea it was a cop until he turned his lights on. He gets out. The usual, "Where ya goin'? Where you coming from?" He was going out of his way to be cool and reassure me I wasn't in any trouble.
"I'm gonna make a couple phone calls and see if I can get someone to meet me halfway to the county line." My ID in hand he heads back to his vehicle.
A couple minutes later he's back. Hands me my ID. Tells me he can see my knife but not to worry about it. (It's in my front pocket with the clip on the outside of my jeans. Easy to get to in case I need to start an orange peel.)
We stand around shooting the breeze about hitchhiking, places I've been, etc. The call comes back. "We're good to go." "Sweet!" "Throw your stuff in the back and hop in." I do.
Two hours later I'm in my third police car. I've been ID'd twice. Knife taken and given back twice. Two rides in the back, two rides in the front. The sun is touching the horizon. I'm tired. I really want to go setup camp and crash for the night.
"Those guys up here in the next county might come get you, might not. They do things a little different up there." "Cool. No worries."
This cop drops me at a turn around at the county line in the middle of nowhere. I get my gear. As he's turning around he rolls down his window, "Dispatch just called. The sherrif is on his way to come get you." "Awesome! Thanks man!" "Good luck!"
I hitchhiked the five or so cars that came my way out of sheer hilarity. 'A hitchhiker, in the middle of nowhere, at night. If that doesn't scare you, nothing will! 😆😆😆
About thirty minutes later a sheriff's vehicle flies past me, hits his brakes, turns around, and pulls up in front of me. He tells me my best route will be up to Lubbock. I explain for the fourth time this evening I'm avoiding all intersates and cities. And I'm taking this road into New Mexico.
"Ok. When we get to town I'll call ahead and see if Tahoka will come get you. "Cool." 'I just want to go to sleep. I appreciate the cop ride service, but fuck am I tired.' Gear and us in we take off.
A bit of mindless chit-chat later he speeds up. I figure he's passing someone. I can see his speedometer. 90. 100. 115. 124. I notice the red and blues are on. "I've got a call, so when we get there I'm gonna drop you off. When I get done I'll come back and we'll see about getting you up the road farther." "Ok. Cool." 'Now is my chance to escape. 😆'
We did 123 steadily for quite a while. From the county line to town must be quite a ways.
We hit town. I grab my gear as fast as I can. He gives me a ten second rundown of how town is laid out. Tells me he'll meet me at Allsup's around the corner when his call is done, if that's what I want to do. I thank him. He takes off.
I check maps for some trees to hide in for the night. Nothing, except for a patch on the other end of town. Gear up. Off I go.
Thirty minutes later I'm there. It's an old collection of sheds and random farm stuff. None of it looks like it's been used in a long time. I find a spot in front of the animal shelters where it's level...
And hear chickens. Flashlight out I look where the sound is coming from. Sure enough a bunch of chickens in roosting boxes. 'Fuck. If there's chickens, there's gonna be someone coming by to feed them.'
Gear up. Farther down the road in the dark.
I find a spot I can get into the trees. Nothing even remotely flat. Tumbleweeds everywhere. Stickers in my socks immediately. I suck it up and explore. Nothing. Back out and up the hill to the road.
Maps. There's an rv park just past this stand of trees. It looks like a dirt road on the side I can get into the trees from. I head that way.
Before I get there I find a break in the fence where a very old small gate is partially open. I head in. ''Damn. This is somebody's house. Wait. This looks long abandoned.' Gear down, I go look. 'Yep. Nobody's been here in a long time.'
The temperature is dropping fast. Tent up. Me and gear inside. Fast asleep in about twenty minutes.
This morning I left the tent to go in search of coffee and breakfast. Took the chargeables of course. I walk past a house where a dog starts barking from behind the fence. I see the vehicle in the driveway... 'Sherrif.' I'll bet that's dude from last night. This town isn't big enough for it not to be'