<b>I love to travel! Especially hitchiking, hence the Transworld bussiness HOBO-of-the-YEAR award back in 04. I hitched from NYC to Mt. Loon, New Hampshire for a contest. recently I hitched from Denver to mexico and back for a party. Here it is in its entirety: So I was chillin @ Kira's place in Denver reading about the ROME snowboard guys, Dirty Joel and Casey Neefus and their adventures hitchiking from Vermont on their way to the Action Sport Retailers Tradeshow in San Diego and finally Tijuana for a party. They had made it to Denver the day before and were already in Vegas. Well my second favorite girl in the world was in Cali, and I had nothing better to do... So I figured I would try to beat Joel and Casey there, and after a quick message to Ron at Rome, I set off leaving Denver around noon. My first ride was a bitch to get. People don't pick up people on off ramps in Denver. Except for a really chill Car dealer that purchases cars at auctions and sells them online. He wasn't taking I-70 west all that far but he was going to Gunnison which was about a four hour drive and wasn't in the total wrong direction so I kicked it. 200 miles later I was in Gunnison, which is just passed Crested Butte in the middle of no where. I walked a little bit to the west end of town and realized I was screwed, I had competition!!! There was some old hippie guy standing there with his thumb out, I figured I'd be lucky to get a ride out here and that there was no way in hell we were both going to get a ride. So I basically just chilled and talked to the guy. He was an old dead head that just came back from an Allman Brothers Concert in Chicago. After about an hour, I was starting to get bummed and said how much this sucked. He mentioned he had something to made it better and handed me a concert ticket wrapped in foil. It was his ticket stub from Chicago and it was coated with Lucy. I ate it! He mentioned it wasn't measured and he wasn't responsible for the consequences and then he went to go piss in a pub. The minute he left I got picked up by a father and son that were from Vegas but lived out here now doing construction. The both snowboarded but worked so much they didn't get to do it much. Really chill guys and they took me 65 milesto the town of Montrose, Co. I walked through Montrose which took about two minutes and started thumbin' my way back to I-70. Soon a old guy in a van picked me up and said he was going to Grand Junction and that he used to be a trucker. That was all he said and it made the ride really awkward but 62 mileslater I was in Grand Junction and stoked to almost be out of Colorado in less then 10 hours. My next ride was an injured Oil worker that was on disability because someone he was working with was trying to free a pipe he was holding and hit him in the dome with a sledge hammer!!! he was only going to the other side of town but he took me the 10 miles and gave me two pieces of pizza which was a blessing because I had been travelling for the past five weeks and was totally broke. So every bit helped. So now it is about 1 in the morning and I'm on the West end of Grand Junction. Think about it, few people pick up hitchers and no-one is going to pick one up at night so I waited until at least 4 until I got my next ride. My fifth ride was a 70 something old man that used to make Flintstone Vitamins at a plant in Indiana until Bayer or Phizer bought the plant, fired everyone and moved production to Germany. He was lucky and had worked there over forty years so he just retired. He fished for a while but started working part-time for his son just to kill the boredom. His son produced the little buses that you see at resorts and this old guy would deliver them. This particular bus was going to Richfield, Utah and then on its way to Vegas for the MTV Music Awards. So I'm was chillin alone in a bus for the next 225 miles and it was rad, way better then the dirty dog. (aka Greyhound) Now it was approaching sunrise and a really old cowboy turned store owner from Ouray, Co picked me up in a 1982 Chevy RV; I'm pretty sure he was the original owner cause it was cherry and he wouldn't drive it over 45 MPH. He was now retired and was headed to go gamble in Nevada at Mesquite, basically a state-line Mini-Vegas. He took me 206 miles but it felt like 100000000 because of his lack of speed and antique conversation. But beggars can't be choosy and I appreciated the lift. Now in Mesquite I got in my first Semi. He was a really young, 420 friendly guy with a big 2008 Peterbuilt that he just purchased. It was pimp! Way nicer then Windells employee housing and the thing is on wheels! So rad. Well 81 miles later I was just east of Vegas. This is where I really scored, I got a ride with another trucker, a mexican-american that was going all the way to Los Angeles! He was going to take me 271 miles and I was all about it. Dead fucking tired but still excited to score such a key lift! The guy was really cool, not-so-good at English but pretty rad. The funniest thing was after I told him I grew up in Alaska he got all excited and started with a million questions; after he told me he was an American citizen I informed him he could go to Alaska and he nearly shit himself. He had no idea he could travel to Hawaii, Alaska, or even Cuba. It was sweet, and I think he is probably on his way north right now! Well now I'm in LA and just to let everyone know... LA SUCKS! I was in the University area where I figured people would be cool, well they're not. I stood on a corner by the 15 South exit for 6 hours with a big ass SAN DIEGO sign and no-one even paused. City people, so self concerned. I didn't understand how I could make it this far in less then 24 hours and then be a little over a hundred miles away and stuck in the mud. One lady even walked up and gave me change for no reason, then another guy said that he hadn't seen a hitchiker in LA for at least 14 years. Crazy. Finally, and for the fact I have special powers and can manifest things when in dire need. I cause an accident by will power alone. I guess these guys were on the freeway and got into a bumper-bender so they pulled off at my exit to exchange info. After that was done the one guy said he was going to San Diego so I was off122 miles till my goal. The first thing he said was that he was Bi-Sexual and asked me if I had a problem with that. I assured him, I was cool and then he got me high. He was driving a rental Van with a bunch of shit in it and said because it was almost 2 in the morning that if I helped him move in I could crash, so I did. He did try to hit on me, so I set him straight and then he headed to the bar with his man-friend. The next day I was at ASR, so stoked I had made it. Check these pics that I poached from Snowboard-mag.com ASR

VOLCOM TOUR and YEAR LONG DISASTER!!!


The trade show was super fun! Free booze, Tons of parties, and I even rode in a couple Limos blowing L's and loving life. But the best part was still to come... ..
TIJUANA - the Ender-Ender. The ROME SNOWBOARD party everyone wanted to go to but was too scared to end up in a Mexican Jail. I think part of the reason people were scared was first because it was ROME and those guys are nuts and secondly because there was a bus from the Convention Center to TJ but you were on your own getting home. I didn't care I had hitched all this way and I wasn't missing shit! Check these...

Hammer Drunk, Crazy Fun!! Then came the drink ass hole:
Basically this guy grabs your hair and pours tequilla down your throat. Sweet right? Thats what I thought, well after he does this you HAVE to pay him, and remember I'm broke... Well luckily someone paid him for me, and then for no reason Leanne Peloski brought me a beer, I don't even know her but still. AWESOME!!! So at the end of the night my fellow hitchers got their $ but I did beat them tho San Diego because they hitched a train going in the wrong direction, amateurs...
But for me personally this was the highlight!!! I met this Pro-Surfer kid named Chris McConnell inside the tradeshow with a guy who runs a website called medicalmarijuanapaitent.com We all got super Irie and I convinced the Surfer to come with me to Tijuana. He was a little shy but I made a deal with him that I wouldn't leave without him if he wouldn't leave without me. So we were off to Mexico. The bar was shady, not only was there a donkey chillin there the minute you got in, but there was a tattoo parlor inside the bar also. Chris was pretty drunk and scrounged up enough $ to get a tattoo. He ended up getting a ROME logo on his wrist and he lives in Pacific Beach so I don't even think he has snowboarded... SO FUNNY!

Plus a Tattoo in a Tijuana Bar? Can you say Hepittitus C,B, and A? Just look at the guy who gave it to him, he looks trustworthy....
Well since Chris was drunk enough to get that done, I was no longer worried about leaving with him. Which was good because I ran into an Ex-Windells' Camper and his wife that had showed and they were heading back with a friend so I caught a ride and stayed at their place. So Cush, the bed was amazing. The next day was the last day of the show, so everyone was hung over and a lot people were already leaving. I had seen everything I wanted to so I went out back where ARBOR Snowboards had their Yacht. I drank a bunch of free booze and met up with the guys who rented the Yacht to Arbor. One of the guys "DAVE-O" was an ex-pro snowboarder for KEMPER. (you youngins' won't remeber) and he was the man. It turns out he had about 8 other yachts in the harbor so I just drank booze, smoked herb, and boat hopped all night. My friends Capt'n and Jack; and Lauren- thanks for the show pass!
The Arbor set-up, super pimp! Way nicer then a booth inside.

I'M HEADED BACK NEXT YEAR FOR SURE, if only for the free alcohol and the adventure. But I think I'll try and drive the 2720 Miles!!!! But I still had to make it home... Here is that story: It ended up that Dave-O was heading out to Salt Lake the next day so I figured I'd go along with him. I was partied out and ended up falling asleep in a traffic jam near LA. The next thing I know its getting dark so Dave-O and I switched positions (I just didn't mention my lack of drivers licence). After 690 miles we were in Salt lake and once again it was morning. I was planning on chillin but was pretty fucking "OVER IT" so I decided to start hitching... Good plan but not really, 'cause it is nearly impossible to hitchike out of SLC. I held my sign for over 12 hours and then smoked the last of my herb with some bums. After being harassed by the police, I hiked from the 'SAPP BROS' truck stop to a 'FLYING J' truck stop right on highway 80. After a few more ride-less hours, I slept on the pavement. People wake up super early in Utah, so I was back hitchin' by about 6:00 Am. Finally a big black trucker guy asked where I was going, and I said "Denver". He asked if I was in a hurry and by this time I just wanted out of Salt Lake so I lied and said "no". He was taking a bunch of Oragnic food to Pinedale, Wy and I was along for the ride. The guy was super chill and the 238 miles flew by as we discussed life, love, and mental illness. If you didn't know truckers can only work in 14 hour shifts, and can be on the road driving for only 11 of those 14 hours. His time was up and we were in the middle of no-where so we had to wait for 10 hours. I wouldn't do this normally, but like I said the guy was madd chill and I was dead tired, so I slept in the semi. It was pretty sweet and was totally better then the pavement where I'd slept the night before! It had a bunk-bed set-up in the back and we watched 'Rosewood' on the DVD player while slamming 24oz buds. We hit the road by 7 the next morn and I got to see one of the best sun-rises of my life. Awesome! 450 miles later i was in Aurora, the eastern end of Denver. THANK GOD I MADE IT TO COLORADO! but its not over yet. I hustled a driver and took a bus to the only truck stop I knew in Denver, which was pretty much downtown right under I-70 West. I was there forever, and saw some seriously freaky shit. I witnessed a semi loose it brakes completely off the back tires, I saw a pimp and two hookers (one hot, one not! The best thing was they had a portable CB Radio that they were using to score Johns) and lastly I saw three bums smoke at least an 8-ball right under the bridge. How bums can afford that, I don't know. Around 8 at night a guy finally offers me a ride west but says he's running out of drive-time so he might not be able to get me all the way. I didn't care, because I was SOOO close and hitchin' on I-70 is super easy. First he had to Re-weigh and I helped him move the front axles ont the trailer so everyhting was balanced correctly. As I was doing this, the driver came up behind me and kept patting my back and telling me how good of a job I was doing, then he offered to buy me dinner. This guy freaked the shit out of me and I was hungry, but there was no way I was going to let this dude buy me anything; I just wanted to go home! Well I was totally right about his guy, as soon as we got close to the Eisenhower Tunnel the guy reached over toward me and grabbed my left wrist, he asked me "what is this?" Reffering to the backstage wristband I was wearing from the house of blues... Well as he did that I noticed his pinky finger was sticking out, like some people drink tea, and he was trying to rub it on my junk! WHAT THE FUCK?! I wanted to stab this guy, but I had nothing on me but my toothbrush. Well the next exit was Frisco (73 miles from Denver)and I knew my boy Rob from minni-haha stayed there on occasion, so I got the fuck out; QUICK! WAY TOO CLOSE! The next ride I got was a nurse that just back from Philly. She was dead tired because when she arrived in Denver she couldn't remember where her car was parked and had to walk around for over two hours looking for it. She got me to Vail (27 miles)and I was finally home. </B> <I>The moral of the story is hitchiking can be fun, but bring a gun, and be happy when its done!</I>