On the Road Again 2012 #5

As happens so often, what appears to be a really great spot for getting a ride turned out not to be as good as I thought. Susan had let me off at a small turn-out area where cars and trucks could pull of the road, dump their garbage into the waste bins, stretch their legs and then start driving again. Alberta may more of these turn-out areas than any other province. They are a great service for the public if for no other reason that they may reduce the amount of garbage on the highways.

This particular turn-out was a very popular one. It always had a couple of trucks and a few cars parked in it. I would guess that over the hour and half I was there perhaps a total of twenty vehicles used it. Which meant that it was a very busy and somewhat chaotic place for me. On the highway there were three lanes merging into two and therefore drivers were far more likely to be watching the traffic around them rather than looking for hitchhikers. I was hoping that perhaps a car that stopped for a break would look me over and offer a drive but most of the cars seemed to contain multiple passengers along with assorted cottage toys and therefore there was no room for me.

Finally a bright blue, new looking large pick up truck stopped and I hopped in. I like these trucks. There is lots of room in the back seat of the extended cab for my pack, the front seats are really comfortable and the drivers seemed to be inclined to travel well over the speed limit. I saw a lot of those trucks this trip. In spite of the fact that most of the ones that I saw zoomed right by me, on this trip I probably got more rides in large pick-ups than in any other type of vehicle.

My new driver, John was a young man who was off to some lake to get things, including his boat, ready for a party later that day. He looked far too young to have such nice toys! I was his first hitchhiker ever and he was even more excited about the ride than I was. I was grateful for the ride - I truly was but someone needs to give first time drivers some lessons on what to say. Saying that "I am only going up the road 20 minutes or so but there is an good intersection right there " sounds good and it will attract most hitchhikers into a car. The truth would be better such as ""I am only going up the road 20 minutes and  I am going turn off the highway on to a dirt road. It is in the middle of nowhere." I perhaps would have taken the ride but at least I would not have been shocked when he turned off the highway. It was far too short of a ride for me to get any sense of who John was other than a young man enjoying life.

There was no point me staying where he let me off so I walked up the highway for a kilometer or so until I was standing across from a restaurant/gas station on the other side of the divided highway. If nothing else it gave me something to watch as I waited for the next car to stop. It is frequently interesting watching the coming and goings of such places. I obviously can't hear conversations so I get to create stories of the families that stop and get out. For example I watched a couple transfer some suitcases and gear from a truck to a car and then eventually two children moved over as well. A man and a woman gave each other a long and what appeared to be an affection hug. Then they got into their vehicles and crossed the highway about seven to eight minutes apart. What was interesting that the male/dad was in the car with the kids and the woman/mother was in the truck alone.I must have played around for thirty minutes on all of the possible scenarios that would have a male and a female transfer kids and belongings and then both head north. It now sounds like a silly thing to do but mid-day on the Friday before a long weekend, in the middle of what felt like nowhere, approximately 1400 kilometers from my destination, under the hot sun - it kept me entertained.

What of the good things that my trip with John had done was getting me away from all of the local traffic.Where he had picked me there was so much traffic that was difficult to safely pick me up. The traffic twenty or so minutes up the road was much less and I certainly had lots of time to focus on each individual car or truck as it approached me. Finally one slowed down enough to look me over and decide that I was trustworthy enough or at least interesting enough to be worth the gamble.