2019 On The Road Again #9

The next ride was just to Moose Jaw. I was in the back seat as there was another hitchhiker in the front seat. It was unusual for me to ever ride with another hitchhiker - I had never twice in one trip done so. My new driver was interesting - he was middle age or so, was in the area helping a friend do some renovations and had this almost Zen-like attitude to finding his place in the world but at the same time, he was almost hyperactive or aggressive about presenting his perspective. I think that if I had been in the front seat and if we had had a few hours together, it would have been a great conversation. As it was - I am not sure if we got very far down any pathway to an individual or mutual discovery. However, in the short drive between the outskirts of Regina and Moose Jaw, we did have one brief but significant conversation. We talked about by-laws and how the bureaucracy made it difficult for people to get anything done in their own homes - particularly if the person doing the work was unknown to the building officials. This was the second conversation in a row where I had talked to my driver about restrictive building inspectors and codes. I am quite sure I did not initiate the conversation topic. I did tell him about the town my previous driver had talked about. It felt good to share dome optimistic news.

My fellow passenger and I got out near the big moose who had been shed of its antlers so new, larger ones could be attached. The other hitchhiker asked if I wanted to walk or should he. I told him that generally when the nearest town was miles and miles away - I did not walk. He graciously offered to walk up the road a bit. I assumed that he would just move up a hundred yards or so - but he walked until I could no longer see him. After my experience in Brandon, it was nice that someone understood the unwritten rules. I should have been the one who walked as he had been in the car first - but without actually saying so, I suspect that he gave into my older age.

After 30-40 minutes a large white, 10 passenger van stopped just up the road from me. I was initially slow to respond as these sort of vehicles had never stopped for me but when the passenger door opened and I saw someone waving at me, I got there as fast as I could. The driver was an old, Indigenous man, the passenger was his younger sister. They were heading to Calgary to help their brother move back to their home community, somewhere on the other side of Winnipeg. Just ahead of them the brother and a friend were driving pick-up truck - I think it was them who suggested that I get picked up. A few minutes later we saw my young hitchhiking friend still walking. The two wondered out loud if they should pick him up too - I said that he was a good guy - so they stopped and he got in. A few minutes later the truck called the van and said that there was another hitchhiker -with a dog - and when we got to that spot, we stopped and picked him up.

The van/minibus was large enough for all and our driver and her sister certainly were generous. Initially, I was sitting in the front seat, but after a stop for gas and a switch of drivers, I moved into the back seat and as there was very little conversation, I dozed for much of the remaining trip.