Category Archives: hitchhiking

DOWN THE COAST By Peter Nolan Smith

January 24, 2012 – 6:20 am

Skyline Drive crested the steep bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the bright California sun crowned the hills with a golden nimbus. Hundreds of identical houses snaked up the streets of Daly City and trails of smoke floated from countless backyards, as suburban families celebrated Memorial Day with barbecues. A seared hamburger would have tasted [...]

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HIPPIE BEACH BUMS by Peter Nolan Smith

January 15, 2012 – 9:56 am

The night breeze off the Pacific wreathed the coastal towns north of San Diego with a thin mist. The airy moisture clung to the flowers and fruit trees of Encinitas. The June sun seared through the overcast by late morning and the evaporation off the flowers created an intoxicating bouquet of scents unknown to the [...]

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WEST AHEAD by Peter Nolan Smith

January 4, 2012 – 3:45 am

I-80 weaved through the wooded Berkshires into the Hudson Valley. The four-lanes skirted Albany to shadow the Mohawk Trail past the small cities of northern New York. The gentle hills of the Finger Lakes pancaked into a fertile plain of farmlands. The three of us planned to reach Colorado by Memorial Day. I added up [...]

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THE FIRST FORTY MILES by Peter Nolan Smith

December 26, 2011 – 10:51 am

THE FIRST FORTY MILES by Peter Nolan Smith  In late May 1974 my friend AK, a blonde co-ed from BU, and I picked up a Ford Torino Squire not far from the Forest Hills T station. The car was parked in a driveway next to a three-story apartment building off Centre Street. The middle-aged [...]

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135 IN THE SHADE by Peter Nolan Smith

December 18, 2011 – 10:59 am

In late-July of 1975 Andy K and I left California on a cool morning. Our summer vacation had come to an end. We hitchhiked east from Pomona at the end of the Valley. Leaving LA wasn’t easy for long-hairs. The locals were the sons of Okie rednecks, but a young Mormon girl stopped at the [...]

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