In 1970 I left NY and hitchhiked across country. I,ve slept in barns, abandoned buildings, under bridges. I have had total strangers bring me into their homes,I have been beaten senseless by the other kind of people. I have ridden with drunks,with gun waving truckers,with gay guys hitting on me.
I've eaten pigeon, squirrel,a couple of stolen chickens, sardine,(they were easy to shoplift), ketchup soup was a mainstay.
I,ve chopped wood, I've thrown bales, loaded truck. I did roofing in Scottsdale Arizona. Did day labor is Bakersfield.. Get a ticket from the agent. Run like hell and stomp on fingers to get on a truck. Go into the oil field clear brush and tumbleweed off the pump jacks. Lunch was a baloney and cheese sandwich. There were deductions for the sandwich the truck ride and the agent fee. There was also a place that stripped foam from car seats and sold it to a goodyear plant.
Old guy up in big tree country warned me of taking rides from Indians. Seems they had that mescaline. Dropped acid while speeding across the desert in the back of a truck. Smoked dope,dropped acid, did uppers, downers, speed.
Saw shows in Griffith Park,went to Berkley and San Francisco.
Headed east got hung up a couple of days in Ely,Nevada,met some really good people there. Got picked up by these two Mormon gals. They didn't drink or smoke, but that's all they didn't do. Spent a weekend there and saw family in Ogden. Went home for a couple of months and hiked to SC chasing a girl.
Came back from there to a draft notice,so I enlisted with the Marines. Then I got a haircut.