I spent a few weeks hitchhiking with Phil, and then we parted ways. I decided I should go back home to see my parents. I can't believe what I did here. I met a guy in Berkley, in the park and ended hitchhiking across the country with him, the next day. At least almost across the country. He decided that he wanted to go to Florida, on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and there I was, by myself there. Until this, I have to honestly say, I had a good time with him.
One very eventful thing happened on that trip back east. I had been away from TVs and the modern world all summer. My travelling companion convinced me to rent a motel room in York, Nebraska. We got into the room, turned on the TV, just in time to watch Richard Nixon resign from being the President Of the United States of America, in front of the whole world. That seemed like fate that we should see that historic moment.
I kept hitch hiking and made it alive into New York City. A very nice guy picked me up, and said he wasn't going to NYC, but he would take me to Penn Station to make sure I got there in one piece. He dropped me off at the train staion, and I took a train to my parents house.
That didn't go so well. Here I had made this effort to come see them across the whole country. No one seemed to even care that I was there, my parents or my brother. After a few days, my dad put me in the car, and took me to the airport and shipped me off to Syracuse. I never returned to my parents home again on Long Island. They lived there for another 11 years.
I got to Syracuse and my friends were happy to see me. My radical friends said I had turned into a "hippie". Really I wasn't sure of the distinction betwen a radical freak and a hippie, but they seemed to see it. It was nice seeing everyone, but I guess at some point, I don't know when, I decided that I was going to go back to out west. I wasn't sure about where to go, and I decided to go back to Eugene,Oregon, because of the crafts market and center there. I wanted to continue making pottery, which I had started to do in Syracuse the year before. I found a girl who needed a hitch hiking partner, who actually lived in Eugene. So once again, I hit the road.
We went across the most Northern route. I loved the experience, but halfway there, I found out she was hating it. We got along great though, and she invited me to come stay at her house when we got there. That was a good thing because I had nothing lined up, I still really didn't have much of an idea where I was going.
We got to Eugene, and she lived with a household of people. Everyone fell in love with me. I think it was because I was so starry eyed about the West Coast and all the amazing experiences I had that summer.
I eventually got a room in a house with some people, and enrolled in the art center for pottery. I now lived on the west coast, in Eugene, Oregon.
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