Nick, I read a post in the linked archived thread by you. You wrote that you hitched hiked down to Miami from Pittsburgh to save money the first time you visited. I used to hitch hike down to Miami from Pittsburgh and back to save money too. Took my girlfriend from CMU with me a couple of times too.Originally Posted by Nick
Once while hitchhiking back from a trip to Negril, my buddy and I made it as far as the Cumberland Gap in Maryland. One had to get though the mountains to get between I-95 in Washington DC and the PA Turnpike. It was winter so it gets dark early. We were stuck at a lonely spot with few cars passing us. It had not been cold earlier in the day, but as it grew later and the sun dropped lower, it got colder and colder. We did not have warm jackets on, just short leather jackets more appropriate for Miami than Pennsylvania. Where we were hitchhiking at there were no gas stations or stores around that we could go to get warm. During this trip, as part of the energy crisis, there were no gas stations allowed to be open on Sunday. And this was Saturday evening, so if we did not get a ride soon, there was not going to be any rides available for a day. Since we were on the return leg of the trip, we were broke, so getting a hotel room or catching a bus was out of the question. As we were jumping up and down and beating ourselves with our arms in a vain attempt to keep warm, a car driven by a young guy finally stopped. He was heading west but he was worried about not being able to get gas on Sunday. My buddy told him that if he got us to his father's house, he would get him enough gas to get to his destination. He got us home and my buddy siphoned enough gas to get our benefactor to his journey's end.
