The Summer Of 1970
together with two of our friends from down the street Pat and her sister Cathy . The
girls from Ohio. Sean was also going to ride with us for part of the way on his 650
Triumph with his girlfriend. Richard had this little sports car,a Fiat and the girls were
going to take turns on the back of the bike, my little 1965 Yamaha YDS3, and the
car . George decided to fly home and we shipped our stuff along with most of our
grass in advance. Our time in LA was coming to an end and another cross country
motorcycle trip was about to begin. It was early June and we would be heading out
mid June the day after classes finished.
As we were getting close to our departure date Richard and I built a couple secret
compartments in the frame of his Fiat to hide our dope in. Couldn't cross the country
without something to smoke we thought and what if we got hassled by the cops.
So, we made these two compartments out of metal electrical junction boxes and
sprayed some undercoat on them and threw dirt all over them before the stuff dried
and you couldn't tell they were there. We had enough room for about 4 oz of pot
which was way more than we needed.Got the bike running well, Tuned it all up and
fixed all the small problems that were left over from it being run over and now we
were ready.
Sean couldn't leave when we were so we made plans to meet him in Colorado
back at Peacefull Valley. The time had finally come and we were off. We headed up
the coast to Monterey as our first stop. After spending the night there we headed
inland towards Yosemite where we wanted to spend a couple days having some
fun.
Camped outside Yosemite on the Merced River. It was a nice quiet place and we
could just go into the National Park for day trips and do what we wanted.We went
rock climbing actually more like scrambling up these rock slides where the flood
waters had washed away the hills. It was good,We got back into the woods away
from all the tourists and just enjoyed ourselves each day.
The third day we were there we decided it was time to head out and hit the road early afternoon heading east over the mountains into Nevada and getting on US rt
6 . We wanted to back road it to Colorado and really see the west so that's what we
did. Rode all afternoon and into the night way out into nowhere when I hit reserve
on my gas. My bike will go about 20 miles on reserve so we started looking for gas.
Driving and driving into the night starting to think I'm fucked when we see a light
ahead. I'm running on fumes now as we pull into this closed gas station with a
house attached in the middle of nowhere. We get out and start walking towards the
house when all of a sudden these two cowboys with shot guns pointed at us say
hold it right there! We explain our situation to them at gun point and they reluctantly
give us gas for the bike and car.I think we bought 10 dollars worth but I threw them
a 20 and we got the hell out of there. Rode down the road about another 30 miles
and found an unattended National Forest campsite and made camp for the night
under the stars.It was an incredible night,no moon and so many stars that it was
light enough to cast a shadow. I had never seen a sky like that before and I just lay
there looking at it as I fell asleep.
Next morning we hit the road and are really cruising. I'm going about 80 mph
when this cop passes us going in the other direction. He waves to us and keeps on
going! I didn't realize it then but there was no speed limit on that road back then.
About 10 miles past there I saw a sign after we rode thru a town that read resume
reasonable speed. The country side was really beautiful and we just rode and
checked things out all day long. I'd get way ahead of Richard and then we'd pull
over and let then catch up.We did this about once every hour. This worked for us
'cause Richard was always stopping to take pictures and me being on a 2 stroke
motorcycle needed to really rip to keep the motor from getting fouled plugs.We
found a place in eastern Nevada to camp and relaxed as the day ended.
We woke up to a warm sunny morning and headed out early. Today we wanted to
get over to eastern Utah or western Colorado. It was really warm and nice riding as
we wandered eastward and the country was beautiful. We stayed on US 6 as we
headed east stopping for lunch somewhere near the middle of Utah and then the
road headed south east. It was real nice country and as usual I was way out in front
of Richard blasting down the road.
It was mid afternoon when we pulled over to let Richard and Cathy catch up to
us.We were waiting and waiting. Waited about 45 minutes and decided we'd
backtrack and check to see that they were alright . We rode for about 15 minutes
when we saw them on the side of the road with this black mid 50's Buick stopped
with them. We pull in and get off the bike to be welcomed buy this drunk cowboy
and our companions broke down with a blown motor.
We start talking about what we're going to do when this guy starts getting abusive
and calling us "hop heads" and pulls out a 357 magnum. He's slugging down
gulps of Segrams and we're looking at each other wandering how we are going to
get away from this guy. Here we are on this deserted stretch of road out in butt fuck
nowhere Utah with this drunk cowboy holding us at gun point but he hasn't really
pointed it at us yet he's just abusive verbally at this point.
This scene was playing out very slowly and about 10 minutes into it he reaches
into the car and pulls out a shot gun. He hands me the 357 and points the rifle at
me and says can you shoot boy? So I look at him and say sure I know how to shoot and he tells me to "shoot that log boy" so I do and hit it. He takes back the weapon
and puts the shot gun back in the front seat of the car. Next thing I see is this gun
about 6 inches away from my face. At this point I'm thinking I'm a dead man and a
very strange calm came over me as I'm telling him " you don't want to do that" He points the gun at my 3 friends and
says "you , you, and you in the car" and with that he jumps in the drivers seat and
takes off with Richard and the two sisters.
I'm freaking out now! I hop on my bike and tear after them but he's gaining on me
and I can't keep up.I loose sight of them . From what I learned afterwards they were
all screaming as he was going about 100 mph down the road. He clipped a guard
rail ,then sideswiped a tractor trailer before turning off on to a dirt road. I saw the
truck on the side of the road as the driver was getting out ,didn't stop. Then I see this dust cloud up this dirt road and I just knew that's them. I start racing up this road
and now I have the advantage. He's going slow now and I'm catching them. He
gets to this open spot and stops as I arrive right behind him and they all get out.
Richard gives me this look like he's thinking we're goners and I start talking
saying that we're going to go get a mechanic to help us with the car and grab Pat
and get her on the bike with me. We are now sitting on the running bike and this
drunken fool is ranting about how we're hop heads and I'm going on about how
we'll be right back as soon as we get someone to help with the car like there is
nothing going on out of the ordinary here.Even Richard didn't know I was
bullshitting at this point I really sounded sincere and we took off with him shooting
into the air yelling.
We flew down the dirt road and I remembered seeing a truck weigh station about
5 miles back when we first turned around looking for them so we headed for
that.Pull in and Pat is totally hysterical at this point crying and screaming "he's
going to kill my sister" over and over while I'm telling this cop there this story about
how this guy has my friends.
At first the cop doesn't believe me and is kind of skeptical but then the trucker that
this drunk fool hit pulls in and tells the cop his tale of getting sideswiped by this
black Buick and the cop changes his tune. He picks up the phone and calls for help
and about 10 minutes later there are about 10 or so cowboys with rifles They know the guy as it turns out and they call up to get some horses 'cause they also know his daddy owns half the county and by now he's way off in the hills. They were right. When we got back to the spot where we last saw Richard and Cathy they were gone! The cops all get on horses and ride off leaving Pat and I sitting there alone with the first cop in his police car.
Day turned into night as Pat and I sat in the back of this police car , her crying and
me and this cop trying to calm her. This went on for at least 4 or 5 hours when they
finaly came back with Cathy and Richard . The drunk was in handcuffs and they
separated the 4 of us and took our statements.
Back at the police station in Price Utah we are taken aside by the original cop
who tells us the story about this guy. He's a local drunk and his father owns a huge
sheep ranch or something and the best thing for us to do is just move on and not
press charges 'cause he'll buy his son out of this. The guy was politically connected
and there was no way his son was going to go to jail over this so just leave in the morning .We'll hold him long enough for you to get your car towed and get out of
town. Then he tells us he'll help us and takes us out to the car and back to my bike
at the weigh station, follows us back into town and helps us get a motel room. He
turned out to be a really nice guy. Turns out his wife was pregnant and about to
give birth any time now and here he was helping us.
Next morning early we hear a knock on the door and it's the cop. He's off duty now
and he came by to help us again.He took us out to Richards car so we could get
some belongings . Pat and I had decided to go ahead and wait for Richard and
Cathy in Colorado 'cause it was going to be a week before the car was fixed. We
made our plans as to where to meet, got our stuff and hit the road leaving Richard
and Cathy with the car and the cop.
Later that day Richard went back out to the car with the cop and a tow truck to
have the car towed 75 miles to Salt Lake City where there was a Fiat dealer. When
they arrive at the car the windshield is smashed ,the wires are ripped out and all our stuff that was still in the car was gone. I would find this out a week later when I
received a Telegram like we had planed telling me when they would be arriving in
Nederlands Colorado. The ordeal was over now. The car was all fixed and they
would be here in 2 days! We were happy !!!
It was strange leaving Richard and Cathy behind but we were all good with it and
we really had no other choice. Money was an issue and I really couldn't do a motel
in Salt Lake City besides ,at that point I wanted out of Utah and never wanted to see the place again. We packed up the bike and said our good byes and hit the road late in the morning.
Traveling east on US 6 still my bike wasn't running very well. The charging
system had started to fail and we were now running on the battery. We pulled into a
gas station and had the battery charged up and headed back out doing this two
times that day until finaly just west of Grand Junction Colorado the bike started to
run on one cylinder and I pulled over. We were out in the middle of nowhere stuck
on the side of the road when this guy in a pick up comes along.
Here we are on the side of the road now fooling with my bike with this guy trying
to get it going.He tells us he lives up the road with his wife and if we can get the
bike to his place we can fix it. I give it one last kick and it starts so he and Pat get in
his truck and follow me up the road.He passes me and turns into this driveway still
way out in the middle of nowhere and I follow and we're there. He hits the horn and
his wife comes out.They are in their late 20's maybe 30 at the oldest and very
friendly .She says hello and he explains to her how we're going to fix my bike and
she insists we eat dinner with them first. Really nice people! We had this good meal
and then he and I went out into his shop and there is his bike ,it figures I think to
myself and we start to work. Didn't take long to find the problem and it was minor.
The generator brushes had worn out past their service limit and weren't making
contact with the armature in the generator.
We took the brushes out and he told me there was no Yamaha shop anywhere in
the area so we'd have to make our own out of these Harley brushes he had. Now
the Harley brushes are way bigger in width but about the same length so basically
what we needed to do was file the graphite down until they would fit in the holder of
the generator where they sit. This whole job took less than an hour and I was fixed! The bike was charging and we were back in business. He suggested we give the
battery a charge and they invited us to spend the night while the battery was being
slow charged. After what we had just been thru it was so good to meet good people
again and we all smoked some grass and had a few beers . We told them our tale
of horror from the day before and they set us up with a bed and we slept like
babies. Funny how life can change from one extreme to the other just like that!
Next morning after a really good breakfast we hit the road.I tried to pay him for his
help and the parts but he wouldn't hear it and smiling told us to get going . What
fine people these were I was thinking as I pulled out of the dirt driveway and back
onto Rt 6.
Now we were in Colorado and heading into the rockies.We left US6 and took
some back roads and navigated over to Nederlands and back to Peaceful Valley
where I had been last summer and we would be meeting Richard and Cathy. We
got there in the late afternoon and weren't there 5 minutes when I hear this voice
calling my name! It's Sean!!! He had left LA earlier than he expected and was
actually in front of us the whole trip! We fooled around in California going up the
coast and staying in Yosemite while he just went straight for Colorado. It was good
to be with friends and we all got high as we cooked some dinner on the fire.
Next afternoon I started making my daily trip into town to the Western Union office
to see if there was a telegram from Richard & Cathy. On the 3rd day it was there
and it explained how all our stuff was stolen and the car had been wrecked by this
asshole but all was fixed now and they would be in Colorado in 2 days. Things
were finaly working out and we'd soon be back together again.
Cathy and Richard arrived as planned and I met them in Nederlands.We drove out
to Peaceful Valley and set up camp.Sean was there and they were glad to see
some people they knew. The next day I could tell there was something wrong. We
were arguing and the two girls seemed pissed off at me more than Richard and
wanted to just go home.It sucked and the next day someone drove them to Denver
and they got on a plane to home. That was the last time we ever saw or heard from
them. I often wonder about them and look on line from time to time for them but
never seem to find them.
Richard and I were enjoying hanging out in the woods with our friends and things
were ok.We decided to go to Boulder and look to see if we could find someone else
to come along to help him with the gas. We met this girl who needed a ride to New
York and all seemed to get along ok so the three of us decided to travel together and
we were back on the road after a week of rest and relaxation in the mountains.
Sean wanted to travel across Canada so he went north and we set out for
Nebraska.
That first day back on the road would turn out to be one ,if not the, longest one day
ride I ever did in my entire 48 years of riding a motorcycle.We went from about 25
miles west of Boulder Colorado all the way to Lincoln Nebraska ! Damn my ears
were ringing and my eyes were burning red ! It was a long day but there isn't
anything there but cornfields anyway so we figured we'd just get thru it and then
kick back some for the rest of the ride.
The ride thru Iowa was nice ,not nearly as boring as thru Nebraska and we took
some back roads . While driving down this one road we saw all this pot growing along the side of the road so we slammed on the brakes and just started filing this
canvas bag we had full with the stuff. We packed it in tight and had a few lbs . We
took off out of there before anyone came along and were back on our way down
the road. That evening we found this dirt road into some woods.We rode down it a
ways and saw it was deserted so we camped there and tried some of this side of
the road pot. What shit this stuff was! it took about 3 joints each to get a buzz but
hey, the price was right.
The next couple days were kind of boring There wasn't much to see and we just
drove and slept our way thru Illinois and Indiana . We were getting to the east now
and our trip would be ending soon. It was kind of a down but we wanted to get to
New York and then decide what to do next.
Driving thru Ohio it was cloudy and as we neared Cleveland it started to
rain.Actually it poured and I was soaked to the bone in less than two minutes so we
just kept on driving. It got worse and worse until I couldn't go on so we took a motel
room just east of Cleveland and called it a day. Dried out our stuff and went out for
some dinner and went to sleep.
The morning came and as I opened up the shades I could see it was beautiful
outside . We got ready and hit the road mid morning. We were going to get into
New York State today and would only have one more day on the road after that.
Rode thru about 50 miles of PA and then we hit NY. I don't think we were in New
York more than 15 minutes when the State Police pull us over.
We were fooling around with the police for about 10 minutes when he starts to
nose around in the car.Richard and I look at each other and both start thinking we
are fucked if this guy finds that canvas bag full of pot in the trunk so Richard pulls
out a road map and spreads it out on the trunk of the car.We are looking at it and
ask the cop how to get to this small town that I knew was way the fuck out in the
middle of nowhere and probably not on this map.He's there looking at the map with
us and telling us where he thinks this place is when he gets a radio call and gives
us back our paperwork and leaves. Whew! that was close we both said and started
laughing as we started to leave . Rode about another 150 miles that day on back
roads thru upstate NY and camped.We were in striking distance of the city now and
almost home.
Got a flat in my rear tire as we were getting gas. Lucky for me we were at a gas
station. I pulled the wheel off, dismounted the tire and the guy put a patch on the
tube.Put it all back together and 5 bucks later we were back on the road. By now it
was mid morning and we were heading down RT 17 getting close to the New York
State Thruway. Maybe 10 minutes later we're on the thruway and headed for the
Tappan Zee Bridge .
Made it all the way over the bridge and to the toll booths when this cop walks over
and tells us to pull over. Here we go again we are thinking and he starts in with the
usual crap. Paperwork check and like the day before he's nosing around the car. It
was just dumb luck but he opened up the trunk looked in but didn't open the canvas
bag closed the trunk and told us to drive carefully and left. We dodged another
bust! Continued on our way into the city where we dropped off the girl that we took
on in Boulder and headed to Long Island. The cross country trip was over.
Now at my parents house they let us stay the night but told me that when Richard left I had to leave as well unless I shaved ,got a hair cut ,a job ,and totally gave up
my hippie lifestyle. Well there was no way I was doing that shit so after two days
when Richard left to go into the city and stay with his cousin I was homeless and
living in the woods down by the beach.
I would only live in the woods for 2 nights as it turned out. Next day I was over at
George's house picking up my pot that we had shipped there when a mutual friend
neither of had seen in a year stopped by.We all got high and I was telling him how I
was living down in the woods by the beach . He told me he had these friends who
were looking for someone to crew on their boat and I should talk to them.He told
me he'd talk to them and get back. Next day he brings me down and we all smoke
some grass.They had fixed up this old wooden cabin cruiser built in 1929 and
needed help keeping it going .They wanted to finish getting it painted and head up
to Marthas Vinyard in a couple weeks . So, I started living aboard and painting and
partying .We stayed at the town dock at night and went out into the bay and
dropped anchor during the days while they went to work and I painted. Some days I
stayed ashore and rode my bike around life was good .
Finally,the day had arrived to leave .We hoisted my bike on board and lashed it
down on the rear deck and off we went. Once outside the harbor we all dropped
mescaline and by the time we were out in Long Island Sound we were tripping
pretty good. It was really nice tripping on a boat and we just motored along slowly
heading east taking turns at the wheel. It took all day to get out east and we were
pretty much down by the time we got into Mattituck harbor where we would spend
our first night.
As we sailed into Mattituck there was this girl standing on the dock waving at us
so we pulled up and tied off the boat. She was from the city she explained and was
bored to death out here in the middle of nowhere and asked us if we wanted to get
high. She got onboard and we started smoking down in the aft cabin .This girl was
crazy. A real party animal . I wasn't really in the mood to party so I took off and went
walking into the town looking for something to eat. When I returned my friends were
laughing and kidding me for leaving.We cast off
from the dock went out into the harbor and dropped anchor for the night.
Next day we headed across the Sound to Connecticut. We went to Mystic the first
ay then the next day headed up the Connecticut River to explore. That was fun but
when the tide went out we got stuck up river until the next high tide lifted us off the
bottom. Headed back towards open water and as we were leaving the mouth of
the river Rick hit a rock or something and the propeller shaft coupling sheared off
so we needed to fix it. Limped back into this boat yard and bought some bolts &
nuts. The guy said they were the right ones but they weren't. We didn't know this
until the next day out in the middle of Block Island Sound in heavy seas.
Here we are out ,way out off shore in really heavy seas when the fucking bolts
shear off! The swells were maybe 15 to 20 ft and we had no control .Ted decides to
throw out a sea anchor off the bow to keep us pointed into the waves while I'm
down in the bilge puking as I'm trying to fix the fucking drive shaft and Rick is
steering.I'd get it tight enough for him to run for a couple minutes and it would fail
we did this for about an hour .We almost lost Ted overboard as he was fooling with the anchor .We thought we were done. No radio you know just 3 dumb hippies out
in a boat in a storm when all of a sudden this huge sailboat approaches us and
asks us if they should get the Coast Guard. We said yes and thanked them and
they hung around until the Coast Guard arrived to tow us in.
They chewed us out real good but didn't make too big a deal out of it and left us at
this little shipyard in Stonington Connecticut where we would spend the next week
or so fixing the boat and working off the bill for it.
No longer able to go to the Vinyard we worked and met some locals . We had
fun and met this girl named Kit. She and I hit it off well and spent some time
together. She took us up to this lake where we all went skinny dipping and had us
over for dinner. She was a real nice girl. Then our time had come to leave. We
needed gas so we took a 5 gallon can and got on my bike and siphoned gas from
cars at night making trip after trip back to the boat with this stolen gas. We did this
for 3 nights until we had a full tank ,finished the side of the boat we were sanding
for the boatyard they could see from the office and beat it in the middle of the night
headed back to Long Island.
We made it all the way to the mouth of Huntington Bay when the fog rolled in and
we lost our bearings. Thinking we were going into port we actually were not and
ended up back on the other side of the sound in Stamford Connecticut . We were
lucky we didn't hit anything or anybody .Spent the night there and crossed back
over to Long Island the next morning bringing this adventure to an end.
Back on land with my bike and stuff I went to see my friends and George and I got
a job with this other guy Bruce as plumbers helpers. I needed to be indoors and I
had a job so my parents let me stay in the basement in my old room again and I
spent the rest of the summer working with my friends as we made plans to go up to
Nova Scotia in late August before Bruce went back to school.
Made some money working ,partied every night and the summer dragged on.Late in August we decided to head up to Nova Scotia in George's VW bus. We quit our jobs with the plumbers and packed up and headed up north one August afternoon with a gallon of wine and an ounce of grass. We decided we'd go to Cape Cod the first night and hit the beach.
It was dark out ,maybe 10pm or so when we pulled over to pick up these two kids hichiking . As they were getting settled in the bus the cops pull up with the lights going and the kids threw some pot they had out the window.We 're busted !
I stuffed our grass in my rolled up sleeping bag as they are ordering us out of the vehicle to search it. This cop just starts going thru the bus throwing stuff on top of my rolled up sleeping bag and buries it.He finds 3 seeds ,two twigs ,and a dirty pipe.We all get arrested and hauled off to the police station.
Here we are in this dinky little town police station with these cops doing their thing and George is getting into this philosophical discussion with the arresting officer about how he's going to go home that night and break the law when he has oral sex with his wife and what we did is really no worse than what you are about to go do.I'm doing all I can not to start laughing my ass off.This whole scene was right out of the Andy Grifith Show ! They never even made us empty our pockets ,just locked us up in this micky mouse jail they had .Put thee three of us together in one cell and the two kids in another. There were a couple drunks in the other cell ,it was a full house.
Once in the cell we realized we had matches and either an ash can or a cherry bomb ! They never searched us ,these guys were really lax in their job or they were so excited that they actually had made an arrest in their one horse town that they just blew it .So ,all night long we had a debate. I wanted to light it and flush it down the toilet like we used to do in high school blowing up the pipes, Bruce was on the fence or totally against it because he was facing charges in New Orleans for the same kind of trumped up charges, and George was back & forth about doing it.This made for an interesting night as we debated blowing up the toilet pipe in this police station. We never did decide and morning came.
We were taken to court and formally charged ,Bruce's parents came up bringing my mother and George's mother with them. His father put his business up as collateral for our bail and got us released .A court date was set and we set out to find a lawyer.Once that was taken care of we decided to keep going but not to Nova Scotia.We went to Maine and went camping.
Back on the road out of Dodge so to speak I reached into my sleeping bag and pulled out our ounce of grass and we got stoned.
It was late September now and we had to go to court. We rode up in Bruce's 1960 Ford panel truck and met our parents there the morning of the trial. Bruce and George were thinking I might make some kind of scene in court and were asking me to be cool.I had no respect for this whole process or the people involved but I kept my mouth shut . They were pretty neatly dressed,I went in a dirty sweat shirt and jeans.Had to make some statement of protest to this crap . The lawyer pleaded our case and the judge gives us a break.He decides that he's going to give us a conditional discharge which meant that if we were good boys for 13 months the charges would be dismissed with no record.We got off.
Heading towards home we decided to go visit the girl I had met in Stonington CT earlier that summer when I was on the boat. We spent the night at her place celebrating .That would be the last time I would ever see her.
Back home the very day I went to court my father lost his job.It might have been related it might not have been related.This is something I will never know but it was the beginning of his demise.It was the fall of 1970 he was 52 and would never really work again. I found a job in this place in Huntington ,a welfare housing project ,as a janitors helper part time and started painting houses on my own in the afternoons.
My new boss was this real nice black guy named Joe .He lived in the place and was the super there.We got along well ,we had lots in common and he was into fixing cars and selling them. He had this 1960 Ford panel truck we used to get supplies and stuff in and one day I told him how much I liked it.I was telling him it was exactly the same as my friend Bruce's that he had turned into a camper.He told me he was going to sell it and if I wanted it I could have it for a hundred eighty five bucks.We worked out a deal and I gave him my pay check for a couple weeks and it was mine.My first 4 wheeled vehicle ! I was 21 years old and now I had a truck and a motorcycle.
Got it on the road with my next paycheck then did a brush and roller paint job on it .The thing looked great ! That winter I slowly fixed it up and made it into a really nice camper with storage under the bed that could fold in half or cover the whole back when I had company.
Later that winter I needed tires and asked Joe if he knew where I could get some good cheap rubber .A day later he tells me about a deal for these 4 brand new tires that this cop he knew lifted from the police dept. A hundred bucks so I went for them.
Had my youngest sisters boyfriend who was working at a gas station at the time mount them backwards so the markings that said police dept. couldn't be seen . On they went. A month later they almost got me jammed up with the police but as luck would have it I managed to avoid this.It was now late Feb.1971 and this tire business would lead me into eight months on the road wandering in my truck and hich hiking to Alaska.
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