Hitchhiked from CA to NJ in 1971 as a way to get home to my dying father. (1st marriage had just broken up, after being married only 6 months, and the ex walked out the day the rent was due, leaving me with NO money.---couldn't get money from home as dad was very bad, mom not working, and my brother was working to put every cent towards saving the house). I worked in a shoe store for 1 day for a neighbor who felt sorry for me, just to have $8.25 to leave for NJ. Took 10 days, and I lost 35 lbs along the way. (Hardly eating, not sleeping cause I was scared almost to death.---Left with a friend who went as far as CO, and then his friend who was on his way to Boston, but we got split up outside of Columbus, Ohio, so I had to go the rest of the way myself.......thank God for a friendly trucker who drove me to the bottom of the ramp of the interstate near my parent's home. How I made it in one piece was truely a miracle.