Article I: Hitchhiking
i. yes, it is legal. don't act so surprised.
ii. if you stay on the shoulder, off the road, and don't accept rides from seedy people; it is also relatively safe.
iii. depending on your timeline, it may not be efficient.
iv. the best method for first timers with no experience is to likewise have no alternatives.
v. be prepared to talk. obvious yes. but keep in mind you will be in close proximity to stranger(s), listening to their music, sitting on their seats, going their direction, ect. be respectful and remember that idle small talk may get pointedly awkward.
vi. likewise, deep conversation will last as long as your destination is on the horizon.
vii. remain unperturbed by the thousands of cars that pass you, there will be more than 19 that do so.
viii. the cosmos is always at work. there is a reason in every chance encounter you make while hitchhiking, and most conveniently it also gets you where you were going.
ix. be provocative and proactive. no one wants to pick up a hopeless bum. when that fails wave a twenty dollar bill around.
x. hitchhiking in the new millennium is different. as Jack Kerouac as you would like to feel, this feeling will be shattered when you exchange cell phone numbers with the friendly stranger who you just hopped a lift with.
Enter Character(s) IX: Willy Nilly and the Lot
Willy lives with his father Dean behind a Waldorf School outside of Santa Cruz. His sister Eva lives with Lauren and Judy on Seabright in town. This group of Wisco-Californian youth all wound up here, like your humble narrator, by order of some cosmos, or more simply; because it really seemed like a good idea at the time.
Willy goes to SC Public School for Senior Year and somehow gets out of school around lunchtime. Obviously, he is a complete bastard.
Dean works at the Waldorf School and is a addict of the Californian Waves. He has passed on this ailment to his son.
Eva works a New Leaf (food Co-op), Lauren works at a Surf School, and Judy works at Saturn Cafe. As the opposite sex, I haven't the faintest what in the hell they do on their spare time.
Procrastinate with Character(s) IX.
Article II: the City
i. Surf is serious for these citizens of Santa Cruz. theres a statue and everything.
ii. Palm Trees delude your mind into thinking your in paradise. keep an eye on the hole in your pocket book.
iii. you will experience "Indian Summers" aka, it will stay like July through October without any rain. fun fun.
iv. the Ocean is warmer here. that being said, wet suits do not leave a hell of a lot to the imagination.
v. being on a coastline, the layout of the town is not your standard North, East, South, West. its more like East-West in a cobweb fashion. map recommended but not required.
vi. real estate here is like real estate in every sunny Californian surf town on the Coast. easily put; not exactly cheap.
vii. if you are to experience this town; do it in the appropriate style. aka, drop top down the main drag with the stereo blasting.
viii. there is a smoke shop called "the Black Lung". so perfectly tasteless....
ix. parking spaces along the shoreline are limited if not fiercely guarded.
x. with the palm trees, surfing, Ocean, Boardwalk, and all around California-eness, you will feel utterly trapped in every song the Beach Boys ever wrote.
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