Bum life is over

Woke up to a jackhammer tearing up the parking lot next to my awesome spot. I got some quick breakfast and headed out to try and beat my parents to Cookeville. 

After a few hours on the on ramp, I actually got picked up by a trucker. He stopped on the on ramp, that never happens. He said he was going through Nashville, then north. As we're rolling down the freeway toward Knoxville, he turns north on I-75! I'm like, "Dude, Nashville is the other way..." He apologized and dropped me off, but I was still on the wrong freeway. 

Luckily I was picked up really soon. The people who picked me up were super nice. They took me to the bus station and told me what bus would take me to the edge of town. Google couldn't even do that. 

Hitched another ride about fifteen minutes down the road, and another for about forty-five. Finally, I got picked up by a nice couple that were headed to Nashville, my last ride. After all my crazy bum shenanigans, my last ride was from an off duty police officer. I finally got picked up by the fuzz. He was a killer dude and his lady was awesome too. Thanks guys!

I got to Cookeville an hour or two before my parents and got some food. I walked to the hotel to meet them and it was so nice to see familiar faces. I realized I hadn't seen anyone that I'd ever met before since Boulder. 

The excitement factor dropped to around 0 as we spent the first hour or two together waiting for prescriptions. I talked to my boy Arlo while I was waiting and he told me about the Tennessee sunsets. On the way to my mom's cousin's house I got the chance to witness one. It was very nice. 

My crazy days are over for a while. No more 40's with bums, no more sleeping in the bushes, and no more homelessness. After 12 states and just over 3,000 miles, my hitchhiking adventure has come to an end. I'm spending the next few days working on a family cemetery with my parents, then headed to Michigan to visit family and stuff. Needless to say, blog posts will probably slow down. I'll be learning how to sail in Detroit and definitely hitchhiking back to Washington. Me and Arlo will be canoeing the Columbia river later this summer, so there will be more awesome adventures down the road.