Welcome to Seattle!

Saturday, 2. August 2008

Ritzville, WA can't be the most happening place. I walk a good half an hour to get back to the gas station and head right for the Subway (the sandwich place, not the underground station).

The shop assistant is amazed to hear I got all the way from NYC there and we chat for a bit.

I take my favorite spot from yesterday night I try my luck again.


There can't be much to do in Ritzville, I guess.

It's incredible how many people stop to show their support or crack a joke at you. Pretty much everybody is going in the opposite direction (that would be Spokane) but a lot of people either stop, say something or smile at you.

A biker points at my sign (that says "To Seattle (from Italy)") and asks me if it was a long swim. Ha, that's a good one!

A guy in mid twenties walks over and approaches me asking where I was from and if I was hitchhiking for a long time. He's just got back from a hitchhiking trip to Europe and shares a few ideas and tips. I actually find them quite useful and decide to give him a listen. His name is Ely and, just like pretty much everyone else, he's headed in the opposite direction. But before he leaves he gives me a map of Washington state. At least now I can see what I'm actually doing.

A couple of people stop and ask me if I need money. One of them offers me a 5 dollar bill that I politely decline. I mean, I'm touched by the gesture, but hitchhiking isn't really always a necessity. In most cases it's a choice, actually.

Not long time goes by and a guy called Don stops with his pickup truck.

Don and his dog Wade are going to Wenatchee, WA to set up a couple of tents for his sister's in law bachelorette party. This is the first time Wade is travelling by car, so he's venting a lot. He sits in my lap most of the trip and we become the best buddies.

Don drops me off in George, WA (yep, that's right: George, Washington) and offers me a couple of bottles of water. He tells me if he didn't have to set up these tents he'd have given me a ride all the way to Seattle. Great guy.

I take my sign to the highway entrance and not 10 minutes go by that a guy in a small, blue pickup truck stops buy. He reads my sign and gestures a lot (I guess he thought people in Italy don't speak any English). He's trying to say: "I have a fruit stand across the street. Come there and I'll give you some free cherries to take with you." but he uses some broken Spanish and his hands a lot. I assure him I do speak English and follow him to his fruit stand.

As I get there he shows me his little shop and all the fruit in fridge containers. He talks about his work with lots of enthusiasm and gets his daughter to prepare me a raspberry milkshake. The milkshake is seriously the BEST I've ever had. Not only because I was quite hungry at that point, but it really was tasteful.


They make Espresso even in George, Washington. Look at the signs above our heads.

Troy (that's his name) takes a couple of photos of me with his daughter and niece. The daughter picks up a laptop from nowhere and before you can say "milkshake" the photos are already on MySpace.

We chat a lot and he gives me a full bag of cherries for my trip. I give him my card and offer him a place to stay if he's ever in Italy.


Troy and his daughter Sara Lynn in their fruit shop in George, WA.

The hitchhiking is kind of slow and nobody really stops. Time goes by and I finish all the cherries. They start having some funky effect on my stomach. I run back to the gas station to use the bathroom. I guess I just had a bit too many.

A couple more hours go by, still nothing.

All of a sudden a car with 4 girls playing loud music stops at the intersection. They roll the window down and one of them yell "Are you Adam?".

What? I'm totally puzzled. I look at my sign and it says Italy, not Adam. I look at my T-shirt. It doesn't say Adam either. How do they know my name???

I say "Yes". They giggle, wave goodbye, and drive away.

I don't have the time to think about it, another car, this time with 3 girls, stops by. They roll down the window and ask "Are you Adam?".

Hell, now I don't understand anything anymore. How do people in this country know my name??? Am I famous without knowing it?

They wave at me and drive away.

After some more thinking I think I find the solution. It's probably Don's sister in law and her bachelorette party's friends. He must have called her telling her if she sees a hitchhiker at that particular intersection, that must be Adam who he's dropped off there.

They make me smile and grin for a while and I try not to think it's already been several hours at that same intersection and still no ride.

Troy comes by again and says I'm more than welcome to stay with his family if I don't find a ride. I thank him saying I'm hopeful I will find one, but I'll keep his offer in mind if I get stuck.

By 8.30 pm I'm still at the same intersection, quite sunburnt and a little sad that no one's giving me a ride.

It took me about 5 hours to get a ride from George to Seattle.

Debra send in a text message saying if I haven't found a ride she'll drive 2 hours from Seattle and get me. Just as I finally give in, a car stops and this guy Justin lets me in.

He says he never picks up hitchhikers, but I didn't look like the usual hitchhiker so he decided to give me a ride.

He's a cool cat. Works in IT industry and calls his girlfriend to tell her he's picked up a hitchhiker. She's quite worried but he reassures her saying I was an interesting guy.

He drops me off 5 minutes from Debra's place and she comes there to get me.

It's 10.30 pm and I've finally made it to Seattle. Yipeeeee!

I'm so glad to see Debra. I haven't seen her in about 5 years or so. In fact, I've seen more of her parents lately than I've seen her.

Jim and Barb, Debra's parents, have come to Rome twice on their Mediterranean cruise in the last 4 years, plus I visited them in 2005 at their home in Tucson, Arizona.

Me and Debra go way back to 1999 when our respective bands This Side Up and Shenanagans toured the States. We were playing at Wilson Center (historical DC Punk club) in Washington DC when the bass player from the support band comes to me and asks: "Are you guys going to play "Struggle"? That's my favorite song."

Of course we played "Struggle" that night, and after the show we all sat down on the warm asphalt beside Wilson Center figuring out our itineraries. When we had a day off, Shenanagans invited us to play with them on their dates and when they had nowhere to play This Side Up invited them to play with us on our dates.

We ended up sharing 4 shows and strong friendship was born. The touring camaraderie where you support each other's band and share the food and money.

We were still on tour when the Shenanagans tour ended, so we met Steve (the bass player/singer) and Jennie (the merch girl) in San Francisco.

Steve and Jennie visited us in Rome a couple of years later. Then the following year Debra (guitar player) visited Rome. And we pretty much never lost touch since.

And after I got robbed in Manhattan in 2002, Debra sent via her parents two work jackets for me, to lessen my loss in a way. That's how I first met her parents. And that's when I learned the phrase "They (her parents) stick out like a sore thumb." I don't think I'll ever forget that one.