Calvin College graduate hitchhiking across America inspired by public’s generosity
Josh deLacy has long had an appetite for adventure. Read...Man ‘Traveling on Trust’ Across America
Josh deLacy is hitch-hiking his way across the back roads of America, in an effort to learn about small towns. He started last month in Washington and has ended up in Michigan.
The Biggest Disaster Yet
I lost my sign. My beautiful sailcloth and housepaint sign. Passengers would see it and smile; kids in the opposite lane would twist around to read the lettered side. More than half my drivers mentioned it, and many said it was the reason they stopped. But in...
Roadside Art
The highways can surprise you. Just off two-lane MI-28, for instance, well away from so much as a gas station, I found a sculpture park, quirky and free and controversial. Lakenenland, named after its creator, is unaffiliated with any city or artist collective. It is...
The Untrustworthy
“I’m not trustworthy,” Cindy said. “Every number’s half of what I say, and every story’s half as good.” She cackled, then twisted so she could wink at me, crammed in the backseat. She rode shotgun and fidgeted constantly....
Sound Off! Interview (Part 1)
The first half of NewsTalk WJRW 1340 AM’s interview with Josh deLacy (during the journey). Read...
Walking for the Fallen
I first heard about the veteran walking across America when I was still a full state behind him. “We saw him last week,” a family told me. “He’s carrying a flag all the way across the country.” And from another driver: “He’s walking from Washington to...
You Can’t Plan For Virtue
I rarely wait more than an hour for a ride. The average, actually, is somewhere closer to half that. Sometimes I get out of one car, wave goodbye, and before I can even walk across the parking lot and pull out my sign, someone else pulls up and offers me a lift. Those...
Oil!
California had the forty-niners, Alaska had the Klondike. And now, North Dakota has the Bakken. It’s a gold rush without the gold, and it has turned North Dakota on its head.
Snares, Seizures, and Freaks
One of my best rides took me nowhere. I was picked up in Ponderay, Idaho, near the Big R grocery store, and–three hours later–was dropped off in the same spot. Kathy and Sharon, a mother and nine-months-pregnant daughter-in-law, saw me on their way to get...
Who Picks Up a Hitchhiker?
In eleven rides, I made it through Washington state, and in eleven rides, I learned who will pick up a hitchhiker. My trip officially began on June 20th, during a rainy afternoon in Mount Vernon. I had bussed down from Bellingham, and, finding myself in the middle of...
Rule Change: Money
When the hotel manager was young, he used to walk–multi-day or multi-week treks across country. It gave him time to think and see the land. He’s no longer in shape for a hundred-mile expedition, nor is he a young man anymore, but he still dayhikes when he...
The Cement City
In 1938, people knew about Concrete, Washington, if only for a few days. On Halloween Eve, 1938, listeners throughout the town tuned in to hear Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds radio broadcast. Like more than a million others, Concrete’s listeners fell for...