# My First Hop (Where My Real Travels Began) Part 4



## rando (Jan 19, 2019)

After many long hours, (around 20) riding on the big steel beast Squirt was beginning to lose his fun-loving attitude. His eyes were starting to look droopy. Sweat began coming off of his forehead, and about as suddenly as his bad feelings rolled in, the train began to slow down. The train had only sided out two times during the night, both times only briefly, as this was a relatively high priority train. The second time it stopped was to crew change. We barely woke up for that. This time the train stopped for quite some time. The day was growing hot, it was early afternoon and the heat of the day was well on its way.

Out of water, food and cigarettes we debated leaving the train. Squirt very much wanted to get off and find some dope. That alone made me want to stay on but we did need real supplies too, and I was sure the dogs would have loved to have a poop.

Not a second after the last dog was off the train it sprang to life again with a familiar crash. We stood in the sun on the north bound mainline and watched our starship fade into the distance. After taking some good pisses all four of us slumped against the brush covered hillside that lead up to the overpasses high above. A man passing over the bridge called out to us, we looked up to see a five dollar bill drifting down toward us from the sky like a fall leaf. Not a bad welcome.

What was bad was Squirt's condition at this point. He was moaning quietly as I walked away to scout a route to civilisation. Along the way I stumbled upon a very nice rider camp complete with a screw-top bucket that had rolling papers, shit tickets and garbage bags. There was a bench carved into the hard earth. After showing the cool sight to Squirt his mood was lightened enough to walk up the steep hill toward some large warehouses. From the warehouses we walked right through an active construction site much to the displeasure of the workers, toward a 7.11 in the distance. Before reaching the convenience store we stopped at a Mexican restaurant to refill the water and got kicked off the property when Squirt started asking folks at the drive through to buy him food (a trick I saw him perform in Bakersfield the first day I met him that worked surprisingly well when there was a line of people at the McDonalds drive through).

As soon as we arrived at the 7.11 someone handed us another $5 so we bought some smokes. We tried flying a sign in front of the place but the sun was hot on that side of the building and we got kicked out anyway. On the shady side of the store facing the road we sat for a while until someone bought us a pepperoni pizza and some water.

There was a bus stop across the street that Squirt said would take us straight to downtown LA, (we had discovered we were in LA county by asking someone). He recognized the color of the bus stop sign. So with another $10 in my pocket that we made just sitting there we went across the street. Shortly after the bus stopped and I paid our fare.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Shouted Squirt in the entrance to the bus behind me.
He grabbed me by the pack and ripped me off the bus and the bus driver drove away obviously as confused as I was.

"This is LA COUNTY!" He continued, "The buses run a donation system for the homeless, you DONT HAVE TO PAY, that money was for my shit." Fuming, he sat down in the sun.

"Well fuckin Christ. My fuckin bad." I wasn't stoked on the idea of spending all our money on heroin nor was I stoked to have just wasted my money for a ride I didn't get to use. Although I understood what Squirt was feeling so I didn't retaliate.

In a bit of a state of dismay we walked about a mile to the next gas station because we figured we'd had enough luck at the 7.11 for one day. At the AMPM there was a nice bench right next to the front door in the shade. Somehow we managed to sit there without being kicked out for like FOUR HOURS. We played guitar and harmonica and asked every single person who went in or out if they could spare a buck. We only had about $20 cash after buying some cigarettes, but it was enough for Squirt and I both to have ten bucks. This successful experience put us both back into wonderful spirits!

We skipped over to another bus stop along the same route as the last one. The sun was setting now on this beautiful breezy evening. The bus arrived and we got on, with Squirt in front, he told the bus driver he had no money and walked on by him. The bus driver eyed me down and I mumbled a "me either.." And walked on.

We were headed right to the heart of LA. Squirt was very excited to sniff out some dope. So excited in fact he couldn't stop talking about it, loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"Hush!" I said with a faint smile.

"What? Thahaha, I'm gonna go buy some, HEROIN!"

"Shut the fuck up dude! Hahaha stop!"

And to some it was hilarious but to most on the bus it was utterly appalling. Squirt sang about how much he loved heroin nearly all the way there and I was trying not to crack up, and failing.

Part 1 https://squattheplanet.com/threads/my-first-hop-where-my-real-travels-began-part-one.37385/
Part 2 https://squattheplanet.com/threads/my-first-hop-where-my-real-travels-began-part-2.37395/
Part 3 https://squattheplanet.com/threads/my-first-hop-where-my-real-travels-began-part-3.37402/
Part 4 https://squattheplanet.com/threads/my-first-hop-where-my-real-travels-began-part-4.37418/


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## cbeansprout (Jan 19, 2019)

A good read, thanks


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## rando (Jan 19, 2019)

my pleasure!


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## docbrawlstar (Jan 19, 2019)

Guy Squirt sounds like a unique dude to say the least! What's it like down in LA man?


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## Coywolf (Jan 19, 2019)

Damn dude what a great story. It's hard enough not having alcohol day to day, I can only imagine running out of heroin
(Mainly because I've never done dope)

That is one of the main reasons I will never touch the shit. Hope yall had a fun time in LA. I'm about to try to hop the central valley down there myself. Never really hung out in LA. So it should be interesting.


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## rando (Jan 20, 2019)

Coywolf said:


> Damn dude what a great story. It's hard enough not having alcohol day to day, I can only imagine running out of heroin
> (Mainly because I've never done dope)
> 
> That is one of the main reasons I will never touch the shit. Hope yall had a fun time in LA. I'm about to try to hop the central valley down there myself. Never really hung out in LA. So it should be interesting.


I've watched a lot of folks deal with withdraw and let me tell you, it is never pretty. When it's someone you care about it's very sad. Originally I wasn't sure I wanted to share this story but we're all adults here on stp and sometimes stories like these can be a good reminder and also very informative.

LA is a very "interesting" place indeed. This time of year if you go to the beaches there, (Santa Monica, Venice) you will meet tons of other travelers and home bums and the latter. It's a crazy scene though let me tell ya. But it can be a lot of fun as long as you stay smart and have money (or know how to make it).


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## rando (Jan 20, 2019)

Juan Derlust said:


> ok - I wanna know whereabouts some passerby throws a fin off a bridge unbidden


Somewhere north of LA in LA county, wish I could remember! Haha


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## rando (Jan 20, 2019)

docbrawlstar said:


> Guy Squirt sounds like a unique dude to say the least! What's it like down in LA man?


Anything can happen in LA. Just like any major city there's a clustered mass of people from all walks and all corners of the globes. It can be good or bad depending on how you handle it of course. It is a little less rough than some east coast or Midwest cities though, homeless people and normal people tend to be less in your face, less agro.


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## RedRainex (Mar 22, 2019)

Dude letting him leave his dope behind was kind of a dick move. I wouldn't wish withdrawal on my worst enemy especially not while traveling.


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## rando (Apr 6, 2019)

RedRainex said:


> Dude letting him leave his dope behind was kind of a dick move. I wouldn't wish withdrawal on my worst enemy especially not while traveling.


His habit wasn't so bad that I thought he might die or anything. Besides, if you're so afraid of kicking you shouldn't fuck around with dope anyway.


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## BridgeyMcBridgeface (Apr 10, 2019)

rando said:


> I've watched a lot of folks deal with withdraw and let me tell you, it is never pretty. When it's someone you care about it's very sad. Originally I wasn't sure I wanted to share this story but we're all adults here on stp and sometimes stories like these can be a good reminder and also very informative.
> 
> LA is a very "interesting" place indeed. This time of year if you go to the beaches there, (Santa Monica, Venice) you will meet tons of other travelers and home bums and the latter. It's a crazy scene though let me tell ya. But it can be a lot of fun as long as you stay smart and have money (or know how to make it).



Ahhh I know which train you caught, its the mid night UP stack train to L.A via Bakers hell, it terminates basically a bit north of L.A. I know what bridge your talking about I was there in early September and it was still like 101 degrees out with dirty diapers all over the ground. Had to wait there a few days cuz of all the fires there where lots of delays. Piggys are great to ride when its hot out!!!!!


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## Kevo562 (Jun 26, 2019)

BridgeyMcBridgeface said:


> Ahhh I know which train you caught, its the mid night UP stack train to L.A via Bakers hell, it terminates basically a bit north of L.A. I know what bridge your talking about I was there in early September and it was still like 101 degrees out with dirty diapers all over the ground. Had to wait there a few days cuz of all the fires there where lots of delays. Piggys are great to ride when its hot out!!!!!


Im in la trying to find yards to hop out from id appreciate it if you could pm if you know of any thanks.


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## WannabeVagrant (Jun 26, 2019)

I just read all the parts and if I didnt know any better I'd think your writing a novel! Thats some great stuff


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## Zbart1108 (Jun 26, 2019)

Wow bad as write up man.


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## Grip (Sep 21, 2020)

Wonderful reading on my way to school. Thanks man, stay Safe.


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## Stoopkidd24 (Nov 13, 2020)

rando said:


> After many long hours, (around 20) riding on the big steel beast Squirt was beginning to lose his fun-loving attitude. His eyes were starting to look droopy. Sweat began coming off of his forehead, and about as suddenly as his bad feelings rolled in, the train began to slow down. The train had only sided out two times during the night, both times only briefly, as this was a relatively high priority train. The second time it stopped was to crew change. We barely woke up for that. This time the train stopped for quite some time. The day was growing hot, it was early afternoon and the heat of the day was well on its way.
> 
> Out of water, food and cigarettes we debated leaving the train. Squirt very much wanted to get off and find some dope. That alone made me want to stay on but we did need real supplies too, and I was sure the dogs would have loved to have a poop.
> 
> ...





rando said:


> After many long hours, (around 20) riding on the big steel beast Squirt was beginning to lose his fun-loving attitude. His eyes were starting to look droopy. Sweat began coming off of his forehead, and about as suddenly as his bad feelings rolled in, the train began to slow down. The train had only sided out two times during the night, both times only briefly, as this was a relatively high priority train. The second time it stopped was to crew change. We barely woke up for that. This time the train stopped for quite some time. The day was growing hot, it was early afternoon and the heat of the day was well on its way.
> 
> Out of water, food and cigarettes we debated leaving the train. Squirt very much wanted to get off and find some dope. That alone made me want to stay on but we did need real supplies too, and I was sure the dogs would have loved to have a poop.
> 
> ...


I once met a guy who offered me to tag along with him, but i passed up the chance lmao but maybe I’ll get another someday.


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