# Waking up next to strangers, sans water



## garytheoldguy (Dec 12, 2013)

So sometime around August this year I wound up in Birmingham on my way to nola. Things were ok other than the heat, but I had booze and smokes so I was a pretty happy camper. Well, I was by the yard, flying a sign and drinking with some amusing homebums, when I see a trainhoppin couple so I went over to where they were hanging, we start drinking and telling stories. All is well. eventually we get really drunk, and apparently three or more people show up and it's a party in the middle of this park in Alabama. We're all having a great time, shootin the shit and getting fucking plastered. At some point we decide to go to the hopout and continue the festivities. I'm assuming that's what happened because the next thing I know I'm waking up in a well next to these two guys I vaguely remember meeting the day before. After some investigating we figure we're going to Waycross, GA. But that's not our biggest problem. We only have like one nalgeen between three people. Everytime we side there's no water to be found, we're going like 80 past tons of streams and rivers and farms and towns thirsting to death. Eventually dude remembers having some purification tabs in his pack, so the next siding we wind up getting some ditchwater with tadpoles swimming in it. I mean, this stuff looked pretty gnarly, but we dropped the tabs in, and about 30 minutes later when the tadpoles were floating we had some life saving water. 

I broke several of my own rules that trip #1-I hopped out blackout drunk. #2-I hopped with people I barely knew. #3-I rode with (basically) no water. Thankfully everything wound up alright, but ever since I've been more careful.


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## Tude (Dec 12, 2013)

<grimaces> froggy water ... but better than nothing!


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