Packin' my A game

Some basic prep today -- calling state patrols along the way to find out what hitchhiking strategies are legal and what aren't.

Minnesota.  I was transferred twice, finally to an information officer, where a machine asked me to leave a message. That was eight hours ago. No governmental intrusions on my home phone yet.

North Dakota.  For reasons never stated, the Fargo office was closed at 1:14 p.m. on a Wednesday. I tried Bismarck and a person answered. Hitchhiking's OK, I was told, except on a few bridges that don't have walkways. The officer said, to my surprise, that he sees hitchhikers "quite frequently." Are they getting rides? I asked.
"They come and go, so I assume someone is picking them up," he said. That was encouraging. Then he added, "Be careful. It's not like hitchhiking was 30 years ago."

Montana. "Hahaha!" the dispatcher said when I told her I was planning to hitch across that vast state. "That's a weird thing to say!"
What's weird about it? Don't people hitchhike out there?
"Oh, yes, they do. But I don't think I've heard anybody say they're planning to! Usually it's just people who've broken down and need to get some help."
I thanked her for that perspective. Then she added that hitchhiking was "not a safe thing." But the "few incidents" she mentioned involved people getting hit by vehicles -- not muggings or kidnappings or the like.
"You've got to be totally on your A game," she added. "But good luck. It sounds like it might be an adventure."

So tomorrow I'll try Idaho and Washington. But I'm expecting more of the same. The website digihitch outlines federal laws that basically prohibit you from being on the road itself, but not the shoulder. There might be state-to-state variations. The most cautious practice clearly will be to work the approach ramps and not even go on the highway.

Elijah Wald, in his book, "Riding with Strangers/A Hitchhiker's Journey,"  recommends working the truck stop parking lots. I've never tried this and it seems sort of un-hitchhikerlike (more sort of hooker-like), with an in-your-face quality I think I'd find awkward. I want to be closer to the road; it seems more in the spirit of the thing.

Wald, a lifelong hitchhiker, has plenty to say about safety. Hitchhiking today is safer and more effective than ever, he argues: The perverts and predators are all working the Information Highway, instead of out driving around wasting gas. And there are fewer hitchhikers than ever, reducing competition for rides. I'm guessing and hoping he's right.