I’ve been living at the KOA in a tent by the snake river. I’m using someone else’s tent, which is nice because it’s large.
Working via the internet proves difficult in the evenings because the wireless internet here is used a lot by the campers and always lags and resets. Sometimes I get so frustrated that I hitchike to town and use the library’s or Heidi’s internet connection.
Speaking of hitchhiking, that’s what I did yesterday to get to town (actually, Bud who owns KOA saw me on my way out and gave me a ride). I worked at Heidi’s until 1am. I woke up early and started hitchiking back to camp. Got a ride from my first female driver to pick me up – a lady from Chicago who just moved here. She was driving a Jeep with the top off – pretty cool – and took me as far as the Enclosure climbing gym. 10 more minutes on the roadside, and a police officer stopped and told me hitchiking was illegal in Wyoming. Let me go but told me to walk. So I did for about a mile, then called Mary and had her pick me up so I could make it back to the KOA in time to start my shift at 10am. Luckily, she wasn’t working. Oh, and I should add that I didn’t know hitchiking was outlawed in WY. It’s legal in UT, NM, and AZ. Whatever the reason, here’s what I found about the laws here…
====================
This is from digihitch.com
According to Wyoming state law, it is illegal to hitchhike on a highway. State and local police will enforce this. However, many hitchhikers have had successful trips across the state by either hitchhiking from on-ramps or by using a highway loophole which many cops allow…
It is legal to walk on a highway, if a person is walking facing traffic. In some cases (if the other side of the road is not safe to walk on) a pedestrian can walk with the flow of traffic.
As long as a hitchhiker is not actively requesting a ride (sign raised or thumb out), he or she can keep walking. And this is what cops are likely to tell you in Wyoming:
“Keep walking…”So be sure to look like you are going somewhere with your own two feet while in Wyoming. Read a section of the law below, and click the link for more related pedestrian laws.
Code 31-5-606 Soliciting on streets and highways.
(a) No person shall be on a highway for the purpose of soliciting a ride, employment, business or contributions from the occupant of any vehicle. This subsection does not apply to persons attempting to obtain assistance for disabled vehicles.
31-1-101. Definitions.
(viii) “Highway” means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained or if not publicly maintained, dedicated to public use when any part is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel;
====================
Though I plan to be here until October, my priorities are daily reviewed in my mind: build a portfolio so I can work for CouchSurfing.org as a web designer, and eventually earn income online so I can have the freedom to travel while earning enough income to live well. I am also applying for Forest Service jobs in the Fall, and maybe even something with the Coast Guard. It’s still open, but I’m going to apply.
So far, I’ve worked on 3 websites: my portfolio, thanksgivingforall.org, and secretspeakers.com (only edits on the last one). I have a few ideas for more, it just takes a lot of time to get back into the swing of things. I’ve discovered that paying attention to the right “teachers” online has helped me the most. I pay $9 a month for nettuts tutorials online from Jeffrey Way. It’s one of the best investments I’ve made for learning website stuff (I stopped getting Netflix so I could afford this).
So that’s me on top of Mt. Olympus (in Utah. no pics from Wyoming yet). I’m always searching for new friendships, and oh yeah, I’m not going to school this Fall. I have to get out of debt before getting into more. I’m happy to feel in my heart that I have the skills I need right now to be successful in life. That’s not saying I’m not learning, and won’t return to college; It means I’m accepting who I am right now and planning my future wisely.
–WBC–