and now you know the rest of the story

In order to appease those who leave comments, here is the hippie story in full.

After a nice meal with Brent's Mom and step dad (or whatever), we (we being Brent and Myself) jumped into my truck to take the back way to the blue ridge parkway. We had attempted the take in the sights of the parkway the previous evening, but it was raining and foggy and generally not worth the effort.

So we set off again, taking a series of winding mountain roads on course for adventure and picture taking (I'd have pictures here if I had any way of getting them off the camera I borrowed). As we made our way up, I noticed a man walking down the side of the road. Because I generally try not to look at people, I was quite odd that his sudden turn and point toward our vehicle caught my attention. Brent quickly responded. "Don't Mike, don't..."

But by then it was too late. I rolled down my window.

"Do you guys know the way to the parkway?"

I believe Brent responded that it was just up the way a bit, or at least we thought so.

"Would you mind giving me a ride up?"

I think maybe I looked at Brent... at this point I was pretty much stuck. This guy was filthy, there was no doubting that. He was wearing a dirty white sweater and what appeared to be pajama pants. He was holding a bag and his shoes.

I turned around to look at the back seat of the truck. It was filled with backpacks and camping supplies.

"You'll have to ride in the back, but sure."

He hopped in. It wasn't more than 2 miles and we saw the sign for the parkway. I stopped the truck.

"Is this good or...?"

"Well, I parked in a parking lot on the parkway. I'm not sure where."

Brent asked him if he had parked at a hiking trail.

"No. I just parked and started walking in the woods, and went over a mountain... I just sort of got lost intentionally. Do you guys want to help me find my car?"

I suppose at this point I should explain that earlier in the day Brent and I had attempted to hike a trail and were met at the trailhead by a very tired and underfed beagle, who then followed us for four miles, whining the whole time. The beagle had tags so we figured we might as well try to contact the owner, but when we called the number on the tag, we were surprised to find that the number didn't match the name on the tag. There was also the time we biked the Katy Trail in Missouri, when a dog ran along with us for 10 or so miles at 16-18 miles per hour, nearly giving itself a heart attack in the effort. So we're certainly not unfamiliar with guests who overstay their welcome.

It was getting dark at this point, and despite common sense I agreed to help the guy find his car. We drove a little further to a T in the road, and the hippie told us that he thought his car was to the left.

"It's a dirty green Saturn with some eccentricities" he had pointed out.

We took the road left for a couple miles. Because Brent and I were separated from the hippie by the cab of the truck, we were able to discuss our game plan.

"There's no way he walked farther than this" Brent said.

About that time the hippie knocked on the window.

"I'm sure it wasn't this far" he said.

I then turned the truck around and headed the opposite direction. We reached the T again and continued on for even more miles, uphill, than we had headed in the original direction.

"They say that people that are lost generally head downhill" Brent explained. The knock came again.

"I know it wasn't this far. Can we head back in the other direction?"

I really had no choice at this point. I could very well just dump the guy on the side of the road at dusk.

So we went back the other way again. Brent and I began to discuss if the man had other, sinister motives for the run-around. I vocalized my fear that he was going to shoot us.

And then his car appeared in the distance. He yelled out "Fuck yeah" as we pulled into the parking lot. He hopped out of the truck and I rolled down my window.

"Can I repay you in any way? Do you guys smoke pot?"

"That's quite alright. We're good."

"Well I hope blessings reach you some way."

"I'm sure they will."

We then headed back home, another trip to the parkway spoiled. It was too dark to see anything now.