Had to get up really early – about 5.30 – because M + P had to get to work early. Were able tho’ to go down to Mark II’s, where we were fed breakfast, then went back to sleep, me dozing while watching TV. Woke up and had some lunch with Mary + Mark II, returning from college. Then watched more TV, read, lay around – that just about sums up our day, since all we were waiting to do was collect our photos. Unfortunately, come 4.30, Bob (a guy from the drug store, living in the same apt., rang up, and they weren’t there. Ho hum, rum ti tum. We were mildly depressed about it all, but decided to be philosophical. M + P returned about 7 or so, and Mark II and Mary were both at work, so we went up and joined them. As usual, everything was very casual, very relaxed. Drank a few beers, Mark cooked an excellent spicy shepherd’s pie. Sam, their boss, turned up – he was pretty funny. I wandered down to see Mark II, smoked a bit (well, a lot) – Val came down later, and that was where we spent the night. When Val was upstairs, and me down, Mark I was able to convince Val that I’d disappeared. I think it made her a little nervous.
That being the end of the day, room for some more general comments, I suppose. First of all, the hitching has certainly worked out well in terms of meeting and getting to know people, and thro’ them, getting to know the country. I should think that we’ve obtained offers of places to stay or something similar from about 50% of our rides. And everybody has been so nice, cooking us meals etc. We weren’t too sure about Pat, the first time we met him, but he turned out to be amazingly friendly, and all the people in the block there – Mark I, Mark II, Pat, Mary and Kathy, were all so friendly. So, it seems to be working.
Very much a non-day, really, just hanging around, but an example of how one could find oneself a victim of circumstances – in this case, the vagaries of the drug-store’s photo department. And no photo to illustrate the day really, so a picture of the diary itself – Volume One, at any least. Just a tiny notebook, about 5 inches high, filled in with my miniscule handwriting.
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