A Cross Country Trip, Long Hair and an Ashtray

A Cross Country Trip, Long Hair and an Ashtray

Not Welcome in Montana

In the summer of 1975 Cyndi and I decided to take a trip back east together. Our friends Connie and Andy were planning to go back east as well. Andy had a Volkswagen Micro Bus that we could all travel in. Cyndi planned to ride along until Chicago where she would then visit with her parents. I planned to ride into Indiana where I would visit with my friends Bill and Maryann. After that Cyndi and I would meet back up and hitch-hike to New York and visit my family. I don't remember if Cyndi's parents had met me at this juncture but I think they probably knew about me. Cyndi didn't think it was too good of an idea for me to show up with her. She felt the idea of us traveling together would not go over well especially since our plan included hitch-hiking to New York. In New York we were planning to meet back up with Connie and Andy for a return trip to Eugene.

In early June we packed up Andy's Volkswagen Bus and all piled in and started our trip east. We were in no hurry and so we took a more scenic route across the country. We drove up to Portland and then headed east on I-84. Somewhere in Idaho we split off 84 and headed north to Yellowstone where we planned to camp for a few days. Upon arriving we were informed that there were no campsites available plus there was still snow in much of the park. Because of the snow some of the campsites were not yet opened for the season. We entered the park undeterred, figuring we'd find a spot on our own. Before long we came upon a campsite that was largely, but not completely, covered in snow and was indeed closed. Well it was closed but the gate on one side of the entry was open. So we drove in and found a campsite without much snow and away from the road. We parked and camped there for the night. We set up and started a campfire. It was pretty cold. I don't remember if Andy had been a boy scout but if not they sure could have used him. I'd been backpacking a few times with Andy and he seemed to know just about everything there was to know in this area. He got a fire going and he found 4 medium sized rocks and put them in the fire towards the outer edges. We cooked up some food and sat around the camp fire eating and talking until we decided it was time for bed. It was getting colder. Just before we decided to call it a night Andy pulled out some small paper bags and put each of the rocks that he had placed at the edge of the fire in a bag. He let it sit for a couple of minutes and then told us to take a rock and put it in our sleeping bags down by our feet and it would keep us warm all night. He said the rocks were not going to burn our sleeping bags since they didn't burn the paper bags. He was right – I had a cheap, light sleeping bag and I was very toasty all night long. In fact the rock was still a little warm in the morning.

In the morning after having a little something to eat, we decided that we should not press our luck staying another night in a closed campsite. We packed up all our stuff and moved on. We checked out Old Faithful and a few other areas before driving north up to a more isolated area of the park. We found a place to park off the road where there was not any snow. We decided to hike in a ways and camp out for the night. There was a small lake not too far in and set up camp maybe a 100 feet or so up from the lake. After we all went to sleep in out tents I was awoken by a rather loud rumbling sound. I just stayed in my sleeping bag but after a bit I realized I needed to pee. So I got up and went outside the tent. There was a bright moon out and I could see down to the lake. At the lake were a bunch of elk standing around. Evidently we were lucky the elk did not run through our camping area. Nothing around us seemed disturbed, most importantly us...

The next morning we packed up, got back in the car and proceeded to drive north out of the park and into Montana. We were on a smaller road trying to make our way to I-90. It was getting to be lunch time and we spied a picnic table along the side of the road. So we stopped and unpacked some food. We were about to start eating when we heard a gentleman saying something and I looked up to see someone pointing a shotgun at us. As you can see, I had long hair but Andy's hair was not particularly long. Connie and Cyndi had long hair but I think that would be considered normal for the female gender, at least at that time. However, our greeter firmly stated in no uncertain terms that we, he referred to us a “hippies”, were not welcome and we needed to move on or else. Well being the laid-back, friendly and possibly stoned people we were,and of course not wanting any of the nice people from Montana to think poorly on folks from Oregon, we obliged his request in a rather prompt and expedient fashion. Other than a few policemen, that's the only time I've ever had someone point a gun at me. Having a gun pointed at me was never something that was ever on my bucket list. It's not on my favorite's list either...

The Ashtray - Wyomingites Welcome

At Billings we headed South down into Wyoming. Somewhere along that stretch in Wyoming, we stopped at a little place to eat. It was in a small town, well they are all small in that part of the country. It seemed to be the main place to eat. We walked in, there was a bar on the right and a bunch of tables filling up the rest of the room. The place looked like it was a family dining spot during the day and probably a bar at night. We found a table and sat down. We sat there for a good long time before anyone came over to take our order. We were all vegetarians and so we had some questions about some of the items on the menu. Our questions were not met with the enthusiasm that we had hoped for and our wait person left us alone to give us a little more time to decide on our food order. While I was sitting there I noticed the ashtray on the table. It was a plain square ashtray but on the bottom it had an ad for a Laundromat in Bozeman, Montana. We were not anywhere near Bozeman at this point. What kind of Laundromat would make up ashtrays to distribute as advertisement? Were Laundromats so few and far between in this area of the country that they drew folks from many miles away? Do they really have customers coming from neighboring states to their little Laundromat? It struck me as quite odd but also amusing. I periodically looked over at the bar and it seemed like everyone was looking over our way and not in a welcoming fashion. I began to feel a little uncomfortable. I had wanted to use the rest room but decided I was not going to go there alone and after a brief discussion with Andy we decided that we'd wait and the four of us decided that the prudent thing to do was to quietly leave. So, we got back in the bus, and drove on. I couldn't help it, I wanted that ashtray so on the way out I five fingered one from another table. At least I didn't take it from our table. We got in the car and started driving out of town. We noticed that a local police car began following us and continued to do so until we were out of town. I didn't tell the others about the ashtray so I was doubly relieved that we didn't get pulled over. I imagine it would have made their day to arrest a “hippie” for stealing an ashtray. Who wants ashtray stealing on their permanent record? From that point on every time we drove into a town everyone had me duck down so me and my long hair wouldn't attract the attention of the local Barney Fife. This became a “thing” all through Wyoming and into South Dakota. My fellow travelers all laughed but also seemed serious. I still have that ashtray and I still laugh about it whenever I come across it. I've never been to that laundromat and I guess I never will. I looked for it on Google Maps but there appears to be a Salvation Army building in that location today.