I replied, but it disrepeared. I was just recalling the time I got pulled over by a Mokey for weaving. I was too engrossed by the sunset. I was approaching the Arizona border from New Mexico on I-40. (Guess why.) The play of the light on the rocks was knock-out gorgeous. I pulled over and got carded, and cop acted like he didn't know what I was talking about as I exclaimed stuff like, "This is too beautiful! Can you believe it!?"

During my first solo trip to Arizona (no need to wonder why), I decided to work on my tan. I pulled up my jeans over my knees, but since my calves are huger than the Governator's, I couldn't pull them back down. I stopped in a store that sold sweats and I told them if they could loan me a pair of scissors to cut my pants, I"d buy something from them.

Well, then I couldn't start my rental. A guy was walking past, and I asked if he could try giving me a push start. It worked, and I offered to take him where he was going. En route, I asked if he knew of a nice place to walk. He told me about an old Indian trail. I said OK. We went straight down the side of a 90-degree gulch. Then, we played on the rocks in the river below. He was leaping almost superhumanly. That was when I learned he had lost his job for [deleted]. We had to go back up, and I couldn't do what he was doing. Sometimes, he had to drop his leg down for me to pull myself up. We got to the car, he gave me a push start, and I continued on.

He was staying with a couple friends in the desert. One was an artist that had split with his wife, and the other was a grad student from California who wanted to take a year off and "do the hippie thing." I picked up his buddies and then we spent the night in Phoenix. Nick and I went to the concert. The artist saw his kids, and I don't know where my hiker buddy went, but we all met back at the car at the appointed time. Everywhere we went, the guys push-started my rental, and we sang along with the songs on the radio, rock 'n' rollin' down the highway.

I went back with them to the campsite, but insisted on sleeping in my car. Locked. Morning came, and I got a push off again. When I returned the rental, I reported my problem, and the attendant told me the car wouldn't start unless I had my safety belt locked.