ACROSS NINE STATES IN NINE DAYS
Day Seventeen - August 17, 1986
Santa Monica Beach,
near Los Angeles to Ukiah, California
Sunday Morning in Los Angeles
I awoke in the morning at a rest area where there were a lot of other peole in campers, cars and trucks. I noticed I had driven 603 kilometers yesterday. It was 8:15 and I got out of my vehicle and stretched.
"We will send someone to you at 8:33", I was told.
At 8:33 a fellow who had just arrived got off his motorcycle, came over to me and asked if I had a light.
Frank who was thirty years old is married to Cathy and they have a daughter Erica who is almost seven. He came from Cleveland, Ohio and resides in Redlands, Califormia. He works indoors as an upholsterer and enjoys riding his motorcycle on weekends.
"Driving my motorcycle on weekends is my way of getting away and relaxing," he told me.
Leaving the rest area I continued on towards the ocean. The temperature was somewhat cooler her in L.A.; baout 75 degrees, but pleasant.
I stopped for breakfast at Claremont and had a pleasant conversation with Jane, age thirty-three, and her four year old daughter Amanda, who was also having breakfast.
I asked Jane of the best and fastest way to get to the beach.
She replied, "Just stay on Highway 10 and it will take you to Santa Monica and the beach."
And the Angels Sing
After having breakfast I was eager to get to the beach. The speed limit posted on the freeway was 55 M.P.H. Yet everyone was travelling betwen 65 and 75 M.P.H.
Travelling along I turned on the car radio to the tune, 'And the Angels Sing'. which I thought was appropriate enough for me.
The song ended and the disc jockey's voice broke in "I give you this line from Davy Crockett, - I leave this line for others, when I'm dead, be always sure you're right, then go ahead".
I had been thinking with some reservation of omitting some of my experiences from the book, such as the UFO contact, but the above quote was a confirmation to include my whole experience.
The next song played was 'Heaven Can Wait".
Keys Locked in My Car at Santa Monica Beach
Arriving at Santa Monica I drove through a long tunnel and as I exited from the tunnel I saw the beautiful blue water of the Pacific Ocean. Glancing at the time I noticed it was 10:33 A.M.
"Right on schedule", I thought.
With joy and desire to touch the water, I paid the three dollars parking fee, parked my car, and proceeded to lock my keys in the car.
Borrowing a coat hangar from the parking attendant I fiddled with it for over thirty minutes to no avail. Another car pilled in beside me and the driver of the car, Dave, chatted with me for a few minutes. He had two of his three sons with him, Michael, age eight, and James, age ten. They left for the crowded beach.
After a while three young Mexican boys came along and asked me if I were breaking into someone's car. They offered to help me break in. I guessed that two of them were about fourteen and the youngest no more than twelve.
One of the older boys tried to get the door open with the coat hangar with no success. I was intent on watching the younger boy with interest as he watched his friend closely. Then the younger boy said something in Spanish, took the coat hangar, and as quick as he placed the coat hangar in place, he had the door open. It was as though he was positive it would open and open it did. He was ypung and apparently did not know it was difficult to do. He was too young to know failure.
Pleased to get the door open I gave each of the three boys three dollars.
Immerse Yourself Completely in the Water
The instructions followed, "Take your crystal and go down to the water."
I walked down to the water. Wearing shorts and taking off my moccasins I walked on the sandy beach and into the water up to my knees.
Standing there with the crystal in my hand I was told mentally by the guides to look up into the sky. I looked up to see a small plane bypass pulling a banner, which read, 'Crystal Light - Lifeguard Races'>
"Interesting, " I thought.
"Immerse yourself completely in the water". I was told.
I went back to the car and put my swimming trunks on.
Michael Learns the 'Ride the Wave Dive'.
Walking back to the water I asked for guidance on where I should enter the water. The beach by now was extremely crowded and I was guided to go at an angle to the water. As I approached the water I was guided straight toward Dave, who I had spoken to earlier. The chances of walking right to him on this crowded beach were slim, so I thought the reason was that the guides wanted me to continue to talk with him.
Dave, fourty-six years old, was an electrical engineer with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. He resides at South Pasadena and spends most of his spare time in the Sierra Mountains enjoying mountain climbing and back packing, He was born in Colorado and spent a lot of time at scientific labs in Boulder. He spent five years as a youth soccer coach and boy scout leader.
As I entered the water Dave's son Michael came down to join me. The waves which were rolling in were over five feet high. Michael proudly instructed me how to dive into the waves as they approached, I found it very exciting to be diving into the waves in the Pacific Ocean with an eight year old boy.
"He just learned today how to dive into the waves." Dave told me later.
I asked Michael, "What are the waves called? Are they breakers?" "No. they are just waves," he replied.
Brother John and His 'Smokin Oldies'
"You have had enough time at the beach. It is now time to travel north," I was told by the guides.
I got into my car, turned on the ignition, noticed it was 1:33 p.m., and headed north from Santa Monica along the Pacific Ocean. Turning on the radio, I heard the announcer say, "This is A.M. 930."
"Appropriate," I thought, in keeping with the three and nine energy.
"This is Brother John," he went on, "playing Smokin Oldies all day and night."
It seemed that every song Brother John played related to my trip and the inner guidance I was receiving.
25,000 to 1 Odds
At 2:33 p.m. I was driving along Number 1 Highway through beautiful Malibu with the blue Pacific Ocean to my left.
At 3:15 p.m. I was given further instructions.
"Pick up two at 3:33," I was told.
At 3:30 p.m. I arrived at Santa Barbara. I had not seen a hitchhiker all day, yet at 3:33 p.m. precisely there was a hitchhiker standing beside the road. Stopping to pick him up I thought there certainly were not two people to pick up. The window on the passenger side was rolled down. The fellow put his head in the window and said.
"Do you mind. There are two of us. I have a dog with me."
"By all means, I don't mind," I replied. "I am pleased there are two of you."
Richard and his five year old dog Sheikh got in the front seat of my car.
Richard had been on the road hitchhiking from Virginia on the east coast for three weeks with the dog accompanying him all the way. He had been standing beside the road where I picked him up since 7 a.m. which was eight and one-half hours. Every so often he would count on his stopwatch the number of cars that passed him and estimate the number per hour, coming up with a similiar number each hour. He estimated that a total of 25,000 cars passed him by before I picked him up. His guess was that there was an average of two persons per car, which meant that 50,000 people passed before him as he waited for a ride.
These statistics gave me something to ponder. Did the guides keep him there until I came along? Was I destined to pick him up? What if it wasn't 33 minutes after the hour when I passed by? Would I have stopped for him?
As I learned more about Richard's personal life I was convinced that the guides kept him there until I came along.
Richard was returning home to Ukiah Valley north of San Francisco where he lives in an adjoining sparsely populated valley. He had no family and no living relatives. His closest friend is his dog Sheikh. He told me that the name 'Sheikh' in Arabic language meant "irresistible to the eye of the beholder".
Richard told me more about himself.
"I am a tool designer. I was always curious about how things ran so I would take them apart just to be able to put them together again. I always looked for the simple mechanism of how things worked. Nothing is really complicated. I worked in a large company with twenty men below me. I was the chief draftsman and ran the operation for designing and building unusual structures and buildings. When the management changed I was laid off because I did not have the academic qualifications."
Richard continued to tell me his interesting story.
"I always went to the library to learn about things, so that I could study how they operated. I always looked for the simplicity and was easily able to figure things out. I have worked for the past four years as a sheep herder. I love animals. I would rather be alone with animals rather than being with people."
Richard was 43 years old and never married. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and came to the Ukiah Valley area four years ago while aimlessly hitchhiking across the country. He felt he was guided to the one place on earth where he is very happy to stay. He lives outdoors in the wild as much as possible, feeling at home with his dog and the animals. He has built his home in the stump of a large cedar tree and lives partially under the ground.
Richard told me he was most happy when he is watching nature.
"I once sat still for six hours watching with fascination a butterfly emerge from a cocoon," he told me.
As I listened intently to what Richard was telling me, I thought to myself. "Yes, It is true. The meek shall inherit the earth."
Did You Know That Eagles are Part of the Hawk Family?
We were travelling on Highway 101, a main highway running north and south. As Richard was talking I looked at the kilometers driven on my car and noticed the number 36300. The guides continued to keep me excited.
"Something will happen at 36363," I was told.
I hoped it would be something good.
"You will be surprised," the guides continued.
As we drove along I thought of my friend Menno Pauls and his book, The Gathering of the Eagles. I was thinking that Richard certainly fit the category as an eagle.
With anticipation I waited for the kilometers to reach 36363 and just as it did Richard suddenly asked.
"Did you know that eagles are a part of the hawk family?"
Up to this point in the conversation neither of us had mentioned eagles or anything about birds and just after I was thinking of gathering eagles Richard asked the question.
The guides certainly wanted to impress upon me the importance of meeting Richard. They were right. I was surprised.
It was dark when we drove through San Francisco. Continuing on Highway 101, we headed north. I drove Richard approximately 450 miles from Santa Barbara to his destination. We arrived at Ukiah late at night.
Richard slept with his dog under a bridge just outside of town while I slept in my car nearby.
Touching the Eagles - Day Eighteen!
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