Ruthie In The Sky

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:05:00 +0000

Me On The Bus, Ocotber 2009
Cell Phone Photo By Ruth Rader

Hello Campers!!

I am now in little, rural Mayberry, Missouri AKA guess where?

Heh-heh-heh.

And I know that I have a great deal of updating to do here. And I will!

This is because I am now within walking distance of where I can do it and the room that I am in is paid through the next three days.

I am not sure what I am going to do after that because I have to check a few more options.

But I am eating and drinking (huh?) and resting well.

S-T-R-E-T-C-H!!! Oh baby, I love Mayberry!

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:46:00 +0000

Three hours after I posted the last entry in this blog, I felt a big, black blanket cover me.

And I got sick.

Swine Flu is rampant in Oklahoma right now and I just happen to have the dubious fortune to be in Enid.

I figure that I have IT or some facsimile, thereof.

And my cell phone is in roaming mode all over this City...so I can't send my photos to Flickr or here, either.

Some things are just going to have to wait.

Thinking about anything for the first few days of the illness was nearly impossible.

I went from a cot at the Salvation Army to a bed at Habib's Crappy Rooms and Curried Chicken. Two days later I bailed and came over here.

Words.

How do I describe the euphoria of climbing to the top of that long, high hill in Washington State?

How do I tell you about the beauty of that scarlet-gold sunset reflecting in my hair as I twirled around on the edge of that road?

FREEDOM!

Oh, the suffocating heat and humidity on that stretch of interstate between Missouri and Tennessee!

But you never heard me say to the Lord, over and over:" Just one more step...help me take one more step."

And in the end, the only person who stopped was a guy in a garbage truck. God bless him!

It's hard to understand the mind-set of the cops in Colorado Springs who set me loose (no, I wasn't arrested but they gave me a ride out of that City) into a cold, rainy night near Fountain.

It is unfortunate that I can't post the photos yet but I will write-out the basics of the stories and then I'll post them here.

In light of this wretched flu, thank you for your patience.

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:07:00 +0000

Hello everyone...this is the first post in what is going to be a huge update which will go into full swing this Friday. I have not forgotten, for one single day, this blog that I have maintained faithfully for over four years. Oh no!

But I have been on the road, and using the new mode of communication known as Twitter via my cell phone. So the blog has gone silent for far too long.

I am going to do something about that.

I have a batch of new photos and new stories to tell you all about. I'm looking forward to sharing it all with you soon.

As you may know, if you have been following me on Twitter, I left Dyersburg, Tennessee and returned to Portland, Oregon. But I only remained there for four days before I got back on the road again.

Today, I am in Enid, Oklahoma and will be here until Thursday. Big bodacious storms are coming...or so everybody is saying. My final destination is Brookfield, Missouri.

What a summer it has been!

Meanwhile, Back In Portland...

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:42:00 +0000

Click on the post headline above and read about the latest activity in the City that I left behind at the beginning of this trip: Portland, Oregon.

Thank you to my friend who works for Multnomah County (where Portland is located) for sharing this with me.

And PLEASE read my latest update post below this one!

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:59:00 +0000

This is not meant to be an update, per Se...but I feel that it is important to post this right now. The photo below was taken the following day as I was leaving that awful place. Below is a copy of an email that I sent to several individuals today describing what happened to me in Kansas:

Hello Again, Penny...

Assuming that you have received my first email, I am going to send
this second one to you. I want you to know what happened to me when I
was in Kansas last weekend.

Granted, I have hitchhiked all over the Continent (including Canada
and Alaska) but I feel that every woman has the right to be left in
the safest place possible. Especially when that woman is dropped off
by a member of law enforcement.

And after sixteen-years off-and-on the road, I am quite capable of
handling many situations...but what happened to me in Kansas NEVER
should happen to anybody. Period.

It is a truism that the Federal Government is searching for serial
killers who take out women every year along interstates, highways,
etc. And the most recent focus has been on truck drivers.

I think that is entirely possible. However, I wouldn't rule out cops, either.

Take what happened to me last weekend, for example:

I wanted to check with the City of St. Joseph about my situation but
finally got a ride too late in the day last Friday afternoon. I had
returned from a dismal reception in Tennessee. And I didn't realize
that I could have stopped in St. Joseph regardless of the time and at
least been sheltered for the weekend. I wasn't even sure that there
was even available shelter here. This is because the cops in Cameron,
Missouri misled me completely.

So I hitched a ride to Marysville, Kansas and by the time the sun went
down and the darkness set in, I was several miles outside of
Waterville, Kansas. I called for assistance on my cell phone. An
officer finally arrived from Marysville, but rather than returning me
there or at least bringing me back to Waterville...THIS is what he
did:

He drove me to the county line and left me by two large, empty,
barn-like structures out in the middle of nowhere. Literally. There
are no facilities, no water and only a dim vapor-light on a pole.

Before he drove away, he said that he would alert the next county and
let them know that I was there. But when I called that next county
hours later, they told me that they never received a call from him or
anyone about me. And they made it clear that they wouldn't come and
pick me up...even though a bed was waiting for me at the shelter in
Manhattan, Kansas. The shelter in Manhattan had told me when I called
them earlier in the day that because I didn't want to relocate to
Kansas (and after what happened to me there, I never will!) they would
only keep me there for two days. But the bed was there and I was out
in a dark, wide-open, desolate, dimly lit,
not-meant-for-human-habitation place where I shouldn't have been and
didn't need to be.

I was torn between making myself visible and keeping myself hidden
from the traffic on the road. And I realized at that time that I could
have easily been any body's victim.

The only saving grace was the live, outside outlet that I found on a
light pole that had a light that didn't work. The outlet did. I
plugged my cell phone into it and kept it charged up all night long.

At three-thirty in the morning, a pack of what I assume were coyotes,
started howling very near to where I was sitting. I broke my glasses
and I wasn't able to make out their exact position in the dark. But
all of my hairs stood on end.

The only thing that I could think of to do was to throw my head back,
take a deep breath and howl back at them for all I was worth. That's
what I did. It worked...after I howled there was a second of silence
and then they all howled back. So I howled again and the coyotes (or
whatever they were) went quiet and never bothered me again.

I am still mystified as to why that happened.

And I consider myself to be a pretty strong person and not a cry-baby.
However, that experience, sitting out there in that location, was one
of the spookiest situations that I have ever been in.

The next day, I walked away from there down the highway, grateful for
the morning sun and finally got a ride. The driver, after hearing what
happened to me, drove me all the way to the shelter door in Manhattan.
He only left me after he was sure that I would have a bed there for
two days.

And he and every other decent human being that I've told this story to is
ticked-off at the Kansas cops. And well they should be.

I wonder why the cop who dropped me off there was so intent on making
sure that I had no ties to anyone who would be concerned about my
whereabouts. And I wonder what would have happened had I not made that
cell phone call to the next county in the middle of the night.

My point in telling you about this is that I want to let you know how
women are still being treated in some parts of the Country. Small
wonder that some of them disappear. I doubt that many of those women
blog or use Twitter or can compose an email like this one. And I doubt
that many of those ladies would have taken a photo with a cell phone
the next morning before leaving that location and returning to the
road.

But I did.

And the photo of that place (that even looks scary in the light of
day) is now on public display on my Flickr. You can access it by
looking for photos under the username "ruthie_rader" on Flickr.

I don't ever want to go through an experience like that again, Penny.
And I would love nothing better than to get high enough in a stable
position to turn around and let the State of Kansas have it. Because
it is my impression that what happened to me will happen to some other
woman in the future...only the end result might not be the same as
mine.

I'm still alive.

This letter is going out to several people and will be posted on my blog.

Thank you for allowing me to share a snapshot of what is still
happening to homeless women (and men, most likely) "out there" on the road.

Take Me Home Country Roads

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:48:00 +0000

I am in Columbia, Missouri now. And I can't wait to leave it. Soon I will pack up my stuff in that high-dollar room (anything over forty-five bucks a night fits in that category) and head back onto the waiting on ramp.

But it won't be the same as yesterday. It never will be.

Yesterday, I woke up in a cozy little room with a soft, sealskin blanket over me. The window was covered by mini-blinds and a set of lace curtains.

The stand-up shower was covered with pink porcelain tile...just like the old days.

It was country at its best. And it probably always will be.

The owner had a pot of fresh-ground coffee ready with a dash of cappuccino.

He smiled and it felt so homey.

The housekeeper washed my clothes and brought them back, neatly folded and smelling sweet.

I felt like I was visiting friends.

When I went to leave, the owner shook my hand. And when I was halfway down the road, the housekeeper pulled up and offered me a ride to the on ramp.

She stopped at Wal-Mart first. I gave her a few bucks that she took in to buy me some Diet Dew for the road.

Brookfield, Missouri...a beautiful place off of Highway 36 in northern Missouri.

If you want to go where the wildflowers dance in the wind and folks treat you like good kin...visit that town. And stay at that motel.

Just look around...you'll find it.

The only motel that I've seen in the whole Country where smoking and non-smoking rooms are in two totally separate wings. With fire doors in between.

If you're looking for a tobacco-free environment for a cheap price, stay at that motel.

I guarantee that you will enjoy it much more I didn't enjoy this swanky one.

Granted, you get a substantial breakfast here which you can eat while watching a big screen TV. And you get a tub, coffee set-up and a hair-dryer in your room. And yeah, there's a pool and this computer available for guests to use.

But the people here are condescending and cool to the sociable touch. And even though I was given what was labeled a "non-smoking" room...the occupant in the room next door smoked so much that it drifted into my room. All night long.

I hated that.

I could read the latest issue of People magazine at the country motel. But I didn't even get a complimentary copy of USA Today here.

And the man at the motel put me in a room near the desk. The people in this hotel put me in a room three-long hallways away from the front desk. And even though I walked in with a cane and an obvious limp, the check-in lady never offered me a handicap room. Nope.

So I see where the real value exists...not on an overpriced red carpet...but in a sincerely caring heart.

The man in the little motel in Brookfield, Missouri sure could teach the staff at the Best Western Inn in Columbia, Missouri a thing or two. Or three.

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:18:00 +0000

Twitter is back up and running smoothly (I hope) and I have posted quite a few tweets on that site today. So go there first and read my updates.

I am now in the small city of Macon, Missouri and am going to be hitchhiking down Highway 63 south.

The Hillbilly Adventure continues...

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:58:00 +0000

If I can get more time here today, I will tell you about the drunk lady, the Jesus trucker and the guy who threw rocks at me. Otherwise, catch some of my news on twitter.

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:50:00 +0000

Oh boy! I left Sioux Falls, South Dakota after almost getting run over by the interstate lawn mower crew in their Big Green Tractors!

I got a ride down to a guy's auto-body shop where I used the restroom (hey, sometimes that's a major need!) and got a couple cans of cold soda.

Then I got a ride out to a ramp which led to MILES of road construction.

Wonderful.

FINALLY, after about four hours, I got up and started walking. The sun was setting and I was heading out into desolate territory.

Suddenly, a young woman pulled her little car to a stop and picked me up. She brought me to a place with a truck stop on one side of the overpass and a rest area on the other.

I took a shower, washed my clothes, ate and then wandered over to the rest area. When I got there, I found a nice little table with an overhang above it. So I sat down, put my head on my pack and fell asleep.

Remember To Follow Me On Twitter!

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:39:00 +0000

I tweet on a regular basis now. Today, for example, I...well...um...go see. My twitter name is ruthiesky. So try THIS TO FOLLOW ME.

Rockin' The Beer Gut!

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:52:00 +0000

I'm in love with these folks:

Trailer Choir

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:50:00 +0000

I am in Sioux Falls, South Dakota tonight. And I am using a computer in a lobby that is unique because it features a wall of windows from floor almost to the ceiling on two sides.

It is a nice, homey place right by the interstate. And it is providing me with a good respite and an early jump-off point for getting back on the road tomorrow.

I am hitchhiking to Tennessee. It's summertime and that's what I do every summer: roam.

However, this year I am also heading east because everything on the West Coast is so messed-up. California is experiencing a financial crisis and Oregon is right on its heels.

I don't know what will happen to Oregon. It's number two behind Michigan in unemployment and has the highest homeless population in the Nation now.

So meetings like this one are being arranged:

All photos by Ruth Rader

Not that the meetings will ever really change anything in Portland, much less in the State of Oregon.

No...I figure that Multnomah County's metamorphosis will develop like a slow ooze from a major infection...

...until the whole thing either gets saved by Divine Intervention or dies of the dreaded DumAss disease.

It's a make or break proposition. One that I want no damn part of.

I just don't want to even try to ride that storm out. Not anymore.

Goodbye, Oregon.

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:09:00 +0000

Finally, after what seems like forever...and in between yawns...the driver returns.

He's on a high. He says that he has won big.

I don't know whether to believe him or not.

We drive out of the parking lot and he can't keep the smile off of his face.

And of course, during the time that I was with him, he broke protocol by bringing me to the place where he had to load and even went so far as to show me the related paperwork.

So much for confidential consideration in business.

He's very fortunate that I didn't take photos of the papers, too.

There's more to this story but I won't go into it here.

I wrote this to make a point: Some of today's drivers are running their job by their own rules.

Before I leave the driver, he does a very unusual thing: He opens up his wallet and counts out hundreds of dollars...laying them one by one on the seat...in front of me.

I am not impressed. I ask him if he can get me a shower on his card and he does. I take a long time. On purpose.

He returns to the shower area and knocks on the door. He is mad and says that he is ready to leave.

I tell him "that's fine", say goodbye and then shut the door.

He knocks on it again...he doesn't want me to part ways with him yet.

I tell him in no uncertain terms that I am going to hitch out and that he better leave me alone.

Later, I am on the ramp and he finally drives slowly by me.

I wonder if he will keep raising the stakes related to his career.

Or maybe this series of posts will raise someone's awareness...down the road.

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:45:00 +0000

He walks into the casino and suddenly he isn't connected to that truck or its contents or his job or the re-spons-ibility for them, anymore.

Nah. He's now chips, chances and strategy. He wanders from table to table and goes for all the gambling gusto that he can get.

Time passes. And he wins. loses. wins.

What time he has to be to a destination to deliver a load or receive one doesn't enter his mind.

He's on a roll.

Meanwhile, I get bored and I leave when his pile of chips is dwindling.

And I walk all the way back to the tractor-trailer rig that he left all by its lonesome in that parking lot.

Of course the truck is locked so I sit down on the porch of a building across the lot. And I look at the rig.

And I think it's funny that CR England pays the driver to leave that truck and trailer (but was it loaded? Hmmm...) where only I am watching it.

Later and later into the night.

(post to be continued)

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:27:00 +0000

And eventually, after driving many miles, the guy works everything out and heads for a casino. He parks the rig, all by its lonesome, in an otherwise empty and dimly lit lot.

Whether the trailer is full or empty doesn't matter to him. Oh no, he just doesn't want anyone to get inside the tractor. Including, oddly enough, me.

Nope. He doesn't allow me to sit in that truck for five minutes without him in it. Not at that point, anyway.

Yeah, he leaves the whole shebang in that parking lot that isn't designated in any way, shape or form for a semi. In fact, it appears that the lot is owned by a taxi company.

But he doesn't worry about that. His only concern is how far he's going to have to walk from where he left what should be his major responsibility to the casino.

(post to be continued)

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:09:00 +0000

Yeah, when it comes to responsible behavior on the road, there is an opposite example that I would like to share with you. Because I definitely have one now.

Imagine a guy who has the sole responsibility of driving a huge piece of machinery and a fifty-two foot (give or take an inch) empty or fully-loaded trailer down the interstate.

He is supposed to be rested, he is supposed to be focused, he is supposed to be paying attention to his job and more than anything else he is supposed to give a damn about what he's doing.

But this guy isn't, doesn't and won't.

Nope.

When he gets in the driver seat his only concern is what he can do to keep his mind off his boring task: driving a truck.

So he picks up a hitchhiker and he strikes up a conversation about casinos. That's his interest: Not the hitcher, per se but the place where he can throw his money to chance.

Where he has to go to load/unload, where he parks the rig, where he eats and how closely he follows the sleep rule are all built around his addiction to gambling.

He only takes the hitchhiker along so that he can show-off his talent for beating the dealer.

(post to be continued)

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:47:00 +0000

And "high-tail it" I did!

I took a city bus to Troutdale outside Portland, Oregon last Thursday night.

I walked over to my usual starting point: The on-ramp to Interstate 84 east across from the Flying J truck stop.

It only took twenty-minutes to get my first ride. And that was with a guy named Ron who leases a big rig from CR England.

The fact is notable because drivers afiliated with CR England do NOT pick up hitchhikers. But when I put out my thumb, Ron stopped the truck.

I watched him closely and listened to what he said as we began our journey.

Eventually he let me take some photos of him with my cell phone. He gave me permission to share his photo on my blog. But I went one better.

I shared it with someone else.

After all, every picture tells a story. Doesn't it?

Ruthie In Portland, Oregon, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:39:00 +0000

Tired In A Truck
Photo By Ruth Rader

I get tired when I am on the road...and then I get exhausted when I stay on the streets of Portland, Oregon for too long. I am getting to that point again now.

There is a rumor going around that a girl overdosed on some sort of drug last night. I don't know if it's true or if she is still alive.

And the National Weather Service has issued a warning for our area: spelled "Major Heatwave."

And that is, unfortunately, true.

Soon the temperature may rise up into the triple digits. Records will be broken. And I will high tail it out of here.

Yeah, I'll get cooled down and energized on a beach somewhere.

Take Me Away

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:33:00 +0000

I met a young lady today who decided that she'd had enough of all of the constant constraints in her life...so she took her shirt off...and her bra...and went walking down towards West Burnside this afternoon...half naked. I'd post her photo here but I am on a network in a public library so I'll save that for another time.

And even though she is years younger than me, we both related to the same desire: THE NEED TO BE FREE.

She is a homeless girl and she lives on the street...like I do right now.

And she wrote a poem called "Take Me Away"...here it is:

Take me away to tangy absurdities
sensory calamities
conspicuous conspiracies
Rhymes kill reason

Take me away
to anaemic bliss
solitary tenderness
and just a little bitterness

Absentee Social Season
Take Me Away To
heretical sincerity
electric impulses

Death to lethargic regularity
Morality is Treason.

Poem written by Jill Potts, All Rights Reserved

Freedom. It is what comes with rights. Or follows rights. Or should include rights. And likely cannot exist without rights.

But in Portland, Oregon what sounds good in theory is beginning to go very wrong.

Last night I was reminded that we homies, living on the street, are not totally free. At least not in the way that most of us would like to be.

One man got drunk and called every female within earshot a "C---."

Another waited until we were all asleep and walked down among us, lifting blankets and touching bodies.

The females in this City of Roses have no recourse and no safety, either. We are trapped between the bricks on the sidewalk and the shelter's locked door.

And it is becoming more and more obvious that we need a big, full-service adult homeless shelter in downtown Portland.

It's creation is way overdue.

Today we all would like to put a key into the right door...but most of us are faced with nothing but long waiting lists and longer lines.

And as night once again approaches, we see what is still left undone...in every shadow, in every corner, in every doorway...haunting us...

...and as the new day begins it is almost enough to make us all walk among the problems...naked in the summer sun.

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:02:00 +0000

I am back on West Burnside in Portland, Oregon after spending the long Fourth of July weekend in Ontario and Vale, Oregon.

While I was in Vale, I took care of the stalker problem. He has earned a message from Her Honor and the District Attorney in Malheur County and the State of Oregon.

He will be wise to heed it. He has used no wisdom so far. It will be best that he begins now.

And I am busy enjoying my summer in Portland and making plans for the Fall.

Catch me on Twitter!

TWITTER RUTHIE

I will post again soon. And I am taking more phone photos and will start using my real camera again, too.

About Blog Updates

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:59:00 +0000

I have posted photos (more new ones can be found on my Flickr photostream)and written updates today. Even a poem called "Love Is Better" which I think would make a cute, little song.

To access all of today's updates, scroll down to the Archives list and click on July 2009. There you will find everything in a nice, neat line.

For those of you who read me by feed...carry on, Campers.

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter...where I will continue to make fun of the self-proclaimed Twitter Czar, Ashton Kutcher.

You keep me in your prayers and I will keep you in the loop when I go back on the road.

*PEACE*

Photos, Part Three

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:44:00 +0000

All of the following photos were taken by Ruth Rader with the exception of one. All the details about these photos can be found on my Flckr photo stream. Just click on the Flickr photo badge on this blog and read away!

Photos, Part Two

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:34:00 +0000

Photos, Part One

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:17:00 +0000

All of the following photos were taken by Ruth Rader with the exception of one. All the details about these photos can be found on my Flickr photo stream. Just click on the Flickr photo badge on this blog and read away!

Ruthie On The Road, Update

ruth.rader@gmail.com (Ruthie In The Sky) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:49:00 +0000

In case I don't get enough time to post my photos here today, I want you to know that I have just loaded more photos on Flickr.

Just scroll down and click on the Flickr photo badge here and you'll be taken right to them all.