wheeling, west virginia

i'm at the library in wheeling - a town full of colleges & universities and no health food stores - that i'm finding easily that is. i didn't get a chance to shop before i left so i'm scrounging for real food now.

driving into town, several cars honked approval - one young white lad with long, blond locks waved me down to talk about being trapped in west virginia. a couple of other young white males road by hee-hawing - hmmmm. the first huge poster in the library's foyer shows a frightened child & urges patrons to report child abuse. i use the bathroom & on each of the inside doors on the stalls, another smaller poster hangs with a fuzzy picture of a woman, beaten around the face, and urges women to seek help.

the first time a man hit me was in west viriginia - long before such posters hung anywhere in my view. it is such a beautiful state with such huge, nasty scars. wheeling is an old town, hilly & green, with 2 story brick vacant buildings, some never beautiful, snuggled side-by-side on narrow streets with old bridges spanning rivers and gullies - bridges i can't drive on, nor can any truck.

time to get back on the road! later, suzanne

heading back to sunny, beautiful california

so i'm on the road again - i've finally left nyc and the east coast early this a.m. i headed down the nj turnpike to the pennsylvania turnpike, and across the state of pennsylvania - the usually quiet state. today, i got 19 yeahs to 2 fuck you's, and one pasty white arm sliding out a van's window with her thumb down!

the yeah's were horns honking, exuburant waves, enthusiastic nodding of heads, and many thumbs up! several tractor trailer drivers blew big horns as they waved. every stop i made, people came up to me and told me how much they loved seeing my truck.

at one stop, a middle-aged white straight couple parked next to me. the male approached me, asking me where i was going w/that truck. i told him back to california. he told me i was so brave to drive thru our country in this truck. i said, "well, ever since i remember thinking i was taught we live in a democracy where people are free to say what they think & feel." he agreed we're supposed to live in a democracy and he commented on the fierceness of my message.

i like that, the idea my message is fierce. another even older white straight couple were reading the back of my truck. i approached them - they were from oklahoma & they also loved my truck. i spoke with the womon, who expressed her anger at the elected officials in oklahoma - the congressmen, the senate - all taken over, she said, by awful people. they felt helpless. i spoke about what it will take - enuff of us getting out & getting active. she agreed & said women didn't want this war to happen - women don't want wars.

both couples said they felt re-energized!

another time and another white straight couple - this one, the man was so upset, he said he couldn't talk about the election without getting furious. we talked anyway - they turned out to be christians - the kind that are praying for bush to receive better direction. he said a pray for me & my journey, which i accepted along with his $50 contribution to my travels. at this point, i believe anything might work & we need everything in order to work.

off to st louis - i haven't taken 70 in a long while so it'll be interesting! peace, suzanne