A Life Wasted

A Long Taxi Drive

It didn't take long before the Trail cut across a country road. Rather than hike up the road I stood at the spot where the Appalachian Trail crossed the road and waited. When I saw a car coming I stuck my thumb out. The first car that passed gave me a ride. People who lived around the Appalachian Trail were used to seeing hikers walk down a road trying to find a grocery store or other services. I'd given the hikers rides many times when we lived in north Georgia so I knew the routine.

I had a story ready when I got in the car. I told the guy my dad was in the hospital so I had to quit my trip and get home to Richmond. He gave me a ride to the little town he was going to and from there I took a cab to Hagerstown, Maryland. There I got a motel room for the night, got cleaned up, had a good meal and tossed all my expensive camping gear in a dumpster. I bought clothes and a few supplies, and then the next morning I called a cab.

My plan sounds a bit eccentric as I write this. I had to have a car. I was more than willing to steal a car, but the way I had to steal a car from a dealership was difficult to do unless I already had a car to find the right spot. I didn't know Maryland laws on buying a car and getting plates and insurance, but I knew how to do it in Tennessee since I had already done it there. All mass transportation was still shut down. Airplanes were grounded and Greyhound was either shut down or running on a limited basis. Whatever the case, I couldn't stand the close scrutiny of mass transportation right now so I called a cab. The first cab ride was to nearby Front Royal, Virginia then from there I took another to Roanoke. There I spent the night again and considered getting back on the Appalachian Trial as it passed through the area a few miles west of town. I went so far as to check out a very nice outfitter in Roanoke, but in the end I was too concerned about someone recognizing me after I had bought supplies. It had worked before because I had planned it far in advance, but if I was spotted now I wouldn't know it until United States Marshals surrounded my camp site one night.

I called another cab, this guy was a Kurd who spent the first minute of our meeting telling me that he hated Saddam Hussein that he had fought against him in many wars but now he's an American and he loved America. He was so defensive about his Arab background that I was sure he wouldn't look at me with any suspicion, so when he finally asked where I wanted to go I said, Tennessee. He gave me a ride all the way to Knoxville. I didn't keep up with the cost of taking taxies from Maryland to Tennessee, but it didn't matter as I had a bag full of cash.

In Knoxville I bought an old Ford Taurus. I kept it long enough to steal a decent car. If I had learned anything from buying the Ford Crown Victoria it was that buying a car did not make that car safe. For me it was better to steal a car. That way I didn't have to worry about someone recognizing me.

Ten days later I had checked into a hotel in Fayetteville, North Carolina then went to the lobby to grab some of the free food they had spread out. The lobby TV was on the news and at that moment displayed my face. The caption below my face said that the Director of the FBI had announced I had been declared a domestic terrorist and was considered the most hunted man in America. I went to my room, grabbed my stuff and exited through a side door. Another long night's drive with no sleep.