Kundalini and the Art of Being ... 101their vanload of possessions. It was better to hitch in smaller groups
anyway. The five of us spent that night sleeping scattered throughout
the van, this time in the mechanic’s parking lot. The next morning
Forest, Bethany, and I said goodbye to Dream and Marie and that we
would see them soon in New Mexico.
We hitched south to Reno, then east on Interstate-0 to the turn-
off for Highway 0—the aptly-named “Loneliest Highway in Amer-
ica”—which headed straight into the desolate Nevada desert. From
the junction at I-0, we got a ride down Highway 0 to the next small
town, and then another ride about twenty miles into the desert. At
that point we were dropped off in the absolute middle of nowhere.
We understood clearly then why this highway had its name. After
an hour or so, only a few cars had passed. Considering our odds, we
might be stuck there for days. It was the middle of the Nevada desert,
it was summer, and there was no shade. After another hour and a few
more cars—all of us fearing what felt like impending heatstroke—we
built a makeshift shade-tent with some sticks lying around and a
large shawl of Bethany’s.
Another hour later, while Forest and Bethany sat under the tent
waiting for a ride, I decided to stand on the other side of the road,
and wait for cars heading back towards Reno. Given the situation,
we decided that any ride that would get us the hell out of there was
a ride we would take. We could then travel south from Reno, go
through Las Vegas to Interstate-40, and then east through Arizona to
New Mexico on a more well-traveled route.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to. Forest came up with the idea of
praying for a ride. “If we are very clear about what we want, and
we ask for it with humility and intention, then we will get it,” he
declared. “So—what exactly do we want in a ride?” It was worth a
shot—we had little else to do anyway.
We sat huddled under the shade-tent, as Forest wrote down on
a small piece of paper: “Great Spirit, we ask for a ride from a kind,
gentle, friendly and generous person, within an hour, who is going at
least 00 miles.”