I had never considered using the ride share section on Craigslist until my friend Wrenna said she had great success with it. She is a twenty something hippie kid from Ashland so maybe her trust level is different than mine ?
I did grow up in a time ( the 80’s and early 90’s ) where hitchhiking was common and relatively safe. I can’t remember ever doing it though.
I wanted to go to Oregon Country Fair and I didn’t have a car. I moved to Oregon with a car but it died a year later. I wasn’t in a position to purchase another one right away so I became a bike only girl. That adjustment will go down in history as one of the all time biggest adjustments I have had to make yet. I rode down with the coworker that told me about the event the first year I moved here.
In order to get to fair from Portland, you need a car. It’s in Veneta Oregon, which is a few hours away. I also like to be able to arrive and depart when I feel like it.
I missed fair for a few years in a row and I was aching to go again.
I decided to give this ride share thing a try. It would be cheaper than renting a car on my own. Boy was I nervous. This is really out of my comfort zone. The thought of it being out of my comfort zone amuses me now that I have been to Burning Man a couple of times. Regardless…….
I went to Craigs List, found an option that worked for me and reached out. I remember he didn’t have his shit together and we would be leaving later than he stated in the listing because he needed to clean out his car and get gas. I didn’t have a choice but to wait.
Once he picked me up, making conversation was easy. Once we arrived, we parted ways to experience fair on our own. We set a time to meet back at the car. The drive home was challenging for me. Having to listen to this middle aged guy go on and on about the number of young girls breasts he saw made me want to throw up. Instead I pretended I had smoked too much weed, was tired from walking around the event and closed my eyes to sleep the whole way home. Never again.
The following year I decided to rent a car and offer a ride to other people. I ended up with 3 other passengers, one of whom did not have their ticket and made the whole car go out of it’s way to a location where one could be purchased. You can not purchase them at the gate. Besides that, they were nice enough.
We also parted our individual ways to experience fair and meet back up at the car at a set time to travel home to Portland. I didn’t have to hear about tits and I was much happier.
This year, I am still a bike only girl that wants to go to the 50th anniversary Oregon Country Fair event. Since I have been on both sides of the coin. I prefer to be in charge therefore I have rented a car. I posted in the ride share group on Facebook. I also put a listing in the ride share section of Craigs List. I am up for some adventure and just know the people that I give a ride to will be nothing short of awesome. My heart and mind are open ❤
I CAN’T WAIT TO GO TO FAIR THIS YEAR. I AM THE MASTER OF MY DESTINY.
Julie-Noted 