Twenty-Seven

            I heard a lot of the fellows talk about the Grand Canyon in Arizona and wondered why we missed it but at that time I didn't know anything about it and never heard anyone talk about it at home. I went up through the state a little too far in the eastern part of the state so I missed it. I went into the southwest corner of Wyoming, a small town of Granger right on a river a large Ho Bo Jungle.

            A few of the fellows at that one had little shacks made of tin, old boards, even card board, just about anything they could get their hands on. Some of the pieces was held in place with pieces of wire or rope. Those few just decided to stay right there instead of traveling around. They picked up odd jobs when they could, no pay, just some cigs or things they could cook up and get along.

            The Jungle was something to see but it had gotten too big for the size of the town and part of the fellows had to go to the next town to collect things to eat.

            The next day I went to the railroad yards to get the train and headed for Nevada. It was a week of slow going as there was a lot of small mountain ranges in that part of the country and the old trains had a lot of climbing to do and not many towns al through the state of Nevada.

            There was a day now and then with nothing to eat but as we got near to California we were running out of desert and into more towns and better days ahead.

            We ended up in the southern part of the state at Bakersfield.  It was a lot easier to pick up odd jobs. There was a lot of lettuce fields and grapes. We got a job bagging beans. They were put threw an old looking machine that got most of them out of the pods. Something like the old thrashing machines we had at home on the farm later on in the years to come.

            I stayed there eleven or twelve days and got a little money. It wasn't much but it sure felt good to have money in my pocket. There was some real good Hobo Jungles near a large city too. I spent a lot on ice cream and frappes while it lasted. I never had anything like that at home and I went crazy over it but after I had enough bagging beans I headed north as there was more open country.

            I didn't like the big cities too much. I went through Fresno, Stockton, then after Marysville and up through the Sacramento Valley the big cities thinned out and the Arizona state line was getting near.

            I was alone at the time and was thinking too much of the farm back home and was about ready to head home.