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A few years ago, I was driving by myself from Crested Butte, CO to Seattle WA. I had just been dumped by my boyfriend at the time and was completely devastated. In order to afford the drive, I posted to craigslist for rideshares. Somehow I ended up with two yellow labs from two separate  women that needed their dogs transported from Provo, UT and Denver, CO to Seattle. The woman that had been contacting me through email was from Denver, and the woman that had been contacting me by telephone was from Provo. The night before I left, I received an email saying that the dog no longer needed a ride. With that information, I concluded that I could leave as soon as possible and was on the road by 5am the next day.

Four hours into my drive, I received a phone call from the woman in Denver saying that she was about an hour from Crested Butte.

"WHAT!? I got an email last night saying that your dog no longer needed a ride?"

"What are you talking about? I'm an hour away! You promised me that my dog was in good hands! Are you telling me that you're already gone?!"

"Yes, there was a mixup. I was talking to another woman who needed her English lab transferred to Seattle and she was contacting me over the phone, it must have been her dog that no longer needed a ride. I'm so sorry."

"That's Bull****! You're a ****ing B@%&$! Are you F***ING KIDDING ME......(*&(*&#$)*#)(ISLKFJ:SDFYU(@*&$(*#U$"

About five minutes later, I was clocked by a helicopter and pulled over by what I can only assume was 20 cop cars. $400 later, I sat on the side of the road and cried while cop after cop peeled off the road behind me. I pulled off at the next exit into Grand Junction and loaded up my car with gas. My nose began to bleed from crying so hard. When I finally calmed down, I made my way back to the highway. Just before getting on the ramp, I noticed a man sitting before the on-ramp with a sign in his hands. I assumed that he was homeless and rolled down my window to offer him the fruit I had in my passengers seat. To my surprise, the man walked right up to my door and let himself in. I didn't have the energy to tell him that I wasn't offering him a ride. Instead, I handed him a clove and we continued making my way towards Provo, Utah. When I finally started to feel like I could speak again, I asked my new copilot where he was headed. His name was Michael and he was heading to Salt Lake City to be with his girlfriend. She wanted him to make a grand romantic gesture, so he had just quit his job and was hitchhiking to Salt Lake City to start a life with her.

After explaining himself, his girlfriend called. He told her that he was en route to Utah to be with her. ....She was not happy about it. I could hear her screaming on the other line about how he shouldn't have quit his job. He told her that it was fine and that he would have one in no time. "I'M PREGNANT!", she screamed.

Michael was silent for a moment, taking in the news. He smiled sweetly and calmly told her all the right things. "Whatever you want to do, I'll be with you the whole way. I'll take care of you, no matter what. I'll be whatever it is that you need me to be to make this best experience possible."

She hung up.

"I thought I was having a rough day", I said.

We sat in silence and then after a while, we just started laughing... and laughing... everything was a joke. We pulled over for gas and Michael bought me a sandwich. We sat on the side of the highway and ate our sandwiches, still chuckling about the day we were having and the adventures to come.

Michael was the kindest, despite everything going on in his day he remained positive that everything was going to be fine. He was confident in his love, in his ability to handle anything, and that the universe had a plan for him.

"How are you so calm right now?", I asked him.

"What good would it do me to freak out? Positive energy brings positive energy. Your job is to maintain it."

Buy the time I dropped him off in Salt Lake, I felt as if I had picked up a hitchhiking angel.

This is what Have Love, Will Travel is all about for me.