Surviving the Bicentennial Tour: A Novel, The Exploits of Two Friends Hitchhiking Across America in 1976

It’s 1976, the year of America’s Bicentennial and a time of celebration. The Vietnam War is finally over, the Equal Rights Amendment has women burning their bras, and the homosexuals are coming out and becoming gay. Women have birth control, and the specter of AIDS has yet to appear. It’s the age of free love and free spirits, the time of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. This is a story of Connor and Larry, two adventurers from Oregon with a lust for the unknown. They set out on a hitchhiking tour of America to explore the open road and celebrate the country’s 200th birthday. As their adventure begins, they meet two young ladies on an adventure of their own who take them in as they travel through the geological wonders of the Mountain West. Three months on the road, the travelers are in Key West. Connor and Larry find themselves included in a private hippie commune on a small, nearby key. It’s island living at its best. Their days are filled with swimming, spearfishing, and cooking over an open fire. Their nights are filled with good food, marijuana, alcohol, and sex. Without warning, they take a turn into the darkest episode of their lives, and they find themselves at the mercy of corrupt federal agents and the drug cartel. They are suddenly depending on Connor’s specific set of skills to survive. A novel, inspired by the six-month, real-life hitchhiking tour undertaken by the author and his best friend in 1976.