1974
Miami Trip

I finished the fall quarter making a C in Digital Computer Principles 2.  With school out I decided I needed to get away for a while and decided to go to Miami for a couple of days.  I had met a girl named Cora in the computer lab who was studying computer science and I began helping her with her programming assignments and was attracted to her.  Cora was totally different from Elizabeth, she was petite, dark skin, funny, had amazing cat like green eyes and she lived in Miami.  She had given me her phone number and said I was welcome to visit her over the school break so I decided to do so.  I drove down to Miami and got there in the late afternoon and drove around for a while then had dinner at Burger King.  Using the payphone at the Burger King I called Cora and she said I could come over the next day.  I didn’t have a place to stay, hotels were too expensive, so I decided to sleep in my van.  I drove around for a while and then just pulled off the side of the road on one of the causeways that crossed the river and parked.  It was nine or ten o’clock and I had seen other cars parked along the road, so I didn’t think it would be a problem staying there the night.  I was sleeping pretty well when a knocking sound woke me up and saw a flashlight shining through the front window.  It was a policeman.  I get up, go to the driver’s seat, roll down the window and the policeman asked what I was doing and I explained I was just stopping for the night.  He politely informed me I couldn’t stay there and had to move on.  I started the engine and drove down the road a bit and saw a side dirt road that branched off the main road which I followed a bit then parked and spent the rest of the night.

The next day I went to a fast food place, used their restroom, ate breakfast then later that morning went over to Cora’s house and rang the doorbell. Cora answered the door and invited me in. It was quite an impressive house, clearly her parents had money.  Cora was home alone, telling me her parents were at work and then she led me to her bedroom where we sat on her bed and talked.  After an hour or so I could see that nothing was going to happen, if you know what I mean.  I was too timid to approach her, and she didn’t seem all that interested in me so I said I should get going and left.  It was one of those “should’ve, could’ve, would’ve but I didn’t” experiences.   I got in my van and drove away.  Once on the turnpike I smoked a joint putting me in a melancholy mood for the five hour drive back home.