Marshall adjusted the straps. They were rubbing into his skin. The tee shirt he had worn was tucked into the side of his belt now. It was too hot to wear....even though the sun seemed to bake him more without it. The view of the ocean kept him calm and an occasional breeze provided relief from the sun overhead. But the hike was torturous. The inclines were actually cliffs. His hiking boots helped his aching feet. And his cutoffs were loose enough to let the occasional breeze cool him underneath. He had gotten rides now and then but not often. Either cars were speeding so fast that they couldn't stop even if they wanted to, or a Winnebago would be creeping and he found he could move faster on his feet. He had accepted a ride from one of those RV's several miles back just south of San Francisco. It was an old couple..as most seem to be who are traveling in one. The lady wasn't motherly at all, rather a domineering type albeit friendly. Her husband, a retired owner of a McDonald's, was quiet and friendly...almost motherly in the way he talked to Marshall. "Enjoying your ride kid?" the almost salty talking woman asked. Marshall, acting polite, added ma'am to everything he said. "Good. You get nothing for free in this world, know that?" Marshall waited for whatever was coming. "My old man's a fag you know..." she proceeded to give a capsulized history of the couple. She met him in Northern California. She was a truck driver and he worked in some store or another. They got along, "No sex you understand, but we clicked" . Marshall knew what she meant. His life had been filled with meeting others who were emotionally or socially close but rarely physically as well. He often wondered if he'd ever find another who would be all those things..a "Mr. or even Mrs. Right". So Marshall went to the back of the RV and stripped naked for the old man to look at, touch, fondle and suck. Without being asked by the old man or old lady, he reciprocated. It wasn't that the old man was hot or anything. But Marshall felt the moment for both of them as something special, unique and needy. He gladly felt the old man's body....wrinkled, average built not like Marshalls' lean and smooth one. Marshall licked and sucked the old man.....and thrilled to hear him groan and moan..as if it was his first time. He let the man soap and rinse him.....remembering when his older brother and Uncle had bathed him as a kid. He toweld the old man dry and let himself be dried too. "Good for you kid..I like a boy who knows how to please others" the old lady said offering him a coke as they drove on. They had stopped for the night at a motel and he thanked them for the ride and refused the dinner and sleeping accomodations they offered. It wasn't for any reason other then Marshall felt the need to hike on. So up hills and down he walked. And when his body was on the brink of giving up, Marshall would find some easy way to climb down to the rocks or beach and rest....maybe even wade or swim. Car horns would beep when they saw his naked body running into the water and he would wave. Only once did a police car stop him and after checking his id told him not to be caught hitchiking...but hiking was ok. The strange laws in California, Marshall shook his head as he laughed and moved on. It was like his life. Keep moving on..stopping here and there for whatever life had to offer, not taking anything too seriously much less himself, guarding against the sick and weirdos and taking responsibility for himself. Two years in San Francisco working behind a desk had become enough for him. He had saved some money..and tried to find Mr. Right..or Mr. almost Right. But eveyone seemed interested only in one night stands, gossiping, role playing and nothing beyond that. Marshall had engaged in it all. Everything from orgies to kink, drugs to booze and short term relationships. Dancing all night long with the help of drugs and the aroma of the men around him became a habit rather then fun. Eating at some of the fancy restaurants in S.F. were a part of his job as well. Parties in the hills over the weekends, drives to the Napa valley and sexual playroom weekends were all experienced by him. He wasn't against it....it was fun. And he had done it all safely and withouth becoming obsessed or compulsive. Marshall wanted something..not something "more" but something "else". The RV's and cars parked on a lot near the ocean provided him a place to relax, share beers and barbecue and swimming. Most of the people were from other states. Some from San Francisco as well. Others were more retired people seeing America as they had planned for years. The beach was small, rocky but private. Nobody seemed to mind those that wanted to run, sun and swim naked side by side with those too shy or otherwise unwiling to do so. Marshall was one who had lost modesty long ago. His bare body felt better bared to the sun. Even as a kid he would prefer to hang out in his and his brothers bedroom buck naked. His brother called him a nymph...and usually wore underwear. But Marshall didn't care. Boys would modestly wrap towels around their waist in gym class locker room. Marshall wouldn't. Perhaps that's why the Asst. Coach made advances. And thankfully, Marshall had his cock sucked for the first time as a result. The private weight lifting sessions at the teacher's home helped Marshall's body develop nicely and his sexual life advance too. He graduated and never saw the man again after that. In the pit of his stomach was a warm spot for the man...and would always be. Marshall knew that if anyone found out, he would be considered the victim and the teacher some evil child predator...but that wasn't what happened. It was the right time in Marshall's life to have his first experience and the man had aroused Marshall with his body, smile and attention. If it was "love" Marshall wasn't sure. But it was right and that's all that counted. "You got one hell of a body" a man said to him. "You and my grandson ought to get together..know what I mean?" the boy was standing not far away, looking embarassed. The man was wearing flowered shorts and the boy a pair of speedos. Marshall estimated the boys age about nineteen. "Kenny take him to the RV and give him a coke" the man turned his head. Marshall followed the boy up the pathway and into the RV. The boy was too shy to look at him. "You traveling with your grandparents huh?" Marshall said. The boy muttered something. Marshall stood there naked, tilting his head back so he could pour the cold beverage down his throat. He knew the boy was looking at his body and he let him. "I want to see you too" Marshall said. The boy tucked his thumbs into his speedos and hesitantly pulled them midway to his thighs. "Nice" Marshall said. The boy wasn't any godlike body builder..just a clean cut, smooth and fit young man..about ten years younger then Marshall. "Come on" Marshall cupped the boys genitals in his hand and led him to the back where a bed was. "This is my grandpas bed" the boy said as if it were sacred. "No problem, he wanted us to do this didn't he?" The boy's body shivered as Marshall felt him. "He knows about you huh?" Marshall asked but didn't get an answer. The boy slowly relaxed and responded to kisses and caresses. His own mouth became hungry as he explored Marshall's attentions. The boy conveniently found rubbers in a drawer. Marshall wondered how he knew where they were. He fucked the boy while holding him spoon fashioned..the kid came all over the sheets as Mrshal was obviously doing the same inside the rubber that was buried deep in the boys bowels. "You two ok?" the grandfather yelled from the front of the RV. "Yeah.." the boy suddenly said full of energy and without the earlier experienced shyness. The old man stood looking at Marshall and his naked grandson. "Good, it's about time he met others like us" the man said and smiled. Marshall stayed for the offered dinner and slept in the bed with them. There was no sex...or even cuddling. Just three men sleeping and Marshall had one of the best nights rest since he left San Francisco. He took the backpack off his shoulders for awhile some miles south of where he had shared time with the boy and his grandfather. The Pacific Coast Highway wound ahead of him and behind him. Cars sped by now and then, RV's continued to creep by as well. South of him were little towns and big cities..and he was in no hurry. Perhaps, he thought, it wasn't where you were going, but getting there that counted. He put the t-shirt across his sunbaked shoulders so the backpack straps would rest on them and began to hike on. Perhaps, it's the journey that counts and not the destination, he summarized his thoughts. And Marshall awaited the next stage of his journey as he backpacked on through life.