Further on up the Road

On June 14, 1964, Kesey and 13 Merry Pranksters boarded "Furthur" at Kesey's ranch in La Honda, California, and set off eastward. Kesey wanted to see what would happen when hallucinogenic-inspired spontaneity confronted what he saw as the banality and conformity of American society. The bus trip reversed the historic American westward movement of the past centuries.


The trip's original purpose was to celebrate the publication of Kesey's novel Sometimes a Great Nation and to visit the 1964 World's Fair in New York City. The Pranksters were enthusiastic users of marijuana, amphetamines, and LSD, and in the process of their journey they are said to have "turned on" many people by introducing them to these drugs. The psychedelically painted bus had its stated destination as being, "further," only to be later renamed Furthur. This was the goal of the Merry Pranksters, a destination that could only be obtained through the expansion of one's own perceptions of reality. They traveled cross-country giving LSD to anyone who was willing to try it; LSD was legal in the United States until October 6, 1966.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_Pranksters