Day 137
People often think I’m laying down pavement markings
August 10th, 2010
I'm walking across America.
That's the idea, at least. I'm walking westward from New York City for nine months or so. If everything goes according to plan, I'll be in Oregon when the clock runs out. If nothing goes according to plan, maybe I'll end up in Peru or Mongolia or Pennsylvania. You can read all about the details of my trip if you're so inclined.
Email me at matt@imjustwalkin.com
Subscribe to my email list
Here's my progress so far:
Your cart is a dead-ringer for that.. and then the reflective outer wear you have on fits the case too..just sayin’ :)
amen.
My thoughts, as well, about the cart, vest, etc.
How funny would it be if Matt had drawn one continuous line from beginning to end? Now that would make a lot of people scratch their heads, and I wonder how many would have followed the entire line.
Well, we all have been watching the red line on the google map you have been making across the county! So I guess in a way you are laying down pavement lines (-;
amen
It is so similar … wow… that’s funny…. however you just keep walking and don’t paint in one place!
Careful…the union might want to charge you dues…and late fees!!!…
Oh wow. It looks just like your buggy! And then the shirt too! Did you guys talk at all? No wonder people think you’re painting lines. You look just like them.
I’m glad Matt didn’t get the paint stripe marker option on his cart… and went for the ‘air conditioning/bear spray package’ instead.
Been a few weeks since I checked in on the site & commented. Love the pics so far and you’re almost there.
Montana looked beautiful…maybe if I’m fortunate enough to afford it when I retire in 30 years, I’ll build a nice log cabin-ish house in Montana and have the mountains serve as a backdrop
Did you mark that pavement with a smiley face? :)
off track….My wife just said it is stupid to communicate with complete strangers…and called it wierd.
hmmm…I am bummed (no offense Hobo Matt) out right now….
Are you all strangers? I think not…..Buzz lighyear moment…..let’s keep going…to infinity and beyornd…..
Remind your wife that you two were both strangers the very first time you met.
If Matt did not communicate with complete strangers in the last 137 days he would be walking a very lonely path.
The internet has allowed a new type of communication across the globe, the Hobo Planet, that was not imagined even ten years ago. I understand her concern, but give her an extra big hug and kiss goodnight tonight and maybe tomorrow you can convince her to join in.
Agreed….ditto to what John said. :)
As Jeff likes to say, amen to what John F. in CA said. We may have started out as strangers, and we may never meet face to face (or never again, as Matt’s sign says), but we were all drawn to this place for a reason.
The more the merrier, I say; Jeff, ask your wife to join us. It’s never too late.
Cheer up, Jeff. Maybe we are a little weird, but in a good way. Embrace it!
This is the first time I’ve ever commented on a blog in this manner.
It was first Matt’s journey that brought me to this blog, and then it was the quality of the people commenting on here that drew me in to participate in the comments section.
Ditto what you said, Karen Too.
I get stranger everyday don’tcha know. Here’s a question for you Jeff: are you spending more time talking with us than your wife? Are you putting more meaning into communicating with us than with her? Is this blog become your focus or more important? If any of these is yes, I think you need to step back. Yes what Matt is doing is great but not to the point we “forget” our own families. If none of this is the case then I don’t know what to say. I’ve always warned my son about talking to strangers on the internet but we’ve actually gone on vacation and met some of his friends and they are fantastic people. This is my first time doing a blog and still don’t understand it. But I’ve found that you get a “feeling” about people by the way they talk, how they talk and what they talk about. It’s weird how it all works but if she were to try it she’d find out for herself.
Okay now back to our regularly scheduled programming………..
Well said, Dorinda. It was what I was thinking. Jeff, if any of her questions are just on the edge of truth, take a 3 or 4 day break from us and show that woman (your wife, not Dorinda) that us strangers and a hobo man walking across the country mean nothing to you compared to her. She deserves it. And you’ll be here for the grand arrival in Rockaway OR.
(I think our posts prove that, though we are stranger, we are hardly strangers to you Jeff. Somehow, here at my desk in Atlanta, it’s important to me that in New Joisy, your wife is getting all the Jeff she deserves.)
Michael and Dorinda: You two are my most “strangest friends” in that if you are strangers (and you aren’t) friends I am pleased to call you. ahh…If life were so simple. Not airing my laundry here..but your advices are great…and only off if you know the “truth” of it. But thanks in many ways. I am not taking a couple days off..michael..(heck matt could finish in that time)…I do more then 2/3 of what needs done… She is a facebook-ite.. Lives on it. But those are people you know…you can see… Not strangers like all of us…. So I won’t do facebook….. That is the root of her comment.
If I did what y’all suggest I would be akin to a slave….so I like the strangers around here. My knew friends have no FACE….they all want a BOOK……and I believe in God and I haven’t seen him yet either. Thinds must be A O K.
what does ROFLMBO mean anyhow….Mike….I told you my spanish isn’t great…lol
Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Butt/Buns Off
GRAZIAS!
Candice habla espanol. In Spanish it would be nalgas.
For the record, my pooch has not complained once about me following Matt and talking to strangers. He knows no strangers…just people he has not licked yet. He only hopes that some of you will bring him treats one day. If you show up without treats, he will just lick you, then lie down on the floor in front of you and fart (he would do that if you had treats, too). He is a great dog.
LOL !!! LOL !!! LOL !!! Oh Michael! You have me in tears I’m laughing so hard! That is too funny. I love your dog already. If I get to Florida this next winter/spring I’ll bring him some treats and your dog and I will have fun together. So funny. Thanks.
danged armchair marriage counselors…….
Marcus…it’s only because we care.
ROFLMBO
No I like the advice. and thought.
I follow Matt’s journey at work to avoid dealing with that problem at home
like that advice.
Maybe we ARE weird. But it’s all in innocent fun!
How about that, those guys are using a gas powered cart. Cheaters.
Oh John, now THAT is funny!!! ;-)
Matt – have you actually been painting those former smiley/frownie faces on the pavement – prior to photographing them? It is amazing how similar their cart is to your cart.
Oops – I guess those smiley/frownies were tar – not paint.
Wow – Matt was a prolific poster today. I felt like when I first started reading his blog – trying to catch up. My eyes are bugging out of my head! Everything’s blurry! Goodnight everyone!
Wow, that is exactly what I thought the moment I saw you Matt, until you turned off the pavement and started down the gravel to our house. It has been a pleasure to know you and follow your journey. I can’t wait till you finish.
Nick – You could quickly become a rogue Hobo Nation member with statement like “I can’t wait till you finish.” ;-)
so thats where you got the idea for the cart!
I get the “Jeff/Jeff’s wife” syndrome…but on the other hand this has been fun and good…I think I mentioned “friends of a sort” in something I wrote the other day…and that’s what we are, I guess…
And you know there was a “brief” time back there somewhere…where a couple of comments almost turned me off…I thought if it goes “this way” I’m done…will follow the pictures and Matt’s walk but not the comments…but that turned around quickly and I think this is something really positive…and there are people “out there” who say “nothing”…but support Matt anyway…and still follow along faithfully…
Comments or not…Matt has done something special…and silly or stupid, I will follow until it is declared over…
“The Declaration of Over” will announce our freedom. How american is this hobo nation.
Has anyone noticed that we haven’t heard fron Don in Tennessee!!! Don where are you??????
he’s ok…not posting as much.
I would like to see a drag race between the pavement cart and Matt mobile
strangers? I thought we are all friends by now. I try to share the journey with my husband but I’m not sure he gets it unless he also experience it. He tried once but couldn’t get the pics to load on his cell.
get a Mac!
Mac cell? Mac attack? Huh?
LOL! Remember the roadway where all the cracks were patched with toilet paper? At least these guys are using the real thing.
Hee hee!! Totally remember that Deb!
Jeff…Jim…Dorinda…Michael…and most everyone on this blog…i think we have become internet “friends” even if we cannot see each other’s faces. The power of our Chief Hobo has apparently transcended beyond what I think was intended in the beginning…and many of us enjoy not only keeping up with Matt, but also the quips, comments and laughter that has grown from this life experience. I, for one, am glad to be a teeny, tiny speck of it. :) “Hanging out with all of you brings much laughter around here…and really, isn’t that what life is all about?
Okay…I’m done now. It seems I’m gettin’ all sentimental now that the end of Matt’s journey is near.
:)
May I amen you…Deanna (with a capital D)? You get it…but then again..you would. I just like having a laugh amongst friends. I have found that …I am glad… thanks.
Because I’m quirky…I actually do spell my entire name in all lowercase letters. I think it was something I decided to do back in high school when I was to become a famous photographer (ahhh…pipe dreams of the young!). That was my “thing” and it’s stuck ever since. My checkbook has my name listed in all lowercase letters and legally I sign my name that way.
I’m still working on the famous photographer part….but I am never without my camera!
Yes I totally agree with all you said deanna. We are all friends in this little travelling world of imjustwalkin. Matt’s photo’s and journey has brought many of us together on our own journey through him and it’s been a blast. I think that’s why many of us don’t want to see this end. It will be like losing a close friend. I love coming here all day long everyday to see what’s up, who’s said what and so on. I’m glad you and many of the others are here everyday. It makes me smile and gives me warm fuzzies. Okay, I gotta stop now before I make myself cry all over the hobo nation/planet.
Dorinda…there is no crying here on the Hobo Planet…only joy and happiness with a lot of laughter! :)
It could be that the vest you are wearing throws people off : )
I for one, think that all you guys are great in your own special way. I have never blogged and I do not do Facebook or My Space either. Let my kids do all that. Anyway, I think that this has been a very special blog because it brought together a group of people that have the same yearning in their heart to see this country and it’s backroads and generosity. I think that it is neat that a guy in Atlanta at his desk, a housewife in NC, and someone out in California or Arizona or Alabama can all chime in at the same time cheering on our fellow man as he walks across this great country! Salute to Matt!
In Hee Haw style:
SALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!
Hee Haw……Age check in isle one please.
LOL !! Where’s Mini Pearle and her hat when you need her? Loved her. (I was a little girl when that was on).
that’s just mean, Jeff. I was in the womb. Heard every episode. I think my mom was pregnant with me for 10 years. :-P
LOL! Thanks, Don, for bringing back wonderful Hee-Haw memories from my childhood. Hats off to you – Salute!!
Thank you.
I was just at Disneyland this past Saturday and after just one day of walking the bottoms of my feet were hurting me like crazy.
I just don’t know how Matt can do it.
And speaking of walking, does anyone ever get shin splints, or really sore shins?? I just bought a pair of Sketcher Shape-Ups and walked on my treadmill yesterday….and no hurt shins. Nice!!!!!
Matt
You are now a marked man. You will never make it to Rockaway Beach, OR now.
Kat
It is the design of the shoe. It makes you walk differently. it will be OK once you have retrained your muscles etc. to walk the way these shoes make you walk. They are suppose to be good to tighten up your buttocks and help your calves. Go slow to start with. You might want to alternate your old and new ones for a while.
Keep walkin!!!- I mean HOBOING!
Don