There are more blackberries growing wild around here than I could eat in a year.
Day 142
Campsite blackberries!
August 15th, 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
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Here's my progress so far:
Aw shucks, too bad no provisions for making yourself a yummy blackberry pie.
Aunt Dorothy’s blackberry cobbler…to die for…wish she was there to bake one for you Matt…
Those look nice and ripe! oh AND clean!
AND plump and juicy! Eat all you can!
Yes those are good looking berries (the same kind that bears like) so be careful. When I was a kid we picked blackberries for my Mom to make jam and pies and also to sale. We got $0.50 a gallon and people complained about the price. Now they are $10 a gallon or more.
My neighbor has blackberries that he lets us pick from. My wife made a blackberry, blueberry (she picked yesterday), peach and strawberry cobbler last night. It is all gone or I would offer everyone some!
Sorry!
I tell you what Don, Someone would have to pay me more than $10/Gallon to pick them NOW.
Briars and snakes! I don’t know if I missed any snakes, picking berries, but the BRIARS I remember very well!
My Mom used to make blackberry jam/jelly as well.
There are enough blackberries in this part of the country to keep ALL the bears and humans happy, so I wouldn’t worry. I lived in Seattle for decades and knew that if the end of human life ever came, Seattle would be soon be buried under blackberries.
Guess it beats kudzu.
LOL@Belle Zora’s comments…
No bears down there Don, but a few snakes.
One of my favorite fruits. Kroger wasn’t growing any yesterday.
Those look delicious! Used to pick them as a kid and put them in milk with a bunch of sugar on top :)
But what really has me excited is if I slide the map at the top of the page over to the right, for the first time I can actually see where you are and Rockaway beach in the same view without making the map smaller. OH MY GOODNESS!
I’ll bet they tasted sooooo GOOD!! Fresh off the bush and they’re ripe! Can’t get any fresher than picking them yourself and eating them on the spot.
Does anyone know if Matt ever cooks while he’s camping out? Maybe by campfire or cookstove? I don’t ever remember reading anything about that. If he does, he could’ve made himself some kind of little blackberry cobbler. Or perhaps he just popped them fresh in his mouth. Either way would be yum!
he has oatmeal w/him but he eats it raw…. no stove….
Raw?! ewww… Too bad he couldn’t stir up some of that oatmeal and berries into a yummy cobbler.
They look so yummy! Did you try to make space in the Mattmobile so you could bring some and eat them while you walk?
mmmmm!
Has anyone noticed how much ground Matt has covered this week, if he does this good next week at this time he will be close to Rockway Beach. If i’m not wrong last Friday’s post had him entering Warshington as he says. can anyone GUESS which day it will be._________________________________________________________________________
I have a whole list of dates submitted from people on the blog. Hit me with your email and I wll answere your above question.
but to be honest…I say labor day weekend now for many reasons.
Yeah! I might win! Whoo hoo!
No, Dorinda, I think it’s going to be me! But maybe we picked the same day and it’ll be both of us!
redwards@edwardstruss.com send me reasons you say Labor Day Weekend, do you know something i do not. Thanks Jeff From Raymond
sending you a email right now.
i am guessing 12 days from the location of the photo(taken @ 9am today, the 15th. hmmm, labor day is monday 09-04-10. perhaps sooner than that?
HI! I am just joining in for the first time! I found your site on my daughter’s Facebook….so I started reading from the beginning….up to some place in N. Dakota. I was worried you would get to Rockaway before I got caught up, so decided to go to the day’s entry and am now reading backwards! So in the next few days I will meet in the middle….North Dakota. Clear as mud? :-)
I lived in Portland Oregon for 30 some years…have property in Rockaway….was born in Spokane Washington. I read with interest your trip through Wallace Idaho because my mom lived there when she was a young girl….about 1930’s! I was married in Coeur d “Alene way back in 1958! My daughter and grandkids live in Vancouver, Washington. The beautiful Northwest is my home turf! Now I live in Greece.
I am really having fun reading your daily entries, often laughing aloud (which brings my husband running to see what is so funny) I love the way people are meeting each other in their replies, interacting, encouraging you…..the support is fantastic. Oh, I love the videos…..nice touch.
Now, Matt, as far as yourself and your Great Adventure….add me to the list of your ADMIRER’S! I have a great deal of respect for you. You are showing America and Americans to the world. I hope they are tuned in, (even if not replying!) You are a good Ambassador! I wish more people were like you……you seem to see the good in most everything! Bravo!
Those blackberries look simply devine. All warm from the sun…..just don’t fall into the patch! The best ones are often in the middle you know! Ha, ha.
Karin in Greece==welcome to he Hobo Planet. We have all had a blast posting and conversing with one another. Matt is truly a remarkable person. I doubt if he realized that when he started walking he would have so many fans and bring so many people together across this great planet of ours. Again Welcome.
only word missing from your entry is “Vicarious” welcome !!! First hit from Greece that I have seen. And to think I bought spinach pie for lunch…..not kidding.
Mmmmm Jeff….Spanakopita….
Welcome Karin!! I bet there is a great story as to how you went from the Pac NW to Greece. Enjoy reading through the posts…it’s definitely worth it all. :)
Welcome Karin
We are having fun thanks to Matt. It has been wonderful to interact with so many people not just in the United States but across the HOBO PLANET. You are now offically a member of the Hobo Planet. Hobo Matt and the rest of the Planet stars welcome you!
Karin, welcome to Hobo Planet! It’s so wonderful to see how Matt is touching not only we here in the States, but also those in other countries.
Hey Karin! Isn’t it just amazing how we can all connect from far away places and almost feel like neighbors? Technology still blows my mind sometimes. Enjoy the journey, and watch the red line on the map. I’ve always wanted to go to Greece, so maybe I’ll look up one day. ;-)
Ooh yummy! Those are actually on my grocery list today. I wish I could just reach through the screen and grab them… if only Wonkavision really existed! :)
Blackberries- a favorite !!! YUM !!!
Karin in Greece…Welcome and glad you decided to go to the beginning. I understand why you jumped to the end, I believe as you do that Matt has touched our lives in more ways then he even knows. Like you I have had so many memories of my life touched by the very ground he has walked. The blackberries are an especially favorite memory but too long to type out so I’ll just let it go.
I just purchased some blackberries yesterday. They didn’t look as good as your pick. Picking blackberries is one of my great memories from childhood. Funny thing it was in Chicago at neighbors yard where we were chased away.
Ah, blackberries… the bane of the Pacific Northwest… and yes, quite tasty.
Don’t get stuck!
Those berries look GORGEOUS! and Yummy too.
Shout out to Karin in Greece! Whoo hoo! Another hobo planet member. Just love ’em. Glad you went from the beginning. It does take some time. But it’s worth every minute of it.
157 miles to go….
127 miles if Matt grows wings….
Max elev. ahead- 3157Ft, climb begins 30 mi. from Rockaway,OR.
16,653ft of uphill ahead
16,822ft of downhill ahead
14,822,677,334,127,122 Blackberries to eat.
Godspeed