He’s Just Walkin’

One of the things I wanted to do while driving out to Montana was meet Matt Green. He’s walking from Rockaway Beach, NY to Rockaway Beach, OR. I knew, from the map on his site, that he’d be near the ND/MT border. Yes, stalking, I know, but how many people can say they met a guy walking from New York to Oregon?

I exited I-94 near Sentinel Butte, ND, since I knew he had stopped there the night before. Google indicates there are three options for walking from Sentinel Butte to Wibaux, MT (I was pretty sure he wouldn’t have already passed through Wibaux, given that it was barely past noon). I drove the 34th St route, because Google says that’s the quickest, until I got to Wibaux. No sign of Matt. I stopped in Wibaux for a few minutes, trying to pull up his site on my iPhone, with no luck. The cellular connection was too slow. Then I noticed an I-94 rest stop right around the corner that has free wireless access. I zipped over there, got on the wi-fi and saw that he had crossed into MT within the last hour or two. Just then I glanced to the south and what to my wondering eyes should appear? There he is! (Literally, I almost pointed and said that out loud as I gasped and made a mad dash back to the car).

I pulled up next to him and said “Hey Matt, how’s it goin’?” He gave me an odd look, like, “do I know you?” I mentioned how I’ve been following his journey for a couple of months. He asked if I was from around there. “No, I’m from Illinois”. He gave me another strange look. I explained how I was on vacation and, no, I didn’t drive all the way to Montana just to meet him. So we exchanged pleasantries and he went on his way and I went on my way. Pretty neat.