Quote :

"When rancher Bill Inman decided to show there's more to America than what's seen on the nightly news, he hopped on his horse Blackie and started riding. And riding, and riding. Weary of the daily drumbeat over war, crime, poverty and assorted social ills, he and his wife are burning through their life savings to tell the stories of hardworking, honest everyday people in rural America. Inman soaks it all in atop Blackie, a 16-year thoroughbred-quarter horse mix who's averaging 20-25 miles a day along backroads from Oregon to North Carolina . . . "The scenery in America is changing and I'm really proud we're taking a snapshot at slow motion of this time period because 20 years from now it will be different," he said. The couple estimates the journey will cost them $45,000. They want to make a documentary film and write a book, and a filmmaker and Web site operator are tagging along. "If we waited until we could afford to do it, we could never do it. It was do it now or never do it," Brenda said. "We gave everything up in our lives to do this. We used all our savings and everything else.""

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311038,00.html

That is just cool as hell on a number of levels.

11/13/2007 12:40:50 PM

"Blackie"

11/13/2007 12:41:33 PM

impressive...wish i had the time/drive/money to do something like that....

11/13/2007 12:43:33 PM

Quote :

"If we waited until we could afford to do it, we could never do it. It was do it now or never do it," Brenda said. "We gave everything up in our lives to do this. We used all our savings and everything else."

They didn't though. Thats balls.

11/13/2007 12:48:18 PM

racists

11/13/2007 12:49:10 PM

that's awesome. Kudos to them - and I hope they make it all back ++ from the book/site.

11/13/2007 6:22:57 PM

they will

11/13/2007 6:23:28 PM

awesome for them

11/13/2007 6:25:13 PM

haha. I can just see the movie now. Forrest Gump on a horse.

11/13/2007 6:29:33 PM

heck yeah, that's awesome. I should do something like that sometime. I would call it "hunting my way across America". I could take a horse and I could eat my game every night - really cutting down on cost. All I would have to pay for would be food for my horse. And once I got an elk, I could stay in that area for like 2 weeks at least!

11/13/2007 6:33:34 PM

except that you'd spend all your time hunting, not traveling.

jeez, didn't you ever play Oregon Trail?

11/13/2007 6:36:10 PM

haha, they can call you the Redneck Traveler.

[Edited on November 13, 2007 at 6:36 PM. Reason : ]

11/13/2007 6:36:10 PM

shit, so this guy sat on his ass for a few months. with "His wife, Brenda, also 48, drives ahead in a pickup and horse trailer filled with water and provisions for Blackie, three dogs and themselves". not like he is walking across it or anything. the horse is the real hero here.

"The couple estimates the journey will cost them $45,000." now if he were to do it with 10 dolla in his pocket, that WOULD be baller

11/13/2007 6:38:27 PM

Seriously, he should get a 50 lb. bag of feed and buy another one in the city after the horse eats it all. He's sleeping in a horse trailer (which can have MANY amenities) every night! You're right, the horse is the real hero - but someone has to take the pictures!


I would take a tent, a horse, and a pack donkey for feed for them and stuff like a couple changes of clothes, soap, and a pot/pan set. I would rough it as much as possible. If I wanted to/needed to keep going, I would only take a rabbit that day. If I had room on the pack donkey - I would take a deer. Of course - a cooler so I could grab a bag of ice in some backwoods town. I wouldn't spend all my time hunting - but I would need to hunt some in order to feed myself.

11/13/2007 6:42:52 PM

I'd be pissed as hell if I was that horse

11/13/2007 6:43:42 PM

Quote :

"the horse is the real hero here."

I'll buy that, but its a team effort in a sense people who don't ride regularly wouldn't understand. I don't think his intent was to achieve some massive physical feat, just to do something he and his wife had always dreamed of. Hanging your balls out to do what you dream, when everyone was probably telling them they're crazy, thats what makes us fucking Americans.

11/13/2007 6:48:15 PM

Heck yeah! I'm not saying anything bad about them, I'm just joking. I completely support them in the endeavour. I wish I had the guts to take a risk like that!

11/13/2007 6:49:43 PM

he finished....

Quote :

"HENDERSONVILLE, North Carolina (AP) -- An Oregon rancher who set off on a cross-country horseback ride seven months ago in search of what's good in America dismounted Sunday, feeling encouraged by the spirit and stories of the people he met."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/01/14/cowboy.ap/index.html

1/14/2008 9:03:30 PM

^ Thanks for posting that!

1/14/2008 10:36:43 PM

That's awesome! Its so nice to see that spme people still have such perseverance.

1/15/2008 9:44:14 AM

Hendersonville? He should have gone to the coast, at least

farmer > banker

1/15/2008 9:55:31 AM

atlantic ocean, huh? alllmost made it.

1/15/2008 9:57:38 AM

farmer > carpenter > banker

1/15/2008 9:58:03 AM

stripper > carpenter > banker > fucktoy > real estate agent.

what game are we playin?

1/15/2008 10:00:08 AM

isn't the horse a little on the old side for that? Not that its going to fall over and die but damn, pick a 4 year old

1/15/2008 10:02:50 AM

^^ Oregon Trail.

1/15/2008 10:06:40 AM

i know a guy who RAN across the entire country pushing a baby stroller with his supplies, by himself.

1/15/2008 10:10:30 AM

Saw some dude ride his bike from CA to FL just to lose weight. Needless to say, it worked.

1/15/2008 10:11:42 AM

1/15/2008 10:13:04 AM

my friend Eustace Conway and his brother Judson already did this, several years ago.

1/15/2008 11:18:29 AM

i have a friend who rode a bike across NC from mtns to coast in 2 weeks. he was 13 yrs old. summer vacation with his dad, who also rode a bike across NC.

he said they never had any remarks said to them until they made it to the end near the coast and a couple of people tried to run them off the road and called them fags for wearing tight biker gear.

1/15/2008 11:22:49 AM

The Giants made TO cry!

1/15/2008 11:28:09 AM

Quote :

"terpball Steady Pimpin' 16320 Posts user info edit post "Blackie" "

haha, made my morning

1/15/2008 11:30:20 AM