This is a goal of mine. Some people have no desire to do this; to each his own. But I swear I haven’t been to a state yet where I didn’t find some local color to enjoy, beautiful scenery to admire, or funny people to love. Cross-country travel has been one of the true joys of my life.
Someday Rachel Nelson and I will write the story of our first cross-country roadie…driving the wrong way on one-way streets, asking helpful locals what time zone we’re in (“Alls I know is the news always comes on at 5:00 here”), passing the universe’s largest crucifix (they advertise these things). In the meantime, I wanted to take stock of where I’ve been and where I’m going:
States I’ve lived in: (6)
California
Illinois
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington, D.C. (not technically a state, but weird nether-region)
States I’ve spent significant time in (month or longer): (4)
Maryland
Massachussetts
Nevada (not by choice)
New York
States I’ve stayed in, explored, and was quite taken with: (14)
Alabama
Colorado
Connecticut (mainly because a certain someone I had been dating was at Yale for the summer–Neal made it magical)
Florida
Idaho
Minnesota
New Jersey (ever been to Cape May?)
New Mexico
North Carolina
Oklahoma (someday I’ll dig out the photo demonstrating just why I was so taken with it)
Pennsylvania (not so much Philadelphia, but pretty much every other city/town I’ve visited)
South Dakota (really amazing…the 30-below winters just give it a bad name! Visit the Badlands in the summer!)
West Virginia
Wyoming
States I’ve stayed in, explored, but was not so taken with (outside of the friends that lived there) (7):
Arkansas
Georgia
Indiana
Kansas
Missouri
Nebraska
Ohio
States I’ve been in terrible car accidents in, and thus need to make better memories of: (2)
Oregon
Tennessee
States I’ve driven through or stopped in, but only give partial credit to: (8)
Arizona
Delaware
Iowa
Kentucky
Michigan
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
South Carolina
States I’ve been to, but was too young to remember: (1)
Hawaii
States I’ve yet to visit: (9)
Alaska
Louisiana
Maine
Mississippi
Montana
North Dakota
Vermont
Washington
Wisconsin
Do you realize that’s only 9 states I’ve never set foot in?! Wow, I didn’t realize I’d hit 41/50.
Of course, the really exciting part is that on July 23rd I’ll knock off Washington as we drive up the Oregon/Washington coast and stay at a little place right on the shore. From there we’ll continue up to Vancouver, Canada, enjoying a couple of days in that magical city before we hit Alaska on our cruise. By the time we get back to Utah on August 4th, I’ll be a 43-state woman.
I have the same goal, but you are infinitely close to achieving yours than I. I do only have 4 left, but 2 of them are Alaska and Washington and really out of the way for me. After that it is just the Dakotas and I’ll be knocking those off the list during our next summer in the US. By the way I love the “not so taken with states” list — hilarious.
Comment by Linsey — July 16, 2009 @ 11:15 pm
Great goal–I used to have the same goal and collected shot glasses from every state I visited. I haven’t been anywhere for a few years, though–maybe someday I’ll travel again…
I am sorry to see Nebraska on the “not so taken with” list.
I love the response you got when asking what time zone you were in. That is too much!
Comment by Jenn — July 17, 2009 @ 3:59 am
Let Neal drive when you go through Oregon. I promise you’ll love it!
Comment by Nikki — July 17, 2009 @ 4:28 am
I’m only a 25-state girl, and about 20 of those happened in the 7 years since I left home for college (way to make up for lost time huh?). I don’t know if I’ll ever hit the 50 mark though—I’m not interested in driving cross-country, and that’s really the best way to get a lot of states in.
Comment by Vickie Blanchard — July 17, 2009 @ 3:55 pm
I laughed pretty hard at this one.
Lov ya!
Comment by Audrey — July 17, 2009 @ 6:12 pm
Very impressive! I’d love to go to Vermont sometime. Let me know when you’re checking that off your last and perhaps I’ll join you.
Comment by Andrea — July 17, 2009 @ 7:24 pm
You will love Vancouver. It’s absolutely gorgeous there. I’m very impressed with your list, Lars.
Comment by Chelsey — July 18, 2009 @ 10:42 pm
LoveloveLOVE the Oregon coast. There is nothing like driving through the Cascades and the Columbia gorge!
Comment by Aislin — July 19, 2009 @ 2:17 am
wow.. you’re so traveled. i’m jealous. and you would LOOOOOOVE washington.. it’s geee-orgeous. but since you’ve been to oregon.. i guess you’ve pretty much already seen it. whatever. oh! now all you need to do is make a list of major cities withIN those states to go visit. oh wait? IIII live in a major city!!
Comment by Lindsay — July 19, 2009 @ 3:10 am
Linds, loved your list. You’ve inspired me to adjust mine into smaller categories too. Awe-some!
Comment by holly — July 19, 2009 @ 3:08 pm
Looks like we just missed you in Oregon. When are you coming back anyway?
Comment by Rachel — July 27, 2009 @ 10:33 pm