{"id":2085,"date":"2010-06-15T13:40:42","date_gmt":"2010-06-15T19:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/queenofsubtle.com\/cm\/?p=2085"},"modified":"2010-06-15T13:42:33","modified_gmt":"2010-06-15T19:42:33","slug":"3-to-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/queenofsubtle.com\/cm\/?p=2085","title":{"rendered":"3 to go!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday, Frasier and I were talking about my quest to visit all 50 states, and the fact that I may have a chance to get to the last three (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire) if I accompany Matt to his work conferences again this fall. They&#8217;re responsible for my first foray into New England last year.<\/p>\n<p>We were discussing what constitutes a &#8216;visit&#8217;: does it count to just set foot in the state, or to drive through it, or do you have to spend time there? I&#8217;ve always counted setting foot in the state, though I disqualify that if I&#8217;ve only been to the airport (that really only applies in Amsterdam&#8230; it&#8217;s the only place where I&#8217;ve been a few times but haven&#8217;t left the airport). Anyway, I decided to figure out where I&#8217;ve been in each state, because there are probably some I should revisit for technical reasons. Like the fact that I&#8217;ve only spent about 20 minutes in Arizona.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Alabama<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve driven across the Gulf Coast twice, and been to Mobile and the beach on Dauphin Island. I&#8217;ve also had their crappy boiled peanuts from a roadside vendor.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alaska<\/strong><br \/>\nSpent 2 days in Anchorage, 2 days in Seward, and three at Denali National Park. Visited Talkeetna, Hope, Kenai, and Soldotna, and glaciers in Kenai Fjords National Park.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Arizona<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve actually driven in Arizona twice: I drove across the Hoover Dam and turned around, and I also cut through the corner driving back from Vegas, between Mesquite, Nevada and St George, Utah. As far as I&#8217;m aware, I&#8217;ve never actually set foot in Arizona, though.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Arkansas<\/strong><br \/>\nOnce many years ago while visiting Kansas City, we drove to Bentonville and visited the Wal-Mart Museum (which is in the original Wal-Mart store). I hate Wal-Mart, as you probably know, so it was pretty great.<\/li>\n<li><strong>California<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve driven down the coast of California (I took highway 1 from Crescent City &#8211; the first time I saw the Pacific! &#8211; \u00a0to San Francisco) . I&#8217;ve spent about a little over a week total in San Francisco, several days in LA, and a few days in San Diego, where I took the trolley to Tijuana. I&#8217;ve also visited Yosemite, and took the classic <em>Fear and Loathing<\/em> drive through Baker and Barstow to Vegas.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Colorado<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve spent time in Denver (saw the Dalai Lama speak there!), at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, and I&#8217;ve hiked in the Rockies. I also visited Mesa Verda when I was staying in Santa Fe.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Connecticut<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile Matt was speaking at a conference in Worcester, I drove through Connecticut to visit Mystic Seaport.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Delaware<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve driven through the toll-laden hellhole that is Delaware between Washington DC and NYC. I&#8217;m also fairly certain we drove up the eastern part of the state; we took the Chesapeake Bay bridge and hugged the coast heading up toward Annapolis, but I&#8217;m not sure whether we went through Delaware or stuck to Maryland.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Florida<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve been to Orlando about as many times as the average American. Maybe a few more, since my brother and his family live there. I&#8217;ve also been to Tampa, St Augustine, Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Key West.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Georgia<\/strong><br \/>\nApart from a million layovers at ATL, I&#8217;ve spent a few nights in Atlanta, a few more nights in Savannah (and Tybee Island), had lunch in Macon, and visited Juliette.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hawaii<\/strong><br \/>\nSpent a week on Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island. We just decided we&#8217;re going back in October!!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Idaho<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve only driven through Idaho on my way from Montana to Washington, though I did have lunch and shop in Sandpoint, which is far fancier than one would expect of Idaho.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Illinois<\/strong><br \/>\nI grew up in Chicago. I&#8217;ve only seen south-of-Chicagoland a few times on my way through to the south, though. It&#8217;s better known as &#8220;Kentuckinois&#8221;.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Indiana<\/strong><br \/>\nI know I&#8217;ve been to Indiana more than I recall, but I&#8217;ve spent time in Gary (yep), Indianapolis, and I&#8217;ve taken the interstate through and back to the east coast more than once.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Iowa<\/strong><br \/>\nDes Moines a couple times, and the Quad Cities.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kansas<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve been in KCK a few times while visiting Kansas City, and I&#8217;ve taken the turnpike through to Texas.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kentucky<\/strong><br \/>\nThere have been a couple unfortunate layovers (both a surprise) at the Cincinnati airport (in KY), and a related night at the hotel there. I&#8217;ve driven through Kentucky on the way back from the southeast. (I&#8217;ve totally been to the Colonel Sanders Museum in Corbin, near Lexington.) Also, I got sick from a Waffle House in Paducah, and have driven through the Land Between the Lakes twice.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Louisiana<\/strong><br \/>\nNew Orleans twice, and Baton Rouge when we drove through from Mississippi.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Maryland<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve visited Baltimore a couple times, and Annapolis once.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Massachusetts<\/strong><br \/>\nMatt and I went to Boston for the first time last year, when he had to attend a conference in Worcester. Hoping to do the same again this fall!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Michigan<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve been to Upper Michigan twice a year for most of my life, since my grandparents lived there. I&#8217;ve also been to Detroit twice.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Minnesota<\/strong><br \/>\nI live here. About the only part of Minnesota I haven&#8217;t been to is the northwest corner, north of Crookston.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mississippi<\/strong><br \/>\nDrove from Memphis to New Orleans down the Great River Road, which took us through the horrible armpit of America. I learned to play blackjack and skeet-shoot in Tunica. A crazy man threw bottles at us in Vicksburg. I&#8217;ve also driven across the Gulf Coast twice and spent time in Biloxi.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Missouri<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve been to Kansas City several times, and St Louis once. Also St Joseph and Carthage to visit scary roadside attractions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Montana<\/strong><br \/>\nI drove across Montana on highway 2, hiked in Glacier National Park, and spent two nights in the middle of nowhere.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nebraska<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve driven through Nebraska four times. My only stops there have been to use the bathroom or eat. There&#8217;s really not much to stop for in Nebraska.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nevada<\/strong><br \/>\nBeen to Vegas 5 times, and visited the Hoover Dam and Mojave Desert.<\/li>\n<li><strong>New Jersey<\/strong><br \/>\nI visited New Jersey at least once as a kid, because my aunt and uncle lived there. Otherwise, I&#8217;ve pretty much just driven through on the way from DC to NYC.<\/li>\n<li><strong>New Mexico<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve spent more than a week in New Mexico, between Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Taos. I could spend much more time there, as it&#8217;s one of my favorite places.<\/li>\n<li><strong>New York<\/strong><br \/>\nI was in NYC as a teenager and again almost 10 years ago, and I&#8217;ve driven though upstate to places like Cooperstown and Niagara Falls.<\/li>\n<li><strong>North Carolina<\/strong><br \/>\nDrove up the east coast: Wilmington, Morehead City, Outer Banks.<\/li>\n<li><strong>North Dakota<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve been to Fargo and Grand Forks for a few unspectacular visits, and also spent time in Dickinson with Cindi&#8217;s family.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ohio<\/strong><br \/>\nDrove through a couple times on the way to\/from the east coast, and visited Cleveland once. I remember what the outside of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame looks like, and that&#8217;s about it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Oklahoma<\/strong><br \/>\nDrove through on the way to and from Texas. Stopped to see Oklahoma City, shortly after the bombing. Depressing, as expected.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Oregon<\/strong><br \/>\nI visited friends in Portland, and spent the night in Roseburg on my way to California.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pennsylvania<\/strong><br \/>\nVisited Philadelphia a couple times, once as a kid and once as an adult. I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve ever been to Pittsburgh!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rhode Island<\/strong><br \/>\nI only spent a couple hours driving around Rhode Island, mostly lost in Providence.<\/li>\n<li><strong>South Carolina<\/strong><br \/>\nA couple visits to Charleston, and otherwise I&#8217;ve only been up the coast: Hilton Head, Beaufort, Myrtle Beach, and the infamous South of the Border.<\/li>\n<li><strong>South Dakota<\/strong><br \/>\nWe go here a lot lately, thanks to a boy I live with who grew up in Watertown! I&#8217;ve also been to the Black Hills and Badlands at least three times. We visited Sioux Falls recently, too.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tennessee<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve been to Nashville three times, Memphis once, Murfreesboro for Bonnaroo, \u00a0and Lynchburg twice for the Jack Daniels Distillery.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Texas<\/strong><br \/>\nWe stayed with my ex&#8217;s mom in Fort Worth and visited Dallas, Houston, Waco, and San Antonio.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Utah<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve only driven through Utah once on the way back from Vegas, but it&#8217;s gorgeous and I want to go back.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Virginia<\/strong><br \/>\nAs I&#8217;ve been to DC many times, I&#8217;ve spent a lot of time nearby in Virginia. I&#8217;ve also been to Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Richmond.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Washington<\/strong><br \/>\nMy first visit was on my west coast trip, when I weht to Spokane, Mount Rainer, and drove up to Vancouver in addition to Seattle. Matt and I went back to Seattle to hang out with Steve and Colleen at Bumbershoot a couple years ago, too.<\/li>\n<li><strong>West Virginia<\/strong><br \/>\nLike Arizona, I&#8217;ve only driven a little ways into West Virginia, just to have been there.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wisconsin<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve spent far more time in Wisconsin than is probably healthy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wyoming<\/strong><br \/>\nHaven&#8217;t been to Wyoming for at least 10 years, but we visited Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Casper, and Devil&#8217;s Tower when I was a kid, and saw Devil&#8217;s Tower again when I was older.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday, Frasier and I were talking about my quest to visit all 50 states, and the fact that I may have a chance to get to the last three (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire) if I accompany Matt to his work conferences again this fall. They&#8217;re responsible for my first foray into New England last year. &#8230;<a class=\"post-readmore\" href=\"http:\/\/queenofsubtle.com\/cm\/?p=2085\">read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vacation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/po9qt-xD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/queenofsubtle.com\/cm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/queenofsubtle.com\/cm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/queenofsubtle.com\/cm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/queenofsubtle.com\/cm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/queenofsubtle.com\/cm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/queenofsubtle.com\/cm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/queenofsubtle.com\/cm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/queenofsubtle.com\/cm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/queenofsubtle.com\/cm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}