visit all 50 states

Dear Ohio,

I am sorry that I somehow forgot to post our picture.

Thank you again for welcoming me the number of times I have driven through you, even though I never stay more than a day or two.

Some day, I will come visit you for you.

Love always,
atinygoat

NB: this picture was taken on the side of I-80 on our way back from NYC for NYE 2009-2010.

It didn’t seem like my first time, but it was, indeed, the first time I set foot in Virginia.

Our friend Kris was gracious enough to let us crash at his house while we were in DC and he was away for the weekend.

I slept in his bed, enjoyed his AC, and sat on a chair in his backyard talking with my Grandma on the phone.

We also caught fireworks from the Arlington Bridge, which is at least partially in VA too.

I have barely seen VA, so I imagine I will be back some day.. but for now, here is some proof that I have been to the Old Dominion State.. taken from the Metro station..

AKA home. I’ve lived here for 27/28ths of my life.

I was born here. I completed high school and my undergrad here. I was married here, and I will continue to live here for as long as I can foresee.

Here, I learned how to ride a bike (thanks for Pink Lightning, Grandpa George!) and how to drive both an automatic (thanks Dad!) and a manual car (thanks Syed!).

In the summer of 07, Syed and I drove the perimeter of the state and had several adventures along the way, including picking up some ticks (which we later discovered and removed from one another – très romantique!).

As much as I love to travel, its always good to come back home.

This picture was taken on the way back from visiting a dear friend on her birthday in Madison, WI.

I have driven through Pennsylvania four times – twice for our recent trip to NYC and twice in January of 2003 when some college friends and I piled into my mom’s minivan and went to DC to protest the invasion of Iraq.

We spent the night in Pittsburgh earlier this month while driving through and stopping to visit Phan and Ramadev. Good times were had by all.. especially when we saw The Road (go see this movie!).

I think its a pretty state and would like to see more of it.. to have it be a destination too.

I could, however, do without the windy stretches of I-80 when it is snowing in the mountains. I’m too much of a wussy flatlander for that stuff.

For most of my life, I have lived within an hour or two of the IL-IN border.

My dad’s sister used to have a farm in Evansville, and starting at age three or so, I would go down there for a week or two every summer. I rode my first horse on their farm, and also ate my first bagged lettuce and drank my first well water.

Indiana has never been much of a destination for me.. its more of a place that I end up driving through at least once a year or so.

This picture was taken 29 Dec 2009 on our way to NYC.

Oh, Minnesota.

I had been here previously, just driving through on eastbound 90, heading home from a summer spent driving from Fairbanks to Chicago.

From my first trip, the only thing I really recall was stopping for lunch in Rochester at a McDonald’s and being met with zero vegetarian options because the only salads they had at the time had meat or egg in it, and they would not make a fresh salad for me.. and I refuse to pick carnage out of my food. Boo McDonald’s.

Anyway, we ran up through “the cities” as locals seem to refer to St. Paul and Minneapolis this past weekend to pick up a kitten.

Somewhere between the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers, the Beast started acting up.. so we pulled off to the side of the road, checked under the hood and could not locate a problem.

She started up fine, but just as we had crossed into WI, the Beast broke down.. but that is a tale for another state’s entry.

Anyway, here is some proof I was there.

I can add Missouri to my list now, and here is the photographic proof.

I don’t have much to say about the Show-Me State.

We drove through it, twice. We stopped at a place where they flung hot rolls across the restaurant and had next-to-nothing for vegetarians to eat.

We drove, and I sang, and we accomplished our mission.

I would like to go back some day to visit a neat science museum that has been mentioned to me several times.. someday I will go back, I am sure.

My first experience meeting Wyoming happened back in 2000.

My brother and I flew to Alaska to rendez-vous with my Grandma in Fairbanks and then drive down to Chicago with her in her motor home with no speedometer.

We drove south out of Montana and into the NW corner of Wyoming. We spent the day in Yellowstone and then drove east across the northern part of the state, on 90, I believe.

I kind of fell in love with Cody, Wyoming, rodeo capital of the world. At their Subways out there, they put spicy mustard on their sandwiches. To me, that tastes like Wyoming.

More recently, as in April and November of 08, Syed and I first drove out to Casper to drop off and then retrieve The Beast. My picture with the welcome sign was taken then.

I need to show proof that I have been there, and I can do this by posting an entry that features a picture of me with the welcome sign of whichever state I am visiting.

Really, a picture is not enough either. Its fun, but doesn’t give me as much understanding of a place as exploring back roads and taking in as much as possible while visiting. For this reason, I’ll add a story to each entry about my experiences there.

And just for the hell of it, here is a list of where I have been:

1) Alaska
2) Arizona
3) California
4) Colorado
5) Florida
6) Idaho
7) Illinois (born and raised, lived here all but one of my 27 years)
8) Indiana
9) Iowa
10)Kentucky
11)Maryland
12)Michigan
13)Minnesota
14)Montana
15)Nebraska
16)Ohio
17)Oregon
18)Pennsylvania
19)South Dakota
20)Tennessee
21)Washington
22)Washington DC
23)West Virginia
24)Wisconsin (lived here for a year)
25)Wyoming

Looking over this list, I feel like I’m missing a few.. maybe because I am not counting states where I had a layover.