How Many States Have You Visited?

n3wman

New Member
Maryland, Virginia, New York. And DC. of course) I'm not US citizen, 've been to USA back in the distant 2010th...
 

italdesign

Level 2 Member
Are we counting states being driven through (but no stop anywhere meaningfully) en route to somewhere else? I personally don't think that counts, but if we do, then my cross country road trip adds a few.

My biggest void is NE, where the only state I've meaningfully been to is MA.

Second biggest void is the deep South. That'll be helped a bit with trips to both areas in the coming months.
 

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
I didn't count driving through, for my original count. In fact, AR, where I've spent, perhaps, an hour, was just a quick trip for the purpose of collecting it.

A coworker and I were on a business trip to a small home health agency in a town that was about 10 miles from the AR border. So, after training one day, we hopped in the car, drove to the nearest town in AR, stopped at the DQ, and sat there eating a cone, so we could say that we'd eaten in AR.

Since then, I spent nearly an entire day there, near the OK border, though.
 

spamman808

Level 2 Member
Are we counting states being driven through (but no stop anywhere meaningfully) en route to somewhere else? I personally don't think that counts, but if we do, then my cross country road trip adds a few.

My biggest void is NE, where the only state I've meaningfully been to is MA.

Second biggest void is the deep South. That'll be helped a bit with trips to both areas in the coming months.
I don't count driving through, but if I stopped for a meal or to see someplace cool, have a beer, etc., then I count it. That's meaningful enough for me, but YMMV.
 
32 and counting. Im currently only missing HI, AK, OR, WA, ID, MT, ND, UT, NM, NE, MN, WI, MI, IN, MI, AL, DE, VT, NH. I have plans for one final road trip that starts in Minneapolis and ends on either Portland or Seattle.
 

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
Being a) the OP of this thread and b) a resident of MN since I was 2, I need to suggest that more people try the upper Midwest. There are breathtakingly beautiful, remote spots in the northern part of the state.

We don't have world class skiing, but I've only seen the sky alight with northern lights when on a ski vacation in my own state.

If you have the time, and the stamina, a circle tour of Lake Superior experience. The topology and the geology changes dramatically from area to area. The downside is that it's a LOT of driving. But the beauty is amazing. You'll get in three states (MN, WI, MI) as well as Ontario.
 

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
Looks like you've got three or four lovely road trips there. PNW, upper midwest, southwest, and northern New England.

Plan quickly, and you could get in a leaf peeper tour of either upper midwest or New England this fall!

We don't have the acres of bright red that New England does; not as many maples, by far.

But we have bright oranges and yellows, interspersed with 50 foot evergreens of various species.
 

dockers

Level 2 Member
Visiting all 50 is on my bucket list. When work sends me to a flyover state, if it's near the state line, I occasionally drive to the next state over just to say I've knocked out another one.

I'm sitting at the low 30s now... But will definitely hit 50!
 

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
My new big gap is the area where I've lived for 15 years - the midwest. I just don't find it very interesting, heh.
Familiarity breeds contempt. I've been to or through every state in the midwest. But the only reason I spent any time in them was because I was visiting friends or family.

Although, on our road trip to Yellowstone three years ago, we stayed in a little camper cabin about 30 feet from the Missouri River near Bismarck ND. The place was surprisingly beautiful, and attached to a well maintained Mandan earth lodge village. But in 10 minutes, you could be in what there is of a downtown in Bismarck, eating dinner at a very decent restaurant.

I'm trying to take that experience to heart: even where I assume there will be a whole lot of nothing, I can find unexpected beauty.
 

Suzie

Level 2 Member
My new big gap is the area where I've lived for 15 years - the midwest. I just don't find it very interesting, heh.
I grew up in the Midwest. I would find it hard to go back. I love the convenience of the East Coast. Not the traffic or the COL though.
 

italdesign

Level 2 Member
I'm trying to take that experience to heart: even where I assume there will be a whole lot of nothing, I can find unexpected beauty.
Very true. There are some really cool places in Gary, Indiana, which otherwise has a reputation of being extremely dangerous. My experience couldn't be more to the contrary.

I did like the UP very much. I have a feeling the same would be true of North Shore Drive.
 

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
Also, the North Shore of Lake Superior. When I first started dating Husband, we drove up to NW WI where his parents have a summer home. When we crested the hill into Duluth, where you can first see Lake Superior, I started crying. I hadn't seen it in a very long time, and the beauty is something you carry in your heart.
 

spamman808

Level 2 Member
I live out in Maui, and some of the places I've gone through on my latest road trip (including in the Midwest) are as good or better than what we got here. Maybe it's because these places are so different than what I'm used to, or that I was on vacay, but there it is.
 

italdesign

Level 2 Member
... some of the places I've gone through on my latest road trip (including in the Midwest) are as good or better than what we got here
Which places?

It's understandable. As Carrie once put it: "The thing is, places like that aren’t amazing and special because of their unique sites. In fact, they are amazing and special for exactly the opposite- for their total, lackluster normalcy. The pure fact that they are somewhere else’s “utterly normal” is what makes them [your] “off the beaten path.”"
 

Suzie

Level 2 Member
I live out in Maui, and some of the places I've gone through on my latest road trip (including in the Midwest) are as good or better than what we got here. Maybe it's because these places are so different than what I'm used to, or that I was on vacay, but there it is.
Good point. I do think it matters where you live versus vacationing. I'm more about going where I've never gone before so the Midwest isn't on my list. I saw a lot of it - even the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD! Anybody? :D
 

spamman808

Level 2 Member
Which places?

It's understandable. As Carrie once put it: "The thing is, places like that aren’t amazing and special because of their unique sites. In fact, they are amazing and special for exactly the opposite- for their total, lackluster normalcy. The pure fact that they are somewhere else’s “utterly normal” is what makes them [your] “off the beaten path.”"
Many! haha. Can't remember specifics, but some places that stand out are a campground next to a lake in Oklahoma, another campground near a stream/river in Missouri, sleeping in the car in a thunderstorm in Kansas (not necessarily the landscape, more the storm!), etc. Totally agree with you and Carrie, it's the "off the beaten path" factor (for me) that makes them special.
 

strikeone92

New Member
I've hit: MD, VA, PA, IA, IL, IN, OH, NE, MN, NY, CT, NJ, NC, SC, GA, AL, LA, FL, TN, AR, NV, WI

I need to get out to the west! On my medium-term list: CA, CO, TX
 

R.R.

Level 2 Member
I do think it matters where you live versus vacationing.
Agreed. As a Seattlite, I've seen a lot of the PNW and the west coast (as well as far-flung states), but have done very few of the local Seattle tourist attractions -- and people who come to visit are surprised, but other locals cite the same. It's only because of my parents wanting to (re-)visit attractions or areas of our city that I've seen even a few of these over the past few years.
 

Rambling Man

New Member
I am more proud of this picture than almost any other. Contained in it are seven years of cross country RV trips with my wife and two boys. We made enough memories for two lifetimes and the journey is far from over. America is a beautiful country. I am lucky enough to have seen most of it as we matured from a young family into the 40 somethings that we are now. If anyone is interested in our travels not related to miles and points check us out at http://crosscountryrvtravel.com/
 

Rambling Man

New Member
Thanks for pointing this out. I am new to the site and I did not realize that the pic was set to private. Can you see it now?
 
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