A Constant State of Motion

Friday night was the first day of my Geography class and our instructor asked us to count up how many states we had been to, and how many countries we had visited. I found this fun as I have a personal goal of visiting all 50 states. But what is the criteria for having visited a state? I have, for example, changed planes in Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport. But I would never tell an Aizonan that I have visited her state! I was there less than a half a day, I never left the airport! It's not fair for me to say that I have visited Arizona, even though, technically, I have. In order to have truly "visited" a state, two criteria must me met. 1) One must have slept at least one night in the state, in a stationary place, "I was asleep in the back seat when we drove through Iowa" doesn't cut it. 2) One must remember the circumstances under which one was there, "My mom took me to the Grand Canyon when I was two" is also no good. Here are the states I REMEMBER SLEEPING in, organized by time zone, listed north to south.

1. Maine - I have several cousins who live up there. One lives right out on the coast and I remember using a telescope to "Spy" on the lobster fishermen from her front porch.
2. New Hampshire - Two good friends of my family's have had a house near Dartmouth College, which they have lovingly offered as a base camp for skiing.
3. Vermont - My kid brother went to a Music Camp here and I remember staying at a motel when we went to pick him up.
4. Massachusetts - I have OODLES AND OODLES of friends and family who live in and around Boston. I have visited them more times than I can count
5. Conneticut - I used to have an aunt and uncle who lived in Roxbury and we used to go out and spend the night up there. I also have some good friends in Old Greenwich
6. New York - I was born and raised here. NEXT!
7. New Jersey - on my last trip to New York City, I actually stayed in a friends apartment outside of Jersey City.
8. Pennsylvania - Four weeks at Valley Forge Military Academy Summer camp. That's enough for me
9. Maryland - One measly little overnight visit to St. John's College in Annapolis.
10. Virginia - I have visited some family in Alexandria a few times
11. Ohio - Stayed with some friends in Columbus on a drive from Pennsylvania (see #8) to Illinois
12. Indiana - Visited the Indianapolis 500 and the Indianapolis Children's museum, spent one night at a motel
13. Illinois - lived here for 2.5 years (June '98 to Jan '01)
14. Michigan - Spend one night on the totally awesome Michigan Palisades, also on a separate visit met a friend on Travers City
15. Wisconsin - two day rafting trip with a Church Group. I was amazed at how much Wisconsin looked like upstate New York
16. Iowa - After I graduated from High School, I drove out to California to live with my grandmother, with a two week stop in Colorado. Spent one night in Council Bluffs driving to Colorado
17. Colorado - Spent many a night on my uncle's ranch in Colorado
18. Montana - Spend three night in Gardner Montana, just outside Yellowstone National Park
19. Utah - On my drive out to California, My Uncle and I spent one night at a motel in Utah
20. Nevada - traveling with livestock cuts down the options for overnight accommodations. Most Holiday Inn managers don't take to kindly to having Donkeys braying in their yard all night long. So my uncle, his Girlfriend, my grandad and I stayed at a small ranch in a place called "Black Rock Station," in the Railroad Valley. Nevada is pretty dry, but there was a stream on the ranch which must have had every mosquito in the state of Nevada in it. That was a miserable night
21. California - I live here now, and love it.
22. Carolina - here's the tricky part. I spent one night in either North or South Carolina on a trip down to Georgia, but I don't remember which Carolina
23. Oregon. Feb 2006 Humboldt State University RESLIFE Ski/Snowboard trip, Mt. Ashland, OR

Twenty three down, many more to go. The live expectancy of an American is about 80 years now, and I am in my early twenties. That means in a little over a quarter of my life, I have visited a little less than half the states. At this rate, I should have all fifty states done by the time I am 60. This morning, I was reading about the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, where there is a growing desire for statehood. Maybe, by the time I am 60, there will be 51 states to visit.