A hike down memory lane - traveller style, part 2
My American experience, listed in the order I visited the states. I only included states that I stayed in for at least a few hours. So I didn't include Nevada and Utah, because I only drove through them a break-neck speed on the move out to California.
create your own visited states map
• Illinois - Lived there for the first 21 years of my life.
• Indiana - All my dad's side of the family lives in Indiana, so lots of visits at Christmas and in the summer. My aunt and uncle had a swimming pool!
• Arizona - Went to Tucson on a family vacation when I was quite young. 4 or 5? I'm only including it because I have a vague memory of the Old West gunfight on the streets of Old Tucson. I think I also vaguely remember the Grand Canyon.
• Wisconsin - Living in Illinois, of course we went to Wisconsin. Was this were the "I 'mell 'moke" incident occurred? Also went to Lake Geneva one summer in college for a weekend with my older pseudo-boyfriend, and again after college for Jose and Mandy's wedding.
• Minnesota - Stopped in a border town on the long drive up to Canada. I almost shouldn't include this one because we were only there for a lunch break, but we did visit some local memorial (I forget to what) and smelled that wonderful paper factory air long enough to get used to it.
• Virginia - Visited in high school to see my brother in his shows at Busch Gardens. Visited Jamestown and colonial Williamsburg, but the highlight was the food at the Old Chickahominy House. Dang, thems was good eats!
• Nebraska - Sophomore year of college, during that wonderful J-term break, I drove with friends to Colorado. While we past through a few other states, we only "stayed" in a couple of them. Our first night of driving saw us in Lincoln, staying at Jen's house. We went into town for a while; I think we hit a book store. And we went to the theater to see Cool Runnings.
• Colorado - Stayed in a condo in Breckenridge for almost a week. I had never skied before, and didn't want to try on that trip for fear I'd break something and have to drive back to Illinois crammed in a van with 8 other people. But I had a great time anyway, "hiking" through a field of snow up to my waist, hanging out in town, and playing strip swifel with my friends. It was a made up card game and we made up the rules as we went along. It was a very short game, stopping as soon as we were down to our undies.
• Kansas & Missouri - On the drive back, we stayed a night at Laura's place in Kansas City, KS. But we hung out that day in Kansas City, MO, which I hear is pretty much the better of the 2 KC's to this day.
• New York - After junior year, a few of us headed to NYC for a conference on Beat Literature. Allen Ginsburg was one of the panelists! We drove through a long night and ended up in NYC with no plans for lodging. As I've mentioned in other entires, my friends are not so big on the advanced planning. A month before the trip, I suggested we check out the hotels listed in the conference guide and the response was, "no, we'll just get a room when we get there." So the first night, one of us rented a room in the only hotel we could find/afford/that had a vacancy. It was about the smallest room I've ever seen, and the rest of us - who hadn't rented the room - had to sneak in. It was so small, people slept in the bath tub. So, the next day, we found the local youth hostel. While the price per person ended up being the same as the hotel, at least we each got our own bed.
• Connecticut - After the conference, we drove to Connecticut where Jose's little sister was graduating from boarding school. Jose's parents rented us a place to stay for the 2 nights we were there and took us all out to dinner, so going to the graduation was the least we could do!
• Michigan - Later that summer, I went up to Michigan with Ann and Mike to spend a weekend boating and jet skiing on the lake. A great, relaxing weekend.
• California - Well, duh. I moved here in 1996 for what was supposed to be 1 year, 2 tops.
• Tennessee - Having been with Steve for 8 years, I've been to Tennessee (his home state) several times. In addition to family gatherings, I also went to the 2004 SLA conference in Nashville. Tourist-wise, I love the Jack Daniels Distillery. We seriously tried to have our wedding there, but they don't allow ceremonies of more then the couple and a witness or 2 for liability reasons. Our wedding at Evins Mill was perfect, though. Also visited Burgess Falls and the Hermitage, among other things
• Hawaii - Steve and I went on vacation to the Big Island in 2000. We saw Kilauea, and some petroglyphs, and waterfalls a plenty. We rescued one of the sweetest cats ever from homelessness as a stray and placed her in the pampered home of one of the richest ladies in Waimea - it's a long story. Maybe I'll post the entry from my old site sometime. And Steve proposed, 6 months before he was "supposed" to. We went back in 2004, starting in Kauai where we survived a flash flood and were rescued by the Coast Guard, then going back to the Big Island where Steve broke a $300 wooden bowl. For those of you familiar with the story, the bowl is still in the box.
• Florida - My brother moved from Virginia to Florida, and we flew down there for his wedding to Sue. It was a great weekend. The reception was loads of fun with the karaoke and the open bar. Steve and I had to drive my parents back to their hotel and almost literally put them in bed. They are still embarrassed by this, but I think it was great fun! The next day, Steve and I went to Disneyworld and Disney's Animal Kingdom.
• Oregon - My one and only real business trip, I went to Medford, OR for my last job to do a client's needs assessment meeting. I didn't see much; maybe I shouldn't even include Oregon.
• Washington - Steve and I have visited Washington twice since Aaron and Vera bailed on California and moved up to the Seattle area. It's a beautiful place. I don't really know how I'd feel about the weather if I lived there, but I didn't mind it for the visits. Loved the Underground Tour and would recommend it for anyone interested in the irreverent side of history. We also went to Salmon Days while there the last time to watch those salmon spawn. At the end of the path, we peaked into their final destination at the hatchery where truly horrible things happen to them.
• Maryland - Went to Baltimore in 2006 for the SLA conference. Being a conference, I didn't get to see too much of the town, but I did go to 2 parties at the National Aquarium and a dinner on the USS Constellation.
• Louisiana - Okay, this is a preemptive listing since I'll be in New Orleans this summer for the AALL conference. I know - New Orleans in July. I think I'll bring an extra deodorant or 2 to carry with me in my computer bag and purse. I'm looking forward to my Scandalously Good Walking Tour, though.