Journey vs. Destination

I had lunch with a good friend today who asked how many states we went to on this trip. I was embarrassed that I didn’t know. So here is the list (in order of appearance):

1. California
2. Arizona
3. New Mexico
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma
6. Arkansas
7. Tennessee
8. Virginia
9. Washington DC
10. Maryland
11. Delaware
12. New Jersey
13. New York
14. Connecticut
15. Massachusetts
16. Pennsylvania
17. Ohio
18. Indiana
19. Michigan
20. Illinois
21. Wisconsin
22. Minneapolis
23. North Dakota
24. Montana
25. Wyoming
26. Idaho
27. Nevada

So 26 or 27 depending on whether DC counts as a state. All that in 22 days. Lucky those eastern ones are small.

Let’s look at it graphically. These are the states I’d been to before:

Hawaii and Alaska are not shown. I’ve neither been to them nor managed to make them part of this driving adventure.

These are the states on the trip:

Yeah, we could totally have crossed tiny Rhode Island off but it seemed like driving 5 miles and touching ground then going back was somehow cheating. (Michigan, you be quiet. We got snacks on our jaunt to you.)

Combined to show all the states I’ve visited now:

(Maps were created using this excellent generator.)

And now, when one of my super-traveling buddies expects me to say I’m going to Santa Cruz or Napa Valley for my summer vacation (it’s been known to happen), well, “HAH!” I will tell them. And then I’ll go get a drink and sit by the ocean.)