Of course it’s arbitrary. The reality is that all these are shades of gray, but polling requires a line, and that’s where I drew the line. If you want to start a ‘what states have you peed in’ thread, that’s alright.
In South Dakota, Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, and Custer State Park are completely worth it.
In my case I needed to drive from Yellowstone park to Minnesota, and going through North Dakota was the quickest way. And it’s too long to drive through without stopping.
Absolutely. There’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park, a surreal painted badlands landscape with prime wildlife viewing. There are numerous historic sites associated with American Indians, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the early trapping and trading days (especially Fort Union). And there’s the International Peace Garden and its tribute to two centuries of peaceful American/Canadian relations.
Plus, the state capitol has a portrait of Lawrence Welk hanging in prime position in the rotunda. Top that, Virginia!
Another person who checked North Dakota reporting in. As noted above, my reason for visiting was to see Teddy Roosevelt National Park. Pretty cool place with some fantastic vistas and really colorful badlands. Definitely worth a stop if you’re anywhere in the vicinity.
33 for me. Weirdly, I have never been to New York.
I have seen the city from across the river but that doesn’t count.
Every time I go to New Jersey or Philly I tell myself, “Self, you HAVE to go to ‘The City’ this time.”
Rode the train across ND and MT as a very small child, but didn’t get out–or if I did, not so’s anyone would notice.
And changed planes in AZ, which also doesn’t count according to the OP’s rules.
Add to that the 5 states I’ve never been “in” at all (NM, AK, HI, OK, and KS), and my total would be 42 + DC. In the last 10 years I’ve been in every state from the Louisiana-Minnesota longitude east, plus California, Utah, and Texas.
This. The TRNP beats the heck out of the Badlands in South Dakota. I like both of them, but it is easy to see why Teddy loved North Dakota and why it helped him turn his life around.
Counting DC as a state, I’ve been to 45 of the 51 - all but Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota, and Nebraska.
Of the 45 states I’ve been to, I’ve slept at least one night in 40 of them, the exceptions being Oklahoma, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, and Wyoming.