Non-American chipping in -
I have seen about 80-90% (maybe more) of Ireland, having taken my car on week-long trips around the coast many, many times. Going to Portrush on the north coast tomorrow, in fact.
To include the UK too, I lived in Glasgow for 5 years and travelled extensively in Scotland, especailly in the borders and the highlands, but not much in the islands.
I have seen bugger all of England or Wales really, mainly just the cities, which is a shame. Still a lot of travel to do there.
I have been in (at least) 15 states in the US, and my “country count” to date is about 40 worldwide. Still a lot of travel to do there too.
I’m a Pennsylvania native. Since I go to school in Michigan now, I regularly have to drive pretty much the whole length of the PA turnpike, from Philadelphia all the way to the Ohio border. (I’ve also driven the rest of the turnpike in the other direction to Jersey, and I’ve taken most of the NE Extension.) So I’ve seen at least an entire horizontal section of my state.
I’ve also been up to state college, which is pretty damn isolated. Actually, anything that’s not Pittsburgh or Philly tends to be…well, rural and that’s it. Still, I’d like to go upstate someday.
I haven’t seen much of Florida, despite spending over a decade in the state without leaving once (finally got out of this swampy hellhole about a month ago). I live about sixty miles north of Tampa/St. Petersburg, and about thirty south of Ocala, and while I’m fairly familiar with the area in a ten-mile radius, I’m clueless about everything else. I know where the cities are, where most of the major stuff is (airports, malls, etc.), and what I can expect there, but I don’t have a detailed ‘mental map’ of any place that is not Leesburg or my county. I have seen a lot of the state from trips, but nothing sticks really well.
I guess I need to get a car, a driver’s license and an excuse to travel.
I am a native Californian and live in the central part of the state. I also work in the environmental field which has taken me to just about every backwater, forgotten corner of the state. I sometimes find it strange that I have been to so many out-of-the-way locations but don’t know any of the big cities that well.
I have worked quite a bit up in this area and have stayed many times in Alturas. You’re exactly right. Not many people and not close to anything. It is kind of a unique place though. It is the only decent sized town (if 3000 people is decent sized) for miles around so all of the sherrif’s, highway patrol, USDA, BLM, Forest Service, and state officials live and work there. There are also, generally, quite a few people working out of Alturas as it is essentially the only place to stay .
Incidentally, if you are ever up that way in the fall, make sure you stop in Canby (pop. 50). It is about 20 miles west of Alturas on Hwy. 299. Anyways, they set up life-size biblical dioramas depicting various scenes (the Good Samaritan, the Last Supper, the birth of Jesus, Jesus in the tomb) complete with costumed mannequins. Kind of creepy but fun to stop at and take pictures with. I mean, how many people have a picture with their arm around their buddy Jesus, just minutes after he rose from the dead?!
I’ve seen most of Colorado. I’ve skied at probably 70% of the ski areas, visited most of the rest on at least a camping trip. Climbed most of the 14ers(and smoked pot at the top ) Been to a bar in every town with population > 5000 and many of the smaller places. I have a fairly encyclopedia knowledge of the highways and passes in the state. And am currently on a quest with some friends to go to every bar in Denver, made about 160, which leaves around a hundred (assuming our list is complete)
Georgia is the biggest state east of the Mississippi, so there’s a lot of it to see. I’ve seen about 75% of it, I guess. There are a few islands on the coast I haven’t explored, and I’ve never been in the Okefenokee Swamp (which is supposed to be quite beautiful). I’ve been pretty much everywhere in the northern third, but there’s quite a bit in the southern third I’ve yet to see.
I’ve never been to the eastern part of Oregon. I really need to go sometime, because it’s quite different from the western part, where I live. It’s “high desert”, whereas here it’s “temperate rain forest”. It’d be interesting to see the changes.
My “home states” (where I mostly grew up, though I wasn’t born there) of Maryland and Virginia, I’ve been all over.
I am a latecomer to my state of Michigan, although it’s now been ten years. I’ve got a lot more to see. I’ve never been to the Upper Peninsula, for example. One nice thing is that last year I participated in a “Day at the Capitol” thing put on by Junior League. I got the tour and everything, which was good because I missed the 6th grade civics lessons and field trips that natives generally get. At least I know more about the state from the governmental side.
I’m gradually getting to more places. One thing that helps is having a toddler. Far-flung places are more difficult to get to and plan for, so staying closer to home is appealing. But I think I’ve seen more of Ohio than of Michigan.
I’m from the UK but lived in California for 6 years. Also took about 6 months off to travel across the US so I saw a lot.
In CA I think I’ve seen most everything I wanted to. San Francisco, LA, San Diego, Tahoe, Yosemete (sp?) etc. Going to all those places I passed through Fresno, Sacramento etc.
I also did 2 major trips;
North from San Francisco to Seattle stopping off at Mt Shasta, the big university town in Oregon just off of I-5, Portland and the Washington state capitol (but the name escapes me now). Then South East through Boise to Salt Lake City, Reno, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon/Hoover Dam, Phoenix. Across to San Diego (with small detour to Tijuana), then LA and back to San Francisco. That one took me about a month and I saw most of everything I wanted to.
Second trip took 9 months. East from San Francisco to Yosemite and then Las Vegas. Further east to Ely (with the hotel all the film stars in the 50’s used to stay at), then through Utah picking up several speeding tickets :mad:
All the way through the rockies stopping at Grand Junction (?), Aspen and then onto Denver. Down to Boulder and then all the way across to Kansas which is the single most boring drive anywhere in the world (apart from maybe NT in Oz). South to Tulsa and Oklahoma and then to Dallas, Houston and Galvenston (sp?). All the way across to Orlando via New Orleans and the big town in Mississippi with the casinos. Then across to Tampa, down to Ft Lauderdal & Miami. The left for a few months to go to Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. Got back to the US and drove all the way up the east coast of Florida and onto Atlanta. Then through the Carolinas, Virginia and onto Washington. Up to New York, New Jersey, through CT, RI (stopping in Providence) to Boston. Through Vermont (I think) to Montreal, then Toronto, Niagra Falls, Cleveland and to Chicago. Then cut south west all the way to Alberqueque (sp?), across to Phoenix, San Diego, LA and back to San Francisco.
That took about 9 months so I hung out at towns in the middle of nowhere for a fair portion of that. So many people (especially Ladies) just loved my English accent
Wow; I think I remembered it all and it was so much fun
For a native Masser, I think I’ve done alright, though not spectacularly. I’m reasonably familiar with Boston, though not terribly so; I don’t think I’ve actually been in Southie more than once. I’m more familiar with my area, Middlesex and Worcester counties. The so-called “twin-cites”(ha) of Leominster and Fitchburg, most of the roads.
I’ve also been out to the western part of the state a couple times. Been to North Adams, Amherst, that stuff. Not so much south. And though I’ve been there, I’m not terribly familiar with Cape Cod or the South Shore.
Finally, because of where I live, I regularly go into New Hampshire, so I’m pretty familiar with the central southern area - Nashua up through New Ipswich and Jaffrey (which is where Mt. Monadnock s located). It’s very convenient to be so close to state with no sales tax :D.
Ooops. Cranky reminded me that I live in Michigan for the school year–I’m not an official resident, but I think 2 years of owning an apartment there is close enough.
I haven’t seen much of it–ah, the constraints of legal studies–but I’ve been up and down the major highways of the lower half of the state. I’ve basically driven from the Detroit side over to Lake Michigan on my way to Chicago. I’ve also been up North to Alma for their annual Highland festival, and I’ve been up to Flint for the Renaissance Fest.
Haven’t made it to the U.P. yet. Maybe sometime this year.
I once drove from Bend, Ore to Boise. Believe me you do not need to drive more than 20 east of Bend and then turn around, because you’ve seen all you’re going to see. Mesquite, antelopes and dust is all there is to see.
I grew up outside (now inside) of Atlanta and it is the northern third that is the most interesting. The Okefenokee Swamp is great. Take the long tour if you go or better still see if you can go to a fishing camp. Most of southern Georgia is like eastern Oregon. They don’t have antelopes and some ugly green plant takes the place of the mesquite, but it too is boring.
Camping in Big Bend is great but other than that I’ve been everywhere in Texas you name, plus El Paso and Amarillo and that still leaves out Brownsville (Corpus Christi would count). So you still have a lot of traveling to do. Except for El Paso it is all fine country and even they have great Mexican food.
So I’ve been just about everywhere in Mississippi, except Natchez and Tunica (new gambling mecca for those not familiar). A ride down the Natchez Trace can be just about as boring as eastern Oregon or southern Georgia. I’ve also been all over Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana and Florida.
I’ve lived in at least nine different counties in New York and traveled quite a bit so I’ve visited most of the state. The only area I can think of that I haven’t traveled to is Long Island.
I’ve been just about everywhere that’s easily accessible from the highway, and many places that aren’t. There’s something like a “280” club here, which is made up of people who have visited or are working on visiting all 280 towns, cities, townships, and holes-in-the-wall in the state of VT. I think I’ll probably join that at some point, as I love just randomly driving and exploring towns I haven’t been to before.
Plus, being a musician, I travel a lot to different towns to work on theatre productions. It’s not unusual in the summertime for me to have a 50-70 mile drive to a gig.
I’m pretty good on my New York tourism. I live in New York City (and have seen most sights there) spend my summers in the Catskills, vacationed in Lake George, often visit relatives in Albany. Toured Niagara Falls and Buffalo, attended my brother-in-law’s graduation in Rochester and stopped in Syracuse on the way home. And, of course, what baseball fan hasn’t been to Cooperstown?
Probably the only parts of NY state I’ve neglected are the far north (i.e., north of Lake George), the Finger Lakes region, and far East Long Island.
I like to get into the car and drive-- if I hear about an interesting place in my state ( Iowa) or surrounding states I go. I pack a cooler and get moving – recent adventures include --Effigy Mounds National park, clear up by Wisconsin & Backbone State Park – I let my kids pick an interesting place that they would like to visit and off we go. They dont mind a 5 hr drive, and neither do I.
The fine people of Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida ask you to get out your tape messure to see who really is bigger.
I spent 21 years in Illinois and never went to Chicago. I spent the night in Midway a few months after I moved to Atlanta and I drove I-80 from Pittsburg to Omaha a few years ago coming pretty close to Chicago. I’ve been all over the state from Springfield on down to Cairo. Growing up just accross the river from St.Louis I’ve seen all the corners of Missouri and a lot of the middles. I vacationed as a kid in every state east of Utah/Nevada/Idaho/Arizona with the exception of the New England states. Been through most of Florida (all but the Keys and the everglades) and good chunks of Georgia,Alabama and Mississippi.
dead0man
Living in Alaska since I was 3 years old, I’ve probably seen no more than 5% of the state. And that’s being generous.
You see, most of the communities are not accessable by road. Not that they amount to much, population-wise, but still, it’s a big place. 365,000,000 acres if I’m remembering my elementary school facts correctly.
When I visit my brother in Arizona, it completely freaks me out seeing highway signs that say “San Diego - 178 miles”. Man! You can actually drive there!
I live near Boise. I have been all the way up through the Idaho pandhandle and to the Canadian border traveling U.S. 95. I have been along U.S. 12 entering Idaho from Montana. I have been along most parts of U.S. 93 at one time or another, although I have yet to travel the stretch along which Mt. Borah (12,662 feet, Idaho’s highest mountain) is located. I have traveled throughout most southern (far less scenic) parts of the state and have been to Twin Falls, Pocatello and Idaho Falls. Eastwardly, I have been close to Yellowstone, but we didn’t go quite that far because of time constraints. I have yet to see the southeast corner of the state.
Ferrous, you’re really not missing much by not having seen eastern Oregon. The Blue Mountains are nice, though.
Still, I’d like to go upstate someday.