OK I am embarrassed about this one.
I knew that there was a Kansas City in Missouri and one in Kansas all my life but I somehow thought they were two separate entities possibly separated by hundreds of miles.
About five years ago I actually went there and was quite surprised to find it was one big city divided in two by the state lines.
We were driving through the Oklahoma panhandle, saw an abandoned farm, and decided, oh, that must be the Joad’s place (Grapes of Wrath). Turns out, the Joad’s farm was way the hell east, almost in Arkansas. Kind of not the “no man’s land” part of the state.
I was looking at the Colorado River because of the Baja California post. In doing that, I also looked at the Rio Grande and saw that it starts way the hell up in Colorado! It must run at least a third of its way before it hits the Mexican border. I’ve only ever associated it with the border.
And I just looked it up and was surprised to discover that the Rio Grande is the 4th-longest river in the US, behind the Missouri, the Mississippi, and the Yukon. The 5th-longest is the Colorado.
List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem) - Wikipedia
Glendale is “technically” Valley, but so much of it is the literal Verdugo Hills, which do not feel valley-like at all either in geography or in spirit.
And as far as “technically,” it probably depends who you believe. Here’s a Cal State Northridge map; some communities like Reseda, Van Nuys, and for that matter Northridge itself despite its name are so firmly Valley that no one would argue, but other areas seem like a stretch. (Tujunga? C’mon, that’s basically mountainous.)
Valley is really more of a state of mind, I think. 
A good chunk of its water before it hits the border comes from Colorado snowpack, even though that’s only a tiny portion of its watershed.
Eight U.S. states border the great lakes. Only on Canadian province does.
And Ontario continues to extend pretty well west of Lake Superior. But it still only touches 4 Great Lakes. Just like Michigan.
Speaking of Canada, it is widely known as the 2nd largest country in terms of area. However, it falls to 4th when considering actual land area without water. Obviously due to the Hudson Bay taking up so much space.
How about some confusion?: Texas has a Colorado River that starts and stops entirely in the state. This is not the Colorado River that flows through the Grand Canyon. Why two CRs?
Leading to: What state capital is on the Colorado River? Austin, TX.
Heck, there’s a Mississippi River in eastern Ontario. No relation to the one in the US:
Both must be reddish, in parts at least. (“Colorado” literally means “colored” in Spanish, but in certain contexts it came to mean “reddish”).
I’ve driven over it.
Speaking of the Midwest, the northern portion of it used to be called the Northwest, a cultural relic that lasted into the early 20th Century and the establishment of what was once called Northwest Orient Airlines.
Today the Northwest means a different region entirely.
I suspect a Bugs Bunny-style land swindle:
Canadian: Yes, sir, it’s the Mississippi River.
Sucker: I’ll take it! (Shells out numerous large bills)
Ha! If I ever get back to that part of Ontario, I might try it.
Thinking about the Mississippi (the one in the US), did you know that one of its tributaries passes through Canada? The Milk River rises in the Rockies of Montana, and heads northeast into Alberta. Then it heads southeast, back over the border, and eventually meets the Missouri River, which eventually meets the Mississippi.
I’ve seen the Milk River a number of times, on my travels through southern Alberta. No sign of Huck Finn or Jim on the Milk River, though.
That there are two Mississippi Rivers shouldn’t be too surprising. Each is within the large area of Algonkian languages, particularly Ojibwe and its close relatives – Ojibwe being one of the biggest indigenous languages in North America (especially historically, but today it’s still pretty big)…and the name “Mississippi” is derived from words that mean “Great River.” About as surprising as the fact that so many cities have a “Main Street” (okay, maybe not quite, but you get my point.)
A surprising number of states have a Mad River.
Not to mention Northwestern University.
Interesting. I assume for most of the Mad Rivers, it refers to their dangerous rapids (perhaps seasonally)…. But not this one in California:
“The river was named in December, 1849 in memory of an incident when Dr. Josiah Gregg lost his temper when his exploration party did not wait for him at the river mouth.”
