create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide

If you count states mostly slept in while driving through, the majority of the midwest is covered as well, through South Dakota, Wyoming, etc. I have prolly logged the most meaningless miles in the history of people with a long way to go and nothing to think about. Want a rundown of why I was in these states? I thought you would be interested...

WA - Spokane, WA - born August 17th, 1975 on Fairchild Airforce Base. Promptly (approx. 2 years old) moved to MI, return to Spokane when I am 9. Move to MI again at 15 when Mom decides WV is a good place to go to medical school. I move to Lapeer, Metamora, Grand Blanc then Flint, where, after meeting a number of people in college a few of them and their extended circle of friends move to Seattle, WA....from Flint. This seems like a metaphysical backhand to my self-constructed destiny of Grunge-age fame and stardom. I stay in Flint. Depression ensues. Emo, a la Sunny Day Real Estate, becomes popular. Coincidence?

OR - Went dune riding on the Oregon coast with Mom while visiting Seattle during her residenecy at Ft. Lewis. Have first beer in front of Mom during dinner. Actual beer count at approx. 2000. Coastal highway is a georgeous ride.

ID - Cour'de Laine is Spokane's sister city over the Idaho border. I go there for dinner with Mom and her dentist boyfriend who, over the years, continuously expresses his frustrations with the physical world by clenching his teeth and hissing out "$%&* you, Jesus." He also has a bad-ass Cuisinart collection.

CA - San Francisco - stay over night on Haight near Ashbury at Josh's brother's apartment. After watching Gummo and positioning myself in the Upward-facing Deathbed Couch pose, am awakened by a gentleman outside on the street screaming "Everything...is NOT...OK!" Could it have been the same guy who stripped naked on the waterfront downtown and waded into his municipal bathtub while Josh and I were talking about Alcatraz, in all its glory in front of us?

NV - Reno - tandem to San Fran trip - Visit Josh while he is teaching at UNR. Nick is also teaching there...and drinking...and smoking...and dating students. Every single public space has slot machines - the airport, restaurants...gas...stations. Lady almost misses flight while trying to find something to hold her winnings in. Also, bars are open 24 hours. Who said heaven had to be pretty? There is enough sage on the side of the road to supply the entire lower 48 states of hippie-dom.

FL - Miami - Mom moved there one summer to be a live in care-taker, I believe. I followed a few months later. I think I was about 5 or 6. Mom was startled and terrified of the little green bugs that would invade the car overnight. Don't remember much about Florida, but I have never really liked it.

MO - Columbia - Drive 15 hours or so in Dad's old mini-van to pick up Amy at her grandfather's house in the middle of the middle of the midwest. Its hot there. And flat. A coupla years later I visit Columbia where Amy is going to grad school. The hotel that i rent for her wedding weekend smell's like a hot showered bathroom. Gross. I sleep on Amy's futon.

OH - Who really cares? Its flat, the turnpike is long. This state was formed just so you would have to say that you drove through it. Have the Reds ever won anything? Or the Bengals, for that matter? Thanks for the beans.

IN, KY, VA - My aunt Cindy moved to Columbus, Indiana, soon after which my uncle Jim offered me a used Ford Festiva for free if I wanted to travel there to pick it up. I rode the Greyhound to Indianapolis, they picked me up, and the next day I set out on a solo road trip which would take me through the majority of the eastern states in 9 days. I drove straight south through Louisville, Kentucky, then headed east through Virginia. The clouds looked like big bowl-less piles of mashed potatoes. Oh wait, I forgot, I did take a jaunt up into West Virginia and sniffed my way with just a mental map to Mom's husband Bill's house in Caldwell, WV. No one was home. I then drove SE to Norfolk, VA, got off the highway due to backed up traffic and spent the rest of the night trying to get back on.

to be continued...