The Deets

Yes, what is your ruling, I was splitting hairs on a couple business trip (fly-in) states…I counted ones I spent some ‘quality’ time in (CA, UT, NY, MA, TX) and didn’t count others (AR, KS, MO). Either way, I’m weak on travel and mean to do something about it in 2007…and I’m thinking of some serious bicycle touring.

Okay, deep breath, trying to paste in the map html–

Ed your map looks suspiciously like the map of states that left the union in 1861 and those that did not. What freaking Paper Clips and get over your fear of the South.

I say if you drove through a state, even if on a road trip it counts. Airport layovers do not. But if I follow The Other Mike’s logic, my map will look much less red.

As far as where to go next, what say you join me in San Antonio the day after Christmas? We’ll eat Tex Mex at The Blanco Cafe, go out for beers on Southtown, mostly at Bar America. And then the next day have migas or breakfast tacos at Taco Haven and then head north for 80 miles and hang out in Austin.

Think it over.

By the way, I mean BTW (I try to be modern with my language), I was perplexed by your “controversial home state of Texas” comment. But then I realized, Texas IS controversial. I mean how much ass does Texas kick? Is it mega-ass two ton shitloads amount or mega THREE ton-ass shitloads? And the debate rages on…

Other Mike, quality time is a subjective thing. I could say I spent quality time in Chicago after eating a Chicago hot dog at O’Hare, but I think that’s a low bar. Maybe your definition of quality time is different than mine?

Another friend of mine has suggested that taking a piss in a state qualifies as being there. I suppose you’ve left your mark, so he may be onto something, but that would qualify layover, so again, too lenient.

Mike N, I’m not anti-South. Cross country skiing has been the motivation behind much of my Northern latitude travel. Texas doesn’t happen to be in the snow belt, and probably won’t be for a while, especially considering the plan to build 11 new coal fired power plants down there.

I’ll check Expedia for flights.

Controversial Texas roots: you don’t sound much like GWB, so maybe it’s as easy to lose a Texas accent as it is to acquire one?

[...] 39 down, 11 to go. One may wonder how I managed to visit a state since posting my states visited list yesterday, especially considering that I was at Il Vesco Vino and The Happy Gnome last night. The trick was to open my email this morning and read the following email: You’ve been to Maryland. We were there when we went to DC and Gettysburg. [...]

Ed, I mentioned the motorcycle tour to The Boss. She said, “Mmmmm…NO.”

Fritts, only 7 months to work on The Boss. If you can’t pull it off, mind if I borrow some of your biker gear? I don’t have any sweaty bandannas.

I can’t believe you haven’t been to Texas! I’ll vouch for Big Bend National Park, especially the South Rim trail, (http://www.nps.gov/bibe/) as worth the long drive from El Paso - it’s truly incredible. After reading an article in Backpacker Magazine I’m excited to hit Texas’ Guadalupe Mountains (http://www.nps.gov/gumo/) sometime in the future. Apparently very few people visit it, though it has some incredible trails.

And this is my map:

And this map is significantly more impressive than it should be, especially when it looks like I’ve been everywhere in North America!