At the beginning of this year I set out to visit the 13 states I had never seen. It all started with a Facebook Quiz about "How many US States have you visited?" I took the quiz and discovered I was only missing 12. So in February I began my journey, I even visted Washington DC.
I'm getting ahead of myself though. I started this journey a long time ago and I didn't even know it. I have always enjoyed traveling. I like to explore. So getting in the last 12 states wasn't really a huge challenge. Although, it was expensive.
Alabama- Visited in childhood. My parents drove through to Florida one year and stopped in Birmingham. I do not remember any of this.
Alaska- Once I visited in the summer, once I visited in the winter. Both times I was almost gored by moose. It's hard to remember they are wild animals when there are as many of them running around as there are squirrels.
Arizona- The first time I visited Arizona I was 14. My friend Kristy went with me. It was hot. I got dehydrated and had bloody noses all over the place. My aunt in Scottsdale made me soak in the bath tub and made me drink many many glasses of water.
Arkansas- Went to the home office. The entire state smelled like fresh cut grass. If you pronounce the state name wrong intentionally in public, you can be given a fine. Just a warning.
California- Went to LA for Randy's show premiere. Ate at Katana.
Colorado- I have been trapped in the Denver airport many many times.
Connecticut- I went here once when I was 22 to buy beer. I was staying in Rhode Island and at the time Rhode Island did not sell beer on Sundays. Beer is important when you are 22 and on vacation.
Delaware- Drove in to visit a Gun Powder museum and mansion. For such a small state with so many trees there is a lot of traffic.
D.C.- Drove to it in February 2015. The weather was amazing and I stayed at a lovely boutique hotel. Went running in Georgetown.
Georgia- Drove through on the way back from Florida with my mom and sister and her friend. It was the worst vacation I ever had.
Florida- Held an alligator and large snakes. One time Randy planned a vacation without me to Disney, I couldn't go because of work. He scheduled it on our first anniversery of marriage. He felt bad, so he booked me a flight and I saw Disney in one day. 23 hours of Florida.
Hawaii- I have not gone here yet.
Idaho- Lovely to drive through. lava trails, mountains, plains, interesting weather and nice people. Speed limits are high. Everyone eats pie.
Iowa-Drove here while visiting for a wedding.
Illinois- Chicago. Pizza. Sears Tower. Museums.
Indiana- New Buffalo Food Festival. Oh wait, that's not a thing, it's something I made up to hang out with my friends in South Bend when I was 16. It was a good day.
Kansas- Went to a wedding.
Kentucky- Drove through on way to Florida. I was five and thought I was in England because, "they talk funny here". I actually said that.
Louisiana- Went to New Orleans. Drank Hand Grenade. Thought it was gross.
Maine- beautiful, ate lobster. Slept in Acadia. Ate wild rice and climbed to the top a a giant hill everyone said was a mountain and saw a thousand tiny little islands off the coast. All the sea shells were purple and it was like heaven.
Maryland- Nice little mountains.
Massachusetts- Went to Boston. Learned about Paul Revere. Stayed next to the Neccos factory.
Michigan- I live here, it's nice. Winter sucks.
Minnesota- went to Minneapolis/St. Paul drank beer.
Mississippi- Ate BBQ watched a TV get filmed. Had dinner with Neil and Brian. Made new friends.
Missouri- Went to St. Louis. Saw Arch. Had awesome hotel right on the river.
Montana- Drove through entire state. Stopped to see some caves. Spent the night surrounded by casinos.
Nebraska- Drove around here at that same wedding. It was in this corner.
North Dakota- Drove here to get out of Montana
North Carolina- Rented a car Drove to S. Carolina. Drove back. Canceled trip to Mayberry.
New Hampshire- Drove through on way to Maine. Bought antiques. No sales tax.
New Jersey- Landed in Newark, walked to the Marriott across a field to my hotel. I'm pretty sure this wasn't super safe.
New Mexico- I lived here and went to school and saw a Korn concert in Albuquerque.
New York- Drank blueberry beer at the Waldorf and talked to crazy people on the subway (also wasn't super safe). Oh yeah and took a boat tour and ate pizza.
Nevada- Las Vegas like a hundred times with different zip lines.
Oklahoma- Drove through and saw all the storm damage from tornado's that swept through in 1999. Entire stores demolished. It was frightening.
Oregon-Went on an Ariel cable car. Saw a waterfall. Saw some vineyards and drank some flights of wine. Learned about the show Dexter.
Ohio- I lived here once. I'm not THAT ashamed of it.
Pennsylvania- Speed limits suck. Really really slow, like 55 MPH everywhere.
Rhode Island- Found beach glass. Ate more wild rice, saw where Jackie O. grew up. Got drunk and sat at the steps of the Capitol building.
South Dakota- Mt. Rushmore, bronze presidents. Wall Drug, bought black hills gold, and saw the bad lands.
South Carolina- Ate pizza. Talked to gas station attendant. Bought lottery ticket. Went home.
Tennessee- Drove through on way to Florida. Stopped in Chattanooga.
Texas- Drove through the top of it on my way out of New Mexico. Discovered it really is big sky country. Also, was able to go to El Paso one night and see the boarder of Mexico from a mountain. I remember thinking it was strange how the lights lined up and it was another country.
Utah- Toured the capital, went to the Great Salt smelly lake.
Virgina- Drove through it and around it. Went to Arlington National Cemetery.
Vermont- was enchanted by the lovely green hills (they called them mountains) and flowing maple syrup.
Washington State- Seattle. Layover.
W. Virgina- Drove into it. Took a selfie at a rest stop.
Wisconsin- Ate cheese that was not squeaky. Was almost attacked by ostrich.
Wyoming- Drove to devils' tower. Thought about what it must be to climb it. Went back to South Dakota.
I have learned a lot about each state in my travels. Like about Blueberries in Maine. Or beach glass in Rhode Island. Or lava trails in Idaho. Each state and each place has a lot to teach. Going to the state capitols in nice too because you can learn about their histories.
I am hoping to go to Hawaii next year if I can save enough money for it. Anybody know how to get there cheap?
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Pumpkin Carving
I love the fall. It's my favorite time of year. The leaves, the colors, the cider, donuts, pumpkins. Yes, pumpkins and the talent it takes to make them amazing.
Pumpkin carving isn't always just carving pumpkins. It's so much more than that, it's about spending time with your family. Randy had the fabulous idea last year to carve a pumpkin with a chain saw. This meant that we had to get very very large pumpkins for carving. I do not recommend people using chainsaws to carve pumpkins. Randy is able to do this because he is a trained professional who has been using chainsaws for years. If you are not a trained professional do not do this.
First we had to buy a giant pumpkin. The pumpkin had to be large enough to carve it with the chainsaw. Randy practically had to wear a hazmat suit while doing this because the pumpkins shoot seeds and debris everywhere.
I did some carving of my own, but on a much smaller scale. I used a regular pumpkin carving kit and regular pumpkins. I was not about to use a chainsaw.Randy made a giant mess when he did it.
I used the regular cheap pumpkin carving kits that you can buy at the store. My pumpkins did not turn out too bad either.
Here's the video on youtube:
https://youtu.be/E2D3_BpIGik
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