All fifty

As of last week, I’ve set foot in all fifty states. Doesn’t exactly make me unique but still, it was cool. (In case you care, these last two were Delaware and Rhode Island and I picked them up during the Kazoo Tour with Two’s amour.)

Still have some goin’ to do . I’ve been to Guam, the Marianas, Wake Island and American Samoa but not Puerto Rico, the Palmyra Atoll or the U.S. Virgins.

This sort-of milestone got me to thinking about some of my favorite sights and sites.

The Grand Canyon, of course, and Half Dome. Mt. Rainier from Paradise, Mt. St. Helens as a boy from the former Spirit Lake and much later of what’s left of it from the tourist viewing stand.

Fumaroles. If you’ve not been to Yellowstone, why not?

It’s the places that fewer people know about that tend to catch my fancy. Not because I feel proprietary about them but rather because in most cases, they were unplanned and frequently, unexpected. And so, especially pleasurable to experience.

The International Ice Carving Festival in Fairbanks is something to see. Try to be there the night before judging so you’ll get to gawk at the almost finished carvings and also the frantic last-touches process.

Both a moose calving (Alaska) and brown bear fishing (Montana) – the Discovery Channel is cool but in person, wow.

Virga backlighted by an incredible sunset in Wyoming or the Aurora Borealis from Chena Hot Springs – these two are in a dead heat.

The cemetery on a recent trip that made me think of Our Town.

The kazoo factory in Eden, NY.

A docent at the John Brown House on a slow day who was thrilled to have a couple of rump-weary travelers with whom to share a few minutes in friendly conversation.

The hill country of Texas – specifically, Fredericksburg.

Any fresh water lake, from its middle, seated in a kayak.

New parents taking their baby on a flight to see the grands for the first time are frequently priceless (but damn, they do carry a load of crap nowadays).

Farm country in Nebraska as seen from a section road.

The old guy in Oto, Iowa (pop: 108) who watched my every move while I drove slowly into town, stopped, got out and took a picture of the ‘veterans’ wall’ inscribed with the names of my Dad and two of his brothers, then – just as I turned to leave – raised his hand in a salute without changing expression.

The last orange stand on old Hwy 99 in the Central Valley.

Many of the sites along the Natchez Trace.

The World’s Largest Pheasant outside Huron, South Dakota.

The waters around Peaks Island and Great and Little Diamond in Casco Bay, Portland Maine (Again, from a kayak – due to a cancellation, I had the guide all to myself that day and it was glorious! His wife was supposed to be my guide but wanted to hang with a friend so to entice him to trade with her she made us a killer box lunch – total win all around!)

The UFO Welcome Center in Bowman, South Carolina. Don’t believe me? Google it if you must, then apologize.

The Badlands. Can’t understand going to Rushmore and Crazy Horse but failing to drive the extra hour and see one of the truly remarkable natural sights on the continent.

“Winged Victory,” the memorial to fallen soldiers in Vancouver, B.C. – the one with the angel. It’ll make you tear up. I’m not a big statue guy but dang, this one got me. And yes, I know this Vancouver is in Canada. Go see it, anyway.

The Devil’s Backbone in Colorado. Very cool and walkable, even for an old coot like moi.

Herds of antelope and other critters on the road from Blackfoot Idaho to Grand Teton National Park.

And Marmots on Hurricane Ridge in Washington.

The same blue heron that’s nested in that one place on Lake Washington for years.

Cue Julie Andrews, because these are truly a few of my favorite things. The moral is, you gotta get off the interstates if you want to actually see the states.