How many states you got, yo?!

Just this past week, I was trying to recall how many US states I've been able to get to in my lifetime, and it prompted me to write them down (the ole memory isn't as sharp as it used to be). Here's my list so far (I ain't dead yet!). I'd like to say "in no particular order", but we all know that's not possible with me...

1. Illinois*
2. Wisconsin*
3. Minnesota*
4. Nebraska
5. Iowa
6. Indiana
7. Ohio
8. Michigan (Upper and Lower peninsulas)
9. Pennsylvania
10. West Virginia +
11. Kentucky +
12. Virginia
13. Maryland
15. Missouri
16. Texas
17. Oklahoma
18. Vermont
19. Rhode Island
20. Massachusetts
21. Connecticut
22. New York
23. Colorado
24. New Mexico
25. Arizona
26. Utah
27. California
28. Nevada
29. Idaho
30. North Carolina
31. Florida
32. Kansas
*official resident at one time or another
+ pretty sure, on a childhood vacation

Sorry, District of Columbia. Not all of these were for any extended stays or even overnights. I'm pretty Oklahoma was just as we drove through on a grad-school spring break, but I'll still count it.

Feel free to write your states or totals in the comments.

Wright County Fair, #2

When a coworker asked, "Do you wanna go to the demo derby?", I answered faster than a rattlesnake,  "Heck yes!"

 

It did not disappoint. The spectacle was a sight to behold, the crowd better than I could have hoped, and the noise coming out of the unmuffled cars was unrelenting.

 

This is how you wet down the track b/w heats... notice the high-tech human on/off switch for the water spout 

 

"Uhh, Sir, I think your car's on fire" 

 

"I get the way back!" 

 

  

I wanted to go left! 

 

This is the same car on fire above... you can see how cherry-red the exhaust pipes coming out of his hood are - yowza! 

 

Beautiful afternoon for some derby! 

 

Wright County Fair, #1

This small (in my mind) county fair was everything you could want and more. The pie eating contest (placed tied for 2nd) was worth the price of admission alone...and admission is like $3. The food vendors were numerous and somewhat inventive, a la "boar bites". And the entertainment was first class down home, home grown, honest to goodness, wholesome fun. Stay tuned...

 

 Lemon-squeezie is not optional. Get The Tanker... 64oz of refillable lemony goodness.

 

I never seen curly feathered pigeons before... 

 

... still kinda creepy... and still pigeons. 

 

Mmmmm, thirst-quenching! 

 

 

This was my downfall and also proudest achievement (at a county fair) 

 

the rolling hills of western iowa

First light makes it so right. Unlike other drives through this area, I was unable to capture any pics of the early morning mist, crowd-pleasing cloud-only, or windmills. Hopefully next time. The drive through the rolling farm hills is that much better for having these kinds of views. It might have been the only thing keeping me awake.

 

 

 

Omaha, Day 3

A little bit country... it the crossroads of America afterall. (I made that up)

Sweet, I was looking for a  rebel flag buckle!!!

 

Something to hang over your mantle without having to shoot it... and only a mere $1200. 

 

Something for the kids... 

 

Omaha, Day 2

The day started off with a plan to go see some wild animals in Omaha's Conservation Park & Wildlife Safari, located a bit outside Omaha (20 miles or so). They purported to have owls, elk, bison, deer, black bears, eagles, herons, pelicans, and wolves... wait, wolves!?!? I'm in.

For $6.50, yes, that's right... less than the cost of a movie, you get admission. This is also a drive-thru safari style place, so you just sit in your car (save for the bear and wolf enclosures) and do a steady 7mph the whole time.

Huge elk in a huge elk herd greet you right as you start the "ride". Can you get more American than this??? Well, without taking out a rifle and mowing this huge beast down...

Now, I unfortunately do not have any pictures, but the wolf enclosure was well worth the price of admission in and of itself. You get to step out of your car and walk up to their enclosure. There are 6 wolves (3 boys, 3 girls) on the property and they kind of hint that you may or may not see them. After all, they are wild animals and do what they want. Well, we weren't standing on an overlook more than 3 minutes when we heard howling. I think we all thought some dad was being a dufus, but it kept going. As we heard a few more howls, a light-colored female silently loped under our overlook and moved closer to the howls. She showed herself up on the hill and joined in on the howling. Soon, three or four of them were basically having a conversation via howls. It was pretty cool. A bit later, she moved to lay in the sun near the fence. I could have almost touched her, but thought that might be pushing it.

After that, I don't want to say the rest of the park was a let-down (see bison below... not "buffalo" either), but how can you top live wolves? They had a large herd of bison, including two albino and even a calf that looked only days or weeks old. But, you have to drive your car right through their "pen", so it's a bit stressful wondering if you're going to make it out without them charging your car and basically tipping it over like a tin can.

What do you do after wildlife viewing? If you're my sisters, shop of course. We hit a super deep-discount department store. This place is where other department stores send the stuff that doesn't sell (kind of) and they had racks of clothes as far as the eye could see. The girls loaded up on shoes and I did find something in the small men's area, snow boots. They were a good deal and Lord knows you can never have enough snow boots in MN. Alright, I'll go with it.

Omaha, Day 1

If you want to see where we went the first night, just go to this previous post about Barrett's - all still applies.

This man was out walking in the morning hours on Friday... you can see he brought his precious DOG with him in the stroller. Good, Lord!

We stopped of at a resale place...they had the "hosen", but they were missing the "leder".

Ding! Do you remember this toy? Seems like you could make some money on eBay now.

This is a printing press at our friend's place of business "Inclosed". She's one helluva creative mind and is one a few places (I think) still doing letterpress invitations for all manner of events. She is highly recommended by basically everyone. 

If you hit Omaha's Greek Islands, why not go all the way with a little beer too?

And what could top off a night better than a cupcake? I will warn you though, this place is a scene almost all the time now, and the interior and exterior of the business has suffered for the success. I couldn't sit for two minutes on the outdoor patio without an ant crawling up my pant leg (thinking I was some of the already copious amounts of cupcake and litter all over the patio). The cupcakes are still relatively amazing, but just get them to go.

See, you can't fake great 'cakes. I think the best one this time was the "White", which is a vanilla bean taste explosion.