Visiting States

[stoutfellow]

There's a quiz floating around, where you identify which US states you've visited and get back a map of the US, with those states picked out in red. Now, I'm a born nitpicker1, and my training in mathematics and linguistics only made things worse.

What does "visited" mean?

I have lived in the following states (5): Arizona, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Washington.

I have gone to the following states, with the intention of doing something not transportation-related there, and spent at least one night (13+1): Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin. (DC also belongs here.)

Same criterion, without spending the night (3): Indiana, New Hampshire, Virginia.

I've set foot in the following states, spending the night, while in transit (2): Arkansas, Pennsylvania.

Same criterion, without spending the night (5): Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico.

I've ridden through the following states, without setting foot in them (2): Kansas, Ohio.

Then there's that prenatal time in South Carolina...

So how many states have I visited?

1. When I was a kid - maybe about six? - my sister O. decided to quiz me on my ability to read a clock. She asked (something like) "If the big hand was on the eight and the little hand was on the four, what time would it be?" I answered, "The clock would be broken. If the big hand was on the eight, the little hand would be between the four and the five." For some reason, O. found that answer unsatisfactory.

Comments

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

My criterion is generally that driving through en route to somewhere else counts as "visit" for purposes of these memes, but flying over or even landing for purposes of transferring between aircraft does not.

So, f'rinstance, I count the states I used to drive through to visit my sister when I lived in Alabama and she lived in Missouri. I do NOT count Montana, despite too much familiarity with the Butte, Bozeman, and Billings airports during childhood visits to my mom's family in North Dakota, because I've never seen any part of Montana *except* airports.

I realize that this isn't entirely self-consistent, but I guess I'm basing the distinction on the assumption that driving through a place gives you *some* exposure to it, while all airports are pretty much interchangeable.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Do trains count?

Trains at night? (I slept through Kansas.)

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I guess I'd say that in general, trains count--you're on the ground and thus can see what the countryside is like.

If you sleep through the whole state, OTOH, I'd have to say no.