My first state sign! While standing under the California sign, I got the brilliant idea: "Gee, I should do this for every state." Wish I'd thought of that the previous week while in Washington. I never did get a Washington sign, darn it.
As I was driving through Death Valley, California, I looked at the map and realized that Nevada was only 15 miles away. I decided to drive over, figuring it might be my only chance to get Nevada. After taking this picture, I cross the Nevada border then drove back into California.
A few minutes earlier, I had a pleasant chat with a rancher that I met at the tri-state corner (Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico). He was working with his cattle and we talked for about 10 minutes.
On Interstate 10 coming into El Paso. There was no place to stop and take a picture, so I shot it out the windshield.
I was heading north to Oklahoma City to the College Softball World Series. There wasn't a good place to stop, so it was another windshield shot.
Colorado has been using this same "Colorful Colorado" sign at every border crossing for at least the past 40 years. I love 'em.
This was probably my longest state sign stop. I was here for about 20 minutes trying to get the right crop and exposure.
This was on I-80 heading east. It was late in the day and I still had a long way to drive to the Grand Tetons so I didn't stop. Good thing, too, because three hours later I snagged the last empty campsite in Grand Teton National Park.
This was on U.S. 26. I had just left the Tetons and had taken a nice, hot shower an hour earlier so I was happy. Can't you tell by my smile?
Later that same day, this is on Interstate 15 north of Idaho Falls, where I'd bought groceries at the Fred Meyer store -- pork ribs for that (chilly) night at the top of Lemhi Pass.
This was a beautiful afternoon/evening. I'd just visited the lowest point in the highest state (in Colorado) as well as the tri-state marker where Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas meet.
And how convenient. A few feet up the road from the "Nebraska" sign, there's the Kansas sign. That's the thing about many of the state signs: you can often get two state signs with a single stop.
This was a beautiful morning. I'd camped the previous night in central Nebraska and was heading north across the Sand Hills to South Dakota. People say South Dakota is flat and boring -- not so.
It was getting chillier, hence the fleece pullover. This was in mid-September.
My favorite state sign. This is in International Falls on the Canadian border. It's near the Chamber of Commerce where the person working there gave me a free "International Falls" t-shirt. I loved it!
I was driving south from Minnesota to Iowa and thought about taking the freeway. But I decided instead to take U.S. 65, which parallels I-35, mainly because I wanted to be able to stop and take a picture of the Iowa state sign.
This picture was tricky because there were lots of brambles there. That's why I didn't get too close to the sign.
This is one of my favorite state sign pictures. I'm wearing my "Wisconsin Geography" t-shirt, a gift from my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin Geography Department. I had spent a couple hours the previous day giving a lunchtime slide show/discussion of my travels.
And just a few yards away is the Illinois state sign. Before taking the picture, though, I changed out of my red Wisconsin shirt.
A few hours down the highway, I crossed the Indiana/Michigan border. Yep, same gray shirt as in the previous picture.
And a few yards away, I took a picture of the Michigan sign. It's my home state. Four states in one day!
The next day, I continued east on Interstate 90. This is in Conneaut, Ohio on the Pennsylvania border.
And a half-mile down the road, I took this picture.
And an hour down the road, coming into New York near Lake Erie in New York wine country.
A few days later I crossed into Vermont, over Lake Champlain. It's the Green Mountain State so I had to wear a green shirt.
I'd left my campsite in New Hampshire at 5 a.m. and crossed into Maine a couple hours later, then took two shots at the border, including this one. It was the longest driving day of my trip -- 15 hours and 600 miles.
A few yards away, I took this picture. But I put on my white fleece to give a false sense of elapsed time. Tricky, huh?
I'd entered Massachusetts a couple weeks earlier and had been staying with my brother Don in Connecticut. But one day, we took a trip into Massachusetts so I asked him to take a picture of me.
Then we walked down the highway a few yards and Don took another shot of me, this time in Connecticut.
I stayed with Don and Debbie for a few weeks. Realizing I was just 10 minutes from Rhode Island, I hopped into my truck one day and crossed the border.
I finally left Connecticut after a nice, long visit with Don and Debbie and drove through New York City, crossing over the Hudson on the George Washington Bridge. Chris Christie was there to greet me in New Jersey.
Later that day I got to Delaware. I stopped at this site for two reasons: to get the picture of the state sign, of course, but also because it's the highest point in the lowest state. There's a big sign (by the bush in the background) describing it.
I had just left the Antietam Battlefield in Maryland and crossed the Potomoc River into West Virginia near Harper's Ferry. No place to pull off, so a windshield shot would have to do.
And an hour later, I crossed into Virginia. It's apparently for lovers (what exactly does that mean, anyway?)
I'd been driving around North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee for a week when I crossed back into North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains and took this shot. It was a chilly morning in late October, hence the jacket.
This is on U.S. 76. I was driving from Wilmington, North Carolina to visit my cousin that evening in Atlanta. It was a loooong drive.
This sign for Tennessee was a half-mile down the road. I was only in Tennessee for one night but it qualified.
I spent a day driving across central Georgia, visiting the Civil War prison site at Andersonville and then Plains, home of Jimmy Carter. I crossed into Florida late in the day and snagged this shot.
Same location as the previous photo. Hey, the Florida sign is missing! Thank goodness for Photoshop.
After a month in Florida it was time to head back to Oregon. This is on Interstate 10 near Mobile.
And an hour later, I crossed into Mississippi. This is at a rest stop at the border.
And later that day, coming into Louisiana.
A few days later, I reached Oregon. 46 states and 32,000 miles -- whew!
