Fifty Nifty United States

It was fifth grade when my music teacher made us sing a song entitled, "Fifty Nifty United States." Not only was this song awesome, but it made you learn all of the states in alphabetical order...to a tune nonetheless. To this day I impress others (or embarrass myself) by reeling off all fifty states in alphabetical order in less than 15 seconds.

It was April of 2005 when I took a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. While driving along the southern coast I looked at the map and noticed a small bit of text near the bottom that read, "Ka Lae, Southernmost point in the United States." Of course, I made it a point to drive down the dirt road to snap a picture of myself. Later that same summer, my brother and I ventured to Barrow, AK to discover that we were at the northernmost point in the United States. I thought this little bit of geographic trivia was pretty cool and promptly looked up where the other extreme points of the United States were located and just how easy it would be to get to each one.

Thus started my little quest to travel to all fifty states and the four extreme points of the United States. As of July 4, 2008, I have officially reached my goal! It was glorious. My cousin Jon (See previous posts about Maine, Minnesota, and Kansas) and my buddy John (See previous posts about Amsterdam, Dominican Republic, and Los Angeles) spent the Fourth of July weekend driving over 1800 miles for what turned out to be an awesome road trip.

Some highlights (or lowlights if you are Jon) included Jon getting in trouble for speeding three times with only one ticket to show for it, Jon getting charged $224 at an A&W restaurant for three sandwiches, and getting free passes to the British Airways lounge at JFK Airport allowing the three of us to get drunk on free alcohol. And best of all, accidentally stopping in Hope, BC to later discover it was the filming location of Rambo: First Blood.

Many deep thoughts were brought up on the long winding roads of the Pacific Northwest. Some good, some bad. Some funny, some not. Some hot, some cold. Some dry, some wet. One jumped out at me and I figured I just had to make it the topic of this post. As the conversation inevitably turned towards religion (after sex of course) the topic of good old JC came up.

I posed the following question, "Why has it become instinct for Americans to say Jesus Christ in so many instances not involving religion?" If you are scared: Jesus! If you a pissed: Jesus H. Christ! If you are in awe: Jeeesuus Christ! Why don't we say, "Socrates!"? Or perhaps, "Genghis L. Khan!"? Or even, "Siiigmuuund Freud!"? Strange don't you think? Hopefully, one day, people will exclaim, "Jordon P. Cheifet!"

(If you picked up on the Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure reference there you get two bonus points)

So I think I may be taking it easy for a while with the trips since I don't have much vacation remaining. Oh wait, who am I kidding? Trips already planned include Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Ohio. So until next time, keep on keeping on.