My Visits to US States

I have been in 40 US States, and the District Columbia.  Here, I try to catalogue the date or year of my first visit to each state and the most recent visit.  I also note whether I've been to the state capital.


List with map

	State	First Visit	Most Recent
1	Alabama	June 1973	Jan 2005
2	Alaska
3	Arkansas	February 2020	February 2020
4	Arizona	June 1973	May 2023
5	California	May 2017	May 2023
6	Colorado	June 1998	May 2021
7	Connecticut
8	Delaware	October 1989	October 1989
9	Florida	June 1973	October 2023
10	Georgia	June 1974	April 2005
11	Hawaii	February 2011	November 2015
12	New York	October 1989	September 2016
13	Idaho	June 1986	July 2016
14	Indiana	September 2013	September 2013
15	Illinois	May 1988	September 2013
16	Iowa	May 1988	May 1988
17	Kansas	May 1988	January 2005
18	Kentucky	May 1988	January 2005
19	Louisiana	June 1973	May 1988
20	Maryland	February 2005	February 2005
21	Massachusetts
22	Maine
23	Michigan	September 2013	September 2013
24	Missouri	May 1988	January 2005
25	Mississippi	June 1973	January 2005
26	Minnesota	May 1988	March 2013
27	Montana	June 1986	May 2015
28	Nebraska	May 1988	May 2019
29	New Jersey	October 1989	June 2007
30	New Mexico	June 1973	May 2021
31	Nevada	February 1978	December 2023
32	New York	October 1989	September 2016
33	North Carolina	September 2023	September 2023
34	North Dakota
35	Ohio
36	Oklahoma	February 2020	February 2020
37	Oregon	June 1972	May 2023
38	Pennsylvania	October 1989	October 1989
39	Rhode Island
40	South Carolina	September 2023	September 2023
41	South Dakota	May 1988	September 2020
42	Tennessee	May 1988	January 2005
43	Texas	February 1964	February 2020
44	Utah	April 1984	Current
45	Vermont
46	Virginia	May 1982	February 2005
47	Washington	June 2010	May 2023
48	West Virginia
49	Wisconsin	September 2013	September 2013
50	Wyoming	April 1984	December 2023
	District of Columbia	May 1982	February 2005
	Puerto Rico	October 2005	May 2018
	US Virgin Islands	June 2007	May 2018
	Guam

My Geographic Extremes - October 2022

 Prior Entries in this series:

• January 2018
• May 2017
  
• September 2016
• September 2015
• October 2014

I love to travel!  It's fun to keep track of how far north I've been, how far west I've been, etc.

It has been over four years since I last expanded any of my extremes, but this month, I finally travelled to the Southern Hemisphere! It was my first time south of the Equator and my first time in South America,

The first stop was Cartagena, Colombia, which, despite the fact that is was my first time ever in South America, was not a new extreme. Cartagena is about 10.4°N latitude, which was is still north of the latitude of Phuket, Thailand,  7.7°N, which was my southernmost extreme up to then.

The next stop was a change of planes in Bogotá, which was still north of the Equator, but only 4.7° north at the airport.  Temporarily, El Dorado Airport on the northwest side of Bogotá, Colombia, became my new southernmost extreme, but that would last only a few hours, as it would be eclipsed before the next sunrise. I boarded a red-eye flight and continued my southward journey. 

My flight landed in Asunción, Paraguay, at 25.2°S latitude. After a day bouncing around town, the suburb of San Lorenzo, was my new furthest south extreme, at 25.3° S.

 

The following day, I travelled to the border town of Ciudad del Este, which abuts Brazil. Again my southernmost extreme ticked southward a little more, to 25.5° S, and the next morning to 25.6° S when we visited the Paraguayan Three Frontiers Monument at the point where Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina come together. 

 

Finally, on the following day, Wednesday, October 11, 2022, I notched the point which is my current southernmost extreme. Inside Brazil's Iguaçu National Park, I hiked the waterfall trail and arrived at Garganta do Diablo, at  25.69°S latitude.

Here are my current geographic extremes (as of October 15, 2022)

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NORTHERNMOST: 52.57° N

Terminal C at Berlin Tegel airport (TXL)

52° 33' 22.1034" N
13° 17' 52.8282" E

Monday, May 15, 2017

Plot on map

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SOUTHERNMOST: 25.69° S                  

Garganta del Diablo, Iguaçu Falls, 

Paraná, Brazil

25° 41' 27.9" S

54° 26' 13.0" W

Wednesday, October 11, 2022

Plot on Map

   

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EASTERNMOST: 23.95° E

Athens International Airport, Athens, Greece

37° 56' 12.1956" N

23° 56' 48.3106" E

Sunday, September 25, 2016

(repeated Tuesday, September 27, 2016)

Plot on map

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WESTERNMOST: 98.28° E

Between Patong and Karon Beach
Phuket Island, Thailand


7° 51' 44.9346" N
98° 17' 1.4202" E

January 16, 2018

Plot on map









Other temporary easternmost spots during January 2018
January 13, 2018 - Tian Tan Buddha/Ngong PingVillage
Lantau Island, Hong Kong
22° 15' 27.9108" N
113° 54' 6.663" E

January 11, 2018 - Hong Kong International Airport
22.314288 N
113.931159 E

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PRIOR NORTHERNMOST: 52.43° N

On the A10 Ring Road on the north side of Amsterdam

52° 25' 31.5552" N
4° 53' 16.0512" E
Saturday, May 14, 2016

Plot on map

PREVIOUS PRIOR NORTHERNMOST: 51.45° N

On the Trans-Canada Highway, about 8 km NW of Lake Louise, Alberta

51° 27' 30.2652" N
116° 16' 7.3848" W
Saturday, May 23, 2015

Plot on map

PRIOR SOUTHERNMOST: 12.07° N

Caracas Baai, Curaçao

12° 4' 8.439" N
68° 51' 42.1524"

Tuesday, June 13, 2007

Plot on map

PRIOR EASTERNMOST: 7.06° E

Cologne, Germany
Transition ramp from southbound Autobahn 3 to Autobahn 4 and 59, east side of Köln
50° 55' 29.172" N
7° 3' 30.2522" E
Saturday, May 14, 2016

Plot on map

The eastward march of my easternmost point in May 2016

Thursday, May 5, 2016: Heathrow Airport, London
Thursday, May 5, 2016: Tower Bridge, London
Friday, May 6, 2016: Royal Naval Observatory, Greenwich, England
Saturday, May 7, 2016 - 48.88°N 2.36°E: Gare du Nord, Paris
Sunday, May 8, 2016 - 48.86°N 2.39°E: Père La Chaise Cemetery, Paris
Tuesday, May 9, 2016 - 48.87°N 2.78°E: Marne La-Vallée RER Station, Disneyland Paris
Friday, May 13, 2016 - 50.84°N 4.34°E: Bruxelles Midi Station, Brussels*
Friday, May 13, 2016 - 50.84°N 4.38°E: Parlamentarium (European Parliament), Brussels
Friday, May 13, 2016 - 52.38°N 4.90°E: Amsterdam Centraal Station, Amsterdam*
Friday, May 13, 2016 - 52.37°N 4.93°E: Brouwerij t'IJ, Amsterdam

* - Also a new northern record at the time

PRIOR WESTERNMOST: 158.10° W

Haleiwa, Oahu, Hawaii

21° 35' 35.448" N
158° 6' 12.5892" W
Monday, February 14, 2011

Plot on map

Conversions from Decimal to Degrees /Minutes/Seconds:
https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/dms-decimal

Secret Recipes Revealed Durinig Coronavirus Pandemic

Published April 10, 2020

Hilton Doubletree Hotels Chocolate Chip Cookies.

https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/doubletree-hotel-official-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe

Ingredients:

½ pound butter, softened (2 sticks)
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2¼ cups flour
½ cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch cinnamon
2⅔ cups Nestle Tollhouse semi-sweet chocolate chips
1¾ cups chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
2. Add eggs, vanilla and lemon juice, blending with mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, then medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy, scraping down bowl.
3. With mixer on low speed, add flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, blending for about 45 seconds. Don’t overmix.
4. Remove bowl from mixer and stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
5. Portion dough with a scoop (about 3 tablespoons) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart.
6. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and center is still soft.
7. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet for about 1 hour.

Cook’s note: You can freeze the unbaked cookies, and there’s no need to thaw. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and place frozen cookies on parchment paper-lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden brown and center is still soft.

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Disneyland Churros Recipe

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2020/04/cooking-up-the-magic-create-disneymagicmoments-at-home-with-disney-parks-churro-bites-recipe/

Ingredients

1 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1½ cups vegetable or canola oil
½ cup sugar

Instructions

1. Combine water, butter, salt, and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon in 1 ½-quart saucepan over medium heat. Bring pot to rolling boil.
2. Reduce heat to low.
3. Add flour and stir vigorously until mix forms a ball. Remove from heat and let rest for 5-7 min.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, and stir until combined. Set aside.
5. Heat oil in medium skillet or 1-quart saucepan over medium-high heat or until temperature reaches 350˚F.
6. Spoon dough into piping bag fitted with large star tip. Pipe 1-inch strip of dough over saucepan, cut with knife, and drop into hot oil. Repeat until churro bites fill saucepan with room to fry.
7. Fry churro bites until golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon or mesh spider strainer.
8. Drain churro bites on paper towel.
9. Mix sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon in medium bowl. Toss in churro bites until coated. Place on serving plate and serve with favorite dipping sauce.

Requiem for Notre Dame

It's not just the loss of a church.
It's not just a loss for Catholics.
It's not just a loss for Paris, nor for France.

Mais, non!

Today all of us have lost a treasure. A legacy bequeathed to us by medievel engineers, who devised the now-famous flying buttresses and figured out how to make towering, load-bearing walls stand tall and stand strong for eight centuries, and by craftsmen and artisans who devoted their entire lives and gave us the best of their talents scultpting stones, carving wood, and staining glass to create a simply beautiful cathedral, in the name of God.

I've had a sad, sickened feeling deep in my gut all afternoon.
Today's fire has left me empty and in disbelief.

Notre Dame survived the tumultuous history of France.
Notre Dame survived the French Revolution.
Notre Dame survived Hitler's occupation.
Today, however, Notre Dame is gone.

And it's a loss for humankind.

My Geographic Extremes - January 2018

Prior Entries in this series:

• May 2017
• September 2016
• September 2015
• October 2014

I love to travel!  It's fun to keep track of how far north I've been, how far west I've been, etc. I still haven't managed to get out of the northern hemisphere (the closest I've come to South America is the island of Curaçao, about 25 miles north of the Venezuelan coast), but I have really stretched my boundaries over the past couple of years.

In January 2018, I finally went so far west, that I was actually in east longitude! On January 10. 2018, I crossed the International Date Line for the first time, which meant that it instantly became January 11 as I hit eastern longitude. Nevertheless, until I finally circumnavigate the entire globe, I will continue to treat this a a "westernmost" extreme; after all, I did fly west to get there.

Interesting oddity: Two of the four compass point extremes are located on islands, and the other two are located at airports.

Here are my current geographic extremes (as of January 21, 2018)

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NORTHERNMOST: 52.57° N

Terminal C at Berlin Tegel airport (TXL)

52° 33' 22.1034" N
13° 17' 52.8282" E

Monday, May 15, 2017

Plot on map

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SOUTHERNMOST: 7.68° N

Maya Bay, Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

7° 40' 43.5" N

98° 45' 57.7" E

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Plot on map

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EASTERNMOST: 23.95° E

Athens International Airport, Athens, Greece

37° 56' 12.1956" N

23° 56' 48.3106" E

Sunday, September 25, 2016

(repeated Tuesday, September 27, 2016)

Plot on map

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WESTERNMOST: 98.28° E

Between Patong and Karon Beach
Phuket Island, Thailand


7° 51' 44.9346" N
98° 17' 1.4202" E

January 16, 2018

Plot on map









Other temporary easternmost spots during January 2018
January 13, 2018 - Tian Tan Buddha/Ngong PingVillage
Lantau Island, Hong Kong
22° 15' 27.9108" N
113° 54' 6.663" E

January 11, 2018 - Hong Kong International Airport
22.314288 N
113.931159 E

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PRIOR NORTHERNMOST: 52.43° N

On the A10 Ring Road on the north side of Amsterdam

52° 25' 31.5552" N
4° 53' 16.0512" E
Saturday, May 14, 2016

Plot on map

PREVIOUS PRIOR NORTHERNMOST: 51.45° N

On the Trans-Canada Highway, about 8 km NW of Lake Louise, Alberta

51° 27' 30.2652" N
116° 16' 7.3848" W
Saturday, May 23, 2015

Plot on map

PRIOR SOUTHERNMOST: 12.07° N

Caracas Baai, Curaçao

12° 4' 8.439" N
68° 51' 42.1524"

Tuesday, June 13, 2007

Plot on map

PRIOR EASTERNMOST: 7.06° E

Cologne, Germany
Transition ramp from southbound Autobahn 3 to Autobahn 4 and 59, east side of Köln
50° 55' 29.172" N
7° 3' 30.2522" E
Saturday, May 14, 2016

Plot on map

The eastward march of my easternmost point in May 2016

Thursday, May 5, 2016: Heathrow Airport, London
Thursday, May 5, 2016: Tower Bridge, London
Friday, May 6, 2016: Royal Naval Observatory, Greenwich, England
Saturday, May 7, 2016 - 48.88°N 2.36°E: Gare du Nord, Paris
Sunday, May 8, 2016 - 48.86°N 2.39°E: Père La Chaise Cemetery, Paris
Tuesday, May 9, 2016 - 48.87°N 2.78°E: Marne La-Vallée RER Station, Disneyland Paris
Friday, May 13, 2016 - 50.84°N 4.34°E: Bruxelles Midi Station, Brussels*
Friday, May 13, 2016 - 50.84°N 4.38°E: Parlamentarium (European Parliament), Brussels
Friday, May 13, 2016 - 52.38°N 4.90°E: Amsterdam Centraal Station, Amsterdam*
Friday, May 13, 2016 - 52.37°N 4.93°E: Brouwerij t'IJ, Amsterdam

* - Also a new northern record at the time

PRIOR WESTERNMOST: 158.10° W

Haleiwa, Oahu, Hawaii

21° 35' 35.448" N
158° 6' 12.5892" W
Monday, February 14, 2011

Plot on map

Conversions from Decimal to Degrees /Minutes/Seconds:
https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/dms-decimal

I now have a travel blog, the Selfie Traveler

Find my travel posts there instead.

selfietravelerblog.wordpress.com

Black Tuesday of 1987

Today is the 30th anniversary of the stock market crash of October 19, 1987. On that day, the Dow Jones Industrials average fell 508 points in one day at time when the average was only at 2200 to begin with. It would be the equivalent of a 5000 point drop today.

I remember being worried that another Depression was coming, but since I was young and had only a small amount invested back then, I left my 401k in the market. The good news was that less than six months later, the entire plunge had been recovered ...and more.

What I learned from that experience was never to panic, and certainly never pull out when prices are low. It's a lesson that served me well back in 2008 when the market lost nearly half of its value -- not in one day, both over a relatively short period of a few months. Then too, I did not pull my money out, and I have been rewarded with a near quadruple of the market since the low in early 2009.

The lesson I take from it is this: slow and steady wins the race. if you're in it for the long term, just keep putting money away, and don't fret about the short term movements on Wall Street. Other people want us to sell in a panic ..so they can profit on your losses.