Category: U.S. States
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Nearly Willow
Many months ago I explored the Worst State Capital Locations and received a number of thoughtful and insightful comments. I examined conditions from various perspectives including the most inconveniently located state capital for an individual traveling from the largest city. Juneau, Alaska won that part of the competition hands-down. Residents from Anchorage face a daunting…
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Iron Butt Rally
I’d had a vague notion of the premise behind the Iron Butt Association, a loose organization of people addicted to extremely long-distance motorcycle rides. But the basic membership, the absolutely easiest level, requires a documented ride of 1,000 miles (1,600 km) within 24 hours. They call it the SaddleSore 1000. Rides quickly increase in difficulty…
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Welcome
Welcome. It sounds so welcoming when used as a town name, as if the town founders and developers genuinely wanted visitors and residents alike to enjoy their time there. It sets a nice tone and a pleasant expectation. Settlements named Welcome exist in a number of areas. I’m actually a little surprised there aren’t a…
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Highest Lowpoints
There’s a tendency to wonder about the highest point of land as one examines an area from afar. People make quite a hobby out of of collecting visits to those highpoints even for remarkably small subunits. I’ve been know to do that myself and I’ve featured the results of my efforts on these very pages.…
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Bill Williams’ Fingerprints
Peering at a random spot on a map — one of my favorite hobbies — showed a river with a name so ordinary it seemed unusual. I realize that’s an oxymoron so bear with me a little while and hear me out. Rivers often carry the names of the topography that surrounds it. Sometimes it’s…
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Running the Table
Running the table occurs in billiards when a player takes the break shot, pockets every required ball, and wins the game outright before his opponent ever has a chance to take a single shot. The entire sequence happens flawlessly, a perfect balance of skill and luck with awesome and impressive results. I’ve been trying to…
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Potomac in Oregon
Is there a Potomac River in Oregon? I’m only aware of the one that forms a boundary between Virginia and Maryland/Washington, DC and out to West Virginia. However, I’ve been receiving a slow but steady trickle of search engine queries on the topic for the last several weeks. Maybe I’m missing something. Is there a…
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What’s “Almost Heaven?”
We examined a song containing a blatant geographic inaccuracy in a recent article, “In Them Old Cotton Fields.” I left a hint for readers when I stated that I too took offense at a song with an equally irritating error, one having to do with the Mountain State. Many of you probably knew the answer…
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Car Talk State Name Answer
I’m not a listener of the Car Talk radio show. However, apparently they do a Puzzler each week and people try to send them the correct answer by email. I know this because my website gets hammered by Google searches anytime they deal with geographic trivia. I guess there aren’t many geo-oddity sites on the…
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In Them Old Cotton Fields
Little did reader Ian Dunbar realize that he struck a nerve when he commented on the Bordersplit article. It had nothing to do with his fine words or sentiment. I was in total agreement. Glaring geographical errors in songs grate on my nerves too. My nemesis happens to be a completely different musical composition but…