Where I've been...

My mom suggested that I also post a list of all the states I've been to, and I thought I'd just do an updated "Where I've been" map. Hopefully soon I will be adding to it, as I'm so close to states I've never visited before. here it is:

visited 27 states (54%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or determine the next president

I have finally arrived!

Part of the reason I planned my route through St Louis was so that I could isit the Gateway Arch. So sunday morning before leaving St Louis to head to Nashville, I went down to the Riverview park where the arch is. It took me a little bit to find the parking lot as it was down on the levy out of sight from the road. I finally parked (just barely getting the cheaper price of $4 instead of $6) and the walked up to the park. The Gateway Arch is so much bigger than I thought it was from the pictures! It was so huge, I couldn't hardly get it all in one picture. It was a beautiful day to see the arch. You can see some of my pics below, and more on myspace or facebook (if you are on my friends list). After that I didn't really pay attention to things around me, because all I really wanted to do was get to Nashville as soon as I could.

One thing I did on my trip was keep a running tab of state license plates to see how many different ones I saw... here is what I found:

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Michigan

Minnesota

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

North Dakota

Ohio
Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Washington

Wisconsin

Wyoming

I also saw these Canadian plates:

British Columbia

Manitoba

Ontario

Only 1.5 days to go!

Was just going to get directly on the freeway but then I saw a flyer for this cool-looking park in downtown Council Bluffs, so I decided to check it out. It had some really interesting structures in the center of the park. One was part of the fountain that isn't currently running (presumably because of the changing weather). It was a nice start to the day. (see pics below)
Finally I've had some change in scenery. Missouri has more hills and greenery (or rather trees changing colors), than western Iowa did.
Once I reached Kansas City area I noticed a definite change in humidity levels. Just east of Kansas City the sun disappeared behind a foggy haze. It continued until almost right before St Louis, and then the fog disappeared and the sun came out again.
I went through Warrenton, MO and noticed a distinct smell of Onions. I'm ready to be done with my trip. Now that I'm so close, I kind of just want to get there.