MarkTime TravelLogs Present...

My 101 Favorite Trips

8 August 2000
An updated version of an article I ran in MarkTime a couple years ago, in turn a big improvement on one I compiled late in 1994.  It has been expanded to 101 trips, and has more meat on its bones.

The number in (parentheses) is the rank it had in the 11/94 list.  "new" would be any trip taken since...not many, "thanks" to the loss of income and vacation days in the meantime, though with the shift to quality over quantity, newbies include 4 of the top 10!  "n/r" were trips eligible but not noted in MarkTime zine #35.  Some were simply forgotten before, others I have here now to include any trip which was the first visit to one or more new states or provinces (name in italics), and any where I "finished" one or more states, county-wise.  Alas, my first visits to Wisconsin and to Indiana were before I could remember, and for Illinois I did not have to cross a state line the first time I was there, ha.  New states, and "completed" (to all counties) are mentioned within the summary in order of occurrence.

These are strictly summaries...some full reports are now online, though I will have to add the links later.  Most trips since 1990 have been reported on in the pages of the MarkTime and FortyTwo zines.  Let me know if you would like a more detailed account of any other trip!

  1. Extraterrestrial Highways & Byways 9/96 (new) - 'Bout time I explored the desert Southwest!  I would end up completing all remaining counties of Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, but I still wanna go back!  Too many highlights...Routes 66 and 666, Ship Rock, Four Corners, Glen Canyon, US 6 and 95 across Nevada, Extraterrestrial Highway, Roswell, more!  Detailed in MarkTime #41.
  2. Northwest Passage 8&9/97 (new) - I had put this tour off for about 10 years, until I could string together 2 weeks' vacation, but I finally had to give up and cram it into a week.  Was also about time I explored Portland, the Columbia River Gorge, the Washington interior, and what the heck a day-trip to Juneau.  All this using trains, planes and minivans.  Completed Washington, and first visit to Alaska.  Covered to death in MarkTime #45.
  3. Northeast Bus Tour 5/79 (1) - Still a sentimental fave around here, covering much new territory, and back when overnight bus rides were not always a cramped ordeal.  Thanks to a Greyhound Ameripass, got my first looks at Pennsylvania, New York (state and City), Connecticut, Massachusetts and Québec.  Ran into some old Chicago zine and film pals in Middletown CT and metro Boston, and flew in a DC-3 from Logan to the Cape and back.
  4. Northeast Motor Tour 3/89 (3) - Two weeks of sustained driving lunacy.  Nice weather for mid-March helped a lot.  Dropped in on my sister in Buffalo, with a side-trip to Niagara Falls (still partially frozen despite it being warm already), then I took off for Cooperstown, Boston, Washington, Akron and many points in between.  Got my first looks at Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and West Virginia, plus completed Connecticut and Delaware.
  5. Miami to Chicago 5/80 (2) - ...With a little side-ride to Boston, Providence, Ottawa, Montréal and Toronto thrown in for the heck of it, thanks to another nice Ameripass. First visits to Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware and Rhode Island.  First section of a month-long travel spree (see also #31, #36 and #97 on this here list).
  6. Exposed to Expo 7/86 (10) - This reporter's only World's Fair, so far. An old (and, alas, since-vanished) Vancouver friend lived a long walk from the grounds, so I got in several days at Expo 86.  A too-quick day in Seattle on the way back.  Most of the travel via Green Tortoise, an adventure in itself.
  7. Southwest Amtrek 9/93 (7) - Trained to Santa Fe, then on to Los Angeles, returning via Las Vegas.  My most thorough southern California explorations prior to the 11/99 move, including a one-day loop of San Diego, Imperial Valley, Salton Sea and Palm Springs, plus a slow drive north for a too-quick San Francisco stop.  Unofficially my hottest temp ever to that point, a dry 109 on a "Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" walk from Las Vegas to Henderson. Stories in MarkTime #25.
  8. Texas Chainstore Massacre 9/92 (13) - Friend and me took a simple plan, to see Astros and Rangers home games, and built it into a big, mileage-eating excursion to/from Saint Louis.  Brief stops made in Oklahoma City, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Tulsa.  Pal had to be back home Thursday night, so I spent the rest of the week bouncing around the southern third of Illinois to "complete" my home state by Saturday morning.  Covered in MarkTime #16.
  9. Western Oklahoma 1/95 (new) - Took a chance on the short-lived revival of Midway Airlines for a cheap long-weekend from Midway to DFW.  Had it in mind to complete Oklahoma, an insane goal considering the size of the state, but I did manage to cover the farther half, by way of the Texas panhandle, also nipping corners in New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas.  Except for the busy Liberal KS area, driving out there is as relaxed as it could be for the long distances involved, and folks actually wave to each other.
  10. Eastern Oklahoma 11/95 (new) - Essentially the second half of trip #9, thanks to a Xgiving deal on American to DFW.  Holiday meal at Furr's in Muskogee, and completed Oklahoma the next evening.  Also picked up new chunks in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas, just between Weds. night and Saturday morning.
  11. Tape Delivery Service 4/94 (8) - Sold the bulk of my tape collection to a New Jersey resident, and thought it would be fun to deliver them myself.  Long as I was driving, picked up counties and ballparks along the way, eventually completing New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and putting a serious dent in the Ohio and New York county counts. Full report was in MarkTime #35.
  12. Baseball Tour 5&6/91 (12) - A friend and me worked out a week of ballparks in the northeast US, and by first "Play Ball!" it was a threesome going to Riverfront, Baltimore Memorial, Veterans, Yankee and Cleveland Stadiums.  No Shea, as they were at Wrigley at the time!?.  One of the 3 also ran up to Fenway, but I opted to use the time to explore New York City.  We also caught the 9th inning of a game in Salem VA, and got in a good day's touring of Philadelphia.  Discussed briefly in MarkTime #6.  Ballpark fans, check my site!
  13. Last of the Great Bus Tours 6&7/85 (6) - Back to Chicago for a week, using a Greydog Ameripass one last time, making a stop in Flagstaff and first pass through Oklahoma on the way out, and Des Moines on the way back.  Got to see lots of Route 66 signs before they were taken down, and the trip was timed for Taste Of Chicago and Milwaukee's Summerfest.  Bummers were problems at the St Louis bus station, causing me to cancel plans to explore that city too, and some of the buses already had the extra row of seats that would make any future Greyhound rides a sardine's nightmare.
  14. Three-Headed Trip 6/94 (21) - A weekend down to the Blue Ridge Mountains, a couple weekdays in northeast Ohio, then a hot, sweaty tour of iceless Québec and New Brunswick.  At some point, got into Charlotte and Mount Airy NC, Jacobs Field, most of Montréal's subway lines, the Québec City funicular, my remaining needed New York counties, and sampled a peculiarly Rochester hot dog.  Full write-up was in MarkTime #31.
  15. Hey, Rockies! 7/94 (17) - My first explorations of Denver, and eastern Colorado in general, despite the lack of either sleep or oxygen.  Quite a crowd at Mile High, 71k to see the Rockies just miss a league record for walks.  Quite a lack of crowds on the high plains.  Poked my nose in the Air Force Academy, and at a pre-Stampede fest in Cheyenne WY.  Story in MarkTime #32.
  16. Decal Delivery 1/92 (16) - Dropped off a lifetime's accumulation of radio and TV station stickers at the home of some goof who has since vanished, aargh.  At least he paid enough for me to delivery the boxes myself.  I did so by way of Athens, the World of Coca Cola, an old Chicago and Coral Gables friend who had just happened to recently move to Clearwater, my biggest snow-storm of the season just north of Jackson Mississippi, and a science fiction APA get-together near Tupelo.  Oh yeah, also finished off the rest of the Florida counties. Details were in MarkTime #10.
  17. New Jersey & the Southeast 6/90 (11) - Flew to Saint Louis, both for the cheaper rental car and for a different angle across Illinois, Indiana and Ohio en route to Akron.  Hilarity ensued when I had to take some dirt roads to pick up Jasper Co., Illinois, and then later missed a turn and found myself driving through a quarry at 2am.  Met a pal at Akron for a weekend's jaunt to a Scottish Games and a cheesesteak near Philly, a radio GTG and water-slide park in New Jersey.  After return to Akron, I continued south, taking the wacky US 250 halfway across West Virginia, then a lovely bit of Blue Ridge Parkway, through the tourist-infested Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park, radio station visits in Huntsville and Memphis, and my first explorations of Arkansas.
  18. Memphis One Below, Mississippi Tupelo 10&11/91 (14) - Was over 60 even up to Friday morning in Salem IL, but by afternoon in Cairo was already in the low 30s.  Stayed two nights in a friend's mobile home near Graceland, but did little in Memphis itself...we would instead tour much of northern Mississippi and a piece of Arkansas.  Attended a nice APA get-together in Saltillo, Mississippi on the way back, and drove the northern half of the Natchez Trace.
  19. Bay Area Redux 11/88 (19) - Having never driven the whole time I lived out there, this return trip offered a different perspective.  Flew into SFO, but immediately drove off to Fresno to visit a since-vanished friend there and in Bakersfield.  Also spent a day in Reno, by way of the Sutter Buttes.  Otherwise, split my time between a couple pals in the Bay Area, and put in a couple guest re-appearances on KALX.
  20. Secret Service 8/73 (20) - Sister Susan had a thriving baby-sitting business at the time.  When she and Betsy got to go to Maine (16 years before I did, but who's bitter?), I would cover a few of her jobs, including the plum assignment of escorting a kid up to his grandparents' home in Merrill Wisconsin, where I would spend a week experiencing some small-city and rural life.
  21. SFO 10/78 (4) - My first California visit, flying out to the San Francisco area for a week.  Tried out all the various forms of public transit (inc. streetcars, cable cars, BART and a ferry), and got down to San Jose for a day.
  22. Williamsburg & Maryland 11/93 (39) - A pal had booked a promotional ticket when Southwest introduced Chicago-Baltimore service, only to then wind up with Bulls tickets for their season opener, so passed along the plane tickets to this reporter.  Used the opportunity to spend a long weekend covering my remaining needed Maryland counties, along with every Virginia county and independent city still needed east of I-95 (well, all except Fredericksburg I.C.), plus tried out a different Metro line into Washington, and both rail lines Baltimore had open at the time.  Story covered in MarkTime #24.
  23. Dakota Territory 5/92 (31) - Shared trip with a friend who wanted to check out several North and South Dakota spots just before the start of the tourist season.  Finally got to the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Roosevelt Nat'l Park, and both state capitals, and took a helpful big bite out of the needed Iowa counties both ways.
  24. We ARE in Kansas, Toto! 8/99 (new) - An all-too-rare-anymore shared county hunt, with another friend in need of lots of Kansas.  I went in a day early to get as many as I could that only I needed, then met the other guy at Kansas City.  After nipping a few I needed in Missouri and he needed in Oklahoma, we zig-zagged across the length and/or breadth of western KS, then covered our last few in the north-central part (I planned the route deliberately so we both needed the same last county).  Still had 24 hours left, so I got some needed southern Nebraska counties, and we popped into several Kansas City-area record stores and radio stations.
  25. Mooning Miami 1/90 (24) - A rare driving tour of the area where I originally learned to drive (yes, tis amazing it does not show, ha).  Besides familiar spots between downtown Miami and Dadeland, also covered uncharted territories in Broward and Palm Beach, plus circled Lake Okeechobee (at night, yawn) and ran down to Key West for my fill of Cuban radio. Flub-up at MIA meant an unscheduled overnight at an Atlanta motel (and they wonder why Eastern croaked).
  26. Iowa Lot To Nebraska 9/94 (32) - A pal wanted to do some trainspotting in Nebraska, fine by me if we drove there via the Iowa counties I still needed.  We never did see any trains, as we were too busy also picking off a bunch of eastern Nebraska counties, attending a Northern League game in Sioux City, checking out a couple Bishop's Buffets and battling fog around Storm Lake IA (the town's Labor Day firework show went on regardless).  Read all about it in MarkTime #33.
  27. Boston & Maine 6/93 (29) - ...Though the only trains involved were all the Boston light-rail and/or subway routes. Finally got to Fenway, joy somewhat tempered by the expensive dump of a Susse Chalet in Newton. Nice walking tours of Cambridge and Somerville with a couple members of an APA I'd just quit, and then got to stay at the home of the one from West Brookfield. The other 3 nights were spent at the very over-priced Motel 6 in Braintree, but at least it's near the Red Line and the cost was split with a pal whose Boston trip overlapped mine. We went down to Rhode Island for a minor league game and for my last needed county, up to Maine and New Hampshire for LL Bean and both state capitals, and oh yes just a bit of Boston and Cambridge exploration. Complete story was in MarkTime #24.
  28. Summerfest 7/74 (22) - Just a simple overnight stay in Milwaukee for their annual lakefront music fest, featured group that night Sha Na Na. Main significance was this being my first unauthorized solo adventure...caught holy heck as expected, but I was finally too big to catch Mother Dearest's physical violence, and hey when I reported on the Milwaukee County Museum, we wound up going several times the next couple years.
  29. Amtrak Up, Greyhound Back 12/76-1/77 (15) - First trip back to Chicago after the first move elsewhere, using the since-defunct Miami-Chicago train route up, and returning on the bus to visit Dad and Laurie in Cincinnati on the way. Second half of the tour coincided with the start of a nasty prolonged deep-freeze. Amtrak gave me my first look at Alabama.
  30. Go South, Young Man 8/76 (23) - The actual first move, riding down with the family I was moving in with. Stops en route included Cincinnati, Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park, Charleston and Cape Kennedy.  First times in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
  31. Toronto 12/67? (5) - Most memorable from being my first flight, first streetcar ride, and just a rare activity for Dad and me before his crumudgeon streak turned to pure evil.
  32. Keep On Truckin' 6/80 (n/r) - Section 4 of the Nomadic Month.  Friend I was staying with in Eugene had some business in California, and I tagged along. Needed to hitchhike on I-5 just a couple minutes before snagging a friendly trucker heading for San Jose. Got to sit in the trucker's section at a truck stop restaurant (rarely drank coffee to then, but was accepted and appreciated). Roamed San Francisco for the day, then BARTed and bused to overnight with a mutual pal in San Jose. Return was only marginally more conventional, some bus outfit similar to Green Tortoise.
  33. Pittsburgh Painting 9/90 (18) - Used a DX convention as an excuse to visit what became one of my favorite cities. Would meet up with several attendees who could also speak of non-radio topics for more than 10 seconds at a time, so I did not have to attend it myself, whew!
  34. Minicon-Wausau 4/93 (50) - Return visit to my favorite regional science fiction convention, more fun than the first (trip #65).  Added a day to attend a Twins game, explore more of the fringes of the Twin Cities, take in just a little bit of tax-free clothes shopping, and to drive back via Wausau and Appleton.
  35. Carolinas 12/94-1/95 (new) - A friend's annual New Year's trip to Myrtle Beach is altered for our mutual goal of finishing up needed South Carolina counties. We flew into different North Carolina cities, to grab the best fares from our respective areas, then met in Charlotte for New Year's Eve swing around northern and western South Carolina. Quick drive and foot tour of Charleston the next afternoon, with a side-ride to Folly Beach.  Dirt-cheap ocean-view hotel in deserted tourist hole Myrtle, almost warm enough for beach weather, with much-too-late side-trip to Wilmington NC, and a zig-zag route across east and north South Carolina for both of us to finish it just before dark.
  36. Alabama 3/96 (new) - Another long-weekend fare deal on American, this time into Nashville.  Had originally thought to complete Tennessee, but my neededs covered the length of the state, the roads in the mountains would not be quick any time of year, plus nasty weather almost cancelled the flight down. Plan B was to struggle down to Alabama.  Was already clear skies and somewhat warm at Chattanooga, where I checked out their neat old ballpark and the nerve-wracking steep Lookout Mountain Incline. Alternated clear skies and buckets of rain Sunday and Monday as I covered many needed counties in western Georgia, all around Alabama, and even a few in Mississippi.  Trying to outrun a particularly nasty line of t-storms on US-80, I neglected to take a 3-mile side-drive so missed Greene County, aargh! Still warm up to Huntsville on the homebound leg, then the rain switched to snow, very heavy by Nashville. The snow seemed to scare most of the locals off the roads, so I still got back in plenty of time...only to wait out a mechanical problem with the plane back to Chicago.
  37. Chicago-Seattle Drive 5/80 (36) - Part 2 of the all-time travel month. After a few days back in Chicago, was kidnapped by a wacko pal driving from Arizona to Seattle by way of his own pilgrimage to Chicago (am told he still disavows ever having lived in this area?!?). Popped in on the graduation of a mutual friend in Grinnell, then we radio station-raided in Des Moines, Twin Cities, Sioux Falls, Mitchell (the real live KORN!) and Billings.  Had to dodge Mt. St. Helens ash from Missoula to Spokane, causing a scenic detour up to state route 20, which inspired one of my favorite fake air names, "Slick Rhodes"...got to witness a car flipping over even (as mentioned in MarkTime #45's coverage of trip #2).  First visits to South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington.
  38. A New England 5/98 (new) - Finishing up counties in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont on a nice 5-day weekend. Also Fenway Park and too many CD stores. All the poop in MarkTime #50.
  39. Roam Buffalo 11/90 (25) - ...plus Sarnia, London, Kitchener, Toronto, Ithaca NY and the very exotic Fonthill, ONT (sarcasm).  A fly-drive deal via Detroit, with lots of rain but just warm enough.  Funny, Thanksgiving is just another work-day in Toronto? (Duh, of course I know, but some folks just don't "get" it...).
  40. Indiana-Plus 7/96 (new) - 2nd annual Indy Day in Indy weekend, learning from the small mistakes of the first one, and also taking a side-ride down to Columbus IN for a self-guided architecture tour, with an ill-advised route back home via Nashville and Bloomington.  Got to all 3 area Half-Price Books, and I still have books to read from this trip!
  41. The Topeka Is... 7/97 (new) - Another county-hunting adventure built around a ballpark. Desperate for any new park in '97, before the Kingdome visit was finalized, I would sacrifice sanity with a 48-hour deal involving flying to Kansas City (on TWA, at that, ick). A great circle grabbed me all the Missouri counties west of I-35, then I nipped a couple in Nebraska and sped through some in northeast Kansas. Met a fellow APA-hacker in Lawrence, then off to Kaufmann Stadium for what would alas be the closest they came to a sell-out to that point in the season.
  42. Ohio Players 4/95 (new) - Pre-booked this long weekend just before the sudden Final Screwing by the EviLCA.  I was still jobless at take-off time but went anyway.  Flew to Columbus the Thursday before Easter, and surprised myself by painlessly picking off all the Ohio counties I'd still needed by sunset that same day, and even one in West Virginia.  Met with friends the next couple days, for baseball in Canton and a day-trip to Pittsburgh.  To save money I brought the car back to Columbus early enough to shave off a day, and then was able to hop an earlier flight back to Chicago.
  43. South Florida 4/76 (33) - First visit to Florida, to visit a family I knew from Chicago.  Was during my spring break, and even though my friend had school that week, we did get in trips to the Everglades and other nearby places, and anyway I needed a quiet week after a rough stretch of school- and home-life.  Was so effective, I would ask if I could move down in time for the 76-77 school year (see trip #29).
  44. Niagara Falls!? 10/65 (28) - Some of you kiddies probably would be surprised and shocked to hear that commercial passenger railroads once roamed the North American continent.  They would sometimes even have train tour deals out of Chicago, and I got to take 3 of them in consecutive Octobers.  The first was an already-cold weekend to Toronto, just enough time to hike up to the Bay and Eaton's, then we hopped a bus to Niagara Falls. We met the return train near Hamilton.  First trip outside the US, for Canada in general and Ontario specifically.
  45. Lake Michigan Circle Tour 7/88 (54) - My first car rental, first trip deliberately staged to pick up new counties, and first solo long-haul drive all rolled into one. Wanted to test my endurance for long-haul driving, and this 3-day trip sure tested me!  Friday was spent with a minor radio-geek pal in Fort Wayne.  Took off perhaps a bit too late that evening, not reaching coastal Michigan until well past midnight. Fortunately, my friend near Muskegon kept weird hours thanks to working in radio at the time. Bummed around WKJR and Grand Haven/Spring Lake a couple hours, then on to a beach in Manistee for a brief nap.  The east shore of Loch Mich has many fine dunes, the stars being at the Sleeping Bear Dunes Nat'l Lakeshore. Mackinac Bridge most impressive.  Pushed on to Door County Wisconsin, before a nap break at a rest area south of Green Bay, then an easy drive back to Chicago Sunday.
  46. Cincinnati & Indiana 2/89 (52) - Laurie's first time back in Cincinnati since she lived there 1975-77. I took a direct route down, but then took a creative county-hopping route back up, via Dayton, Muncie, Kokomo, etc.
  47. Seattle 7/83 (44) - Took the Green Tortoise to visit Susan, and to attend the IRCA DX convention. The ride up coincided with a...let's see if I remember how to spell it, Rajneesh?...gathering in northeast Oregon. I happened to be wearing a red T-shirt, so all these red and reddish-orange-clad cult members would sit around me, very friendly. Trip would rank much higher, except unexpected expenses caused me to cancel a side-ride up to Vancouver, and plans I was making to perhaps move back to Seattle were gummed up when my sister took her own vacation trip, to Buffalo...and returned to Seattle only just long enough to pack and move east.
  48. Coral Gables-Berkeley-Boise 6&7/81 (9) - Sick of dead-end job, and having just hosted a disaster area of a radio get-together (many came expecting a full-service convention, without having to pay for one), all I could do was take it easy for a couple weeks.  Long as I was just gonna sit there, why not buy a Greyhound Ameripass?  Dropped in on the Coral Gables pals for a couple days, then rode the Miami-San Francisco route to one stop from the end, visiting Mom in the Bay Area for a couple days.  Was to find a job in the Boise area and stay with a goofball semi-pal there for awhile, but in the days between my last call from Chicago and my arrival in Idaho, he had become forgetful, unhelpful and just plain pissy, so while on my way back to Chicago long enough to pack up my stuff, it hit me that Boise was going to be a bad move..."California is the place you ought to be".  First visits to Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Utah.
  49. Double Twin Cities 9/90 (37) - A big fan of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area invited me along on one of his visits...he was fond of saying, "Only 3 reasons I don't move there: December, January and February". A side-trip to another Twin Cities, Duluth-Superior.
  50. London-Buffalo-Rochester 9/93 (51) - The very same pal was also hoping to catch a London radio station while it was still cranking out the hits, enough to fly to Detroit and drive there.  Southwest happened to have one of their "Friends Fly Free" deals  right then, so we worked out a shared trip also including visiting Susan in Buffalo.  Alas, he just missed the station's switch to talk (we still saw billboards for the old programming!), and we were also 3 weeks too late for London's AA baseball team...I would catch them in Wilmington, DE the following April as the "Trenton Thunder", and they did not mean Ontario.  Showed him around some of the better and lesser architecture of Buffalo, made a pilgrimage to the wacky "Old Man River" restaurant, we visited a mutual acquaintance in the area, then we drove Susan to Rochester for a surprise visit to her boyfriend (as of press time, they are still together, more or less).
  51. Missouri Loves Company 11/97 (new) - After long negotiations, and nail-biting over short-notice airfares once a plan was finally established, a fellow county-counter met me in Saint Louis for a long weekend's tour of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas.  Took significant bites out of my MO neededs, and got some from AR and KS; my pal got his last Arkansas on this one, and got most of his hardest remaining OK counties.  Also good for me getting daytime photos of the very spot where I bagged my last OK county back in '95 (see trip #10), and we got to the Furr's Cafeteria in Fort Smith.
  52. Give Thanks For Alabama 11/98 (new) - Mid-Xgiving weekend dash south, grabbing that lone needed Alabama county (see trip #35), plus visits to Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Kentucky.  First stop at a CiCi's pizza buffet, on a 75-degree day in Jackson Mississippi. Full details in MarkTime 55...the short version was in APA Centauri #114.
  53. Iowa Baseball 8/91 (38) - Games in Burlington, Clinton and Davenport on consecutive nights, with a side trip to Dubuque on day 2.
  54. Sacramento-Santa Rosa-Fresno 4/87 (30) - The first two were separate day-trips, the latter an Amtrak ride at the end of the same week. Really hot for so early in the year...got a nasty sunburn during my walking tour east and northeast of Sacto, but did get to try out their then-new light rail. Fresno portion included a stop at the legendary KCHJ Delano, the calls the initials of the owner and afternoon jock, who was still the latter 20 years after a fatal run-in with a tree on his way home one night in 1968.
  55. Train to Chicago, via Buffalo 3/88 (27) - My move back to Chicago, so perhaps you'll understand the dive it takes in the "ratings" as time goes on? Amtrek first to Buffalo, to visit Susan for a couple cold days, including our willing her car up to Toronto for a few hours, then to the new digs in Chicago.
  56. LA and Orange 4/82 (56) - My first bit of vacation time at the San Francisco job, mostly spent around town (such as my only major league Opening Day to date, Giants over Padres hurrah), but for a cheap 2-day side-diversion I took the soon-to-croak Pacific Express up on a ridiculously low SFO-LAX fare, then braved public transit to/from Hollywood, downtown LA and down to Santa Ana and El Toro to meet a pen-pal living in south Orange County.  Lack of lockers at the downtown and Hollywood bus stations meant lugging luggage to each radio station visit, and for an evening stroll on a long stretch of Sunset Blvd.  Good in a way, as the bags warded off most of the inevitable working-girl foot traffic along the way.
  57. Saint Louis 4/97 (new) - Wacky when I think about it...used to visit Saint Louis often with a friend when he lived in the Quad Cities, but never could work out a meet-up the entire time he lived near Busch Stadium.  Finally got him to agree to meet up just before he moved from near Springfield Illinois down to South Carolina.  Saint Louis was not even the original plan for the weekend, but the weather reports were so much more favorable than central Illinois' standard spring-1997 cold/wet/grungy.  Had a good time, at last getting to the legendary Italian Hill  neighborhood (for lunch AND for dinner).
  58. Indianapolis 7/95 (new) - A weekend of Skyline Chili, baseball, and a leaky tire.  Needed a cheap trip, so we rented a car and headed south.  Bush Stadium was a neat old park, though its large grandstand-covering roof made 4th-July fireworks hard to enjoy.  Somewhere along the line, a tire developed a leak, slow but increasing as the day went on.  The tools in the trunk were inadequate for replacing the tire, so had to call AAA to put on the "donut" just to get to the nearest tire shop open Sundays...being an Enterprise rental, none of their offices are open Sunday.  Told the old tire pro behind the counter the model and mileage, and he let out a knowing grunt, causing Laurie to worry about the life of the other 3 all the way home.  After deducting the cost of the tire from our bill, the rental cost almost nothing.
  59. Indiana Wants Me... 3/94 (n/r) - Used a visit to Dayton's MilleniCon as an excuse to pick off the remaining needed Indiana counties.  Also checked out some Kentucky counties along the Ohio River, and no less than two Skyline Chili parlors.
  60. Chicago, etc 12/86-1/87 (34) - ...With a couple small side-trips, to Milwaukee and to Cleveland-Akron-Jamestown-Albany-Buffalo.  Also memorable for the flight...used Air Cal, just before American devoured them, through their hub at Orange County (aka John Wayne).  Noise abatement required they climb out of SNA hard and fast, then level and coast to the ocean before going their merry way, so got nice views of Catalina before the sharp U-turn for Chicago.
  61. Frozen Cheese Tour 1/81 (55) - Three radio goons visit stations up the coast to Green Bay, then down to Madison, on a Saturday at that...not sure it ever got as high as zero, but from a sticker collector's standpoint it was an amazingly successful day and night.
  62. Akron/Pittsburgh 3/81 (n/r) - A week of short-staffing at the supermarket meant more work, more tips, and then a rare 2 days off in a row, so bussed east to meet a couple Ohio radio pals, with a quick side-ride to visit one of their friends at a Pittsburgh station.
  63. Nebraska 8/75 (49) - Church youth group spends a week visiting and helping out at a home in south central NE, my first visit to that state.  Hmmm, Paul Harvey already sounded old back then?  Hit music was still viable on AM, so all the gang quickly latched on to WOW from Omaha.
  64. Chicago/Peoria 8/87 (48) - Built this trip around the IRCA DX convention in Peoria, though nasty flooding threatened to keep me stuck in Chicago.  Deliberately booked my flight to make connections in Denver, to finally bag a visit to Colorado.  Flight out would be a bit wacky, from Oakland with a brief stop at San Jose.  Made it to my first minor league game while in Peoria, seeing several future Cubs on the home team.
  65. Pittsburgh Piracy 10/92 (40) - First of two instances where my only visit to a ballpark was for a post-season game (not sure if the 10/93 Toronto night made this list).  Got to Pittsburgh just in time to do some exploring, and left the car up on the Mount Washington bluff.  Well, the game ran long, with a late start time to begin with "thanks" to TV, so we missed the last Incline ride up, huff huff.
  66. Minicon 4/92 (n/r) - Up to suburban Minneapolis for my first Minicon, by way of Leinenkugel brewery, yum.
  67. nw Wisconsin/upper Michigan 7/96 (new) - While plagued by rain and mosquitoes, our 3 intrepid explorers would all finish off their Wisconsin county count, and two of us also Michigan (my 2 completions a record low 10 minutes apart).
  68. Hollyweird 3/86 (n/r) - Good a spot as any for a radio convention, even if being just off Hollywood & Vine at night is not for the timid. Some good tours, especially a long stop at Westwood One while Dr. Demento was taping a show!  One fellow attendee seemed obsessed with LA songs Demento plays...made sure to pass the nondescript intersection of Pico & Sepulveda, but not sure if he got to East LA?  The group did get to see some fun towers, the TV & FM kind up on snowy Mt. Wilson, and the ornamental group in Watts (since then made easier to reach thanks to the light rail).  Also got to meet the perpetrator of the semi-legendary "KDOR" pirate.
  69. Vancouver II 7/80 (53) - The first visit the week before (trip #100) being too short, I went back for a second look.  Tired me fell asleep on a bus to New Westminster, and later lost count of beers consumed on a pub-crawl with two more experienced drinkers.
  70. Seattle/Vancouver 11/81 (43) - Visited Susan and her roommates for Xgiving, with a side-trip to Vancouver to send out lots of SASEs to Canadian radio stations.
  71. LA 11/87 (58) - Met a pal from Ohio down in Los Angeles for a couple days, with a little pizza run to Oxnard for the heck of it.  Also tracked down one of my old Chicago zine/film pals, now trying to break into Hollywood action.
  72. Upper Lower Michigan 6/96 (new) - Once the 3-person county safari (trip #66) was finally set, I picked out a weekend prior to the trip when I could take a separate drive to cover counties I still needed in Michigan's lower peninsula.  Also when a pal near Grand Rapids was free to meet and even get to a minor league ballgame there.  Trip gets demerits for my worst customs experience by far, up at Sault Sainte Marie.
  73. Michigan Highlands 5/94 (n/r) - A pal into Scottish Games suggested meeting up for one in Alma, so I took Amtrak to Lansing to meet him there.  Also took a small side-ride to Mt. Pleasant for dinner, and a new county or two to the north.  Dropped me off in Port Huron on his way to Canada, so I took a foot tour from one end to the other to kill time before the train back to Chicago.  A toast to their 7-11 for having Vernor's ginger ale on tap.
  74. Drive West, Middle-Aged Man 10&11/99 (new) -
  75. Central Illinois/Saint Louis 2/91 (59) - Used to meet 2 or 3 Blues hockey fans in Peoria for some of their pilgrimages to the old St. Louis Arena.  On a couple of these, I did some exploring on the way to meeting them.  This time, I started out going to Danville, then bounced from city to city up I-74.
  76. Down in Monterey 1/88 (41)- Best of only 3 (so far) visits to the Monterey Bay area.
  77. Eerie, Pennsylvania 10&11/92 (60) - An ultra-rare fringe benefit of the EviLCA Higgins Hellhole...someone had a non-refundable ticket to Erie they could not use, and I was going to go clothes shopping anyway, so why not do it where clothes costs did not include sales tax?  Via a connection at the just-opened new Pittsburgh airport.
  78. Hello Columbus 8/69 (61) - First Ohio visit, visiting old Chicago friends who had just moved there. We got to Columbus on 3 other trips, maybe more, but this one coinciding with Ohio State Fair was the most memorable.
  79. Chicago/Milwaukee 9/82 (46) - First visit back after move to California. Not really memorable, though did fly by way of MSP, and caught a glimpse of Aurora Bolealis over South Dakota coming back.
  80. Trans Canada Bus Ride 7&8/80 (47) - The last leg of 1980’s summer of travel, Seattle to Chicago by way of Calgary and Winnipeg.  Had 10 hours to kill at one point in the ride...I was expecting to do it in Winnipeg, but got back to the bus depot a couple minutes too long during the Calgary layover. Did get to see Blues Brothers anyway!  First visits to Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and North Dakota.
  81. Reno-Tahoe 10/85 (63) - A modest introduction to the county-counting hobby, picking up all of 3 new ones on a day-drive to Reno, Carson City, South Lake Tahoe and Placerville. With stops at several Reno, Sparks and Carson City junk yards with a license plate and highway sign collector.
  82. KC-KS 11/88 (n/r) - American Air just taken over Eastern's action at Kansas City, so for the price of a good dinner, and because a couple out-of-town pals would happen to be there too, got my first quick look at the area. Long as I was in the neighborhood, set foot in Kansas for the first time. Ride back was via meet-up with a then-pal in Des Moines.
  83. Diamondback Rattling 4/00 (new) - Off to Phoenix for a couple days, to check out the ballpark, the city in general, and just to leave town for a weekend.  All the poop is online, now or eventually.
  84. Minnie Soda 10/94 (n/r) - What I called "Run For the Twinkies" in MarkTime #35. Lots of work and driving for just a day and a half in Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
  85. Galena/Dubuque 10/66 (45) - Most of my earliest Columbus Day weekends involved some sort of trip with one of the parents.  This time, Mom and me were on a train/bus tour of Galena, before the B&B crowd discovered this neat old mining town, and on to Dubuque for my first taste of Iowa.
  86. Windsor 11/68 (65) - Xgiving is sometimes best spent where it's just another day, ha.  Dad, who probably would have been happier running guns to Ethiopia, spent much of a day dragging his mother and me up and down Ouellette St. in search of Cuban cigars, and bought me a sweater simply because it was made in China (still a US no-no pre-Nixon).
  87. Twin City Towers 6/79 (n/r) - First trip to Minnesota, and first stay at a Motel 6 (Madison Wisconsin).  Does ANARC exist anymore, let alone their annual international DX conventions? IDS Tower had an observation deck then, and WDGY had 9 towers down past Bloomington, not counting whatever we were interrupting with the DJ and his girlfriend when we happened to drop by after midnight.
  88. Yosemite Sandwich 5/82 (n/r) - Yosemite Valley, a beautiful place, especially before the tourist crowd overwhelmed it.  Portions were inaccessible thanks to late, heavy snows (think this was another "El Nino" year?), however the waterfalls were happy.  Trip score suffered from shortness of stay, and loudness of company that day.
  89. San Jose/Toronto-Buffalo 7/84 (64) - Had originally expected to spend my week's vacation helping with Democratic National Convention coverage for KALX, but too many newsies stuck around for resume-building.  Wouldn't you know, a San Jose travel agency was offering a cheap charter fare to, of all places, Niagara Falls NY!  Convenient to both sister Susan's new apartment and to the ANARC DX convention being held in Scarborough on just the right weekend.
  90. Visalia-LA-Orange 11/83 (62) - Pal from Ohio was visiting the Bay Area but wanted to head south anyway, by way of mutual radio-geek pals near Fresno and southern Orange.
  91. Rockford-Madison-Milwaukee 9/88 (n/r) - Former pal from the capital of Switzerland in town on his way to the NRC DX convention...drove him around to various Chicago and suburban stations during the week, then we headed for the con by way of Rockford and Madison.  Deja vu 9 years later, the First Contact con at very same hotel.
  92. Rochester, Hold the Mayo 8/93 (n/r) - We'd originally planned to make ballgames at Cedar Rapids and at Waterloo, but most of Iowa was rained out that year.  Instead, we attended a Northern League game in Rochester, Minnesota, dodging more than a few "Bridge Out" and "Road Closed" signs en route.
  93. Detroit 5/97 (new) - Memorial Day weekend full of Greenfield Village, Tigers and Ann Arbor, oh my!  Was this in MarkTime #43, or #44?
  94. Seattle 2/82 (35) - One last mindless weekend trip before I had to start paying rent again.  Remembered most for my waking up at dawn one cold, clear morning, seeing a silhouette of the Cascades clearly visible from Susan's back porch, oooooh!
  95. SPAM I Am! 7/97 (new) - Theoretically an overnight stay in Rochester Minnesota, but with too much county-grabbing across southern Minnesota thrown in. Austin has banners proudly promoting the Hormel factory what builds Spam. Home via Field of Dreams and Bishop's Buffet in Dubuque.
  96. Tijuana Trolley 6/00 (new) - After several false starts, a weekend in San Diego, AND at last into Mexico (Baja California).  Full story online, now or soon.
  97. The Dells ?/64 (42) - First trip I have any memory of, and from what I recall the most entertaining of many Wisconsin Dells visits.  Long before the area became one big water-slide and go-cart park, back when nice river scenery and tasty cheese factory and dairy farm samples were just fine.
  98. Cincinnati 10/75 (n/r) - Dad had moved in with some woman down in Cincinnati, Laurie was joining them, and I rode along.  Toured the Indianapolis 500 track on the way down, and a little side trip gave me my first look at Kentucky.
  99. Broiled Cardinals 6/69 (n/r) - Initial visit to Missouri, on what even for Saint Louis residents was a Really Hot Day.  Dad and I had good seats for the Cards-Cubs game, but for some reason it was a day game and the seats were too sun-baked to sit in, ouch!
  100. Seattle to Eugene 5/80 (n/r) - 3rd leg of the Month of Travel, adding Oregon to my roll-call of visited states.
  101. Vancouver I 7/80 (n/r) - Day-trip from Seattle on 4th of July.  First British Columbia visit.


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