West Virginia

 
Ahhhhhh West Virginia. Where country roads take you home, the home of the Dancing Outlaw and home of West Virginia University, which is in the Big 12 conference for athletics, a conference which actually only has 10 teams and Iowa State seems to be its closest conference neighbor. The school is best known for burning couches after big victories. (Yes, that was a cheap shot.)

I've been to West Virgina once or twice. It seems beautiful, though I wouldn't want to live in the radio quiet zone of the state where there's no cell phone service or wifi available. That just seems like a not fun way to live, though there are times it's nice to turn things off and get away, I kind of enjoy, you know, the radio and wifi.

My son was initially confused when he found out Charleston was the capital of West Virgina, mostly because my in-laws live outside of Charleston, South Carolina and he didn't realize two cities could share a name.

So that's West Virginia.

46 states down, 4 more to go. (If you're keeping track, we still need Connecticut, Massachusetts, Mississippi and Nebraska. If you know anyone from there who could help us out, we would appreciate if you would ask them.)

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below. 

Delaware

Ahhhh...... Delaware. Land that's never quite as far north as I think it is. Home of the University of Delaware, Delaware State University and the second-smallest state in the nation. As I'm sure you 're well aware, it's named for Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, which I'm sure the Baron's decedents are now disappointed they didn't name it something like "Thomasland" or simply "West" instead of something that they likely don't claim as part of their name anymore.

I've only been to Delaware a few times, mostly just passing through on my way to New Jersey. It seems nice, though small. I'd have to imagine that being part of traveling youth sports teams there is kind of nice as your trips can't take all that long. Unlike Georgia, where I'd spend four hours or more driving to get to soccer games when I was in high school, Delaware seems like it would only take an hour to get from one end of the state to the other, depending on traffic.

One thing Delaware does seem to have, for reasons I can't figure out, is the more famous Wilmington. I lived in Wilmington, NC, for a few years and always think of that one, but it seems like the Delaware city is more famous, but maybe that's just my perception.

So that's Delaware.

45 states down, 5 more to go. (If you're keeping track, we still need Connecticut, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska and West Virginia. If you know anyone from there who could help us out, we would appreciate if you would ask them.)

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below. 

 

Vermont

Ahhhhh.... Vermont. Land of the University of Vermont, Vermont Teddy Bear (I assume), and ... ummmm.... hold on a second *wanders over to wikipedia, ah yes* the only New England state not to border the Atlantic Ocean. I don't know if they have any plans to revolt and become their own nation, but the lack of a port for trade seems to severely hinder their chances of success, well that and the fact it's the second-least populated state in the nation, trailing only Wyoming.

To my knowledge, I've never been to Vermont. There's a chance I went when I was very young when I lived in New Jersey and my parents took me, but I have no memories of it if I went. My son has never been, though he does know the capital. (Thanks Animaniacs)

So that's Vermont

44 states down, 6 more to go.

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below.

New Mexico

Ahhhhh.... New Mexico. Land of Enchantment. Land of Albuquerque, where making a left turn there will get you where you want to go, but not making a left turn in the city can only end up in disaster as I learned from countless Bugs Bunny cartoons. New Mexico would be the home to El Paso if not for a surveyor's error in 1850.

The Albuquerque Isotopes make their home in New Mexico and are named after The Simpsons minor league team. Because when you're naming a team, it's important to take your cues from television. (Actually, I think it's kind of cool.)

The capital, Santa Fe, was regularly mispronounced by my son for the first few times he saw it printed, but he's got it now.

So that's New Mexico.

43 states down, 7 more to go.

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below.

Oklahoma

Ahhhh, Oklahoma. State best known for a song named after the state. Home of cowboys, Native Americans, horses biotechnology. As I'm sure you're aware, the name Oklahoma comes from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning "red people," a fact I just learned from the always reliable wikipedia.

One of the reasons my son loves Oklahoma is because it's capital is easy to remember. Ok, that may be the only reason he loves Oklahoma. I think he cheered for Oklahoma State a few times during college football season, but that may or may not have anything to do with the Sports Illustrated series of articles saying football players get drugs, money, sex and easy classes. Some saw the report as a scandal. Others saw it as a recruiting pitch.

So that's Oklahoma.

42 states down, 8 more to go.

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below.

Oregon

Ahhhh.... Oregon. Land of Portland, major college teams named the Ducks and Beavers (the two least fearsome animals to represent big-time college teams in the nation and I don't even know what's close to them.)

As I've learned throughout this project, I don't know a lot about the state or Oregon. From the postcards, I've learned there's a mountain in front of a lake as well as a field near what I presume to be the Columbia River. Nike's headquarters is in Oregon and, ummmm, the Portland Timbers soccer team is apparently a quite popular Major League Soccer team.

Wikipedia tells me humans have been living in what we now know as Oregon for more than 15,000 years, which seems like some sort of record until you realize they're not referring to the same humans but rather generations upon generations. So that's Oregon.

41 states down, 9 more to go.

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below.

North Dakota

(Yes, we're still doing this. I've gotten busy/lazy and not updated and we're still missing some - pretty much any you don't see on the right are ones we don't have yet. Fortunately there's no deadline, so we'll finish when we finish )

Ahhhhh..... North Dakota. Land of.... no that's South Dakota. Well, there's ... no, that's Montana. Well, there's .... nope, that's not there either. I don't really know what's in North Dakota. Bismark is the capital, I know that. There's an oil boom going on there. (I think it's oil, there's some kind of boom going on there where it's one of the best states to find a job in, granted you have to live in North Dakota, but it's an option.)

Much like me, my son also knows very little about the state. Thanks primarily to this Animaniacs clip, he knows Bismark is the capital and he knows where it is on the map of the country, but if you asked him anything else about the state, I'm not sure there's anything he could name. Maybe he'll surprise me next time I ask him.

So that's North Dakota except not really as I didn't tell you anything about the state. Sorry about that.

40 states down, 10 more to go.

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below.