I’m in the midst of beginning the planning for a trip this summer to Oregon/Idaho. I’ve been to Idaho, but not Oregon. One of my life goals is to drive in all 50 states. I’m currently 11 away from seeing that mission become accomplished. With that, why wouldn’t I want to rank the 11 states that I haven’t seen by how much I want to see them.

So you’re not guessing, here’s the alphabetic list of states my feet have not touched: Alaska, Hawaii, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin.

11. North Dakota: North Dakota intrigues me if only because of how boring I think it would be. There’s no major college. It’s cold. No major monuments or national parks. The largest city is Fargo. Fargo. Like the movie. With a population under 100,000. This is Downtown Fargo. Sorry, North Dakota. I’m not going out of my way to get there.

10. Kansas: Like North Dakota, but at least with a real college town: Lawrence. Beyond that, there’s no major sports in the state, no intriguing or enjoyable cultural cuisine, and not a lot of diverse landscape. This is what Kansas looks like in my mind.

9. Wisconsin: I work with a very nice guy from Wisconsin. I joke with him that when he speaks, all I hear him say is, “Miller Lite, Cheese, Brett Favre, Miller Lite, Cheese, Brett Favre.” I can’t imagine that I’d fit in very well in Wisconsin. I like salads and vegetables and complex beer. I’m not so much a fan of this.

8. Minnesota: Like Wisconsin, except I’d have to imagine that Minneapolis is slightly more posh than Milwaukee and at least they have a lot of lakes. And those are pretty when they’re not frozen over because it’s 2 degrees outside.

7. South Dakota: See: North Dakota. Add in Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, and the Black Hills.

6. Missouri: Baseball and barbecue. Missouri might not have a lot of other appeal to me, but really, do I need more than baseball and bbq? Exactly.

(the top 5 is the real dividing line here)

5. Washington: This is primarily for Seattle. A few weeks back I said that if I had to go back to school (which I would have no difficulty doing) I would go to the University of Washington. There’s not a lot for me to say otherwise about Washington other than, “Seattle seems like a place I might like.”

4. Hawaii: Why is Hawaii in my Top 5? Because it’s in everyone’s Top 5. I can’t really explain what it is about Hawaii, besides providing you with this. And it’s like that all the time there. It is a very expensive place and I would eventually tire of the whole beach life thing (I know, I know. What’s wrong with me?). But to visit? Yeah. I’d have no problem with this. Any of it.

3. Alaska: Hawaii is an easy one. Alaska, probably not so much. I mean, it’s not often that I hear someone say they’re going to vacation in Fairbanks. But if I did, I’d think that person was pretty cool. Look, if Sarah Palin has taught us anything, it’s that Alaska isn’t too far off culturally from the American Deep South or Middle-America. Culturally, that doesn’t stimulate me very much. What does stimulate me is the road less traveled, not to get to Emersonian here. Ideally, I’d really enjoy traveling to a place like Barrow, Alaska, way up at the northernmost tip, above the Arctic Circle. That, to me, is cool. No pun intended.

2. Oregon: Progressive folks, mountains, ocean, rivers, good food, clean air. The only thing that could make me happier would be smoked pig and home runs. If I can find a place where the culture and the landscape both suit me, I’d be happy and I think that Oregon is my best chance for that here in the U.S. Despite that, it’s not my number 1.

1. Montana: Every picture I see of this place I fall in love with. There is in me, a strong desire to experience the rugged American life. I’m not strong enough to live it and I know that. Montanans are hard-working people. I might not be a hunter or a fisher, but I respect people who work for everything they have. When I think of Montanans, that’s exactly what I think of. Driving across Wyoming, I fell in love with the state. The same will hold true when I finally get to turn the pictures of Montana into actual visual sights. I know I will fall in love with it. How could you not fall in love with landscapes like this?