As an undergrad, when we were bored, we would roll two dice and see how many states we could hit in that # of hours that we rolled. I think within 8 hours we hit MA (started and ended), NH, ME, VT, NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, and back to MA.

I have family that lives in VA. When I was younger and lived in NH, it was a 9 hour drive to their house. In those 9 hours, we hit NH, MA, CT, NY, NJ, DE, MD, and VA. I just moved to TX and it blows my mind that depending on which way I go, I could drive for 9 hours here and not even make it out of the state!

When driving here from Jersey, there were parts that dragged on forever. I never thought I would make it out of Tennessee!

It may sound weird, but to me, it just feels like you're actually making progress when you're constantly crossing into other states. It feels like such an accomplishment when you see a "Welcome to..." sign.

I grew up in Central Illinois. When I moved to Charlotte, I accidentally ended up in South Carolina trying to get to the Carolina Place mall. I kinda panicked, since I was used to being REALLY lost if you ended up in another state. Turns out, I was about 5 minutes from where I was supposed to be.

Tennessee on an east-west journey is hella long. They told us in elementary school that the distance from the Tri Cities to Memphis if driven from Nashville would put us somewhere in Canada. No idea if that's actually true, but it's still crazy long.

Yea, I don't doubt that. I actually timed it... it was about 7 1/2 hours from one end of the state to the other.

I have to laugh at this distance discussion. When I first moved to Baltimore, people couldn't understand how much bigger Southern states were than Midatlantic and Northeastern states. When I would tell people I was from Louisiana, they would all gasp and ask how I got through Katrina (this was 2007). I'd respond that I lived in Shreveport at the time so I was fine since it was in the northern part of the state. They'd look funny at me, then I'd say, "That's 4 hours from New Orleans." No one could believe you could go 4 hours from New Orleans in Louisiana, but then again, most people think it's the only city in the state. ;)

It's so funny! And yet when I have to go more than 15 minutes anywhere I freak out about how far it is. I have such a small-state mentality. I would be incredibly happy if every state were Rhode Island-sized (even though there'd be two thousand of them)!

I tell people I've been to 27 states and their eyes bug out a little bit, then I remind them that you can do what you just described and blow through almost ten and they calm down a little bit.

Right after I graduated high school, my mom moved in with my stepdad in MA. When I was in college and would talk about going home to Massachusetts, EVERYONE asked me, "Are you from Boston?"

Apparently it's the only MA city that exists :)

I don't believe Western Massachusetts exists. It's like the North Dakota of New England. There's nothing past Worcester and I-495:p

Ha, this is true. I used to have to drive through western MA and upstate NY to get to school in PA. Longest. Drive. Ever.

We would get excited when we saw Oreo cows (that's what my mom would call the cows that are black with the white stripe around their stomachs). Every time it was my mom saying, "Oreo would be so smart to use those cows in their commercials.." LOL

Y'all are cracking me up but it reminded me of a college experience. I lived in the international dorm so there were these two guys from Germany on our floor. The first week of school, they were asking if anybody wanted to roadtrip to California for the weekend. We all just stared.. had to explain that was a 3-4 day drive. They couldn't believe it because they could drive through MANY countries in 3-4 days in Europe! They were so sad.

ETA: I'll be in Rhode Island the first weekend in November! College visit time for the boy!

Love RI! It's such a great place to go to school.. or to do just about anything. Tons of beaches! :)

Oreo cows! They have those near my grandma's house in southern Maine! We would always say hello to them as we drove by.

Hope he enjoys it! College Hill is a beautiful place at that time of year, but be prepared to hunt for parking. If you get the chance to pop through the Rhode Island School of Design art museum I'd highly recommend it, and the Providence Place Mall is also fun. My best friend goes to Brown and loves every minute of it:)

I'm from the Tri-Cities, and my mom would always say that if you flipped TN on the west end, we'd be in Crown Point, Indiana.

I loved Providence when I went there my D to visit Brown. We're flying into Providence, driving to Ithaca to see Cornell, then back to Providence to visit Brown and flying home. It sounds convoluted but it was the most economical way to see both in one trip.