Maps!

Last night Travis and I started mapping out our route for a drive from Texas to Washington coming up in a few days.  Travis mentioned that he's pretty tired of the same old paths (specifically, he would be happy never to drive across Wyoming again), and would like to try something new.  We have pretty much exhausted any path that goes through Colorado or Utah, and have visited Arches National Park, Garden of the Gods, Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons.  Right now the "north to Mt. Rushmore, then west through Montana" route is a front-runner, though it has one enormous flaw: dogs have to stay in the car at Mt. Rushmore.  Apparently the good people who maintain Mt. Rushmore are not big fans of dogs.  As a meticulous poo-picker-uper I resent having to leave Sasquatch in the car at National Parks, but we are still considering this path because a) We are all about exploring new parts of America's heartland, b) This route conveniently avoids all but a corner of Wyoming, c) It only adds a few hours to the trip, and d) I would be able to check four new states off of my "states visited" map. 
Currently, I have visited 14 states (I count a visit as any time you go somewhere and actually leave the airport).  I am working with a prospective student whose parents have scheduled a family trip to Antarctica so that she will have visited all seven continents by the time she leaves for college.  You can see how I might feel a little poorly-traveled.  (I'm pretty sure I just made up "poorly-traveled," but I think it works nicely, don't you?)
If we take the Mt. Rushmore route, I will be able to add Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota.  America's heartland is waiting with the promise of adventure (and lots and lots of fields)!
Here is the "states visited" map of someone who has seen a lot of wheatfields:

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