Oh my. Somebody needs to brush up on US geography, lol!

[Ginevra]

I'm overhearing a conversation going on between DD and a friend of hers. So, friend says, "Oh, we should really go on a day trip or something." DD says, "yeah, that would be cool...were you thinking like Ocean City or something?" Friend says, "Well, not really. Maybe I mean a road trip, not a day trip." Then friend pauses, thinking, "I always wanted to go to California. That probably isn't driveable, though." (We are in Maryland, people!) DD says, "No, definitely not driveable. I wouldn't mind going there, but that wouldn't be too easy to do." Friend says, "Yeah. Wait! How 'bout Las Vegas? Is that driveable?" DD says, "No, that is also across the country. I don't think we could work that out." Friend says, "maybe like, South Carolina. Or North Carolina. Is North Carolina closer?" DD says, "well, yeah, because it's north."

 

:D :D :D

[SparklyUnicorn]

LOL

[Scarlett]

:)

 

Kids are the best.

[Arcadia]

Hubby thinks driving from here (California) to Maryland is drive able but adding cost of gasoline and hotel stays makes him think domestic airfare wouldn't be too costly. Just checked airfare, still cheaper to drive for us.

 

Route 66 is nicer but I-80 is faster.

Edited June 10, 2016 by Arcadia

[Guest]

:)

 

Kids are the best.

Except they are 19 year olds. :)

[slackermom]

I knew someone that age who was startled to see the ocean when flying into Boston. He had no idea it was on the east coast, and thought it was in the middle of the country. I thought, "How can anyone who has grown up in the US not know this!?" I mean, the English settlers probably landed somewhere near water, no? And the tea party thing?

[Joker]

Both of our dds would consider it driving distance. We've done the coast to coast trip by car as well as many other long distance trips. We much prefer the car to planes.

[ThisIsTheDay]

I'd pull out that United States puzzle pretty quickly!

[raptor_dad]

They can take a road trip to Myrtle Beach... DD's friend will fit right in.

[greenbeanmama]

My sister graduated valedictorian, and got almost a full ride to an ivy league school in Massachusetts.  On her first phone call home, she casually asked, "Oh, and which ocean is by my college?"

[foxbridgeacademy]

19 is not too old to play stack the states.

[Guest]

19 is not too old to play stack the states.

What is stack the states?

[Guest]

I remember when my son was in 9th grade, he had a friend who was taking a winter trip to Peru, where her father was from. I said something like, "that's awesome! It's summer there now!" And my DS was like, "What?! It's not summer there!" I said, "Yes it is. Southern hemisphere = opposite seasons." He just would not believe that no matter what.

[Twigs]

What is stack the states?

:iagree: , another request for more information, please.

[heartlikealion]

What is stack the states?

 

It's an app. I have heard about it, but we already have Seterra (on the PC) and another app or two for the states.

 

[foxbridgeacademy]

^{It's a game app that my DC used to memorize name/location (shape too) of all the states.  Also has little factoids to help memory.}

[Junie]

During introductions the first week in college, I overheard this conversation between two freshmen in my dorm:

 

Girl 1:  What state are you from?

 

Girl 2:  Delaware.

 

Girl 1:  Is Delaware a state?

 

Girl 2:  Um, yeah.

 

Girl 1:  What about Denver?  Is Denver a state?

[Arcadia]

What is stack the states?

This :)

https://dan-russell-pinson.com/category/games/stack-the-states/

 

ETA:

He also have an app called Stack the Countries

https://dan-russell-pinson.com/my-games/

 

We didn't try Presidents vs Aliens but I think it was recommended by some boardies.

Edited June 10, 2016 by Arcadia

[Guest]

It's an app. I have heard about it, but we already have Seterra (on the PC) and another app or two for the states.

 

Interesting.

 

We have had those Eat And Learn placemats since our kids were born (before that, actually, because DH and I bought two map placemats early in our marriage.) My kids learned a lot of geography because of these.

[ErinE]

When I lived in the Northeast, I was perturbed at the number of people (Ivy League educated, no less) who had no idea how big the country truly is. Perhaps every citizen should be required to drive from east coast to west coast just so they know-there's a lot of land out there.

 

I've been guilty of the same misconception. DH drove from the Gulf Coast to near the border with Canada. I was surprised at how long it took.

[73349]

This website can help, too:http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/USA_Geography/USA_G0_click_1024.html

Edited June 10, 2016 by whitehawk

[zoobie]

I would assume drivable/not drivable meant whether the travel time in the car would be tolerable. California would be not drivable for us if we were going specifically to vacation in Caifornia. That would be an epic road trip! Florida beach vacation on the other hand is drivable.

[PeachyDoodle]

When I was in college (in Virginia), an acquaintance asked my roommate (from Indiana) if roommate would mind dropping acquaintance off on roommate's way home for break.

 

Acquaintance lived in Nebraska.

 

:glare:

[Guest]

I would assume drivable/not drivable meant whether the travel time in the car would be tolerable. California would be not drivable for us if we were going specifically to vacation in Caifornia. That would be an epic road trip! Florida beach vacation on the other hand is drivable.

Yeah, obviously, it is not unheard-of to drive from Maryland to California, but it definitely did not follow from her inital idea of doing a "day trip."

 

My nephew did the Trans-America bike trip. He bicycled from the Pacific coast to Atlantic.

 

It is "driveable", for example, for us to drive to Florida for Disney. We've done it. But it's not highly driveable. Not something I want to do on a regular basis.

[jemsmom]

But... North Carolina *is* north of South Carolina, and so it is closer to Maryland than South Carolina.  

 

What am I missing?

[Guest]

But... North Carolina *is* north of South Carolina, and so it is closer to Maryland than South Carolina.

 

What am I missing?

You're missing that the friend was not certain if North or South Carolina is closer to us. It's not really something a person living in Maryland would be uncertain about.

 

Also, that if California would be a heck of a long drive, Las Vegas is not a big improvement.

[Terabith]

We live in Virginia, about four hours from DC. When Anna was five, we were planning a DC weekend trip. Anna said, "Wait. We're DRIVING??"

 

"Well, yeah."

 

"Won't that take a really, really long time?"

 

"Well, sort of. I mean, four hours. About half as long as it takes to go to Grammy's house."

 

"But. Washington is by the Pacific Ocean! And Canada!"

 

Ohhhh.

 

I was actually really impressed.

[Guest]

We live in Virginia, about four hours from DC. When Anna was five, we were planning a DC weekend trip. Anna said, "Wait. We're DRIVING??"

 

"Well, yeah."

 

"Won't that take a really, really long time?"

 

"Well, sort of. I mean, four hours. About half as long as it takes to go to Grammy's house."

 

"But. Washington is by the Pacific Ocean! And Canada!"

 

Ohhhh.

 

I was actually really impressed.

Awww, that's awesome! Such a sharp kid!

[Renai]

My father lives in Pennsylvania. When dh and I lived in South Dakota, he said to me, "Well, you live over there near the Pacific Ocean!"

 

Um, no, Dad. I live in the geographic center of the continent.

 

But, I guess compared to Pennsylvania, yes, I lived "over there" next to the Pacific Ocean. (LOL)

 

My dad lives in Texas. When dh and I settled in New Mexico, my dad asked me, "What are you doing all the way down there?" I was like, "Dad, we're right next door! This is NEW Mexico, part of the United States..." And he had been in the military and traveled some.  :lol:

[Tap]

I notice that some people who live on the East coast tend to struggle with realizing how long it takes to cross the larger states.   Washington state  to California can easily be a solid 12 hour drive. When in parts of the East coast, traveling between 3 (or more) states can be done in a couple hours,.. .  I also notice that sometimes people who haven't done a lot of driving, don't realize how driving up, down and around a mountain pass can turn a short line on a map, into a day trip in itself..  LOl  Or how hitting rush hour in a major city, can take 3+ hours of drive time to travel a short distance.

[Catalytic]

My daughter made numerous friends over the years who thought Alaska and Hawaii were neighbors in the Pacific Ocean...thanks to maps that always put them in the lower left corner  :banghead:

[Dmmetler]

I think Expedia needs to brush up on Geography. In what universe is Las Vegas a "nearby airport" to Reno? (7-8 hour drive going right by Death Valley).

[Scarlett]

My daughter made numerous friends over the years who thought Alaska and Hawaii were neighbors in the Pacific Ocean...thanks to maps that always put them in the lower left corner :banghead:

I remember thinking this same thing when I was a young kid. I don't know why that is. To explained better in school, or on maps.

[Guest]

I notice that some people who live on the East coast tend to struggle with realizing how long it takes to cross the larger states. Washington state to California can easily be a solid 12 hour drive. When in parts of the East coast, traveling between 3 (or more) states can be done in a couple hours,.. . I also notice that sometimes people who haven't done a lot of driving, don't realize how driving up, down and around a mountain pass can turn a short line on a map, into a day trip in itself.. LOl Or how hitting rush hour in a major city, can take 3+ hours of drive time to travel a short distance.

I remember when I was driving to Connecticut to visit a friend. She was very explicit about what time in the morning I had to be leaving Baltimore in order to not hit NYC work traffic. I did not carefully heed her advice and left about a half hour later.

 

She was right. I won't do that again!

[Pink and Green Mom]

I had his conversation my freshman year at Clemson University (in South Carolina) with a girl from South Carolina.

 

SC Girl:  where are you from again?

 

Me:  New Jersey.

 

SC Girl:  what time is it in New Jersey right now?

 

Me:  same as it is here in South Carolina.

 

SC Girl:  [dumbfounded] but that just can't be.  The north is so far away from here it just has to be in a different time zone.

[Luckymama]

During introductions the first week in college, I overheard this conversation between two freshmen in my dorm:

 

Girl 1: What state are you from?

 

Girl 2: Delaware.

 

Girl 1: Is Delaware a state?

 

Girl 2: Um, yeah.

 

Girl 1: What about Denver? Is Denver a state?

We live in Delaware. We are surprised when we meet people who DO know where Delaware is :rolleyes:

[Sherry in OH]

We live in Delaware. We are surprised when we meet people who DO know where Delaware is :rolleyes:

 

 

My children are convinced the state of Delaware was named after the city in Ohio.  They have a decent grasp on geography, chronology on the other hand ...

[heartlikealion]

To be fair, to me drivable road trip means physically possible to get there by car within say, a week or whatever. They scratched "day trip" and changed it to "road trip" so I didn't think it was that weird. A relative of mine drove from AL to CA once. It took 3 days.

 

Edited: however, I don't think it would be a wise road trip to try... I have no idea how many days that would take from Maryland! So probably a terrible road trip idea lol.

Edited June 11, 2016 by heartlikealion

[brehon]

I notice that some people who live on the East coast tend to struggle with realizing how long it takes to cross the larger states. Washington state to California can easily be a solid 12 hour drive. When in parts of the East coast, traveling between 3 (or more) states can be done in a couple hours,.. . I also notice that sometimes people who haven't done a lot of driving, don't realize how driving up, down and around a mountain pass can turn a short line on a map, into a day trip in itself.. LOl Or how hitting rush hour in a major city, can take 3+ hours of drive time to travel a short distance.

I've noticed this in my own state. Texas is big, really big. And it takes a long time to drive from Amarillo to Brownsville or Houston to El Paso - well over 12 hours on the interstates. And driving across Austin during rush hour? Sheesh! Better pack a picnic.

 

Many people are amazed that they really don't have time to leisurely visit both north Texas and central Texas in the same three day or so trip if they're driving.

[OhanaBee]

I think Expedia needs to brush up on Geography. In what universe is Las Vegas a "nearby airport" to Reno? (7-8 hour drive going right by Death Valley).

 

No kidding!  Expedia keeps suggesting to me that BWI [baltimore] is a nearby airport to Richmond, VA.  Um.......no.

 

And I'm from Los Angeles, so driving distances to me are measured in time, not mileage.  Driving from Richmond to Baltimore at most times of the day?!?!?  Nightmare.

[Joker]

To be fair, to me drivable road trip means physically possible to get there by car within say, a week or whatever. They scratched "day trip" and changed it to "road trip" so I didn't think it was that weird. A relative of mine drove from AL to CA once. It took 3 days.

 

Edited: however, I don't think it would be a wise road trip to try... I have no idea how many days that would take from Maryland! So probably a terrible road trip idea lol.

We actually really enjoyed our coast to coast trip. On the way back, we were on a deadline so we made it in four long days. We stopped at lots of neat places along the way (like the Grand Canyon). Both dds want to do it again.

 

I've done the Dallas to LA drive several times as well and it's taken one and a half to two days depending on how long we drove the first day.

 

But, we love road trips here and I know many don't.

[Joker]

We live in Delaware. We are surprised when we meet people who DO know where Delaware is :rolleyes:

On one of our road trips both dds wanted to drive through Delaware to prove it existed. 😉 They had never met anyone from there so we went well out of the way to do so. It actually turned in to a really enjoyable, but long, day.

[Catalytic]

Speaking of Delaware, someone tell me what to do in there?  We're going to take a day trip, because DS6 is dying to fill in our US map on the camper, but we don't count a state just for driving in it...

[Guest]

Speaking of Delaware, someone tell me what to do in there? We're going to take a day trip, because DS6 is dying to fill in our US map on the camper, but we don't count a state just for driving in it...

Go to the shore. :)

[Guest]

To be fair, to me drivable road trip means physically possible to get there by car within say, a week or whatever. They scratched "day trip" and changed it to "road trip" so I didn't think it was that weird. A relative of mine drove from AL to CA once. It took 3 days.

 

Edited: however, I don't think it would be a wise road trip to try... I have no idea how many days that would take from Maryland! So probably a terrible road trip idea lol.

It takes days and days and days. And that's just one direction. Of course, it depends on how directly you plan to go, but if you're going to drive 3,000 miles, it's pretty dumb not to see something along the way now and then. Most people I know who have gone by car say 2 weeks is not even enough to justify the effort.

[Guest]

I've noticed this in my own state. Texas is big, really big. And it takes a long time to drive from Amarillo to Brownsville or Houston to El Paso - well over 12 hours on the interstates. And driving across Austin during rush hour? Sheesh! Better pack a picnic.

 

Many people are amazed that they really don't have time to leisurely visit both north Texas and central Texas in the same three day or so trip if they're driving.

As a small state dweller, I gotta say, that is hard to fathom. I can cross state line in any direction in less than three hours. I can be into PA or VA in under one hour. Or DC. Or DE in just over an hour.

 

It is rather nice when travelling north by car, because it feels like progress when you see state line signs every couple hours or less.

[Catalytic]

When you cross into Texas from Louisiana on I-10, you see the "Welcome to Texas" sign, then soon after that is a mileage sign that says "El Paso 857 miles"... and you realize that's still in Texas. (LOL)

 

The only good thing about that sign is that not too terribly many miles later, there's this amazing speed limit sign for 85mph.  I was so happy to see that sign, and then I remembered that I was following my DH who was towing the camper, and we don't tow over 65mph  :nopity:

[Catalytic]

Go to the shore. :)

 

 

Anything else?  We're not huge beach fans.  We found vineyards but we're not wine fans and well, kids.

[raptor_dad]

You could spook around Udel and go to one of the campus museums, http://sites.udel.edu/museums/ 

[hornblower]

Dh was visiting Ketchikan Alaska one summer & overheard this. 

Travelling lady who was on day trip from cruise ship: What elevation are we at? 

Resident: Um, pardon? 

Travelling lady: The elevation. What's the elevation here? 

Resident: Zero. We're at sea level.  (gesturing at the ship & sea in the harbor right in front of them) 

Travelling lady: What nonsense! I've been travelling up for a week! It can't be zero!