Monday, June 6, 2011

I spy a license plate

Remember those long road trips before there were DVD players or even CD players in minivans? To keep kids from going stir crazy while traveling endless interstates, the license plate game was often employed. It's a simple idea: Keep a stalkeriffic eye on the other vehicles around you and see how many license plates from other states you can spot.

I spend at least two hours on the road almost every day, and now with the summer driving season in swing, I'm using my own version of the game to keep myself entertained. All passenger vehicles are fair game; semi trucks are disqualified because it's their job to go all over the country.

The plates I've seen since the start of May:
  1. Alabama
  2. Alaska
  3. Arizona
  4. Arkansas 
  5. California -- June 8
  6. Colorado
  7. Connecticut
  8. Delaware
  9. Florida
  10. Georgia -- June 11
  11. Idaho -- June 7
  12. Illinois
  13. Indiana
  14. Iowa
  15. Kansas -- July 8
  16. Kentucky -- June 11 
  17. Louisiana -- June 18
  18. Maryland
  19. Massachusetts
  20. Michigan
  21. Minnesota
  22. Missouri 
  23. Montana -- June 18
  24. Nebraska -- June 7 
  25. New Jersey -- June 11
  26. New York
  27. North Carolina -- June 9
  28. North Dakota (semi)
  29. Ohio
  30. Oklahoma
  31. Oregon
  32. Pennsylvania
  33. South Carolina -- June 20
  34. Tennessee
  35. Texas
  36. Vermont
  37. Virginia
  38. Washington -- July 25
  39. West Virginia -- June 11
  40. Wisconsin
  41. Wyoming -- June 17
Canada bonus: Ontario, Saskatchewan

If I had a dollar for every Illinois and Ohio license plate I've seen in the past five weeks, I'd probably have enough to buy, um, something expensive. I see at least two or three almost every day. It's getting to the point where I'm starting to wonder whether U.S. 30 isn't just an extension of both states. Michigan plates, on the other hand, are surprisingly rare right now. I'm a little surprised also that I haven't seen an Ontario plate; it's not entirely unusual to see a car from Canuckistan passing through.

This past week, I saw 10 states' plates in less than two days. That's 20% of the country. I'm still holding out hope for a Hawaii sighting.

One side effect I've noticed is a near-obsessive need to glance at every license plate on the walk from my car to a store's front door. I haven't started parking at the far end of any parking lots yet, but I will admit to doing a little neck-craning to see into the next row sometimes.

It keeps me out of trouble.

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