I feel ick.

This is going to be short because I'm not 100%.

Plain and simple.

Vote over there------>>>

Freedom Bracket:
Georgia or Illinois

Independence Bracket:
Ohio or Arizona

Liberty Bracket:
Oklahoma or New York

Where do you want to go?

Closer and closer we creep to a winner and a treat! We have some super competitors today! Let's get ready to VVVVVooooooooote!

Freedom Bracket:
Iowa or Arizona

Independence Bracket:
Florida or Illinois

Liberty Bracket:
Mississippi or New York

Vote over there------>>>>>>

I am kicking myself for not squeezing in sometime yesterday to update the brackets. I'm going off the notes in my Planner Pad. I do know that we will have a winner next Friday!!!

Whacky Wednesday

Take a whack at voting over
there---->>>>>>

and while you're at it whack your brains and tell me where you think we should go in each of the following six states. If you enter the cities you would like us to go, you will be entered in a drawing for some yummy Starbucks!

Freedom Bracket:
North Dakota or Arizona

Independence Bracket:
Wyoming or Illinois

Liberty Bracket:
Rhode Island or New York

Good luck my friends.

Let's wrap up the week. Today is comment day!

This week we visited:

On the Prairie Deck:
Illinois where we can eat world famous pizza and dogs. And if we're lucking enough we could even visit the world famous Struble Suds.



On the Rushmore Deck:
South Dakota where we can visit Mt. Rushmore and all it's marvel. And who knew Dairy Queen's went so far north. I used to work at Dairy Queen but not in the store. I was in the corporate office. No soft serve for me!



On the Lake Deck:
Minnesota where I didn't mention the Mall of America. Tera discovered Chipolte Burritos in Minnesota. Katie's been to Mall of America when she was 10 and loved the Lego center. I still love Lego's! And, in recent news Minnesota is where Obama sealed his candidacy.



On the Flight Deck:
North Carolina where Anonymous brought to light Duke University and they lived in Wilmington, a great beach town.



On the Saguaro Cactus Deck:
Arizona where same Anonymous went to Arizona State University where they have great memories. Thanks for sharing them! And, I went down memory lane with the Grand Canyon, Four Corners National Monument, and Petrified Forest which I have little to no memory of actually seeing. :)

What do you do now?

If you are a resident of any of the above mentioned states read on.

Do you see the word comment just below this text? It may have the number zero in front of it. If we're lucky, it will have the number 59 in front of it. Move your little mouse down there and click and enter your comment on the next page and tell us what makes your state the Taste of USA!

Tarheels and Everything Grand

Today we're visiting North Carolina and Arizona. Welcome! Let's get started with North Carolina.

Known as the Tar heel State. Of course, there are conflicting stories about a Civil War battle as to why North Carolina is called the Tar heel State but part of the reason is because tar was one of the state's major products.

They say the climate is mild winters and comfortable summers with North Carolina offers everything from the Smoky Mountains to beautiful beaches. One of the reasons I really want to go to North Carolina is because my favorite book series by Diana Gabaldon has part of the series in North Carolina. It's the Outlander Series and I could do a whole post on the six books that I've read twice but I won't. Jamie and Claire are "relocated" to the colonies and they build their settlement in the mountains of North Carolina. The books are filled with time travel, history, love, adventure and so much more.

North Carolina has three regions. First the Mountain Region with Appalachian mountains running through the west and the Great Smoky Mountains in the southwest area. The world famous Blue Ridge Parkway winds through the mountains unfolding beautiful scenery and the fall boast a brilliant show of colors. You even have that wonderful past time of skiing and snowboarding.

The second region is the Piedmont covering about half of the state with gentle rolling foothills. You'll find beautiful golf courses, wine tours or just shop till you drop. This is the region where you'll find cities like Lexington and Raleigh.

The third region is the Coastal region with white sandy beaches and light houses dotting the shorelines. Discover Cape Fear, Brunswick or Crystal Coast. And, that's just a few of the areas.

One of the interesting things about North Carolina is it's was home to the first flight. December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, the Wright Brothers flew the first powered plane.

The fun facts are: the state dog (our 2nd) is the plott hound, the state flower is the dogwood and the state shell is the scotch bonnet (pronounced bonay).

All Tar heels join us on the Flight Deck tomorrow, June 6th to tell us what makes North Carolina the Taste of USA.

Now, from the mild winters and comfortable summers let's head over to Arizona where the monthly average highs are 105 making it THE Hottest State. Welcome to Arizona! I hope you brought your water bottle. The fun facts for Arizona are the state bird is the cactus wren, the state flower is the saguaro cactus blossom and the state frog is the tree frog.

I've actually been to Arizona and the Grand Canyon on that trip I told you about when we talked about New Mexico. I don't remember much of it but below are photos of me standing in Arizona at the Four Corners National Monument. My brother, Lloyd, is in New Mexico. It's the only place in the US that you can stand in four states at one time. Then, in the middle is Lloyd at the Petrified Forest National Park in Painted Desert. And, at the end we are at the Grand Canyon. Yeah. I need to go back because I don't remember that.

Remember when I was talking about liking the state nicknames... well, Arizona has a bunch of them. The Grand Canyon State, the Copper State, the Apache State, the Aztec State, the Valentine State, the Sand Hill State, the Sunset State, Italy of America and my favorite, the Baby State on account they were the last of the contiguous 48 states be admitted to the union.

When I think Arizona for some reason I think resorts, dude ranches, Route 66, deserts, and spas. Is any of that close? They have something called the Dream 18 for all you golfers. I'm only good for 12 holes and their boasting 5,400. Whew! That's a lot of swinging!

While we're on sports let me just mention the Arizona Diamondbacks (baseball), the Phoenix Sun (basketball), NHL Coyotes, and the Arizona Cardinals (football). And with all that great weather, they shouldn't miss any practices. Well, maybe for heat stroke.

There's plenty to do and plenty to see in Arizona and I need all of you Arizonans to help me out because I know I'm just barely scratching the surface here. I expect good things from you!

All Arizonans meet on the Saguaro Cactus Deck (watch your step, please) tomorrow, Friday, June 6th to tell us what makes Arizona the Taste of USA!