Round 3 and Oopsie!

Today will be a little different in the Independence and Liberty Brackets because of two things. 1) Louisiana and Virginia tied on May 15th and the winner of those two is supposed to go up against Alabama. 2) Because someone (me) wasn't paying attention and typed Tennessee instead of Indiana. You would rather go to Tennessee than West Virginia but they weren't even in the same bracket. Yes, that was a heavy sigh you heard.

So today in both the Independence and Liberty Brackets you will be deciding between three states. Make it count.

Round Three!

Freedom Bracket: Would rather go to Kentucky or California?

Independence Bracket: Choose between Alabama, Louisiana and Virginia.

Liberty Bracket: Will it be Texas, West Virginia or Indiana?

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

Peggy and Robin actually read the Monday post and entered a poem for a drawing and Peggy you won! I'm off to Hobby Lobby to find my magical item. I hope it's still there but if it's not there's lots of other magic that I can choose.

Good Times

That's what I've been having and that's what we'll be having at Taste of USA 2009! Where do YOU want to go?

Today's contestants are:
Freedom Bracket:
Lousiana or Virginia

Independence Bracket:
Michigan or California

Liberty Bracket:
West Virginia or Tennessee

I'd write more but boy am I tired from having all these.... GOOD TIMES!

Where Do You Want to Go? Hmmm?

We're blogging over at Highlowaha! Come join us. Don't forget you're voting for where you are willing to go to meet us for our fun-filled day!

Vote 3 times. Over there----------->

Freedom: Oregon vs. Virginia
Independence: Idaho vs. California
Liberty: South Dakota vs. Indiana
Vote over there------------------------>

Hey, I'm not doing ALL the work. Of those six states where do you think the most viable and fun place would be to go. Disneyland. I'm just saying, Claudia!

Voting will last until approximately 6:00am CST or until I change it in the morning.

Welcome to Contest Friday!

All Passengers from California, Iowa, Missouri, O-H-I-O & Vermont report to your appointed decks! It's your day to chime in and tell us what makes your state the Taste of USA!

Cassie P was born in California almost 21 years ago and loves the sun. Jayme visited the San Diego Zoo and was impressed with how close the zoo was like the animals natural habitat. She also visited Disneyland. Go Mickie. And, La Jolla beaches with their cliffs and seals.

Cassie Y dated a boy from Iowa but he and his family didn't tan well. If we build it Heather and hubby Bal will perform marching magic there. At this time I don't have any photos but hopefully Heather will be able to work that out. Her AWESOME supervisor is from Iowa and the very AWESOME Katie O. is from Iowa. Shout out Katie O!

Tera SHOWED ME her picture taken from the top of the arch!

Heather didn't make it to the top of the arch. With the car running, her and her crazy friends just ran up and touched it. I hope your professor isn't reading this Ms. Heather, or you are in trouble!

Tera confirmed that Anheuser Busch does serve beer at the end of the tour and it's the freshest, best beer you'll ever drink. And she also gave us a great tip on where to eat ice cream/custard- Ted Drewes.

We had a lot of great comments about Ohio. Too many for me to repost them all here. Thanks Tera, Treye, Katie K and Heather. We did learn that Cincinnati likes to claim parts of Kentucky though. I think that should make Kentucky feel good. I wonder will Kentucky claim parts of Ohio? Tera mentioned Ceader Point and when I came home tonight and turned on the tv there was something on about Ceader Point! Hmm... Tera also sent me a picture of a sea turtle at the Newport Aquarium. I think his name is Tommy. And, she sent me a picture of Peacock from a zoo but I'm not sure which one. I think the Peacock's name is Perry and he's all fluffed up like that because he's trying to steal Tera from Treye. I think he's out of luck. Perry, not Treye.

And sadly, none of us have been to Vermont but we HAVE to go.

Not from any of the states that we've talked about to date? Stay Tuned! Next week is Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana and Virginia. And your state will be coming up soon! Has your state already passed and you didn't play? Don't give up! A make up day will reveal itself!

Welcome to the Golden State

Welcome to California! I'm feeling a little bit woozy so hold on. You're in for a whirlwind trip. There's no way I can cover it all so if you're going to Cali check out their vacation site. But, let's just establish... they have a lot of beaches!

First Stop: San Francisco and home of the Forty Niners and the Golden Gate Bridge. Visit the animals at the San Francisco Zoo For the festival lover in me there's Pier 39- a festival marketplace with shops, restaurants, seals, and street performers. And there's always a history lesson at Alcatraz.

Second Stop: Just across the bay to Oakland. Home of the Oakland A's and the Oakland Raider's. Native author Jack London now has his own square that is quite popular. We're not going for a history lesson, we're going for shopping and entertainment. And don't forget the animals at the Oakland Zoo.

Third Stop: Let's head east to Sacramento, the capital of California. Home of the NBA Sacramento Kings. In case you didn't get enough animals at the first two zoo's... yep, the Sacramento Zoo is always a good spot for the family to go. If you're looking for a western experience you can try out JB Ranch (I had to put that in because my youngest is called JB :))

Fourth Stop: Bundle up because we're headed for Lake Tahoe! From skiing in the winter to... what's that? A whole list of festivals in the summer! Okay, I'm afraid of being cold so let's drop down to...

Fifth Stop: Death Valley. We can go see Scotty's Castle and Rhyolite Ghost Town. There are lots of things to do but seriously, we can't stay long because it's way to hot at temperatures of 120 degrees in the summer.

Sixth Stop: Sequoia National Park. Get ready for beautiful nature and some monster trees. We're going to do a lot of hiking and camping. We can check out Crystal Cave with beautiful stalactites but be sure to store your food. The bears like it.

Seventh Stop: City of Angles, Los Angeles. LA is the second largest city in the USA so we could probably spend a day just in the city. Home of the Lakers- they won game 5 tonight but they're still down. Will they win another title? We have to go to Disneyland and Universal Studios for non-stop thrills and fun. And I'm sure Hollywood is it's own ride!

Last stop: San Diego Home of the San Diego Chargers , Padres, lots of beaches for surfing, golf. How many zoo's does one state need? Well, I guess the animals like it in California! Visit them at San Diego Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. Here are 25 fun and free things to do while San Diego.

Places we didn't get to: Napa, Santa Barbara, Monterrey,Palm Springs and oh so much more!!! And, omg, I am craving some fresh seafood after viewing tons of pictures of it!

Some quick fun facts: California is the most populated state in the USA and the third largest. Mount Whitney is the 2nd highest point in the USA at 14, 494. And first with the lowest point at -282 in Death Valley. California produces a long list of crops from pistachios to avocados to mushrooms and too much more to list! The state bird is the California Valley Quail, the state flower is the golden poppy, and the state tree is the Sequoia.

All Californians meet on the Roller Skate Deck on Friday, June 20th to tell us what makes California the Taste of USA!