Most pathetic state clinches

[hobsini2]

BTW, My layover clinches are at LAX and Anchorage.

[tdindy88]

I did the same thing with Mississippi by coming out of Memphis and turning around. One that I'm attempting on doing for an upcoming road trip, when the weather becomes alright and I get two to three days off is a trip out to Missouri. I'll be heading toward Joplin and saw that there is an exit just before the Oklahoma border off of I-44 (US 400 I think) and that a road turns off from that highway that reaches a point where Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma meet. The Kansas one won't count since I've driven I-70 across that state but I've never been in Oklahoma before. I hope on stopping at that point and walking into Oklahoma and then turning back, that's probably about as weak as it gets but at least I can cross that state off my list.

[hobsini2]

  on the Okla, Kansas, Mo move.

[1995hoo]

I take VA is like Texas with two different parts of the state having different freeway maximums?  Western VA has the 70 while Eastern VA has 65 similar to Eastern Texas with its 75 mph and Western Texas and its 80.

This is getting off-topic, but your description is not really accurate. The statute allows 70-mph limits on all Interstates and certain other roads (essentially Interstate look-alikes, although that's an oversimplification). VDOT hasn't posted 70-mph limits on all eligible roads, however. In general, and again this is a bit of an oversimplification, rural Interstates are mostly posted at 70, urban and suburban Interstates are generally posted at 55, some heavily-trafficked rural segments are posted at 65, and areas between 55 and 65 zones are posted at 60. (Then there are some that just seem kind of random, like I-64 passing Charlottesville being 65.) The only non-Interstate posted at 70 is a segment of US-29 bypassing Lynchburg and Madison Heights, roughly from Amherst down to US-460. The 70-mph limits aren't really restricted by geography so much as they are by population and traffic volume. I-95 has 70-mph limits, for example, but only south of Petersburg and between a point shortly north of I-295 and just south of the Massaponax exit.

No non-freeway in Virginia is posted above 60 mph. For example, US-29 from Charlottesville south to Danville is generally posted at 60, goes up to 65 on the brief freeway-grade bypasses of a few towns (plus that 70-mph segment noted earlier), and then drops back to 60 between those.

[pianocello]

For about ten years, the only time I had gone to the UP of Michigan was to cross the Mackinac Bridge, exit at US 2, and find a park near the bridge to snap some pictures. I have since spent a substantial time in the UP.

That's the closest I've got, not counting cutting a bunch of corners with counties because of where roads go (I-80 in Kendall County, IL, etc.).

[Kacie Jane]

Can anybody beat my pathetic clinching of the Mountaineer State?

Certainly.  I've only made one trip through the panhandle, you made three.

But that's not even my most pathetic clinch.  The only time I've been to New Hampshire was on a trip to Vermont, and we drove over a bridge, made a U-turn and drove back.  (Interestingly, I've been to Maine, but entered via Canada.)

[roadman65]

Interesting thing you brought up.  Maine has more Canadian Provinces as neighbors then US States.  New Hampshire is Maine's only neighbor.  You must pass through NH by road to reach Maine, or like you did enter from Canada, or fly into one of its airports.

[74/171FAN]

 

I-81 into West Virginia. One county clinched, and it's 26 miles. Seriously, with a 70 MPH speed limit that does not even last into Virginia, only 15 minutes invested, without exiting.

The 70-mph limit now does carry over into Virginia since sometime after the speed limit statute was amended in 2010.

The 70 section actually continues all the way to just north of I-66 now.  It goes down to 65 for a few miles until south of Strasburg when it goes right back to 70.  I will add clinching I-81 in MD as it is only 12 miles (should I add in I-97 while I am at it?  ) .

[freebrickproductions]

I-24 in GA.
Though I have gone to Six Flags over in Atlanta before, but that's about it other than I-24.

[The Nature Boy]

My exposure to Georgia consists solely of I-95.

[Zeffy]

Thanks to the wonders of I-95, I have "visited" (but not stepped out of my car) the following states at least once:

-Virginia (visited Northern Virginia before though)
-North Carolina
-South Carolina
-Georgia
-Northern/Eastern Florida

My exposure to New York is piss-poor, as it only includes 4 of New York City's boroughs. I have never been to upstate New York once. I hope to add many more places to my visited list starting this year, but that may have to wait until next.

[jp the roadgeek]

Mine is MO during 2 layovers at St Louis airport going to and from Hawaii.  My first clinch of WV was heading west on US 340 and turning around in Harpers Ferry battlefield (I've since seen more on WV 9, US 11, and even clinched I-81 in WV.  Other potential pathetic clinches: going from Hoosic Falls, NY to Williamstown, MA via Route 346 and catching US 7 in the SW corner of VT.  Also the people who get off I-84 Exit 1 in NY and drive the couple hundred yards south into NJ to get gas.  Last one: MD 896.  Not even signed as you think you're crossing directly from PA into DE. 

[vegas1962]

I've hit MN and MO only through airport layovers (twice at STL, multiple times at MSP), but never thought to walk outside...didn't want to deal with going through security again.

For those not involving airports, my lamest are probably Maine, Nebraska and Delaware.  My wife lived in Massachusetts for two years before we got married, and on my visits there, I managed to get into all the New England states at least once.  Maine was a day trip up I-95 where we crossed the border and went to the outlet mall in Kittery, which I recall is one of the first exits in the state.  I've slept in every New England state except Maine.

Then I got Nebraska on a business trip for work.  Needing to go to Sidney, NE, I flew from DTW into Denver, then drove up I-76 to Sterling, then used US-138 and a state highway to get to Sidney.  At least I got to spend the night there, but went right back to Denver and flew home the next morning.

Delaware came on a summer family trip to the East Coast when I was 6 or 7 years old.  I'm told we were there, but I have no memory of it.  That trip was two weeks in the car because my dad was trying to hit as many Civil War sites as he could.  I think that trip was Michigan to OH-PA-DE-MD-DC-VA-WV-PA-OH-MI, I think we may have clipped the corner of DE on our way from Philly down to the Baltimore-DC area.  Not sure how we missed NJ, but I got that on my own later.

[cpzilliacus]

If anyone ever managed to have their only time in DC be driving on the portion of I-95 that enters the district on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, that would be the ultimate example of this.  Can't personally claim it though - not only have I spent a decent amount of time in DC through a combination of a school field trip and family vacation, I've never been on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Added bonus - since the WWB was reconstructed, you can now clinch D.C. by walking or biking across the bridge!

[Scott5114]

I have not one, not two, but three pathetic clinches:





CO: Entered on US-287/US-385 and then turned around.
KY: Drove across the Ohio River bridge and then turned around.
WV: I-70 straight through.

[cpzilliacus]

Then there's Md. 896 (New London Road) in Cecil County, which links Pennsylvania 896 and Delaware 896.  Not quite as short as clinching D.C. by crossing the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, but it's pretty short in Maryland at 0.2 miles.

[Highway63]

Smallest/shortest state visits:

• Sole exposure to Montana is a hotel in West Yellowstone
• Sole exposure to Vermont is going up to the first exit and back in the dark of night
• Sole exposure to Maine is going up to the Kittery exit, eating, and returning (the day after Vermont)

First highway clinch in WV was I-70 and I wasn't back for five years.

There have been times where the family/I detoured into a state to get it on the trip but did more extensive travel later. First "visit" to Michigan was US 131 at the state line.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I have two pathetic Spanish province clinches. While I have travelled across Biscay, I have never set foot there. On the other hand, I barely entered Albacete province, but at least I managed to get off the car in it.

[jeffandnicole]

Thanks to the wonders of I-95, I have "visited" (but not stepped out of my car) the following states at least once:

-Virginia (visited Northern Virginia before though)
-North Carolina
-South Carolina
-Georgia
-Northern/Eastern Florida

My exposure to New York is piss-poor, as it only includes 4 of New York City's boroughs. I have never been to upstate New York once. I hope to add many more places to my visited list starting this year, but that may have to wait until next.

That's a long way to hold it in!!!

[RoadWarrior56]

I visited the four-corners monument once, and my only visit to Utah consisted on putting my hand or foot on that side of the monument.  I think my car was parked in the Arizona quadrant.

[Truvelo]

Four Corners was closed when I went there in 2013 so I drove a couple of miles on route 162 just to tick Utah off my list

[bugo]

Other stupid clinches are Michigan (M-49 north to US 12 west to I-69 south) and North Carolina (US 441 south to US 19 north to US 74 east to I-40 east to I-26 east).

[HazMatt]

Indiana.  Took I-70 westbound to the US-40 exit just inside the state line at Richmond, and turned around.

[NWI_Irish96]

As part of our honeymoon, my wife and I spent a night in Savannah.  We crossed the US 17 bridge into South Carolina, immediately turned around, are crossed back into Savannah.  Could not have been in the state longer than 2-3 minutes.

[democraticnole]

It's easily Massachusetts for me. Someone was giving us directions for an exit in Providence that was only on 95 south and not 95 north. We crossed the MA line and made a u-turn at Rte. 123, which is the 2nd or 3rd exit in MA on 95. That's still the only time I have been to Massachusetts.