The United States is an interesting bird. It has geographical regions that are very very different and culture that also separated those regions. Save a few weird ones (California, Florida and Texas come to mind), the states also are also defined by those geographical regions. Of course, the geographical regions do not follow state lines, but rather the geographical features they represent. None the less, the court of popular opinion seems to think a state is defined by whatever it's most famous for. Most people not from Illinois that have visited have only visited Chicago, and they think the whole state is one big Chicago.
This gets me to the topic. What states that share a common boundary are the most jarring because they both have such distinct and different cultural and geographical definitions? My example is I still, no matter how many times I look at a map of the USA, have a hard time excepting that Oklahoma and New Mexico share a common boundary (and I have even crossed that boundary). New Mexico is so identified with the southwest and mountainous regions, and Oklahoma is identified with the great plains, the dust bowl and tornado alley. The only thing they have in common is their Native American association, and even that is miles apart. New Mexico is heavy Apache (being the people of the American Southwest) and Oklahoma is heavy Cherokee (quite frankly, the most anglo of the Native American tribes). I think its is exacerbated by the fact that it is a short boundary and the Oklahoma Panhandle is somewhat removed from the rest of Oklahoma.
This can also go for international boundaries. As an American, I find it interesting and jarring that France and Germany share a common boundary seeing how culturally and language wise they are so different.
MD (coastal, very urban, deep blue) vs. WV (mountainous, rural, deep red). Of course, the part of MD that's actually adjacent to WV is more similar to WV than to the rest of MD.
Quote from: 1 on December 28, 2020, 06:53:47 PM
MD (coastal, very urban, deep blue) vs. WV (mountainous, rural, deep red). Of course, the part of MD that's actually adjacent to WV is more similar to WV than to the rest of MD.
That's another point entirely I find fascinating. People have a pre connived notion of what a state is. You say Colorado to most average Americans and they thing Rocky Mountains and snow, meanwhile in reality almost half of Colorado looks and culturally associates closer to Kansas and Nebraska.
Few people remember that Illinois borders Kentucky.
Water borders make things fun, like Minnesota having a direct connection to Michigan's Isle Royale. Most Minnesotans think of Michigan as being a full day's drive, though from Duluth you can be in the UP in less than 90 minutes (though that requires going through Wisconsin and isn't in the thread).
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on December 28, 2020, 08:31:57 PM
Water borders make things fun, like Minnesota having a direct connection to Michigan's Isle Royale. Most Minnesotans think of Michigan as being a full day's drive, though from Duluth you can be in the UP in less than 90 minutes (though that requires going through Wisconsin and isn't in the thread).
The same also applies to New York and Long Island, though those states probably wouldn't surprise anyone. New Hampshire and Maine are the only New England states to not have any borders with New York.
This isn't really a border, but Texas is about 35 miles from Colorado at its closest point. That especially feels weird.
Virginia and Tennessee is a pretty weird one to think about.
Going international, one may be surprised to find only one country lies between the European Union and North Korea. Russia is so damn big, I know celestial bodies with less surface :sombrero:. And the fact Russia and North Korea share a border may be mind blowing to some, as it may not seem obvious on a map (the Russia/China/North Korea tripoint is on the Tumen River just 10 miles from its mouth on the Sea of Japan).
Some people in my own state seem to be completely unaware that North Carolina borders Georgia. Although it feels kind of weird that it does. It's like those states that just kind of exist and you don't really think about much, but they are there, but it's about borders instead of states. The North Dakota of borders.
Texas and Louisiana is always interesting to me. I think of Texas as a southwestern state, even though the eastern third or so is pretty southeastern. Missouri and Tennessee also, Missouri is midwestern but Tennessee is southeastern.
Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on December 28, 2020, 06:57:40 PM
Quote from: 1 on December 28, 2020, 06:53:47 PM
MD (coastal, very urban, deep blue) vs. WV (mountainous, rural, deep red). Of course, the part of MD that's actually adjacent to WV is more similar to WV than to the rest of MD.
That's another point entirely I find fascinating. People have a pre connived notion of what a state is. You say Colorado to most average Americans and they thing Rocky Mountains and snow, meanwhile in reality almost half of Colorado looks and culturally associates closer to Kansas and Nebraska.
Only about a third or fourth of Colorado is a mountainous rural place like how people think of it. The eastern third is West Kansas, the Front Range is very urban, and the western third is pretty much desert.
The cultural differences between West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio in the Huntington-Ashland-Ironton area are mind-boggling. Just try to order a "hot dog with chili and slaw" in each of these cities and see what you get. Folks in Ashland within walking distance of their office would call out for half-inch snow days, when folks from West Virginia and Ohio would push through 10 inches of the stuff to get to work. You get Southern cuisine in Kentucky and West Virginia, whereas southern Ohio is like the Midwest. Traditionally, the rural area of Southeast Ohio is poorer than the rural areas around Ashland and Huntington. None of it made any sense to me.
Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on December 28, 2020, 06:57:40 PM
Quote from: 1 on December 28, 2020, 06:53:47 PM
MD (coastal, very urban, deep blue) vs. WV (mountainous, rural, deep red). Of course, the part of MD that's actually adjacent to WV is more similar to WV than to the rest of MD.
That's another point entirely I find fascinating. People have a pre connived notion of what a state is. You say Colorado to most average Americans and they thing Rocky Mountains and snow, meanwhile in reality almost half of Colorado looks and culturally associates closer to Kansas and Nebraska.
Virginia has some of this but it really depends on how far away you are from the state. I told a friend in the Midwest that I lived in Virginia and I might as well have told him that I lived in Kentucky and Tennessee, he thought I was living in some backwoods part of the South. A lot of people seem to forget that Virginia borders DC.
A lot of people from Northern Virginia just say that they live in DC. When I was in college, it wasn't uncommon to hear someone say that they're from DC and when pressed on on what part, they'd answer something like "Fairfax" or "Arlington."
Quote from: Dirt Roads on December 29, 2020, 09:01:53 AM
The cultural differences between West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio in the Huntington-Ashland-Ironton area are mind-boggling. Just try to order a "hot dog with chili and slaw" in each of these cities and see what you get. Folks in Ashland within walking distance of their office would call out for half-inch snow days, when folks from West Virginia and Ohio would push through 10 inches of the stuff to get to work. You get Southern cuisine in Kentucky and West Virginia, whereas southern Ohio is like the Midwest. Traditionally, the rural area of Southeast Ohio is poorer than the rural areas around Ashland and Huntington. None of it made any sense to me.
To that point, driving from south to north on I-81 is a culture shock. First you drive for a few hours through Virginia (very southern), then cross to West Virginia and Maryland for like 5 seconds each, then you are in Pennsylvania. You went from a state associated with the deep south, skipped through two states and landed in a state associated more with the east coast (all because Philadelphia; I think of it as both east coast and Midwest because Pennsylvania is so diverse)
Side note, even though I have driven across the Roebling Bridge, I still find it very weird that Ohio and Kentucky share a common border.
Even though it takes several days to drive to Alaska, there's only one Canadian province between it and the lower 48.
Tennessee borders 8 others states despite the fact that it shares a tremendously long border with Kentucky. A glance at a map and the eye is drawn to that long KY/TN line and it makes it seem like there's not that many states touching Tennessee. But then you count 'em up and sure enough; with Virginia sticking it's nose in there and Missouri's little boot heel and the 'lid' Tennessee provides for the Gulf Coast states, they quickly add up.
Coming back to Canada, when I vacation in northwest Ontario, it's crazy to think I'm in the same province as the country's largest city. Hell, they have a "Polar Bear Provincial Park" in the same province as one of the largest metros on the continent. That's wild!
Similar observations could be made about Quebec, but I haven't personally been there so that's why I'm singling out Ontario.
Quote from: 1 on December 28, 2020, 06:53:47 PM
MD (coastal, very urban, deep blue) vs. WV (mountainous, rural, deep red). Of course, the part of MD that's actually adjacent to WV is more similar to WV than to the rest of MD.
Hagerstown is in an interesting crossroads for the eastern half of America: close enough to the Baltimore-Washington area, yet close to the approaches for mountainous West Virginia and Pennsylvania. I met an interesting mix of folks there.
Many people forget that MI and IL share a water border.
And then there's that subset of people that forget that MI and WI share a land border. Because, da UP, eh? These are probably many of the same people who are prepared to show their passport when crossing the Mackinac Bridge.
Quote from: GaryV on December 29, 2020, 12:11:17 PM
Many people forget that MI and IL share a water border.
And then there's that subset of people that forget that MI and WI share a land border. Because, da UP, eh? These are probably many of the same people who are prepared to show their passport when crossing the Mackinac Bridge.
MI, WI, and the northern third of IL are all quite similar (and Chicago and Detroit have many similarities). It's not two or three states that are thought of completely different like CO and OK or WV and MD.
Quote from: 1 on December 29, 2020, 12:15:48 PM
MI, WI, and the northern third of IL are all quite similar (and Chicago and Detroit have many similarities). It's not two or three states that are thought of completely different like CO and OK or WV and MD.
I'll agree that the northern third of IL and the southern thirds of MI and WI are similar. But the northern parts of WI and MI are totally different from IL, IN and OH.
Quote from: The Nature Boy on December 28, 2020, 08:27:58 PM
Few people remember that Illinois borders Kentucky.
These two states are the ones I immediately thought of. Illinois is classic midwestern; Kentucky -- especially the part of the state the borders Illinois -- is much more southern. The Purchase area is definitely more like Tennessee than it is Illinois. And for most people in that part of the state, Nashville is the nearest "big city." Not St. Louis, not Memphis, not Louisville.
Kentucky and Indiana are similar, although terrain-wise, the part of Indiana that's closest to Kentucky isn't all that dissimilar.
I don't find the differences between Kentucky and Ohio to be all that jarring, especially since so many people from Kentucky moved to Ohio to find work. The most famous/notorious ones being J.D. Vance's family, now that "Hillbilly Elegy" has been adapted to movie form.
Georgia and Florida.
Quote from: hbelkins on December 29, 2020, 12:22:21 PM
Quote from: The Nature Boy on December 28, 2020, 08:27:58 PM
Few people remember that Illinois borders Kentucky.
These two states are the ones I immediately thought of. Illinois is classic midwestern; Kentucky -- especially the part of the state the borders Illinois -- is much more southern. The Purchase area is definitely more like Tennessee than it is Illinois. And for most people in that part of the state, Nashville is the nearest "big city." Not St. Louis, not Memphis, not Louisville.
Kentucky and Indiana are similar, although terrain-wise, the part of Indiana that's closest to Kentucky isn't all that dissimilar.
I don't find the differences between Kentucky and Ohio to be all that jarring, especially since so many people from Kentucky moved to Ohio to find work. The most famous/notorious ones being J.D. Vance's family, now that "Hillbilly Elegy" has been adapted to movie form.
Yes, I understand where you are coming from. The Kentucky/Ohio border is actually famous for lying on the Ohio River, and no one bats an eye that half of the Cincinnati metro area is in Kentucky. Still, as a Texan, Ohio is so strongly identified to me as a rustbelt/midwestern state and Kentucky is so identified with the south, it's hard to really wrap my head around the two.
Quote from: STLmapboy on December 29, 2020, 12:24:08 PM
Georgia and Florida.
I personally don't understand why that's so weird, but looking through other people's eyes I understand. What I mean by that is, I for the first five times I visited Florida, I only visited the panhandle, which to me was just South Georgia or East Alabama. It was a very long time until I visited Orlando and Miami and actually saw what most people's vision of Florida actually was, and even then, the vision of Florida being all like the panhandle didn't leave me. It was just this year I visited Tampa and The Keys for the first time, and I still associate Florida as being all like the panhandle.
WA and ID are politically far apart, but mostly due to the former's pull from urban regions hundreds of miles away. Quite a bit of Eastern WA identifies a lot with ID, sadly.
Quote from: STLmapboy on December 29, 2020, 12:24:08 PM
Georgia and Florida.
You mean the state line region, aka North Florida or South Georgia? ;)
I mean, I kinda like it here now, but I should note that the history of the region isn't that crystal-clear. The French being driven out by the Spanish, the Spanish having to cede their land holdings more than once due to different wars, and most unfortunate is the native peoples driven to extinction or to reservations elsewhere.
Geographically, in MN/WI the only striking change is crossing from hilly Duluth to pancake-flat Superior. Obviously culturally they're pretty similar.
Quote from: STLmapboy on December 29, 2020, 12:24:08 PM
Georgia and Florida.
Florida's Panhandle might as well be Southern Alabama/Georgia, with the Apalachicola River being the divider.
Edit: as said a few posts back
Two that seem weird to me are IL/KY and OH/WV, but I've spent very little time anywhere near those borders. I imagine that every border seems fairly fluid if you are more familiar with the area.
Quote from: cabiness42 on December 29, 2020, 05:56:16 PM
Two that seem weird to me are IL/KY and OH/WV, but I've spent very little time anywhere near those borders. I imagine that every border seems fairly fluid if you are more familiar with the area.
I think more than one post is confusing the geography of the actual border with what the original title of the post was about. The point of this post is two states that share a common border, but the individual states have cultural and geographical ideals that are very different as a whole. As my original Oklahoma/New Mexico example, the two states are extremely far apart in the eyes of the mases, but of course the physical border between the two isn't that drastic because changes aren't that abrupt in geography. I just visited the Texas/Oklahoma/New Mexico tri point, and it wasn't like at the Texas side was oil derricks and cowboys in ten gallon hats, the Oklahoma side had tornados and farmland and the New Mexico side had Kokapelli dancing on tall mountains. No, all three sides looked like the same farm land.
Quote from: CoreySamson on December 28, 2020, 11:18:38 PM
This isn't really a border, but Texas is about 35 miles from Colorado at its closest point. That especially feels weird.
I like this. I think it should be included. States that don't border but almost do, which are culturally and geographically different. I don't think Texas has anything in common with Colorado, yet it's a short jaunt (basically across one county) from Texas to Colorado.
Quote from: formulanone on December 29, 2020, 05:50:02 PM
Florida's Panhandle might as well be Southern Alabama/Georgia, with the Apalachicola River being the divider.
Interesting... I believe the Apalachicola River was also the dividing line between East Florida and West Florida (which included parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana) way back when.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on December 29, 2020, 05:43:20 PM
Geographically, in MN/WI the only striking change is crossing from hilly Duluth to pancake-flat Superior. Obviously culturally they're pretty similar.
Minnesota and Wisconsin might be the least strange state border.
Quote from: thspfc on December 29, 2020, 09:14:05 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on December 29, 2020, 05:43:20 PM
Geographically, in MN/WI the only striking change is crossing from hilly Duluth to pancake-flat Superior. Obviously culturally they're pretty similar.
Minnesota and Wisconsin might be the least strange state border.
Viking and Packer fans are coming to burn your house down.
Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on December 29, 2020, 06:41:56 PM
Quote from: CoreySamson on December 28, 2020, 11:18:38 PM
This isn't really a border, but Texas is about 35 miles from Colorado at its closest point. That especially feels weird.
I like this. I think it should be included. States that don't border but almost do, which are culturally and geographically different. I don't think Texas has anything in common with Colorado, yet it's a short jaunt (basically across one county) from Texas to Colorado.
I'll cheat again and expand my previous post:
If you told someone that Illinois and Tennessee were very close together, they'd think you were lying to them. The average person wouldn't think that there are people in the same state as Chicago who would have Nashville, Tennessee as their closest big city.
Virginia and Pennsylvania are also only separated by a small sliver of Maryland.
I was surprised how close (Charles Town,) West Virginia was to Washington DC. Just a shade over 50 miles as the crow flies and just a shade over 60 miles driving.
Considering that Cincinnati is 120 miles (flying) to 150 miles (driving) to Huntington WV on the other side of the state.
I was always surprised how MO and AR bordered as you considered North and South in Culture. Though driving across the I see exactly the same hilly topography.
Quote from: thspfc on December 29, 2020, 09:14:05 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on December 29, 2020, 05:43:20 PM
Geographically, in MN/WI the only striking change is crossing from hilly Duluth to pancake-flat Superior. Obviously culturally they're pretty similar.
Minnesota and Wisconsin might be the least strange state border.
That's why I said *geographically*. I'm pretty well aware culturally MN and WI are about the two most similar places of anywhere in the country.
WV- I have always said that the key to understanding WV is that the different parts are much more like the places they border, than they are one another.
Red and blue - The map to look at is the one by counties, not states. This will help one understand that you really don't have that many blue states, nor all that many red ones but rather large red areas where the blue county residents outnumber everyone else, and those where they do not. It is not really that, say there is this big political shift at the WV MD line or the OR ID line or whatever, but rather somewhere very nearer somewhere urban within one state.
People would probably say Texas and Louisiana. The Difference between College Station and Lafayette is huge. The difference between Monroe and Lafayette is bigger. Realistically from a cultural standpoint, Louisiana should be cut off just north of Alexandria. Texas should end with Harris county. Pretty much everything East of there south of US-190 more or less belongs with Louisiana.
Quote from: cabiness42 on December 29, 2020, 05:56:16 PM
Two that seem weird to me are IL/KY and OH/WV, but I've spent very little time anywhere near those borders. I imagine that every border seems fairly fluid if you are more familiar with the area.
There's probably less difference between the various locations on the border between OH and WV along the river than there is between OH and KY (excepting the Boyd/Greenup county area of Kentucky.) I can't really tell a lot of difference between Pt. Pleasant and Gallipolis, Williamstown and Marietta, or Weirton and Steubenville; but I can between Maysville and Aberdeen. I went to college with a whole lot of people from Adams and Brown counties and nearby areas in Ohio, and they seemed to be more midwestern than the people from Scioto and Lawrence counties, who seemed more Appalachian.
Quote from: bwana39 on December 30, 2020, 03:55:03 PM
People would probably say Texas and Louisiana. The Difference between College Station and Lafayette is huge. The difference between Monroe and Lafayette is bigger. Realistically from a cultural standpoint, Louisiana should be cut off just north of Alexandria. Texas should end with Harris county. Pretty much everything East of there south of US-190 more or less belongs with Louisiana.
This is what I was looking for in this thread. I think this topic was geared more toward people who don't live in the regions of the state borders looking at the generalization of the states as a whole. I was born and raised in Texas. It is not strange to me that Texas borders Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. My in-laws are from Vidor, so near the Louisiana line, and my family is from Marshall, also near the Louisiana state line, albeit a completely different part of Louisiana culturally. I am very aware personally of Louisiana's border with Texas, but this thread is not for me in that regard. It's more geared to that guy in Bangor, Maine, who thinks word association with:
Texas: Cowboys with big hats, country music, oil fields, flatness and a Mexican flair.
Louisiana: Swamp, bayous, creole people, etouffee, gumbo, French, The Quarter and Zydeco Music.
Culturally and even geographically not in the same ballpark, so I understand why most people would think Louisiana and Texas sharing a common boundary is insane. Now, you being from Texarkana, like myself, don't think this transition is that jarring personally because both Texas and Louisiana are so much more than the average person thinks it is, combined with East Texas and West Louisiana being exactly alike (but only SE Texas - SW Louisiana and NE Texas and NW Louisiana...they don't cross, not by a long shot).
I say this because most replies are "well I like in the X state Y state border area and see no difference" or "I have driven across the X state Y state border and saw the same geographical features on one side of the line as the other." This thread is not about the actual physical border area, its about generalizations.
I think the average person not from the western states would be shocked to learn that Kansas and Colorado share a common border. Colorado is associated with the Rocky Mountains and nature while Kansas is associated with farms and farmers. Culturally you can't get that further apart, but they share a border. Now anyone who has driven I-70 east of Denver to Kansas knows once you leave Denver, Colorado looks exactly like Kansas so that people from say, Burlington, CO don't think it's that big of a deal.
Also, New York and Vermont sharing a border is odd to some people. Vermont is thought of as maple trees, apple trees and very rural and most people think of New York City when they think of New York. so the thought of a rural place touching a very very urban place is a bit jarring to people not from the area. That's not saying if you cross Lake Champlain and land in Plattsburg you will be baffled by the immediate change. Of course the topography and scenery will not have any difference.
Sorry for the rant, I am just trying to clarify what I was looking for in this thread, and I think you hit it on the nail.
In that case, is it weird AZ and CO touch? In a simplified sense I think of CO as snow covered mountains and AZ as a vast desert.
NY/VT/NH and Quebec. Maine not so much because of the prominent French-Canadian flair of the northern half.
In my opinion, parts of Texas and Louisiana are quite alike. Some of the attributes ethanhopkin listed, such as the cowboy hats, flatness, country music, swamp, and bayous are common to both states. Where I'm at it gets even more intertwined, as local Mexican restaurants (typically a Texas thing) serve lots of crawfish (typically a Louisiana thing) at certain times of year, certain locales (such as Galveston) celebrate Mardi Gras almost as much as NOLA, and many creeks in the area are called bayous.
Of course I've lived my entire life in either Texas or Louisiana, so maybe I don't think of them as very different for that reason. Before I moved to Texas, I thought of them as much different, but as soon as I crossed the border, that changed.
One other border that feels odd to me is Iowa/Missouri. I tend to think of Iowa as largely cornfields, and Missouri as mostly hills and rivers, but they share a pretty long border.
Quote from: thenetwork on December 29, 2020, 11:05:27 PM
I was surprised how close (Charles Town,) West Virginia was to Washington DC. Just a shade over 50 miles as the crow flies and just a shade over 60 miles driving.
On that note, I once took some friends from North Carolina on a short road trip from the Winchester area to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. Afterwards, I got a wild hair and drove them up to Hancock, Maryland, told them to close their eyes for a minute and surprised them with the "Welcome to Pennsylvania" sign. Needless to say, they weren't expecting to cross the Mason-Dixon line so quickly. Did a U-turn at the US-522 exit and brought them back via WV-9.
Quote from: Dirt Roads on December 31, 2020, 09:28:30 AM
Quote from: thenetwork on December 29, 2020, 11:05:27 PM
I was surprised how close (Charles Town,) West Virginia was to Washington DC. Just a shade over 50 miles as the crow flies and just a shade over 60 miles driving.
On that note, I once took some friends from North Carolina on a short road trip from the Winchester area to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. Afterwards, I got a wild hair and drove them up to Hancock, Maryland, told them to close their eyes for a minute and surprised them with the "Welcome to Pennsylvania" sign. Needless to say, they weren't expecting to cross the Mason-Dixon line so quickly. Did a U-turn at the US-522 exit and brought them back via WV-9.
Also to that point, I think the average person is shocked to find out where the Mason-Dixon Line actually is. Most southerners seem to think it's way more south than it actually is.
I find it strange that PA is a Canadian border state. Yes, it's in the middle of Lake Erie, but being buried under NY for 95% of it's length plus the fact it borders WV and MD amazes you that it actually has an international border.
NY and RI share a water border. RIDOT exploits this by using NYC as a control for I-95 South and skipping over CT cities.
MI and MN share a water border. There's one small area where WI doesn't get in the way
And CT and NJ are only 12 miles apart at their closest points.
Quote from: thenetwork on December 29, 2020, 11:05:27 PM
I was surprised how close (Charles Town,) West Virginia was to Washington DC. Just a shade over 50 miles as the crow flies and just a shade over 60 miles driving.
Quote from: Dirt Roads on December 31, 2020, 09:28:30 AM
On that note, I once took some friends from North Carolina on a short road trip from the Winchester area to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. Afterwards, I got a wild hair and drove them up to Hancock, Maryland, told them to close their eyes for a minute and surprised them with the "Welcome to Pennsylvania" sign. Needless to say, they weren't expecting to cross the Mason-Dixon line so quickly. Did a U-turn at the US-522 exit and brought them back via WV-9.
Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on December 31, 2020, 09:59:40 AM
Also to that point, I think the average person is shocked to find out where the Mason-Dixon Line actually is. Most southerners seem to think it's way more south than it actually is.
Yes, and also the Twelve-Mile Arc border between Delaware and Pennsylvania. I'm always amazed about "The Wedge" created by "The Arc" and the Mason-Dixon Line that was disputed by Pennsylvania until the early 1920s. Nobody mentions that "The Wedge" should have belonged to Maryland. Also, there's a section of "The Arc" that rolls west of the "North Line" between Maryland and Delaware, and that was supposed to remain part of Delaware.
The OP included international borders. However I parse "State" as national subdivision. In that vein, one can be surprised by the fact Aragon and Rioja, Spain not only border each other, but there is a road that weaves between them! That road goes from Castile and Leon to Navarre (which don't border), thus going through four communities in just 3.5 miles.
Quote from: Dirt Roads on December 31, 2020, 11:01:11 AM
Nobody mentions that "The Wedge" should have belonged to Maryland.
Well, part of that is because this claim was very much in dispute.
Quote from: Dirt Roads on December 31, 2020, 11:01:11 AM
Also, there's a section of "The Arc" that rolls west of the "North Line" between Maryland and Delaware, and that was supposed to remain part of Delaware.
Not to be too argumentative, but as far as I can tell, it
is part of Delaware.
Quote from: Dirt Roads on December 31, 2020, 11:01:11 AM
Nobody mentions that "The Wedge" should have belonged to Maryland.
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on December 31, 2020, 02:58:20 PM
Well, part of that is because this claim was very much in dispute.
My understanding was that Pennsylvania claimed "The Wedge", not Maryland.
Quote from: Dirt Roads on December 31, 2020, 11:01:11 AM
Also, there's a section of "The Arc" that rolls west of the "North Line" between Maryland and Delaware, and that was supposed to remain part of Delaware.
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on December 31, 2020, 02:58:20 PM
Not to be too argumentative, but as far as I can tell, it is part of Delaware.
I do see a slight deviation in the North Line, but didn't the Twelve Mile Arc extend further into Maryland when it was first surveyed?
Quote from: The Nature Boy on December 29, 2020, 10:29:43 PM
If you told someone that Illinois and Tennessee were very close together, they'd think you were lying to them. The average person wouldn't think that there are people in the same state as Chicago who would have Nashville, Tennessee as their closest big city.
Not very many in Southern IL live closer to Nashville than St Louis, but the parts near Metropolis, Brookport, Cave-In-Rock, Elizabethtown, etc do - but almost all of them live closer to Nashville than Chicago.
Heck, Atlanta is closer to the far reaches of Southern IL than Chicago
Chicago is almost a foreign land. And this is from a Chicagoland expat living in Southern Illinois
I'll put it this way: When Marion/Williamson County Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois/MWA rebid their government-subsidized commercial air service carrier, Cape Air won the bid with 8-seat turbo-prop Cesna flights from Marion to both STL and BNA Airports (previous service was only to STL). SkyWest DBA United Express also bid, but did not win - they were offering Regional Jet service from Marion to ORD, 1 or 2 roundtrips/day
I think that is slightly telling about Southern IL's attitude towards Chicago vs St Louis and/or Nashville - and that is a very limited example
One interestingly unique thing about Southern IL: It is in a TV market with Southeastern Missouri and Western Kentucky, and basically we end up with 3 Local newscasts, but really 1 newscast for SEMO by the CBS/FOX affiliates (separate owners, but they share the same local news on-air and production talent) KFVS/KBSI out of Cape Girardeau, 1 newscast for Western KY by the NBC affiliate WPSD out of Paducah, and 1 newscast for Southern IL by the ABC affiliate WSIL out of Carterville, IL. I'm not going to say the 3 are completely different animals, but each clearly focuses more on its "home" part of the greater TV market
Does that mean that there are greater regional differences from Southern IL versus Western KY and Southeastern MO? Interesting food for thought, anyway
Quote from: Dirt Roads on December 31, 2020, 06:39:11 PM
I do see a slight deviation in the North Line, but didn't the Twelve Mile Arc extend further into Maryland when it was first surveyed?
I don't claim to be an expert on this, but I don't believe so, no. According to this image from the Wikipedia, the dent is fairly small.
(https://i.imgur.com/sSJi2nM.png) (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Map_of_wedge_maryland_pennsylvania_delaware_1850_survey_corps_of_engineers.png)
The official shape files seem to verify this.
A couple to add that haven't been mentioned:
NV & OR - Deserts vs. Green & Lush (I'm just using people's "perceptions")
NV & ID - Deserts vs. Mountains
MO & TN - Although Missouri has become more "Southern" lately
Bonus Canadian Border:
SK & NU - A four corners situation, but that one seems to me to be the most incomprehensible
Chris
Iowa and Minnesota.
When many people think of Iowa, they think of farms and cornfields - the "Heartland."
When they think of Minnesota, they usually picture "the North" - woods and the "Land of 10,000 Lakes."
I've made the drive up I-35 to Minneapolis many a time - from that experience, I can tell that most of the state south of the Twin Cities basically looks like Iowa (especially south of Faribault). However, once you reach the metro itself and then get further to the north - that's when the lakes and trees become more common and Minnesota begins to look more like the popular perception of that state.
Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on December 29, 2020, 09:30:15 AM
Side note, even though I have driven across the Roebling Bridge, I still find it very weird that Ohio and Kentucky share a common border.
I've walked across the Roebling Bridge. When I did that, I walked from the Midwest into the South. I've never done something similar near Louisville or Evansville, but I think the situation is more pronounced in Cincinnati than anyplace else because the city is bigger and on the Midwest side of the river.
Note that the Mason-Dixon Line does not extend as far west as the Ohio River. One or the other is the delineator between North and South east of the Mississippi River. I'd offer that a wide river is a bigger divide in a number of ways than a thin line, and in no place are those divides more striking than when you cross the Ohio.
Quote from: The Nature Boy on December 29, 2020, 10:29:43 PM
Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on December 29, 2020, 06:41:56 PM
Quote from: CoreySamson on December 28, 2020, 11:18:38 PM
This isn't really a border, but Texas is about 35 miles from Colorado at its closest point. That especially feels weird.
I like this. I think it should be included. States that don't border but almost do, which are culturally and geographically different. I don't think Texas has anything in common with Colorado, yet it's a short jaunt (basically across one county) from Texas to Colorado.
I'll cheat again and expand my previous post:
If you told someone that Illinois and Tennessee were very close together, they'd think you were lying to them. The average person wouldn't think that there are people in the same state as Chicago who would have Nashville, Tennessee as their closest big city.
Virginia and Pennsylvania are also only separated by a small sliver of Maryland.
It's only a very small part of Illinois that has Nashville as the closest big city, most of southern Illinois is closer to St Louis.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on December 31, 2020, 10:26:03 AM
NY and RI share a water border. RIDOT exploits this by using NYC as a control for I-95 South and skipping over CT cities.
I think New York is a valid control city from RI regardless of the border.
Quote from: jayhawkco on January 01, 2021, 08:29:20 AM
A couple to add that haven't been mentioned:
NV & OR - Deserts vs. Green & Lush (I'm just using people's "perceptions")
NV & ID - Deserts vs. Mountains
MO & TN - Although Missouri has become more "Southern" lately
Bonus Canadian Border:
SK & NU - A four corners situation, but that one seems to me to be the most incomprehensible
Chris
Agree quite a bit on these two.
Everyone thinks of Las Vegas first with Nevada, but you can go north from Vegas for a long time (400+ miles) and still be in the Silver State. Eventually reach the latitude of Oregon & Idaho.
Nebraska/Missouri --- I've crossed that border a couple times in recent years, but it still does feel weird. Iowa & Kansas aren't connected but those 2 feel like they would be more "natural" than Nebraska/Missouri.
-----------------------
On a global level: China & Afghanistan. Russia & North Korea (mentioned already by someone else). Kenya and Somalia.
Quote from: keithvh on February 09, 2021, 04:00:52 PM
On a global level: China & Afghanistan. Russia & North Korea (mentioned already by someone else). Kenya and Somalia.
Even more jarring to me is China and Kazakhstan, which is more due to how far east Kazakhstan extends. Also Kazakhstan and Mongolia are only 37 miles apart from sharing a border at one point.
You can start in the flat, Iowa-type farmland of Eastern South Dakota, and only crossing one state line, end up in Glacier National Park. On another note, the SD/MT border is I think the only state border in the country not traversed by a paved road.
Quote from: Takumi on February 09, 2021, 10:31:38 PM
Quote from: keithvh on February 09, 2021, 04:00:52 PM
On a global level: China & Afghanistan. Russia & North Korea (mentioned already by someone else). Kenya and Somalia.
Even more jarring to me is China and Kazakhstan, which is more due to how far east Kazakhstan extends. Also Kazakhstan and Mongolia are only 37 miles apart from sharing a border at one point.
If we're going international, Norway/Russia wins for me.
Chris
Quote from: jayhawkco on February 09, 2021, 10:51:28 PM
Quote from: Takumi on February 09, 2021, 10:31:38 PM
Quote from: keithvh on February 09, 2021, 04:00:52 PM
On a global level: China & Afghanistan. Russia & North Korea (mentioned already by someone else). Kenya and Somalia.
Even more jarring to me is China and Kazakhstan, which is more due to how far east Kazakhstan extends. Also Kazakhstan and Mongolia are only 37 miles apart from sharing a border at one point.
If we're going international, Norway/Russia wins for me.
Chris
There's also the 20-or-so foot long Zambia-Botswana border: https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.7911559,25.2622646,17.08z (https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.7911559,25.2622646,17.08z)
Quote from: SD Mapman on February 09, 2021, 10:57:01 PM
Quote from: jayhawkco on February 09, 2021, 10:51:28 PM
Quote from: Takumi on February 09, 2021, 10:31:38 PM
Quote from: keithvh on February 09, 2021, 04:00:52 PM
On a global level: China & Afghanistan. Russia & North Korea (mentioned already by someone else). Kenya and Somalia.
Even more jarring to me is China and Kazakhstan, which is more due to how far east Kazakhstan extends. Also Kazakhstan and Mongolia are only 37 miles apart from sharing a border at one point.
If we're going international, Norway/Russia wins for me.
Chris
There's also the 20-or-so foot long Zambia-Botswana border: https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.7911559,25.2622646,17.08z (https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.7911559,25.2622646,17.08z)
Soon to be crossed by a bridge!
Chris
Quote from: jayhawkco on February 09, 2021, 11:03:52 PM
Quote from: SD Mapman on February 09, 2021, 10:57:01 PM
Quote from: jayhawkco on February 09, 2021, 10:51:28 PM
Quote from: Takumi on February 09, 2021, 10:31:38 PM
Quote from: keithvh on February 09, 2021, 04:00:52 PM
On a global level: China & Afghanistan. Russia & North Korea (mentioned already by someone else). Kenya and Somalia.
Even more jarring to me is China and Kazakhstan, which is more due to how far east Kazakhstan extends. Also Kazakhstan and Mongolia are only 37 miles apart from sharing a border at one point.
If we're going international, Norway/Russia wins for me.
Chris
There's also the 20-or-so foot long Zambia-Botswana border: https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.7911559,25.2622646,17.08z (https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.7911559,25.2622646,17.08z)
Soon to be crossed buy a bridge!
Chris
Nearly completed (https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/unexplained-delays-in-the-multibillion-rand-kazungula-bridge-20201221), but it's been delayed from its planned 2020 opening.
Quote from: SD Mapman on February 09, 2021, 10:43:16 PM
On another note, the SD/MT border is I think the only state border in the country not traversed by a paved road.
MO/KY
Quote from: kphoger on February 10, 2021, 12:12:30 PM
Quote from: SD Mapman on February 09, 2021, 10:43:16 PM
On another note, the SD/MT border is I think the only state border in the country not traversed by a paved road.
MO/KY
IL/MI. :P
Quote from: Konza on February 09, 2021, 01:47:37 AM
Note that the Mason-Dixon Line does not extend as far west as the Ohio River. One or the other is the delineator between North and South east of the Mississippi River. I'd offer that a wide river is a bigger divide in a number of ways than a thin line, and in no place are those divides more striking than when you cross the Ohio.
I had always assumed that the Mason-Dixon line continued as the border between Marshall and Wetzel Counties in (West) Virginia, but you are right. It ends at the southwest corner of Pennsylvania. Learn something new every day!
Quote from: jayhawkco on February 09, 2021, 10:51:28 PM
Quote from: Takumi on February 09, 2021, 10:31:38 PM
Quote from: keithvh on February 09, 2021, 04:00:52 PM
On a global level: China & Afghanistan. Russia & North Korea (mentioned already by someone else). Kenya and Somalia.
Even more jarring to me is China and Kazakhstan, which is more due to how far east Kazakhstan extends. Also Kazakhstan and Mongolia are only 37 miles apart from sharing a border at one point.
If we're going international, Norway/Russia wins for me.
Chris
what about us/russia? the bering sea thing...
Quote from: KCRoadFan on February 09, 2021, 12:27:13 AM
Iowa and Minnesota.
When many people think of Iowa, they think of farms and cornfields - the "Heartland."
When they think of Minnesota, they usually picture "the North" - woods and the "Land of 10,000 Lakes."
I've made the drive up I-35 to Minneapolis many a time - from that experience, I can tell that most of the state south of the Twin Cities basically looks like Iowa (especially south of Faribault). However, once you reach the metro itself and then get further to the north - that's when the lakes and trees become more common and Minnesota begins to look more like the popular perception of that state.
Eh, I'm not sure about this one. People know they're both cold northern states.
Yeah. For me, everything between Northfield (MN) and Ames (IA) is just one big blur, with the occasional truck stop thrown in.
Quote from: frankenroad on February 10, 2021, 03:43:30 PM
Quote from: Konza on February 09, 2021, 01:47:37 AM
Note that the Mason-Dixon Line does not extend as far west as the Ohio River. One or the other is the delineator between North and South east of the Mississippi River. I'd offer that a wide river is a bigger divide in a number of ways than a thin line, and in no place are those divides more striking than when you cross the Ohio.
I had always assumed that the Mason-Dixon line continued as the border between Marshall and Wetzel Counties in (West) Virginia, but you are right. It ends at the southwest corner of Pennsylvania. Learn something new every day!
Similarly, the Mason-Dixon doesn't stop at the Pennsylvania/Maryland/Delaware tri-point, nor does it continue due east through Delaware, slicing just south of Downtown Wilmington and onward through Glassboro and Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Instead, it turns generally south and ends at the Transpeninsular Line at the southwestern corner of Delaware.
In fact, despite all of the Civil War and North/South imagery (https://goo.gl/maps/yip1DoY972v5DVhSA) popularly associated with "Mason-Dixon" , the only small fraction of the line–basically the southern border of Greene and Fayette Counties (far removed from most of the action)–ever separated the Union from the Confederacy. And even then, it did so for only about half of the war, until West Virginia seceded from Virginia.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Mason-dixon-line.gif)
Quote from: zachary_amaryllis on February 10, 2021, 04:11:17 PM
Quote from: jayhawkco on February 09, 2021, 10:51:28 PM
Quote from: Takumi on February 09, 2021, 10:31:38 PM
Quote from: keithvh on February 09, 2021, 04:00:52 PM
On a global level: China & Afghanistan. Russia & North Korea (mentioned already by someone else). Kenya and Somalia.
Even more jarring to me is China and Kazakhstan, which is more due to how far east Kazakhstan extends. Also Kazakhstan and Mongolia are only 37 miles apart from sharing a border at one point.
If we're going international, Norway/Russia wins for me.
Chris
what about us/russia? the bering sea thing...
Brazil and France having a land border.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on December 29, 2020, 10:34:34 AM
Coming back to Canada, when I vacation in northwest Ontario, it's crazy to think I'm in the same province as the country's largest city. Hell, they have a "Polar Bear Provincial Park" in the same province as one of the largest metros on the continent. That's wild!
Similar observations could be made about Quebec, but I haven't personally been there so that's why I'm singling out Ontario.
The isolated communities of Northern Quebec are very different from Quebec, I believe they don't speak French there in most of them.
Quote from: frankenroad on February 10, 2021, 03:43:30 PM
Quote from: Konza on February 09, 2021, 01:47:37 AM
Note that the Mason-Dixon Line does not extend as far west as the Ohio River. One or the other is the delineator between North and South east of the Mississippi River. I'd offer that a wide river is a bigger divide in a number of ways than a thin line, and in no place are those divides more striking than when you cross the Ohio.
I had always assumed that the Mason-Dixon line continued as the border between Marshall and Wetzel Counties in (West) Virginia, but you are right. It ends at the southwest corner of Pennsylvania. Learn something new every day!
There's a monument of some kind at that county line along WV 2. I stopped there years ago but can't remember much about it, but I seem to think it noted the Mason-Dixon Line.
Quote from: Konza on February 09, 2021, 01:47:37 AM
Note that the Mason-Dixon Line does not extend as far west as the Ohio River. One or the other is the delineator between North and South east of the Mississippi River. I'd offer that a wide river is a bigger divide in a number of ways than a thin line, and in no place are those divides more striking than when you cross the Ohio.
Quote from: frankenroad on February 10, 2021, 03:43:30 PM
I had always assumed that the Mason-Dixon line continued as the border between Marshall and Wetzel Counties in (West) Virginia, but you are right. It ends at the southwest corner of Pennsylvania. Learn something new every day!
Quote from: hbelkins on February 11, 2021, 11:41:29 AM
There's a monument of some kind at that county line along WV 2. I stopped there years ago but can't remember much about it, but I seem to think it noted the Mason-Dixon Line.
You are correct. There is an extra West Virginia Roadside Historic Marker on WV-2 at the Marshall/Wetzel County border that reads "Mason-Dixon Line: Made famous as line between free and slave states before War Between the States. The survey establishing Maryland-Pennsylvania boundary began, 1763; halted by Indian wars, 1767; continued to southwest corner, 1782; marked, 1784." This marker was never on the actual Mason-Dixon Line.
There was an identical marker on WV-69/PA-18 at the state border but it has been missing for many years. For some reason, most maps show this location as the western end of the Mason-Dixon Line. Since the dispute was between Maryland and Pennsylvania, this section was not part of the original Mason-Dixon survey. Shortly after the Revolution, Pennsylvania and Virginia agreed to extend the boundary survey westward to the Northern Panhandle back in 1779. The actual survey line gets very close to where US-250 crosses the Marshall/Wetzel County border. I've always wondered if the WV-2 marker was supposed to be installed on US-250, but got moved to the wrong location for political reasons.
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 10, 2021, 06:06:31 PM
Brazil and France having a land border.
https://twitter.com/amazingmap/status/1269715205006729219
Crazy.
Chris
I was baffled to see French Guiana in a map of France. Until then, I thought it was an independent country.
What's wild about it is that under French law, French Guiana is not a separate territory in the manner of, say, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, or American Samoa–it's considered an integral part of France like Alaska and Hawaii are in the USA.
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 11, 2021, 03:14:08 PM
What's wild about it is that under French law, French Guiana is not a separate territory in the manner of, say, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, or American Samoa–it's considered an integral part of France like Alaska and Hawaii are in the USA.
The longest domestic flight in the world is from Paris to Réunion.
Chris
Quote from: jayhawkco on February 11, 2021, 03:15:16 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 11, 2021, 03:14:08 PM
What's wild about it is that under French law, French Guiana is not a separate territory in the manner of, say, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, or American Samoa–it's considered an integral part of France like Alaska and Hawaii are in the USA.
The longest domestic flight in the world is from Paris to Réunion.
Chris
Longer than Boston to Honolulu?
Is there actually a non-stop flight from Boston to Honolulu, though? I'd imagine most Honolulu-bound itineraries would require changing planes in California. But I don't fly, so I may be wrong on that.
Quote from: cabiness42 on February 11, 2021, 04:13:45 PM
Quote from: jayhawkco on February 11, 2021, 03:15:16 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 11, 2021, 03:14:08 PM
What's wild about it is that under French law, French Guiana is not a separate territory in the manner of, say, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, or American Samoa–it's considered an integral part of France like Alaska and Hawaii are in the USA.
The longest domestic flight in the world is from Paris to Réunion.
Chris
Longer than Boston to Honolulu?
Considerably.
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=hnl-bos%0D%0AOry-run&MS=wls&DU=mi
Chris
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on February 10, 2021, 04:50:28 PM
Quote from: KCRoadFan on February 09, 2021, 12:27:13 AM
Iowa and Minnesota.
When many people think of Iowa, they think of farms and cornfields - the "Heartland."
When they think of Minnesota, they usually picture "the North" - woods and the "Land of 10,000 Lakes."
I've made the drive up I-35 to Minneapolis many a time - from that experience, I can tell that most of the state south of the Twin Cities basically looks like Iowa (especially south of Faribault). However, once you reach the metro itself and then get further to the north - that's when the lakes and trees become more common and Minnesota begins to look more like the popular perception of that state.
Eh, I'm not sure about this one. People know they're both cold northern states.
From what I have observed in the west and south, people generally do not think of Iowa as a cold northern state. To most people it is just another plains state with a lot of cornfields.
Quote from: US 89 on February 11, 2021, 08:05:20 PM
From what I have observed in the west and south, people generally do not think of Iowa as a cold northern state. To most people it is just another plains state with a lot of cornfields.
It's ironic, then, that filling up with gas in northern Iowa is my least favorite part of winter trips to Minnesota. Iowa gets just as cold as [southern] Minnesota, but it gets more wind. For example, filling up at
this truck stop (https://goo.gl/maps/vWeitRbJ7NsVnRWJ7) is brutal in the winter. Below-zero temps are common, and there's nothing but cornfield stubble for miles to block the north wind. I've had to endure that multiple times.
(Edit: I see that the Flying J put the old nasty Boondocks truck stop out of business. Hopefully the new owners can turn it into something less gross-feeling.)
The strangest one to me that hasn't been mentioned yet is Minnesota/Ontario.
Two more strange almost borders: KS is less than 60 miles from NM, and ON is less than 100 miles from ND.
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 11, 2021, 07:01:54 PM
Is there actually a non-stop flight from Boston to Honolulu, though? I'd imagine most Honolulu-bound itineraries would require changing planes in California. But I don't fly, so I may be wrong on that.
I've flown nonstop between Newark and Honolulu (and Atlanta and Anchorage). Don't know about Boston.
The NY/Mass border is weird to me, having driven over it a few times. Crossing over the line, there's almost a change in landscape, to an extent. It probably has something to do with farming in NY but it's always a surprisingly noticeable divide to me, especially on I-90, where it goes from a road tucked into a forest, to a more open landscape, quickly followed by a large truck stop at an exit less than a mile into New York.
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 11, 2021, 10:06:45 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 11, 2021, 07:01:54 PM
Is there actually a non-stop flight from Boston to Honolulu, though? I'd imagine most Honolulu-bound itineraries would require changing planes in California. But I don't fly, so I may be wrong on that.
I've flown nonstop between Newark and Honolulu (and Atlanta and Anchorage). Don't know about Boston.
There is (or was pre-Covid). Hawaiian Airlines flew BOS-HNL. It still loses out to Paris-Reunion though.
Chris
Quote from: maplou on February 11, 2021, 11:37:50 PM
The NY/Mass border is weird to me, having driven over it a few times. Crossing over the line, there's almost a change in landscape, to an extent. It probably has something to do with farming in NY but it's always a surprisingly noticeable divide to me, especially on I-90, where it goes from a road tucked into a forest, to a more open landscape, quickly followed by a large truck stop at an exit less than a mile into New York.
Yes. A little sappy to say, but this very state line was incredibly formative to my roadgeekness as a teenager when I'd go with my family to Syracuse, where my older sister went to college. When the landscape opened before exit B3, I felt as if I was leaving the seeming constraints of Massachusetts (and Cape Cod, where I grew up) behind and driving westward into the thousands of miles of roads beyond.
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 11, 2021, 03:14:08 PM
What's wild about it is that under French law, French Guiana is not a separate territory in the manner of, say, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, or American Samoa–it's considered an integral part of France like Alaska and Hawaii are in the USA.
This, I assume, means that France is the only country with territory on three continents, as St. Pierre & Miquelon, even though it is composed of islands, is clearly in North America.
France has integral parts of it in four different continents (Reunion and Mayotte are considered part of Africa, Martinique and Guadeloupe are in the Lesser Antilles which are generally considered part of North America; St. Pierre and Miquelon isn't a department but used to be one), with territories in a fifth one (New Caledonia and French Polynesia in Oceania). Not bad. And I know there's a member of this forum who lives just 60 miles from the border of the main territory of that country :sombrero:.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on February 12, 2021, 02:36:38 PM
France has integral parts of it in four different continents (Reunion and Mayotte are considered part of Africa, Martinique and Guadeloupe are in the Lesser Antilles which are generally considered part of North America; St. Pierre and Miquelon isn't a department but used to be one), with territories in a fifth one (New Caledonia and French Polynesia in Oceania). Not bad. And I know there's a member of this forum who lives just 60 miles from the border of the main territory of that country :sombrero:.
And very technically, they have also claimed Adélie Land (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad%C3%A9lie_Land) in Antarctica as well. All continents except Asia.
Chris
Quote from: US 89 on February 11, 2021, 08:05:20 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on February 10, 2021, 04:50:28 PM
Eh, I'm not sure about this one. People know they're both cold northern states.
From what I have observed in the west and south, people generally do not think of Iowa as a cold northern state. To most people it is just another plains state with a lot of cornfields.
Both valid points because I think there's plenty of both people: Those who think it's a cold northern state, and those who think it's just another plains state. The two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. I've only been to Iowa once (in the summer), and I basically think of it as a slightly milder version of southern Minnesota.
It's very different from northern Minnesota, though, so if you're unfamiliar with southern Minnesota and think of the state as being the Twin Cities, Duluth, and 10,000 lakes, then yes, Iowa is very starkly different from that.
Quote from: kphoger on February 11, 2021, 08:15:30 PM
Quote from: US 89 on February 11, 2021, 08:05:20 PM
From what I have observed in the west and south, people generally do not think of Iowa as a cold northern state. To most people it is just another plains state with a lot of cornfields.
It's ironic, then, that filling up with gas in northern Iowa is my least favorite part of winter trips to Minnesota. Iowa gets just as cold as [southern] Minnesota, but it gets more wind. For example, filling up at this truck stop (https://goo.gl/maps/vWeitRbJ7NsVnRWJ7) is brutal in the winter. Below-zero temps are common, and there's nothing but cornfield stubble for miles to block the north wind. I've had to endure that multiple times.
(Edit: I see that the Flying J put the old nasty Boondocks truck stop out of business. Hopefully the new owners can turn it into something less gross-feeling.)
I've gotten gas at that truck stop, too (and ate at the Subway there as well). It's brutally windy there even in summer. I also write this when it's -8 in Mason City.
Quote from: webny99 on February 12, 2021, 04:58:10 PM
Quote from: US 89 on February 11, 2021, 08:05:20 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on February 10, 2021, 04:50:28 PM
Eh, I'm not sure about this one. People know they're both cold northern states.
From what I have observed in the west and south, people generally do not think of Iowa as a cold northern state. To most people it is just another plains state with a lot of cornfields.
Both valid points because I think there's plenty of both people: Those who think it's a cold northern state, and those who think it's just another plains state. The two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. I've only been to Iowa once (in the summer), and I basically think of it as a slightly milder version of southern Minnesota.
It's very different from northern Minnesota, though, so if you're unfamiliar with southern Minnesota and think of the state as being the Twin Cities, Duluth, and 10,000 lakes, then yes, Iowa is very starkly different from that.
The thing is though, then you can extend the strange border to IA/SD - the corn-filled Plains state shares a border with Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, and the Badlands. You just have to go through the part of SD that looks, feels, and smells like Iowa first.
Quote from: webny99 on February 12, 2021, 04:58:10 PM
I've only been to Iowa once (in the summer), and I basically think of it as a slightly milder version of southern Minnesota.
It's very different from northern Minnesota, though, so if you're unfamiliar with southern Minnesota and think of the state as being the Twin Cities, Duluth, and 10,000 lakes, then yes, Iowa is very starkly different from that.
Meanwhile, I've never been farther north than Hinkley. So, in my mind, southern Minnesota
is Minnesota. And it's very similar to Iowa.