Most pathetic state clinches

[bugo]

Michigan - DTW

Minnesota - MSP

Both for the same trip to China actually

You should do a write up on your trip to China...about the roads and China in general.

[Dougtone]

Arkansas may be my most pathetic clinch. Into the state on I-55 in West Memphis and then back across the Mississippi River into Tennessee on I-40.

SCH-I545

[Dougtone]

Arkansas may be my most pathetic clinch. Into the state on I-55 in West Memphis and then back across the Mississippi River into Tennessee on I-40.

SCH-I545

I should also note that I am not judging all of Arkansas just on West Memphis. I am sure that it's more interesting than that.

SCH-I545

[bugo]

Arkansas may be my most pathetic clinch. Into the state on I-55 in West Memphis and then back across the Mississippi River into Tennessee on I-40.

As an Arkansas native, I would like to apologize to you for your first visit to the Natural State to be to the shithole known as West Memphis. It is truly a horrible place and not indicative of the rest of the state. If somebody who knew nothing about Arkansas visited West Memphis as their first visit to the state they would think of Arkansas as a flat, ugly, crime ridden hellhole. The truth is, and I know Doug is well aware of this, is that Arkansas has some absolutely gorgeous areas and most of the state doesn't have the crushing poverty that the Delta area has (even though Arkansas is a mostly poor state). If you had visited, say Fayetteville, for the first time, I'm sure your opinion of the state would be a lot different. West Memphis is somewhat typical of the southeastern half of the state, but the northwest half (I-30/US 67 is a rough dividing line) is completely different. The Ouachitas and Ozarks are beautiful areas and I would put them up there with the scenery of anywhere in the world.

[hbelkins]

My only experience with West Memphis is the big commercial "highway business" area between the two interstate splits. I've never been to the town itself so I don't know what I'm missing.

[Buck87]

My worst is New Jersey, went just a few hundred yards into it on NJ 23 just south of I-84's Port Jervis, NY exit

2nd worse would be North Dakota, went all of about 2 miles into it, though at least it was was while riding around and eating lunch in the state's largest city.

[Rothman]

For the longest time, my only step into Michigan was a short drive from the Indiana Toll Road into Sturgis.  We were returning to our New England home from Utah from vacation and my father just decided to take us over the border since we hadn't been to Michigan as a family yet.

Come to think of it, the next time I was in Michigan was during a snowstorm where my wife, kids and I had to stay overnight due to flights being grounded.  Never got out of Wayne County, I don't think.

However, I've basically done significant stomping in all of the 49 states that I've visited now.  Still waiting to get to Alaska.

[slorydn1]

Until just this past January my West Virginia clinch was even more pathetic than Bugo's; I had only been across the tip on I-70 and only eastbound way back in 1977 as a child passenger.

That was rectified by a trip up the WVa Tpke this year.

[Sykotyk]

My rule of thumb was: if you're counting countries, airport layovers won't count if you don't pass through customs. For states/counties, an airport layover in the U.S. most certainly would count.

Would that mean you could theoretically clinch a state/county without clinching the country it's in?

Well, if you're an American, the point is moot. If you're an international simply changing planes at a U.S. airport, then technically yes I could say that. But, then you wouldn't really be able to count many counties as there's only so many international airports that you can get to without leaving customs to get another flight out.

[vtk]

My most recent visit to Michigan was to drop off a train crew less than a mile across the border from Ohio.  I think I was in the Great Lakes State for less than ten minutes.

But of course, I've been into Michigan before, far enough to get a handful of non-border counties...

[bugo]

I should have worded this topic "Most pathetic state clinches where you enter at one point and exit at a different point" eliminating "turning around at the state line clinches" which are inherently pathetic.

[texaskdog]

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

You missed a beautiful state!!!

[texaskdog]

I should have worded this topic "Most pathetic state clinches where you enter at one point and exit at a different point" eliminating "turning around at the state line clinches" which are inherently pathetic.

They count!  I had two but now it's down to zero again.

[Kacie Jane]

I should have worded this topic "Most pathetic state clinches where you enter at one point and exit at a different point" eliminating "turning around at the state line clinches" which are inherently pathetic.

I suppose that's fair, and would eliminate my "sort of but not quite a U-turn" clinch of New Hampshire.  Though if we had actually stopped at the convenience store whose parking lot we turned around in (which I'm 99 but not 100% sure we did not), I would think doing business in the state would make the clinch count regardless of where you entered/exited.

[bugo]

I should have worded this topic "Most pathetic state clinches where you enter at one point and exit at a different point" eliminating "turning around at the state line clinches" which are inherently pathetic.

They count!  I had two but now it's down to zero again.

Do they award a basket when a player shoots and misses the rim but hits the net?

[sipes23]

I should have worded this topic "Most pathetic state clinches where you enter at one point and exit at a different point" eliminating "turning around at the state line clinches" which are inherently pathetic.

Wait. What about a clinch where you spend the night yet exit the state by the point you entered at?

Because that's the only way I've ever been to Utah.

[english si]

Wait. What about a clinch where you spend the night yet exit the state by the point you entered at?

Germany, Malta, Spain, Italy (x2), Thailand, Florida (x2), Arizona, Michigan (airport-only), one of my three times in Nevada, one of my two trips to Scotland (the longer one), California (x4), half the times I've been to France, every time I've been to Wales (about 10), and perhaps most egregiously a month in Indonesia would be exit the state/country by the point you entered at, despite overnighting for most of those (some Wales, the Arizona and two French trips were day trips).

As will my upcoming trip to Ireland, where I might reach central Dublin from the ferry crossing, but am unlikely to get a couple of miles from the port in my 32 hours there.

Most pathetic where I haven't crossed at the same place was a day trip to Scotland from the hotel north of Carlisle (at M6 J44) we were staying in for a holiday in the Lakes. It probably was the day when there was the least driving - including the day we visited visited Carlisle Castle. Crossed the border on the A74(M), spent about 4 hours within half a mile of the border, never got further in, re-entered England on the B7078.

[texaskdog]

I should have worded this topic "Most pathetic state clinches where you enter at one point and exit at a different point" eliminating "turning around at the state line clinches" which are inherently pathetic.

They count!  I had two but now it's down to zero again.

Do they award a basket when a player shoots and misses the rim but hits the net?

If you're going to enter a state and realize you're just better off not?

[ajlynch91]

From Utah, when I was in college I decided to drive into Wyoming and Idaho, spent a couple hours in Wyoming around Evanston and then back into Utah via WY-89. Idaho I drove up US-91 and promptly made a u-turn as soon as I hit Franklin, spending about three minutes in the state.

[The Nature Boy]

I had a friend who had never been to Wisconsin. On a Chicago trip, we drove up I-94, got off at the Wisconsin welcome center, went to McDonalds and went to Chicago.

As far as I know, he hasn't been back. This was all at night. That's a pretty bad clinch.

[SSOWorld]

I had a friend who had never been to Wisconsin. On a Chicago trip, we drove up I-94, got off at the Wisconsin welcome center, went to McDonalds and went to Chicago.

As far as I know, he hasn't been back. This was all at night. That's a pretty bad clinch.

Worst part of the state to go in at scenery-wise too.

[vtk]

I should have worded this topic "Most pathetic state clinches where you enter at one point and exit at a different point" eliminating "turning around at the state line clinches" which are inherently pathetic.

Can we stop using the word "clinch" for this scenario?  To clinch a highway, one must drive its entire length.  By extrapolation, clinching a state should require reaching some goal X for all Y that are in the state, for example collecting (by simply visiting or by some more strict clinching) each county, or driving on (maybe clinching) every state route and in-state segment of US and Interstate route.  Simply visiting a state should not be called a "clinch" just as simply driving one mile of I-10 in Texas is not called a "clinch" of that road.

[jeffandnicole]

I should have worded this topic "Most pathetic state clinches where you enter at one point and exit at a different point" eliminating "turning around at the state line clinches" which are inherently pathetic.

Can we stop using the word "clinch" for this scenario?  To clinch a highway, one must drive its entire length.  By extrapolation, clinching a state should require reaching some goal X for all Y that are in the state, for example collecting (by simply visiting or by some more strict clinching) each county, or driving on (maybe clinching) every state route and in-state segment of US and Interstate route.  Simply visiting a state should not be called a "clinch" just as simply driving one mile of I-10 in Texas is not called a "clinch" of that road.

Since 'clinching' is vague and based on how each person determines what they consider a clinch, there is no standard definition.  If you claim you can't clinch a state until you hit every county, nearly no one will every clinch every state, even though they've been in every state. 

If I want to say I clinched driving I-10, and I drove I-10 for that 1 mile, then why should anyone else whine about it?  It's not going to affect their life in any way.  My picture isn't going to be posted on the I-10 Hall of Fame with an asterisk beside it.  If I have a goal of driving on every interstate in the country, it shouldn't matter that I didn't drive the entire length of every highway.

[hbelkins]

Words mean things, that's why. (Or at least they used to. Apparently "state" now also means the federal government, according to six Supreme Court justices.)

"Clinch" typically means "to finish something." As in a team clinching a playoff berth, or a driver clinching the most laps led (and thus earning the bonus point) in a NASCAR race.

You "clinch" a state by visiting the most counties. You "clinch" a road by driving all of it.

So I changed the name of the topic to "Most pathetic state visits" which is a more accurate description.

[vdeane]

Apparently "state" now also means the federal government, according to six Supreme Court justices.

It always has.  In many parts of the world (such as Canada), that's the only meaning of the word with respect to government.