Did you ever play the license plate game?
When we were kids and we'd take a long car trip, to Wisconsin, or DC or Gettysburg, we would get out a notebook and keep track of all of the license plates we saw. I really don't remember ever coming up with an overly large list. I remember being frustrated - probably on our trips to Wisconsin, through Canada- frustrated with the number of non-US plates we'd find. Never being that great at Canadian geography, Canadian plates did not thrill me.
As I mentioned before, when Liz and I hit the road for our Great Western Trek to Nebraska and back, we made ALL SORTS of lists. I really think our License Plate list was my favorite. Maybe it was because we are now two competitive adults, riding in the front seat, needing to pay attention to the road and the other cars on it.... but...
WE ROCKED THE LICENSE PLATE GAME!!!!
At the end of our 10 days, we had seen 46 US states, 5 Canadian Provinces and 1 Mexican State (Chihuahua).
The only states we didn't see were Hawaii, Rhode Island, Delaware and Kentucky.
By the time we got home, I would find myself obsessively checking plates in parking lots and tailgating to see what plate just passed me. At one point, I think it was on our last day - the 12+ hour drive- I even walked past a guy at a rest area and turned around to look at his back and see where he was from. Did I mention that was the longest day in the car???
So yesterday, on my way to church, wouldn't you know it?? I finally saw a Hawaiian license plate. Not sure if it made me feel victorious or defeated.
I'd say to see a Hawaiian plate any time is a victory!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun thing to do! I was never very good at long car games. Short attention span equals losing. About 10 years ago I starting looking for a particular plate. Spy 750. I'm still looking.
ReplyDeleteWE LOVE THE LICENSE PLATE GAME!
ReplyDeleteActually, Amy is recording her findings, too. I made her a cute homeschool notebook that she keeps in the back seat. It has a list of all the states along with the state capital and the abbreviation letters. Oh, and a check box once it's been spotted.
My husband and I find ourselves calling out states that we find but it doesn't get checked off unless Amy is in the car and she herself sees it.
Funny, a couple of months ago she found Hawaii and Alaska ON THE SAME DAY. It was kind of trippy.
I love the image of you turning around to see where the guy was from!