When I travel through many states, as I did recently, I’m compelled to play license plate tag. I saw plates from every state from Maine to Florida, plus DC, Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The big finds, though were Alaska (in Virginia, southbound), and Oregon (in Virginia, northbound). No California, although I saw one in Albany just yesterday; and strangely, since I usually see several, no Ohio. It used to be much easier before some states got specialty plates. Pennsylvania has a standard plate, white with blue and yellow stripes, but it also has one with wildlife on it. Maryland has a mostly white plate, but I saw one with orange that I would have though would have been from the southwest. New York has some variations, but the color scheme is largely the same. Wikipedia has an article on vehicle registration plates. (Of course, it does.)
So, I have two different types of questions for you. One is you describing your experiences, the other is me looking for facts.
1. How many US states have you been to? I’ve decided that “been to” means you’ve actually stopped there and ate or slept, which means I’m counting Illinois, even though I’ve only eaten in O’Hare. I’ve been to all of the states east of the Mississippi, except Indiana. I’ve been to Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah and California. That makes 31 out of 50, plus DC. I had a chance to go to Hawaii in 1995, but it didn’t work out. (Sob.)
2. Does anyone know why so many trucks on US highways have plates from Oklahoma, Illinois and Maine? Tennessee seems to be fairly represented as well.
3. Those of you from beyond the United States and Canada: do your cities or states and/or provinces have plates that designate that geography? Are they notable by color and design or merely alphanumeric?
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2007 changes in Daylight Saving Time in the USA.