{"id":4542,"date":"2012-10-13T22:00:10","date_gmt":"2012-10-14T02:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=4542"},"modified":"2024-12-03T16:17:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T21:17:29","slug":"big-and-rich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=4542","title":{"rendered":"What a Country!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My Pierre Friends Mel and Jason<\/p><\/div>\n

Linda Burton posting from Denver, Colorado <\/em>\u2013 It\u2019s my last day in Denver, a day I\u2019ll use to summarize. The Journey Across America<\/em> is now thirty percent<\/em> complete! That\u2019s right; fifteen capital cities visited, enjoyed, and lived in. I\u2019ve encountered some surprises that didn\u2019t match my plan, such as temperatures over a hundred degrees \u2013 I thought I\u2019d be far enough north to avoid that in August! But the Dakotas did me in: Bismarck 105, Pierre 103. And I didn\u2019t plan for Alex Cat to nearly die on me, or to get sick myself, but hey, our bodies falter, every now and then; we\u2019re better now. I had an interesting thought as I came east across the Continental Divide into Helena, Montana, capital city number eleven. It occurred to me that only nine capital cities lie west of the Divide, and I\u2019ve now been to all of them. I\u2019ve lived in Phoenix, Sacramento, Carson City, Salt Lake City, Boise, Salem, Honolulu, Olympia, and Juneau. And I\u2019m amazed that so much of the land, and the resources, that make up our country is found in a rather small number of states. Think of it. <\/p>\n

Think oil: Alaska and North Dakota. Think coal: Montana and Wyoming. Think wheat, and corn, and sunflowers: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota. Think of all the food grown in California\u2019s San Joaquin Valley. I have observed these wonders from the driver\u2019s seat of the Scion. I have visited the great copper mine in Utah and passed through an uncountable number of cities that began with a search for gold. The geography of the west is a geography \"\"<\/a>of ores. And wind; it seems that every high hill in the west is sprouting wind turbines. From my room in Cheyenne I could see three large turbines peeping over the nearest hill. The west is vast all right, vast, and intriguing, and rich. Rich in resources; rich in incredible, mind boggling scenery; rich in pioneering spirit. Today I write from Denver, rich with snow-capped mountains and golden sun; what a country!<\/p>\n

Here are the travel stats to date.<\/p>\n