It’s official. I have now been to 49 of our 50 magnificent states. (Okay, maybe magnificent is pushing it a little – Ohio is on that list.)

Until this weekend, it was 48 out of 50; the 49 came about when I crossed the border from Wyoming into South Dakota in a snowstorm on Friday night. The Black Hills are officially my new favorite place, probably because after so much traveling in this country, its rare to find a region that is really all that different from other regions you may have already visited.

The Black Hills aren’t one of those parts of the world where you get there and immediately think of five places you’ve been that this reminds you of. The region is unique in its appeal, and I’m not just talking about Mt. Rushmore, either. The towns are fairly interesting – Spearfish, Deadwood, Rapid City, etc – and the back roads, even in this early winter weather, are a pleasure to drive. People are neat as well, a kind of cool hybrid of Minnesota nice and Wyoming fierce/friendly. It’s like a scrubbed- down, God-fearing version of Twin Peaks.

To be able to say I’ve visited all 50 states, I’ll have to head up to North Dakota. It’s just three hours from Rapid City, where I found this cool alleyway downtown that’s a legal graffiti art space. But with the snow, I’m not going one more mile north. Time to get down to Colorado, where it’s warm. (No wonder nobody goes to the Dakotas — here, Colorado is where it’s warmer. At least right now.)