This catagory includes everything that is West of the Misissippi River, but not California... which is listed under three separate catagories..."no cal" and "so cal" and "lo cal" . The American West is a vast, beautiful and always facinating area. I first saw it on a trip when I was 19 years old... looking out from a dome car on a long but amazing train ride from Cincinnati to San Francisco. I was a geology major at the time and didn't want to fly and miss the scenery. I had never been west of Chicago before and wanted to see the landscape. What an incredable sight it was. I suppose it made a big impression on me because I have now lived in the West for 35 years.

I have only put a few examples under each catagory on this site. I have decided to add more to each catagory this summer... June / July 2010. Stay tuned...