Recent trip paid off 
Yup.
Got all the annoying ones out of the way

ETA: Mind you, I thought those states would be unbearably boring, but I could've easily spent another week on the road. I'm not saying that the plains should be a top-10 bucket list item, but there is so much history there, the people are wonderful, and even the supposedly-boring landscape was incredible, with all kinds of crazy weather.