Monday, May 11, 2009

Forty-Ninth Parallel

Another quiz. What is the northern most point in the contiguous United States? I admit I expected it to be the northern point of Maine, and I was wrong. Maine is below 47° 28' N latitude, while most of the U.S.-Canadian border is on the 49th parallel, the longest continuous international border in the world and all demilitarized. Due to confusion about the source of the Mississippi River and resulting ambiguity in the treaty, there is, however, a tiny area of Minnesota north of the 49th parallel called the Northwest Angle.

In any case, Dee and Cal are now north of the forty-ninth parallel and in Saskatchewan, Canada. Still not sure where they will camp for the night or if they will have broadband coverage there. Nevertheless, it is all pretty cool!

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