The following selection appeared in the December 1912 issue of The Gregg Writer, as an exercise in geographical expressions. Can you write in shorthand all of the places listed in the passage?
Our Vacation Trip
My friend and I, having planned a long vacation, decided to make a tour of the United States. Our starting point was Augusta, Maine. One fine morning in June, we traveled by auto from this place to Mt. Washington, the most interesting point in the White Mountains. We crossed New Hampshire to Montpelier, Vermont; spent some time in the Green Mountain country, thence down through the state of Massachusetts to the city of Boston. We spent a day or two in this great commercial center, then went across the country to Cambridge, for the purpose of visiting Harvard University. We also visited Worcester and other cities, then passed on through Connecticut to New Haven, where is located Yale University. We had planned to take in parts of Rhode Island also, but found it rather inconvenient to do so. We went to New York, the largest city in the United States and found much to interest us. Nearly everything needed by man is made here and we found it hard to tear ourselves away from its allurements. We wished to reach Washington, D.C., however, as soon as possible, and headed for that point via Jersey City, down through New Jersey, making a short stop at Trenton and another at Philadelphia. We crossed Delaware and Maryland, stopping only at Baltimore, then at Washington. This is, as you know, the most beautiful city in the United States and is certainly interesting in every way. We visited the White House and other places, then left for the southwest, crossing the Allegheny Mountains and stopping at the great natural bridge. Before going further south, we decided to spend another week or so in the states adjoining those we had just passed through. So we crossed more mountains, going northwest to Charleston, West Virginia. There was much to admire in the mountain scenery of Kentucky and Tennessee, but we wished to reach the south before the hottest part of the summer, so hurried on through the southern states, our destination being New Orleans. We then traveled on through the southwest, through the beautiful Ozark region, touching Kansas at its southeastern point and crossing Texas and New Mexico near their northern boundaries and on up to Denver, Colorado. We were now in the beautiful country of the Rockies and found something to entertain us whichever way we turned. We hardly knew where to go first, but it appeared that the best route to take was by way of Salt Lake City, Utah. Everything along the road and in this city was interesting. From there we went by rail to San Francisco, making few, if any, stops in crossing the state of Nevada. We did stop off at the Yosemite Valley, however. From San Francisco, we followed the coast up to Portland, Oregon, going as far north as Puget Sound.
The flowers, the fruit, the fisheries, the timber, the mountains -- everything about the West was entrancing; but time was flying and there was nothing for us to do but turn eastward, which we did accordingly. The Yellowstone National Park next engaged our attention and we also saw beautiful scenery in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
We were compelled to slight some of the states, but we started for Detroit, planning to go partly by rail and partly by water; then up Lake Erie to Buffalo, New York. From there we went to visit the Catskill Mountains and then back to New York City, having visited nearly every state of the Union.
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