Part of the fun of creating a story like this is checking the logs to see where readers are coming from. California is still at the top of the list, because that’s where the site got started. But for many months, Ohio and Texas have been battling to take over the lead. This makes a certain amount of sense. Ohio has a long airship tradition. It’s where Goodyear began their operations, and the USS Akron, ZRS-4, was named after the city in that state. Texas seems like a great place for airships. It’s big, filled with big places to fly, and I’m sure that Amarillo, the world’s major source of helium, was on the short list of proposed names if the US Navy had ever flown a ZRS-6.
Recently, Massachusetts has been moving up to challenge them. This came as something of a surprise. True, the state does have a long involvement with airplanes — among them everyone’s favorite racer, the Granville Gee Bee — but airships are an entirely different matter. To the best of my knowledge, none of the great ships of the 20s and 30s ever landed there, and the thought of building an 800′-long dirigible in, say, Lowell, is difficult to imagine.
There you have it. It’s a three-way battle now: Buckeyes versus Cowboys versus Yankees! Which state will be next to enter the fray? Email your friends, start a readership drive, and see if you can edge them out to take the lead 
I’m fond of mentioning that Southern Californians aren’t really sure that anything exists east of the Colorado River or north of Bakersfield. In fact, Bakersfield is associated in most of our minds with Dorothy’s Oz. Or Kansas, not really sure.
Texas seems like a great place for airships. It’s big, filled with big places to fly, and I’m sure that Amarillo, the world’s major source of helium, was on the short list of proposed names if the US Navy had ever flown a ZRS-6.
We were also home to the Goodyear blimp for quite a while.
The world open distance record for hang gliding was also set in Texas… or rather ‘from’ Texas’, since the flight ended several hundred miles to the north.
And who could forget that famous tune:
“Follow State Route 99, follow State Route 99
Follow, follow, follow, follow
Follow State Route 99
Follow State Route 99, follow State Route 99
Follow, follow, follow, follow
Follow State Route 99
“We’re… off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Bakersfield!
You’ll find he is a wonderful wiz, if ever a wizard could… um… wield?
If ever oh ever a wiz there was, the Wizard of Bakersfield is one to… err… uh… field?
Because because because because because
Of the wonderful things he… hmm… oh yes, that’s it… yields!
We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Bakersfield!”
I grew up in Fresno, which I want to point out was my parent’s idea, not mine. When a book came out listing Fresno as the least livable city in the US, it was no surprise to anyone. Half a dozen Central Valley cities, including Fresno, call themselves “Gateway to Yosemite”, trying to milk a little tourist money by borrowing some aura from that fabled attraction on the dubious theory that it is possible to get there from here.
Our then mayor, Dan Whitehurst, had the sense of humor to say that perhaps we should change our slogan to “Gateway to Bakersfield”.