This project was fun!  The pieces are obviously related in subject matter, but I wanted the first to look more unrecognizable and the second to look like a screenshot of Washington state.  The first image is a compilation of Chicago (I have family that lives there), Japan (I would like to go here), the United Kingdom (I would like to go here), Florida (I have been here) and the Grand Canyon (I would like to visit).  The second image combines Washington, Montana, Anaheim, the coast of California, Hawaii, and Yucitan.  I mostly used the clone brush tool and the eraser tool for these pieces, but also changed the  brightness/contrast and a little bit of hue/saturation changes.