The point of this thread is there are 48 areas one wishes to travel between in minimal distance.
If were ever to attempt such a thing (I did once drive from New York City to Dallas), I wouldn't want to simply cover the least amount of miles. I would want to hit particular places of interests, such as certain state or national parks, various historic landmarks, etc, along the way.
http://www.howderfamily.com/blog/shortest-48/
Distance & duration for multiple destinations and transport modes
https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/distance-matrix/