50 States in 50(ish) years

It’s a bit surprising that I have visited all of the 50 states given that I was born and raised in a town where Mexico is closer than any U.S. state. In fact, I rode with my family down to Mexico before visiting another state. My first plane ride in early elementary school was surprisingly not to a different state, but to another city in Texas. I flew with my grandmother to visit my aunt and uncle who were living in El Paso at the time. On another trip to visit the same relatives, with my mother this time, we ventured to White Sands National Park to see the glistening gypsum white sand dunes in New Mexico. A sight to behold and my first trip to another state. That experience, coupled with my innate curiosity for “foreign” lands, initiated my love of travel. Many people and more fun adventures expanded my love of it.

Check out a memory and/or a photograph of my experience(s) in each of the U.S. states. I may even have a link embedded to one of my blogposts about the state, too.

Alabama (2016)

I can’t find a photo of my trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but suffice it to say I wore maroon to a collegiate football game there (all my children went to Texas A&M and like any good mother, I supported their school) and the team I was rooting for that day lost. We also spent hours in a bar near the stadium before and after the game. I have to say that EVERYONE we met was friendly and fun. A fabulous experience – except for the final score of the game.

Alaska (2009 & 2022)

I have many photos and a lot of memories from a family trip to Alaska. But my most unique Alaska memory is watching a bear run up a tree along the Alaska/Canadian Highway two years ago when I accompanied a friend who drove from Austin, Texas to Chugach State Park on the Kenai Peninsula. I joined her for the Colorado Springs, CO/Anchorage AZ part of her journey.

Arizona (1991 – 2023)

When we lived in Chicago, one of my work colleagues and friend moved to Phoenix. I thought she was nuts. How could someone as smart as her, leave one of the best cities in the United States?!! But over the next thirty years or so, she turned me into a desert-loving fiend.

For more details on my experiences in Arizona, click on the link below.

Ditat Deus (God Enriches) the 48th State

Arkansas (2011)

With Delaware, my weakest link although we stayed in Little Rock overnight on a trip from Texas to Ohio one Christmas when our holiday vacation plans to Hawaii were thwarted because of tropical weather.

California (1980 & 2011 – 2014)

When I was in high school, my mother started working as a systems analyst for System One, the reservation system for Continental Airlines. My airline travel would become more frequent for several years as I could fly standby for free, or “non-rev” as they call it in the industry. One of those trips was to southern California for my first (and only?) out-of-state family vacation as an adolescent. It included: 1) Driving in a packed minivan to Howard Hughes’ Flying Boat, the Spruce Goose, only to reverse course at the gate because my mom deemed the cost of admission too much, 2) Making our way to Brea, CA (with a paper map in the packed minivan) to see the tar pits. Who knew that the La Brea Tar pits weren’t in Brea?? 3) Getting lost for hours on dusty, gravel Mulholland Drive in the same packed minivan but now with limited air conditioning, and last but not least, 4) Building a fire in a fire ring on Huntington Beach and listening to the waves break in the semi-darkness. An absolutely perfect family vacation.

We were also there for Will’s Junior Olympics Water Polo tournament alternating between Orange County and San Jose areas every summer between 2013 and 2017.

Colorado (Early 1990s – 2023)

As a newlywed, my Midwest husband who had been skiing since early in his childhood, took this Texas farm-girl on her first ski vacation. I survived, but wow, it was a lot. Three memories are most vivid. The gracefulness of Don’s Auntie Mame as she skied down the back bowls of Vail, the huge fireplace in the lodge at the end of the day, and the shock of finding the stone from my engagement ring on the table after I discovered it missing from its setting. 

We took several other trips to Colorado throughout the years for a wedding, college scouting trip and another ski vacation.

For a different Colorado experience, click on the link to my blog post below:

Canyon of the Ancients and its Guest Ranch

Connecticut (2007 & 2018)

When we lived in Maine, Don traveled to New York City so much that his then employer leased an apartment for him in the city. I would periodically pack the kids up on a Friday afternoon, drive five hours to New Haven, CT and catch a train into the city, an easy two hour train ride. On one excursion, at this point the memory is a bit fuzzy, but suffice it to say that a flat tire inside the multistory parking garage was involved, a missed train and I’m sure, some tears. We all survived though.

My most recent memory of Connecticut involves my relocated Texas friend, Jenny, and one of her almost famous Halloween parties when the Texas witches came to town.

Delaware (1985 & 2014)

This state is one of my weakest links to being able to say I’ve been to all 50 states. Probably one of the few (only?) states where I haven’t spent the night. The best I can give you is that when riding a train from Washington, DC to Pennsylvania with Sam and Will several years ago, I made sure to take in all the sights out the window along the way.

Florida (1988, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2005, & various years 2008 – 2023)

My first visit to Florida was on a stereotypical spring break trip during college. Four college coeds squeezed into a small sedan and drove to Ft.Walton/Destin for a week. So much fun. I think 😂

Other Florida memories include a family vacation with Don’s family to Sanibel Island (pre-children), trips to Seaside with baby Lauren when we lived in Atlanta, and a trip to Disney World with the kids when they were 5, 5, & 8 years old. There were many more trips to Florida in recent years including neighborhood girls’ trips to South Beach (2012) and Amelia Island (2013) and one of Lauren’s best friend’s wedding in West Palm Beach (2023). Lakewood Ranch is our most recent vacation spot (2024), taking in a trip to see the manatees at Apollo Beach, an afternoon on Sarasota Bay, and an excursion to the LPGA tournament in Bradenton. But after Don lost a putter cover and I broke the towel holder in the guest bathroom, we’re holding our breath as to if we’ll be invited back.

Georgia (1996 – 2000)

We lived in Georgia for almost four years, from the time Lauren was 3 1/2 months old to the time Sam and Will were 2 months old. It’s a miracle I remember anything, so I will proudly rattle off everything I do remember: Stone Mountain and its wildlife exhibit, our swim & tennis club, our neighbors, a trip Lauren and I took with my friend and her 2 year old daughter to St. Simons Island, traveling to Calaway Gardens and Roosevelt State Park, hosting a fabulous Christmas party, celebrating the turn of the millennium with Don’s family, being on bedrest for three months while pregnant with Sam and Will, their birth and our travel to our summer home in Maine two and a half months later.

Don drove Lauren in one of our cars and my father drove a second car for us from Atlanta to Rockport, Maine. When Sam and Will were old enough to travel, Don’s mom and I flew with the nuggets from Atlanta Hartsfield airport to Portland, Maine. At the end of the summer, Don and I decided to make our permanent home in Maine. When leaving our Atlanta home with my mother-in-law, Sam and Will for our flight to Maine, I had no idea that I would never return to this house which was full of such precious memories.

Hawaii (1989, 1996, 2012 & 2015)

Don planned the most spectacular two week honeymoon: a week in Sydney, Australia and a week in Kauai, Hawaii. I still remember the hotel bellman greeting us with a fresh lei necklace and a cocktail. We also took a trip to Maui in 1996 for a Baby-moon when I was pregnant with Lauren.

More recent trips to Hawaii included a tour of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu during a family vacation and Christmas on Maui with extended family to celebrate Don’s mom’s 80th birthday.

Idaho (2014 – 2023)

Don and I were supposed to go to Banff and Lake Victoria for our 25th wedding anniversary, but a friend convinced us to go to McCall, Idaho instead. That trip started a beautiful love affair with our new favorite state.

Here are a few of my blogposts on Idaho if you’re interested in reading about my experiences in the state.

A Cottage, Small Towns, and Beautiful Sights on the way to Missoula, Montana

Final Two Stops: Moscow and Lewiston

McCall, Idaho: Our 2020 Summer Home

The Snake and The River of No Return

Illinois (1988 – 2023)

Within the first week of meeting Don (he was living in Chicago and I was in Houston), I told him I would never move from Texas. Less than a year later I, too, was a resident of Chicago. We lived in the city (Lincoln Park and Streeterville areas) for three years before moving to the near western suburb of Riverside. Our seven years in Chicagoland could be a blogpost all on its own, but I will just summarize it as great friends, incredible food, and many wonderful memories.

Indiana (1988 – 1996)

A bit like they call the Midwest states “Flyover Country”, I call Indiana the “Drive-thru State” because we drove through Indiana multiple times during our seven years living in Illinois and driving to Ohio to visit Don’s family. Other than a stop at his aunt and uncle’s house in Indiana during one trip and a stop at a gas station so I could change into more appropriate Thanksgiving dinner clothes before meeting his parents for the first time, not much occurred on our hours-long drives through the state.

Iowa (2020 – 2022)

If I had known I was going to try to make it to all 50 states and that Iowa was going to be so hard to get to I would’ve driven fewer than three hours to Davenport when we lived in Chicago in the 1990s. As it turns out we drove across Iowa during the pandemic when we were on our way from Idaho to Maine (with a stop in Ohio). Other than gorgeous farmland, the most memorable aspect of the drive was all the wind turbines.

Check out one of my related blog posts:

The Heartland

Kansas (2020 – 2023)

Several years ago while traveling north from Texas to Idaho, I made us take a bit longer route so we could drive through Kansas. Little did I know then that one of our sons would be living in Omaha, Nebraska and I’d be traveling periodically through Kansas between Omaha and Austin.

Kentucky (early 1990s)

At some point early in our marriage, Don took me on a trip to Kentucky to see the horse farms. We stopped by Keeneland Racetrack even though the horses weren’t running that day. The horse farms we saw while driving down the highway were stunningly beautiful. A vision I never imagined having grownup on a working dairy farm in central Texas.

Louisiana (1989 & 2015) (update 2024)

I’m sure that Louisiana is more than New Orleans and Mardi Gras, but I wouldn’t know about it.

New Orleans and Mardi Gras were enough for me until a week ago when Don and I visited friends in Natchitoches, LA – the oldest city in the Louisiana Purchase. ”Nak-a-dish” is a quaint town known for its row of French Creole townhouses, enormous magnolia trees, stately live oak trees, proximity to plantation homes, meat pies, pecan tree groves and the Cane River. I’d recommend visiting the adorable eastern Louisiana town anytime of year, but especially in December when the town shows off its Christmas lights display, in May for the Jazz/R&B music festival, or during Mardi Gras to take in a parade or two.

Maine (1997, 2000 – 2008, and various years since)

We visited Maine several times before moving there the summer of 2000. One memorable trip was when Lauren was a year old. We explored the northeastern coastline (or Downeast, as the locals call it) from Acadia National Park all the way to Eastport and Campobello Island where FDR summered. The island is in Canada, but the Roosevelt Campobello International Park is managed by the US National Park Service. And of course we stopped by mid-coast Maine to visit friends in Rockport.

We explored Moosehead Lake area once we moved there when Sam and Will were babies. In fact, the twins started to crawl on that trip or roll over. It’s a bit of a blur…

Those were only two of the places we explored: one inland and the other along the coastline. If you include the trips we took to Maine before and after we lived there and add that to our eight years of residency, we’ve spent a lot of time exploring Maine. Yet there’s still so much left to see and do. Maine has approximately 3,500 miles of coastline, 6,000 freshwater lakes, 5,000 rivers, 434,000 acres of state and national parkland and is almost the size of all the other New England states combined!

For more details and great photos of the state, click on the link below.

Maine: The Way Life Should Be

Maryland (1990, 2020)

I’ve been to Maryland several times, but the most unique trip has to be when Don and I were newlyweds and attended his cousin’s graduation from the US Naval Academy. It was an amazing weekend meeting more of his family and exploring the adorable town of Annapolis. The weekend ended with a Sunday convocation service in the Naval Academy Chapel. A memorable weekend to say the least.

We also drove through Maryland during our Covid travels. We even stayed the night at a “quaint” hotel which was wayyy too close to the railroad tracks.

Massachusetts (1994 & 2003)

Two trips to Massachusetts standout in my mind. The first was before we had children when Don and I flew from Chicago to Boston to attend a friend’s wedding. It was in the Old North Church which has little cubbies for seats instead of pews. Each wooden “pod” would have a fire to keep warm in the winter. It was built in 1723 and is the oldest standing church in Boston. You might remember the Old North Church for its role in Paul Revere’s midnight ride. In addition to attending the wedding, we took advantage of our time in Boston and explored the downtown and historic areas of the city.

The other vacation in Massachusetts was with Lauren when she was six years old. We were supposed to fly to Texas to visit family, but on the eve of our flight, Sam and Will developed chicken pox. So instead of turning around immediately and heading back to Maine, we spent a day exploring “The Cape” and finding the house Don’s mom summered in during her high school and college years.

Michigan (1989 – 2023)

Don went to high school and college in Michigan, so we’ve been back several times to visit friends and attend weddings. One trip we even made it to a Michigan State football game. Most recently we spent the weekend in Plymouth, Michigan with family and friends as we celebrated the wedding of one of our nephews.

Minnesota (1991)

A good friend of ours grew up in Texas and spent two weeks of every summer fishing on Bowstring Lake in northern Minnesota. One summer in the early 1990s we drove from Chicago up through Wisconsin to Minnesota with him and his wife (my BFF from junior high and high school). While the husbands fished, we found other fun things to do.

Mississippi (2022)

Mississippi is generally just a “drive-thru” state when we’re traveling from Texas to Florida. During one of our trips we stayed in Biloxi overnight at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino. We took a bit of time to explore the sights of the gulf coast near the hotel.

Missouri (1992 & 1995)

It seems that a lot of Don and my early travel within the United States was for weddings. Missouri and specifically, St. Louis, is no exception. Don and I also visited Kansas City several years later when we visited my cousin in December and saw the beautiful display of Christmas lights.

Montana (2020 – 2022)

I had not been to Montana until the Covid years when we were “Covid homeless” as I call it. We traveled the continental United States in Don’s Toyota Tundra packed to the gills. All of our other belongings were in storage in Texas. Missoula was the first city in Montana that we visited. Later when driving across the mountain states we/I stopped in other cities in the state including Billings, Butte and Bozeman.

Nebraska (2021 – 2023)

Nebraska was one of the last several states for me to visit. But since driving through the state during our Covid travels, we have been several more times since then. One of our sons moved to Omaha, Nebraska in 2022 and we have been there many times since. Omaha is a very well maintained, interesting city. Nebraska is more than just Omaha, though. 

Click on the link below to checkout my related blogpost.

Driving through Flyover Country

Nevada (1999, 2014, 2021 – 2023)

Not only have I been to Las Vegas several times, but I have driven through Jackpot and spent at least one night in Wells, NV, a town only known for being at the intersection of Interstate 80 and US Highway 93. I’ve driven that road along the eastern portion of the state (the long side) three times as of this publication. The drive is long and straight, except for a bit going through a small sliver of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. It’s also the route where I’ve seen the most Joshua Trees.

One fun fact about Nevada is that of the continental United States, it has the largest percentage of public lands. A whopping 80% of the acreage in Nevada is owned by the US Government and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

New Hampshire (1987 & early 2000s)

When we lived in Maine we took a trip or two to New Hampshire. The topography is similar to western Maine, so nothing really stands out. Although, Conway, NH is a neat little town with a sweet little storybook themed amusement park. I always thought I’d take the kids back, but I guess it’s a bit late as they’re all adults now.

If you’re in need of some New England geography help, and fuzzy on New England states (as I was until I moved there), New Hampshire and Vermont are directly west of Maine and together create a rectangle shape. I’ve got some mnemonics to help with the details. Vermont is appropriately shaped like a V, small at the bottom and large at the top; New Hampshire is the one farther east and next to Maine (same vowels – A, E & I) and is shaped like an inverted “V” and finishes out the rectangle.

New Jersey (1987, 1988 & 2019)

Most people think of New Jersey in relation to New York, but because of my early travel experiences with my college roommate, I had a different perspective. Philadelphia is just across the New Jersey state line from Cherry Hill, NJ. and was home to one of my friend’s Saint Joseph’s University new friends. I’m not sure we ever went to Cherry Hill, but we talked about it often.

Another of my trips to Philadelphia we traveled to Harrah’s in Atlantic City where Adrienne and I went to the Marine Corps Ball with her parents. And yet another time we traveled to Ocean City to help her mother set up her artwork for an art show near the Boardwalk.

I was in New Jersey at least twice in 2019. Once when we rented a car on Staten Island and drove to/from Rochester, New York to visit friends and a second time when I met a friend from Maine for lunch who was in New Jersey visiting a friend of hers.

New Mexico (1973? & 2020 – 2023)

During Covid when Don and I were “Covid homeless” for a little over a year, we traveled and explored the US. One stop was Santa Fe in northeast New Mexico. A picturesque town with equally pleasing personality. Then last year Don and I explored the area even farther north of Santa Fe when we attended a Texas singer-songwriter festival in Red River last winter and took time to see Taos and Angel Fire, too.

The Land of Enchantment

New York (1993, 2017 – 2020)

When I was in college, I had a friend who was interviewing for jobs in New York City. I thought he was insane; I couldn’t imagine moving to such a strange unknown land.

Fast forward thirty years when Don was based in NYC during Sam and Will’s final years of high school. Maybe it was because I would spend short snippets of time in the city before living there for the majority of 2019. Maybe it was my easing into the city life, but no matter how it happened, I unexpectedly fell in a deep, deep love with the once daunting city. Click on any (or all!) of these links for more details.

If you’re interested in more information on my time in New York and New York City, specifically, check out one or more of the below blog posts:

And So It Begins…

New City New State Explained

NYC: Combatting Ignorance One Event at a Time

Lessons Learned

Humbled and In Awe

Magic in the City

Exploring Brooklyn

North Carolina (1998(?) & 2016)

I’ve taken two vacations to North Carolina – one to the Outer Banks in the late 1990s for a family gathering and the other to Asheville on a girls trip quite a few years later. Both were fun and memorable, but I am sure there is much more to see and do in the state.

North Dakota (2021)

My second to last state to visit was well worth the wait. We stayed in Fargo for a couple of days on a road trip from Ohio to Idaho. If you know your US geography well, you know Fargo is not along the preferred/quickest route. But I convinced Don that North and South Dakota were worth the extra miles. And they were. We caught a farmers’ market in the cute downtown area and a North Dakota State University tailgate. Blogpost on the Dakotas is in the works…

Ohio (1988 – current)

I have spent quite a bit of time in Ohio, mostly in Dayton and Columbus. My first trip to Ohio was in 1988 when I rode with Don from Chicago to Dayton for Thanksgiving weekend to meet his parents and sister for the first time. Holidays, weddings, funerals and many other trips in between those for no other reason than to hang out with family.

Oklahoma (2013, 2016 – 2023)

My first trip to Oklahoma was in 2013 when touring colleges with my daughter. As a dyed in the wool longhorn fan coupled with my high school reading of John Steinbeck novels, I truly didn’t think Oklahoma had much to offer especially in terms of topography and universities. Boy was I blown away when we set foot on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman. It is such a gorgeous campus with so much to offer!

Many more days were spent in Oklahoma at rowing events on the Oklahoma River in Oklahoma City during Sam’s high school years.

And now Oklahoma, along with Kansas, are the thoroughfare states between Nebraska and Texas.

Oregon (1988, 2022 & 2023)

For years my only experience with Oregon was a work trip to Beaverton, a suburb of Portland, back when I was working for Arthur Andersen & Co. Now I’ve amassed at least four trips to the state in the last couple of years. A friend of mine from Texas moved to a town twenty miles northeast of Portland. She’s a curious sort, too, so when Don and I visited her recently we took tours of a boutique gin distillery and a working tour of the Pendleton wool mill. Things I’ve seen include the town of Bend, the Painted Hills, the Columbia River gorge, the Oregon coast, Mt. Hood, Willamette Valley and a couple of its wineries, and several of the McMenamins restaurants and bars. The things still on my ToDo List include a trip to Crater Lake National Park, a stay at the Oregon Hotel in McMinnville and exploring more of Oregon by finishing off my McMenamins Passport.

Pennsylvania (1980s & 2014)

During my college years most of my air travel was free, because my mother worked for a subsidiary of Continental Airlines and I could fly “non-rev.” I made the best of it and made many trips Philadelphia where my roommate’s family was stationed. My first trip to Philly she showed me her city like the tourist that I was: we ran up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (just as Rocky had done), we ate authentic Philly cheesesteaks, and we walked along the Schuykill River and admired the picturesque boat houses and their rowers, too.

One winter I flew up and met her and her St. Joseph University friends (she transferred after her sophomore year) for a ski chalet weekend in the Poconos. The downside to any air travel back then (non-rev included) was the paper ticket that they printed out at the initial airport. One had to keep up with their paper return ticket until they were on the plane back home. Making shopping lists on said return ticket is not recommended. One might have to race back to the grocery store near the ski chalet on the way to the airport if you do…

Other adventures based at the now repurposed naval base in Philadelphia included a couple of amazing road trips. These excursions would show me many of the eastern and northeastern states. The summer of 1985 my friend and I took a southern route that went through Delaware, Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia, West Virginia and back to Philadelphia by way of western Pennsylvania. Our sequel northern road trip in 1987 included many states, as well as, Canada. For more information on that adventure see “Vermont.”

I visited Pennsylvania again many years later for a self-guided history tour of Washington, DC and Philadelphia in 2014 when my boys were in junior high.

Rhode Island (1980s & 2000s)

My first time to see the beauty of Rhode Island was on the way back to Philadelphia from Canada with my college roommate. Her father had been stationed in Newport and she wanted to show me where she had lived. Twenty+ years later I was there once again with a friend. Her husband was stationed in Newport with the Coast Guard when we lived in Maine. Our family joined theirs for a Coast Guard weekend event.

South Carolina (1994 & 2019)

Kiawah Island was my first destination in South Carolina and Charleston was the second. There were almost twenty years between the vacations. One was with couples Don and I knew from Chicago when we were DINKS (double income no kids) and the second one was for a girls’ trip to Charleston for a friend’s 60th birthday celebration many years later.

South Dakota (2021)

My last state of the 50. We drove from Fargo, North Dakota and it was late when we arrived at Mt. Rushmore. It also happened to be September 11, 2021- the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Lining the view of the well-known sculpture of Mount Rushmore were flags and plaques indicating the date and order of admission into the United States of America. On that day as a tribute to the states directly affected by the terrorist attacks were floral wreaths near Pennsylvania, New York, and District of Columbia.

Tennessee (1996 – 2000 & 2020)

Tennessee was another “drive-thru” state when we lived in Atlanta and would travel to Dayton to visit Don’s family. We would often stop in Knoxville and Chattanooga- both great cities with wonderful restaurants. Then years later we would add another city to our Tennessee stops when we made a detour to Memphis for a night during one of our cross country Covid road-trips.

Texas (1964 – 2024)

I was born and raised in Texas, went to college in Texas and for twelve years raised children in Texas. I’ve seen a lot of Texas in those years, but it wasn’t until Covid and post-pandemic years that I started to explore the hill country and west Texas.

Below are some blogposts I’ve written about my home state.

Texas => NYC

An Early Departure

First Stop: West Texas

Home

Utah (2020 – 2023)

My first trip to Utah was mainly to get from point A to point B. Little did I know that soon I’d be creating driving routes specifically to go through Utah again.

On that first trip we had planned to go to Arches National Park which was along our route, but at our stop in Colorado our hosts highly recommended Canyonlands NP, too. Both parks had unique and gorgeous geography. Within two years we had seen all five of the national parks in Utah.

(Some of) The Beauties of Utah: Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park and Salt Lake City

Vermont (1987, 2000 – 2008)

During the summer of 1987 my college roommate and I embarked on our second long road trip out of Philadelphia when we took her mother’s brand new Volkswagen Scirocco and drove northwest. We went across Pennsylvania and New York State where we saw Niagara Falls, crossed the border and stopped in St. Catharines to see a regatta. We drove through downtown Toronto on our way to Montreal. We were hoping to spend the night on the eastern side of Toronto but couldn’t find a room anywhere, so we continued our journey toward Montreal. We finally found a place to sleep in Welcome, Ontario – a tiny little town along the highway with an empty motel room. The next day we were off again and made it to Montreal. From there we headed south through Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York City, New Jersey, and back to Pennsylvania. As you might have guessed, we had no hotel reservations anywhere. We had a loose plan and thought we came back as expected, but her parents were expecting us a day earlier. To say her parents were happy to see us when we drove down the driveway is an understatement.

Aside from my memory of eating provisions out of our styrofoam cooler while sitting on the floor in the small motel in Welcome, Ontario, my most vivid memories from that trip are the villages tucked in between the mountains along the roads in Vermont and New Hampshire. Each village had such a stereotypical New England vibe with at least one white steeple emerging from each of the small towns. Little did I know that almost twenty years later I would be living in a similar picturesque village in Rockport, Maine.

Virginia (1998 & 2014)

I’ve been to Virginia several times, once when family gathered in Norfolk for a long weekend to celebrate the commissioning of a ship and much later with my junior high aged boys for a spring break trip to Washington, DC area and Philadelphia.

Washington (2020 – 2023)

Since the pandemic and specifically since moving to Idaho we’ve visited many towns in Washington State including Post Falls, Pullman home of Washington State University, Clarkston (just across the river from Lewiston, ID), Walla Walla, Washougal, Camas, Vancouver (just across the border from Portland, Oregon which can easily be confused with Vancouver, British Columbia which is across the border from Seattle), and Prosser – a cute little town on the Yakima River.

West Virginia (2021)

WV is another state that I have not explored much, but one of our Covid trips took us through the state. One day while Don was working I walked the University of West Virginia campus.

Wisconsin (1989 – 1996, 2015, 2017)

When we lived in Chicago and visited Wisconsin, I always thought that the rural roads marked with letters rather than numbers was interesting. We would golf in Kohler, sightsee in Milwaukee, and vacation in Elkhart Lake.

Many years later when we were living in the Houston area, Don and I traveled to Lake Geneva to go to a friend’s daughter’s wedding and visited some old Chicago area friends at their home on Lake Geneva on our way back home. A year later I took a girls’ trip to Sturgeon Bay where a tanker/tug boat combo was named for a neighbor, Leigh Ann. The cherry on the top of that trip was a relaxing few days at a lake house in Door County.

Wyoming (2020 – 2022)

Another state I hadn’t been to until we were “Covid homeless” was Wyoming. We drove through the state on Interstate 80 and another time cut-through the state on our way from the Grand Tetons to Maine. Once the vaccine became available, we visited family in Laramie and Sheridan. Other towns we’ve explored include Dubois, Rawlins and Cheyenne.

For more information on Wyoming, please click on the link below.

Goodbye, Idaho. Hello, Wyoming!

To finish, I’m often asked what other places are on my bucket list. I have only visited a dozen or so national parks, so almost any of the ones I haven’t visited yet is on the list. Crater Lake NP in Oregon, Glacier NP in northern Montana, and Big Bend NP in Texas are at the top of the national park list. The Ozarks in Missouri, Antelope Canyon in Arizona, an underground storage facility for movie props and sets in southwestern Kansas, and any of the presidential libraries I haven’t already visited round out my US bucket list.