Location: United States
When: October 2022 to July 4th, 2024
Miles traveled: ~49,711 miles
Price of gas: $3,720.11
Interest: To visit all 50 states
High point: Discovering aerial hammock(video below) in MI. Now that I'm no longer traveling, I have signed up for a long term aerial hammock class! (vs. the occasional drop in class)
Low point: The joy and excitement of doing something completely new, petered out before the halfway point.
Things learned: Don't people please.
Favorite state: Utah because of the beautiful colors of the sand and sky and experiences I had hitching a ride on ATVs, vising Zion NP and serendipity Airbnb-camping in Monument Valley.
Least Favorite state: I could say Maine because they did not have highway rest stops where I needed them and the gas stations I encountered only offered porta johns for travelers & truckers. But this was very early in my traveling and I was finding campgrounds a few days before I needed them rather than a week or two in advance. If I drove through Maine now, I would have more experience and possibly a different perspective. Every state had good times and challenging times. I cannot name a state that I would never want to go back to.
Things
I will miss: Safeway chicken pot pies. Sleeping in my car (= being in tune with nature's night and day.) How connected and easy/essential it was to be outside most of the time.
Things I will not miss: Frequently/daily looking for something to do so that my day would be "full" and I would have something to write about on my blog. It felt like I needed to be doing something "interesting" everyday. Thankfully, this mindset only appeared towards the end of my trip.
Would I do it again: Not if the goal was to visit all 50 states back to back.
How
would I do it differently if I did it again: I would take someone else
with me. If camping, I would at a minimum upgrade to a camper van
w/built in toilet and not feel bad about picking more expensive electric
campsites. I would also travel more slowly and visit more places
per-state as desired. And my goal would be different.
New habits I have: Parking with the goal of keeping my car as cool as possible. Always leaving my car windows cracked open for air circulation. Wearing the same clothes week after week. (I wear my favorite shirts, and this way I wear them till they are worm out, rather than having them till they no longer fit me.)
Unhappy things to come away with: Public restroom availability insecurity. Thankfully, this seems to be fading.
Car trouble: My car battery needed replaced a month or so before I started traveling. Was almost in a car accident when driving to Georgia. I had a slow tire leak in Arkansas and was the last fix of the day before Walmart Auto Care Center closed. Front windshield cracked on the drive to Alaska. Almost had trouble when the car passing me/in front tossed a knife out their window in Alaska (Day 11). Bought new tires twice and replaced windshield wipers once. Pretty good for dedicated traveling around the country!
Would return to: Utah, Zion NP to hike the Narrows and Scout's Lookout, and visit the other NPs there. South Dakota to more thoroughly hike and explore Custer State Park and Badlands NP. Wyoming to explore Grand Tetons (rather than just driving through it) and see Yellowstone NP again. Florida, I only visited the panhandle, it would be nice to go farther south and snorkel. Also Hawaii and Alaska of course.
Below is a line describing what I think of when I think of that state and a picture from that state. The pictures might not relate to the words above it. States are in alphabetical order. Enjoy.
1. Alabama cave exploring and driving back to Georgia in an attempt to hang glide.
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Cathedral Caverns
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2. Alaska social group after church. Moose encounter.
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Fairbanks' Ice Museum
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Denali NP
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Great Duck Race, Anchorage
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Beluga Whales, Anchorage
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3. Arizona Saguaro National Park
4. Arkansas Hot Springs, staying longer than planned, slow flat tire/leak.
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Searching for diamonds
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5. California orange fruit stand, flowers in median of highway.
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| Looking back at groves of fruit trees |
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Snowplant in Sequoia NP
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6. Colorado everyone says it's beautiful, snowy mountains, deer at campground
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Mesa Verde NP
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Sun setting at Great Sand Dunes NP
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7. Connecticut sleeping a week at a travel center, open art studio mixed media
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Elephant Flea Market
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8. Delaware tea party ship tour/reenactment
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Campground pine trees
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9. Florida surfing, armadillo, talking with camping neighbor.
10. Georgia, Chinese New Year at Stone mt.
11. Hawaii flowers and walking around Waikiki, Hilo hostess, and her cats
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Sunset at Waikiki
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USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor
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Hostess' cats liked my personal space
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Green Sea Turtle, Hawai'i Island
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12.
Idaho the rocks/color of Craters of the Moon NM and talking with caving
buddy/fellow traveler driving in opposite state direction as me.
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Lava tube
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Bob Hope exhibition
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13. Illinois Did I go to Illinois? (After looking at blog post; oh yeah Japanese Gardens)
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Japanese gardens
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Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church
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14. Indiana sand dunes, visiting my uncle, and rollerblading with sister's family.
15. Iowa making glass sweater ornament with a cousin, Monastery visit with challenging prayer hours, but I managed to attended all of them one day!
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Monastery chicken coop with "Sound of Music" scarecrow
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Windmill toured
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16. Kansas Big Well Museum
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Northern lights!!
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Dala horses
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17. Kentucky horses (did not see any) and Noah's Ark Museum.
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National Quilt Museum
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Petting a kangaroo!
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18.
Louisiana Marti Gras and walking around town, street musicians.
Beautiful lake below bridge and planning on attending a ranger
talk, but was unable to because I got COVID.
19.
Maine woodlands, trucks hauling logs, fellow camper turns the sound of
passing trucks into waves to help him fall asleep. Driving too late at night when
exhausted looking for rest stop to sleep at and only finding a closed side-of-the-road park.
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Acadia NP
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20. Maryland & Washington DC museum and did I visit a beach? (Answer, Yes!)
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DC museum
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Assateague Island NS
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21.
Massachusetts wait, tea ship tour was here, not Delaware. Delaware was
a beach and a pine tree campground I wish I had spent more time
exploring.
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Tea ship, I don't recall it's real name
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22. Michigan aerial silks! Hell, and Ann Arbor is a nice city.
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Racoon sleeping in a dumpster at campground
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23. Minnesota driving coast of Lake Superior, sailing and rose garden sketching.
24. Mississippi, meeting Jon and petrified wood.
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Great soul food at Bully's
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25. Missouri, St Louis City Museum!! and other stuff.
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Gateway Arch
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26.
Montana, main location of my favorite book series and meeting someone in
Minnesota from Montana and hearing that there's a lot of meth in Grand
Falls. (I saw the casinos.)
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At First Peoples Buffalo Jump State park
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27. Nebraska, driving the Fossil highway
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Lakota Winter Count
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28. Nevada beautiful, survived hot weather at campground, Hoover Dam, pinball-arcade, beautiful views of Lake Mead.
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Atlatl Rock
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Lake Mead
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29.
New Hampshire dog sledding with family and staying at brother's place while I explored surrounding states and planned next part of my trip.
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| . |
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Dog sledding
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30. New Jersey Thanksgiving with family and visited family friend priest's parish.
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Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel
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31. New Mexico the state of hot peppers. Aliens, beautiful mountains, mountain hiking in dessert and White Sands NP.
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exploring near Gila Cliff Dwellings with fellow campers
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scorpion on tent
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32. New York inches of snow fall, Monastery visit.
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New Skete Monastery
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33. North Carolina pottery, I like the big textured mug I bought here.
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Glass blowing
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34. North Dakota, Mario wall and Fort Union event
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Theodore Roosevelt NP
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35. Ohio, Wade Memorial Chapel
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Tiffany glass
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Train ride
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36. Oklahoma, Native American stomp dancing
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Nice place to relax on hot day
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This is what I saw once.
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37. Oregon recovering from trip burnout on the beach, sand dollars, tide pool exploring.
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Wayward Winds Lavender farm
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Oregon coast
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38. Pennsylvania learning about the Amish way of life.
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Good book
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Paintball with family
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39. Rhode Island lunch at diner, exploring quaint town looking for state sticker and walking Cliff Walk.
40. South Carolina discussing camping gear with fellow campers. Locals like living in SC, it's near the beach, mountains, country and cities.
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| Campground |
41. South Dakota There is a lot to see; Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Badlands NP, Custer SP
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Corn Palace
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Campground, yes I was the only person camping. Someone came to walk their dog a few times.
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42. Tennessee parallelogram two states below Ohio that I've driven though a lot. (Pigeon Forge and camping in Smokey Mt NP.)
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Ducks at fancy hotel
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Learning how to make a broom
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43. Texas poppies, mechanical bull riding, family visiting and paying $800 to spend a few hours at an emergency clinic. Video of a roadrunner bird.
44. Utah red orange sand with blue sky and water. Exploring sand caves and slot canyon.
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Zion NP, The Patriarchs
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Fun at campground
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Monument Valley
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45. Vermont day trip with mother to quarry and finding stickers and pizza dinner.
46. Virginia beaches and tunnel bridges
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Hiking on the Appalachian Trail
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47.
Washington finding favorite book series locations and talking with
fellow camper, who nicknamed me "Cat Lady" since I have a cat sticker on my car. Sunset view with grain
stacks.
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| Sunset |
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Log rolling near Forks, WA
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48. West Virginia snowboarding.
49. Wisconsin cheese and water ski.
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Relics at National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion
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50. Wyoming I can recognize Sundance in snow and warm weather! Finding new place to camp when first place needed high clearance south of Grand Tetons, and camping in busy NF rocky cliffs campground north of Yellowstone.
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Devil's Tower
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Upper Falls at Yellowstone NP
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Sundance tree in snow
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Same tree months later on drive to Montana
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-Canada
-East Canada (Ontario) getting lost when hiking.
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Campground
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-British Columbia Vancouver Island, Goats on the Roof Cafe
-British Columbia driving to/from Alaska, beautiful scenery, and fish ladder.
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Kinaskan Lake
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North of Vancouver
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-Yukon driving to/from Alaska, wolf on highway and beautiful lakes at campgrounds
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Squirrel with marshmallow
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Looking through all my photos to pick the ones above, I've realize how quickly human minds forget an experience. It's been about a month since my week in Minnesota and I've forgotten about most of it. I suppose that is part of living in the present and the limitations of being human. Thank goodness for photographs.
Hooray, I did it! I've written a blog about traveling to all 50 states! I consider the blog a feat just as amazing as visiting the states! Now it's your turn, and my turn again...let's go out there and make our dreams come true.
God bless you,
-Rebecca
