The 25 States I've visited so Far
I've been working on this post for a few years now and figured it was finally time to just make myself finish it and post it!
I spent so much of my childhood traveling with my grandparents. They owned an Airstream trailer and often took my sister and I on multiple trips each summer. Just outside the door of the trailer they had a US map outline and would fill it in with a colored state sticker as they visited each state. They wanted to visit all lower 48 (they did!) and even made it to Alaska!
That idea has always stuck with me; to visit all 50 states (I, unlike my grandmother am not afraid to fly so I'd like to see Hawaii too!).
Family vacation and travel is something I have made a goal of but we often have so much fun at the places we've been that we tend to re-visit our favorite places over and over and over again-- like Disney! Which makes it so hard to reach that goal of hitting all 50 states.
In order to cross a state off my list I have to have visited something or stayed overnight there and not just have driven through it. Here are the states I have managed to visit so far:
Arizona-- My husband and I parked in Arizona when visiting the Hoover Dam and we stopped a few times on our bus tour to check out sights on both sides of the river. I really want to get back there and see the grand canyon (not just from the airplane!) and Sedona.
Colorado-- We flew into Denver and got to see the Rocky Mountains as we drove into Wyoming; stopping to eat lunch at a Freddy's.
Connecticut-- Having lived in CT my whole life it's pretty safe to say I've been everywhere! One great thing about living in such a small state is that it's easy to cover much of it in relatively little time.
Florida-- I've actually been to Florida more times than I can count and we've visited a few different parts of the state; mainly Orlando and Tampa though. I'd still love to get back there and see the everglades and the keys too.
Iowa-- We stayed overnight in Carter Lake, Iowa for our flight back home through Omaha on our family vacation through Colorado, South Dakota & Nebraska.
Maine-- Old Orchard Beach, Freeport, York, Kennebunkport, Acadia National Park; this is another one of those New England states I've spent lots of time in. It is a really beautiful state and for some reason I always feel so relaxed there. I can see why the state motto is "the way life should be."
Maryland-- We stayed overnight in Ocean City on our trip home from Myrtle Beach one year and my husband and I once spent a week there with our friends shortly after we were married. It's a beautiful ocean side town with so much to see and do.
Massachusetts-- This is another state that my boys and I can easily say we've seen just about everything! I've even been to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket! Growing up I spent most of my summers on Cape Cod with my grandparents. My parents also owned a timeshare in Provincetown on the cape and we'd spend a week there almost every single summer.
Nebraska-- We flew out of Omaha airport and spent a lovely day exploring the Zoo and Aquarium.
Nevada-- My husband and I have been to Las Vegas a few times but since we didn't rent a car we didn't make it all that far off the strip other than a day trip to the Hoover Dam.
New Hampshire-- Storyland, Santa's village, 6 Gun City, Conway, Loon-- New Hampshire is one of my favorite weekend getaway spots and we spent lots of time there with the boys when they were little.
New Jersey-- We've ben through NJ quite a few times and even stayed in Camden once when the boys were little. We explored the Adventure Aquarium one day while there too.
New York-- Niagara falls, New York city, Lake Placid, Buffalo, Hudson... we've explored lots of different parts of New York state.
North Carolina-- My aunt has lived in North Carolina for as long as I can remember and we used to go and visit her almost yearly. My parents moved out there for a few years when my boys were quite young and we took a road trip one summer to visit them. My sisters have since moved down there too. I'd love to get over to Ashville or even the outer banks one year.. but mostly we end up on the southern coast seeing our family and I just love it there.
Ohio-- My grandparents took my sister and I with them one summer for a Wally Byam Caravan Club International gathering in Ohio and we had a great time.
Pennsylvania-- Hershey Park, Bushkill falls, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Philadelphia... another state we've explored extensively. My husband and I even got engaged in the Pocono Mountains.
Rhode Island-- We're in Rhode Island all the time (seriously I can walk to the tri-state marker denoting RI, Mass, & CT from our house) and have seen just about everything there is to see there!
South Carolina-- We took the boys to Myrtle Beach a few years ago on a fun filled family vacation. I had such fond memories of Myrtle Beach from when I was a kid and we had a great time. My husband and I also spent a weekend in Patriot's Point and explored Charleston, Isle of Palms, and Sullivan's Island.
South Dakota-- We spent 4-5 days exploring Mount Rushmore, Custer State park, the Badlands, Mammoth Dig Site, Mitchell, Keystone, Rapid City and so much more in South Dakota.
Tennessee--We drove to Nashville a few years ago when my husband needed to do some repairs to some machinery. While it was a work trip for him, he managed to get the repairs done quickly and we had three days in the Music City to explore. I can also remember a trip with my dad to Nashville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg when I was younger. We had a great time at Dollywood and the Opryland theme park. We took a huge family trip to Sevierville and Smoky Mountain National park with my sister and her boys.
Vermont-- Living in New England it's so easy to knock off all the New England states; they're so nice and close to one another and make for easy weekend getaways. I've been to the Ben & Jerry's factory a few times, made a bear at Build a Bear, & watched them make chocolate at Lake Champlain chocolates just to name a few things.
Virginia-- We often stay in Virginia when traveling to the Carolinas or Tennessee. We also spent a week in Virginia checking out Shenandoah National Park.
Virginia-- We often stay in Virginia when traveling to the Carolinas or Tennessee. We also spent a week in Virginia checking out Shenandoah National Park.
West Virginia-- We Stayed in West Virginia overnight on our way to and our way home from Nashville. We've driven through a good portion of the state on our travels too.
Wyoming-- We stayed overnight in Cheyenne on our last trip and enjoyed exploring this capital city!
Hmm... 25 out of the 50 states-- that's not bad!
Create Your Own Visited States Map
Linking up with: Fine/Whatever,
You have hit so many! This is a bucket list item for me- just challenging during these busy years of activities!
ReplyDeleteIt really is! I feel like we traveled so much more when my kids were at home full time; even though money was much tighter time was more forgiving.
DeleteThis was fun to read! You've been to so many great places in our great country. This post is making me want to travel :). It is so cool that you can walk to where three states meet!! I've seen maps of the US on the sides of RV's that show where the owner has traveled within the US. It's neat that you traveled with your grandparents a lot. I'll bet you have many great memories.
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you! I have lots of great memories of traveling with my grandparents. I honestly didn't realize how much work it had to have been for them until I had kids of my own.
DeleteLiving in NJ helped me get to the east coast states, and living here helped with the midwest!
ReplyDeleteI keep joking with my husband that it would really help me if we moved to say... Tennessee then I could easily take short trips and knock quite a few more states off my list! LOL
DeleteYou've been to a lot of states that I haven't been to! I see you haven't been to Georgia... you need to come visit!! There's lots to do in Atlanta!
ReplyDeleteWe actually have family just outside Atlanta and it's been on our list for years to visit but it's just never happened yet.
DeleteYou've been to a lot of interesting places! I've been to 33 states and New England is one part of the US I haven't gotten to explore yet. Having grown up in Washington state we had to drive a long ways to get to any other state. I mean, we could drive 8 hours and still be in Washington! My family took a lot of road trips while I was growing up and then a cross-country move allowed me visit quite a few more. I would love to be able to visit all 50 states some day. Although North Dakota is one that I'm not sure about. There isn't really a reason to go there! Also, this is a great post idea. I might have to put together a post of my own like this!
ReplyDeleteWe have such a hard time when we hit some of those larger states and just keep driving without seeing any more "welcome to" signs because that is so unusual for us! LOL My husband worked in North Dakota one summer for a few weeks and I tried like crazy to get us to take him with us, just so I could cross it off our list!
DeleteSo cool! I've hit 24. I'd love to do more. I like seeing what you did in each state!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThis is so interesting...I'm planning a similar post! I think I have been to 28 states. I'm missing big chunks of the midwest and northeast. Cool graphic too!
ReplyDeleteThank you! A fellow blogger had that map on her blog with the link to make your own; so I did.
DeleteI've been to over 30. I think I'd count some as states I've visited even if I didn't stay there. I guess you did, too. We tend to return to the same places over and over again, too.
ReplyDeletehttps://marshainthemiddle.com/
It's so hard to pick; something new and unknown or an old family favorite? It's often a toss up.
DeleteHow fun to color in the states that way. I should do that too because when my mom was a teacher, she always loved to borrow her parents RV during the summer and we would travel.
ReplyDeleteIf you do make it back out to AZ, I hope we can meet up,
XOOX
Jodie
www.jtouchofstyle.com
I'd like that! I have yet to meet a single blogger in real life!
DeleteYou have travelled a lot and 25 out of 50 isn't bad going at all.
ReplyDeleteI figure I'm doing pretty good!
DeleteI feel like i've done a post similar to this years ago. So interesting to see and read about the states you've been to. I'd like to write a similar post if I can ever get caught up on all my travels posts.
ReplyDeleteIt was so much harder to remember the state I had visited as a kid or before the bog! It sure does come in handy to have old posts to look back on.
DeleteThis is an amazing achievement so far and has reminded me that I really need to get out and visit more places as I have not done that at all since moving to the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteWe have visited 44 states through the years -- we still hope to see them all!
ReplyDeleteNot that many left to go! Good for you.
DeleteThis is soo cool! To have those memories with your grandparents is the neatest thing too! I love the create your own map link, that is awesome! It'll be fun to take some time and go through and see how many states I've visited.
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you! I have so many fun memories of travelling with my grandparents-- right up through high school too!
DeleteLove this snapshot of each state visit. Sounds fun as well as educational and interesting. I've been to 13 states, not bad for someone from the UK. I'd like to add Massuchusetts and have a holiday there.
ReplyDeleteThat is impressive! I haven't traveled much outside the U.S at all.
Deletegorgeous! what a great childhood memories with fun grandparents. you are doing great - half of the states visited already. keep on good work :-).
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteYou are doing great. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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