My 50th State

My parents raised the three of us kids with lots of travel. My dad is a firm believer in seeing your country first. While I'm all for seeing all of our states I have also taken time to leave the country. We have all been working though to see every state in the country. In our family we count a state as long as we stepped foot on solid ground. Airports don't actually count unless you walk outside. My brother and I got Arkansas as kids when dad drove us across the border and we got out of the car. My sister originally got Utah by walking outside the airport on a layover. I thought I visited my last state in 2008 when I went to Alaska for a week. This summer I received some surprising news when my dad drove to Montana for his reunion. It turns out the route he thought we took that included Nebraska did not actually include Nebraska. So I was one state short! I could not think of a good reason to go visit Nebraska so I opted to just drive over the border on my way to Colorado to visit the family this week. My friend's dad says that, "Nebraska is proof that hell is full and dead people are walking on earth." I can't say it is that bad but I only saw about 5 miles of the state.

Not the most exciting state sign ever.

I got off at the first exit. Not much there. But I did find this house with the N on it. Must be Nebraska fans!

Not a lot out there. Pretty in a sparse way.

Just to be sure though this is my state list-

1. Alabama- one of the states we used on our drives to Florida as kids.
2. Alaska- visited for a week in 2008. Can't wait to go back.
3. Arizona- visited Katie when she went to college in Tucson.
4. Arkansas- crossed the border and got out on spring break in '95 (?).
5. California- first visit was in the winter of '93 and then lived there for 2.5 years.
6. Colorado- plenty of ski trips and now the family lives here.
7. Connecticut- visited a friend of Katie's after camp one year and lots of trips to Hartford with the soccer team in college.
8. Delaware- visited with mom after college orientation, plus plenty of college games there.
9. Florida- used to visit my great Aunt & Uncle, plus trips to Disney World.
10. Georgia- spring breaks spent at Jekyll Island.
11. Hawaii- trip to the ProBowl with the family in 2008.
12. Idaho- first visit as a kid on a camping trip in Montana. I'm pretty sure there is a picture of us by the border sign. Now I drive through it a lot on the way to visit the family.
13. Illinois- numerous trips to Chicago and my mom lived in southern Illinois for awhile.
14. Indiana- grew up there.
15. Iowa- this is the other one I'm trusting my parents on. They swear we drove across it on our way back from Montana. Dad is sticking by this after his summer travels.
16. Kansas- drive through it to get to Colorado. Visited Carmen while she was in college there.
17. Kentucky- my mom's whole family lives there. Used to spend time at my grandparent's farm outside of Louisville.
18. Louisiana- spring break one year in h.s. and a wedding after college outside of New Orleans.
19. Maine- family trip in elementary school and many college game trips.
20. Maryland- went to college at Towson University outside of Baltimore.
21. Massachusetts- first time after camp with mom, then a college visit trip and then lots of college game trips.
22. Michigan- born there and lived the first four years of my life in Grand Rapids. Love going back to see friends.
23. Minnesota- we drove across this state to get to Montana.
24. Mississippi- drove through it on the way to Louisiana.
25. Missouri- been to St. Louis, driven through on the way to Colorado, etc.
26. Montana- favorite state in the lower 48. Spend lots of time in Butte, Big Sky and Yellowstone. Finally made it to Glacier this summer.
27. Nebraska- just made it there yesterday. My last state!
28. Nevada- drove through it on my way to living in California. Finally made it to Las Vegas last year.
29. New Hampshire- family trip as kids and many college game trips. Loved the Maine/New Hampshire trips in the fall with the soccer team.
30. New Jersey- visited a camp friend there as a kid. Have driven through to get to NY a lot.
31. New Mexico- did a trip with mom that started in New Mexico. Then went to a U.S. Women's soccer game there with Katie. (Katie burnt her broken leg badly that day!)
32. New York- first trip to NYC in 4th grade with my mom and grandmother.
33. North Carolina- definitely been there a lot. Most recently for the soccer championships in college.
34. North Dakota- went through it on the way to Montana.
35. Ohio- many soccer tournaments there as a kid. And was the worst part of my drive home from college.
36. Oklahoma- went through it on the way to Texas.
37. Oregon- 2003 Women's World Cup games in Portland.
38. Pennsylvania- Girl Scout camp in the upper Northeast corner for 4 summers. Plus a rowing trip in college and other visits to Philly.
39. Rhode Island- stopped to sight see while on a college visit trip with mom.
40. South Carolina- visited friends in Charleston in high school.
41. South Dakota- another state visited on the way to Montana. Must go check out the sights!
42. Tennessee- drove through it on the way south but also did a lacrosse trip to Nashville in college.
43. Texas- visited my friend Sandy in San Antonio after college and then visited Chris while he was in college there.
44. Utah- first visit for the 2002 Olympics and now I live here!
45. Vermont- many college game trips up there in the fall. Great opportunity to see my cousin.
46. Virginia- many college game trips plus College Soccer Championships.
47. Washington- drove up to Seattle in 2003 and spent a lot of time in this state for the Vancouver Olympics.
48. West Virginia- drove through it to get to college. Also had a soccer game there in college.
49. Wisconsin- drove through it to get to Montana and then visited some colleges up there.
50. Wyoming- visited as kids to see Yellowstone and a rodeo in Cody. Now I drive through it to get to the family in Colorado.

* Any state we drove through included stops for gas and bathrooms (we are talking about a road trip with 3 kids). So those states count in our family.

YAHOO! I have actually visited all 50 states. Those that I visited by driving through I would like to go back to someday (except Iowa, unless someone gives me a good reason). I know we visited a lot of spots in South Dakota but I definitely want to get back up there. And now that I have been to Alaska I need to go back and see more. I'd like to see that state in every season. Montana is my favorite lower 48 state but Alaska is my favorite over all.

I'll be curious to hear from my friends on how many states they have visited.