We're on a mission to see 50 states in 2018
Road trip status as of 01/27/2020:
We're seeing 50 states in 2018. I wish I could say that we are doing the "big ticket item" in each state. But at some point halfway through the trip, I realized that doing all of the best things in each state is not a realistic goal.
Instead, we started going with the flow more. I am fitting most of this trip into a single summer and I also must remind myself that little kids are involved. It's about fun and accomplishment, not about the stress of completing everything there is to do. So I missed the Grand Canyon... not a big deal. I'll see it again another time. Cultivating this mindset has been key to letting the good times roll.
Here's a list of the highlights so far. I'll be making a documentary with all of the footage I've collected.
- Roswell Alien Museum
- Loretto chapel staircase in Santa Fe
- Route 66 diner in Kingman
- Hoover Dam
- Las Vegas (7 days here since family lives here, stays at MGM Grand, NY NY, and Flamingo... we saw a ton...)
- Mono Lake and Mammoth Lakes, CA
- Yosemite
- 7 Days in the Bay Area, so cable car museum, kite flying at the marina, zoo and Golden Gate Park, Chinatown, Fentons in Oakland, etc
- Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, CA
- Drive around Napa and Sonoma wine country
- A drive down a portion of coastal Highway 1
- Avenue of the Giants
- Redwood National Park
- Lighthouse in Crescent City
- Short Portland tour
- 6 days in Seattle (Space Needle, Ballard Locks, Lake Union, Ferry to Bainbridge, etc)
- Point Roberts, US (go read about this unique place!!)
- Vancouver and Stanley Park
- 6 days in Victoria BC and many of the things you can see there
- Drive through British Columbia and Okanagan Desert to Kelowna
- Grand Coulee Dam, WA
- Lake Coeur D'Alene, ID
- Scenic drives in beautiful Western Montana and visits in Missoula and Bozeman
- Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Jackson
- Watching rafters on the Snake River
- Raspberry Shakes at Bear Lake, UT
- Temple Square in Salt Lake City and dinner in Park City
- Arches National Park and a great diner in Moab
- Monument Valley in Utah and Arizona
- Tour of Flagstaff
- Six days in Phoenix visiting friends and the local sights... several days at The Wigwam resort
- Sonoran Hot Dogs in Tucson
- Saguaro National Park
- Dinner in Tombstone, AZ (my son's name is Wyatt so this was a must)
- Sledding in White Sands
- Tour of El Paso and lunch at Chico's Tacos
- Star Party at McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, TX (2nd largest telescope in the world, in the middle of nowhere)
- Several bucket list scenic drives in my home state in beautiful west Texas
- Amistad Reservoir in Del Rio
- Scenic highways from Del Rio to Fredericksburg to Austin
- President Eisenhower house in Dennison, TX
- Get through Oklahoma as quick as possible.
- Scenic Highway 7 in Arkansas
- Branson, MO and Mel's Hard Luck Diner
- Caving at Fantastic Caverns in Springfield, MO
- Tour of Kansas City fountains, Gates BBQ, and Arthur Bryant's BBQ
- Drive by Warren Buffett's house in Omaha, see the CWS stadium
- Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Twin Bing candy factory in Sioux Falls, Iowa
- MN-IA-SD tri-state marker in a cornfield
- Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD
- Krolls Diner and tour of downtown Fargo
- First DQ in Minnesota and Mall of America in Minneapolis
- Mayo Clinic and Subway in Rochester, MN with family that live in the area
- Explore Wisconsin Dells and Madison
- John Hughes home tour (Home Alone, Uncle Buck, etc) and Gino's East in Chicago
- Lake Michigan in New Buffalo
- Pres Benjamin Harrison home in Indianapolis
- Pictures of Cincinnati from Covington, KY side and Skyline Chili
- New River Gorge Bridge, Huntington, and Charleston, WV
- Bristol, VA and Bristol, TN main street shared between two states and Bristol Motor Speedway
- Drive 421 "The Snake" from Bristol to Boone, NC
- Visiting Grandma in Chapel Hill, NC
- Driving tour inside Fort Bragg, NC
- South of the Border, South Carolina
- Beach day in Hilton Head Island, SC
- Photos in Forsyth Park, Savannah, GA
- Beach day in Daytona Beach, FL
- University of Florida Football Stadium Tour, Gainesville, FL
- State Capitol, Tallahassee, FL
- Exploring Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
- Driving the Emerald Coast from Panama City Beach, FL to Pensacola, FL
- Henderson Beach State Park, Destin, FL
- Buffet at Palace Casino, Biloxi, MS
- Beignets at Cafe Du Monde, French Quarter, New Orleans, LA
- Muffuletta at Central Grocery, French Quarter, New Orleans, LA
- Popeye's Chicken, Kenner, LA
- LSU Tigers Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA
- Louisiana State Capitol, Baton Rouge, LA
- Bucee's, Katy, TX
- Home to Austin before school starts; we'll be hitting the road again in about a month
That's not all, but it gives a taste of the more noteworthy stuff.