50!!

I made it... to all 50 states in the United States of America!  I'm grateful for opportunities I've had to travel and explore and visit so many wonderful places and to live in such an incredible country!  Some of these places I saw when I was young and traveling with my parents back and forth across the country, but many of them I've seen in the last 15 years or so.  My last trip was on purpose to North Dakota... it's harder to pass through on your way somewhere.  ;)  And it was lovely!  Here are some of the highlights and my favorite things about each state (the states in bold are states I've lived in)...

• (AL) Alabama - I don't remember this family trip across the country from Connecticut to Colorado in 1982, but I did travel through. ;)
• (AK) Alaska - Anchorage, Alyeska, Seward, Denali... mountains and animals and flowers and fall in August.  I probably hiked at least 50 miles on 10 trails in a week.  STUNNING!
• (AZ) Arizona - Grand Canyon, Phoenix, Page.  I've made a few trips to and through Arizona over the years.  I think my most memorable adventure was hiking rim to rim of the Grand Canyon in 2009.  Beautiful!  I also loved my trip to Phoenix for a temple tour with Cari in 2017.
• (AR) Arkansas - I drove through the whole state across I-40 in one dry lightning storm of a night in 2012.  I should probably visit some sites off the interstate in the daylight. ;)
• (CA) California - I lived in Los Angeles for a summer as an almost one-year-old and have had many opportunities to go back... Yosemite, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, the Redwoods, Disneyland, Huntington Beach, San Diego, and Carlsbad to name a few.
• (CO) Colorado - I lived in Colorado Springs for five years (from three to eight years old).  It's where I went to kindergarten, where I was baptized, and where I spent a lot of time in the mountains with my family.  I still have a few pictures in my mind of our neighborhood, my school, and life in Colorado.  We had a view of Pike's Peak directly outside our living room window.  I've loved "America the Beautiful" ever since.
• (CT) Connecticut - I lived in Stamford, Connecticut for six months as a three-year old and I can still remember and have pictures in my head of driving through the fall leaves to get to friends' houses along the Merritt Parkway.  We picked the right six months to live in Connecticut. ;)
• (DC) - Okay, it's not official a state, but I lived there, two blocks from the Capitol, for three months, so it more than counts and is the cherry on top!  ;)  I really love Washington, D.C.!  Living within running distance of the monuments for a summer was magical!
• (DE) Delaware - I've mostly just traveled through Delaware on my way to or from other places
• (FL) Florida - This is a place I need to return to.  We passed through on our drive from Connecticut to Colorado in 1982.  
• (GA) Georgia - I visited Georgia as a little girl, but the trip I remember was in 2002 for my cousin's wedding.  We saw Stone Mountain, the Appalachian Trail, Atlanta, and Gainesville.
• (HI) Hawaii - This is home.  My growing up years from 8 to 18 were spent in Kailua on Oahu.  Paradise!  Grateful!  Yep, people do live there and we actually took FULL advantage of the beach and the mountains nearby.  "I'll never forget where I'm from." ;)
• (ID) Idaho - I've made quite a few trips through Idaho... to and from Rexburg, to and from the Tetons, to and from the PNW.  I could live and retire in Idaho... one of those mountain towns near Wyoming. ;)
• (IL) Illinois - We visited Chicago as a family on one of the hottest days of the year in 1999.  Then we went on to Carthage and Nauvoo.  It was a special trip.  I've been back to Chicago a few times since for work trips--walking around the city, attending the temple, eating pizza.  
• (IN) Indiana - My best memory of Indiana was staying with cousins in Indianapolis on my way to Washington, DC in 2010.
• (IA) Iowa - I love the Iowa cornfields.  That's what I remember about Iowa... driving for a long time... seeing the cornfields... and looking for the baseball field.  ;)
• (KS) Kansas - I remember driving across Kansas a few times, grateful the storms weren't coming our way.
• (KY) Kentucky - This is one I only saw as a kid.  I drove through with my parents in 1981.
• (LA) Louisiana - We drove through on our way from Connecticut to Colorado in 1982.
• (ME) Maine - York Beach, Maine.  We finished up a fun family trip to New York City and Boston at York Beach, Maine in 2005.
• (MD) Maryland - Kensington, Maryland was a weekly visit while I lived in D.C.  I loved being in the temple there.  One of my most memorable visits to Maryland though was visiting Fort McHenry in 1992.  I loved seeing the place where "The Star Spangled Banner" was written.
• (MA) Massachusetts - I really love Boston!  We visited when I was little and as a whole family in 2005.  I went back in 2009 and 2011 with friends.  I love the history, the Freedom Trail, Boston Common, the Charles River, Harvard, the Old North Church, Lexington and Concord.  I took the T and walked in the pouring rain to the temple in 2009.  It was a great adventure!
• (MI) Michigan - We drove through here on our way from Washington to Connecticut in 1982.
• (MN) Minnesota - We drove through here on our way from Washington to Connecticut in 1982.  This is on my list to return to and explore more.
• (MS) Mississippi - This was also along our drive from Connecticut to Colorado in 1982.
• (MO) Missouri - I've visited Missouri twice.  Our family visited Liberty Jail, Adam-ondi-Ahman, and Independence in 1999.  It was memorable and wonderful!  I went back again with my parents in 2012, driving from Kansas City to St. Louis.  We visited both temples, saw Truman's library, Independence, Jefferson City, the Missouri River, Columbia, and the Gateway Arch. 
• (MT) Montana - I love Montana!  Glacier National Park is one of my favorites!  We spent several days hiking around as a family in 2002.  We saw bears, drove the "Going to the Sun" road (after a great ranger talk on how it was built), and continued on to Banff and Jasper, Canada.  Beautiful!
• (NE) Nebraska - I've driven through Nebraska a number of times, but none more memorable than the drive to Lincoln in August 2010 in pouring rain.  I was grateful for the hotel hot tub that night to relax after some white knuckle driving.  I've also spent a little bit of time in Omaha and Winter Quarters.
• (NV) Nevada - I've driven through and stayed a time or two.  Family trips to and through Las Vegas in 1994 and 2015 are probably highlights, and a friend's broken down car in Primm on the way home from Disneyland is another memory.  
• (NH) New Hampshire - We stayed in Franconia, New Hampshire for a night in 2005 and hiked in the White Mountains.  It was really beautiful and steep.  Those mountains seemed rockier than the ones I'm used to out West. ;)
• (NJ) New Jersey - I've mostly just driven through New Jersey to or from New York.
• (NM) New Mexico - We visited four corners while living in Colorado and I've driven through New Mexico a few times since.  I remember driving through Albuquerque on my way back from Washington, D.C. to Utah in 2012.
• (NY) New York - I really like New York!  I love the countryside and the city... Buffalo, Palmyra, New York City, Manhattan, Central Park, the Upper West Side, the Brooklyn Bridge.  Our family trip in 2005 to the city and Palmyra were great!  I made trips back to the city in 2011, 2017, and 2018.  I visited Palmyra for the Palmyra Pageant in 2011.  I visited Buffalo and Niagara Falls in 2012.  
• (NC) North Carolina - North Carolina is a big state.  I drove across the whole state in a day in February 2012 when moving to Utah from Washington, D.C., but not before spending a wonderful Presidents' Day weekend in the Outer Banks.  Beautiful!
• (ND) North Dakota - State #50 was a fun adventure.  I flew to Bismarck with a friend, visited the temple and the state capitol building before driving on to Dickinson and then visiting part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  This is really a beautiful state and I've heard the sunflowers are incredible a little later in the year. ;)
• (OH) Ohio - I'd driven across Ohio a couple of times, but I flew to Cleveland in August 2012 to meet my parents who were traveling slowly across the country.  While my dad rode his bike, I spent the day in Kirtland with my mom.  It was wonderful!  We also saw Lake Erie and continued on to Buffalo and Niagara Falls.  This was a neat trip!
• (OK) Oklahoma - I drove across Oklahoma and I-40 in February 2012.
• (OR) Oregon - I really love Oregon.  Oregon is probably the state I've visited the most without ever living in.  It feels like another home, party because both of my brother's married girls from Oregon, so I've attended two weddings in the Portland Temple and had fun side trips each time.  We visited Bend, Eugene, Aloha.  I spent a week traveling along the whole Oregon Coast in 2008 which was beautiful!  I traveled back to Portland for work for a week in March 2011.  I love the bookstore, the rose garden, and the greenery. ;)
• (PA) Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania is really a historic and beautiful!  I've visited several times.  We visited Gettysburg as a family when I was little and again in 1992.  I returned to Gettysburg in 2009 and also visited Philadelphia.  We visited the Susquehanna River in 2005.  This is one of the most special places I've ever visited.  We spent a lot of time there (not only because we lost the car keys for a bit, but because it was so peaceful).  I spent a week in a small resort just outside of Uniontown in 2011 for work.  We visited one of Frank Lloyd Wright's homes there.  I returned to Philadelphia and the Susquehanna River and Priesthood Restoration Site in 2016 with some friends which was wonderful.  Philadelphia is full of wonderful history.  I loved visiting Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Reading Terminal, and the Schuylkill River.
• (RI) Rhode Island - We drove through Rhode Island in 2005 as a family.
• (SC) South Carolina - This was another home for three months as a child.  We lived in Lancaster.  I don't remember much, but my parents enjoyed the experience.
• (SD) South Dakota - We drove through here on our way from Washington to Connecticut in 1982.
• (TN) Tennessee - Tennessee is a long state.  I drove all the way across it one night in February 2012.
• (TX) Texas - Texas is a big state.  I think I made some other trips and probably need to make more, but my most recent and memorable trip was finally stopping in Amarillo to sleep after driving all the way from North Carolina while moving across the country. ;)
• (UT) Utah - I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah.  I lived my first two years in Provo while my dad was in graduate school and then six more years in Provo for my own college years.  I've now lived and worked in Salt Lake City for another twelve years, so that's a total of 20 years (or half my life) in Utah, through a variety of times and experiences.  I really do love Utah, the mountains, the people, the seasons, the school opportunities, the work opportunities, and it's where family is generally, so it's got my heart. ;)
• (VT) Vermont - We visited Sharon, Vermont (the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith) as a family in 2005.  This was a beautiful and peaceful place!
• (VA) Virginia - I lived in Crystal City, Virginia for 18 months.  This is a special place.  I was still in running distance to the Washington, D.C. monuments.  Virginia and D.C. is where I learned to love to run.  I spent a lot of time on the metro and walking around the Crystal City area, along the Mount Vernon Trail, and even over to the Pentagon.
• (WA) Washington - I really love Washington!  I lived in Everett for a few months as a two-year-old, but learned to say Mukilteo. ;)  I've been back to visit many, many times and am grateful for family that lives just outside of Seattle and gets me back there often.  It's beautiful!  Some of my favorites include Olympic National Park, the San Juan Islands, Skagit Valley, Mount Rainier, the North Cascades, Pike's Market, Kerry Park, and Snoqualmie Falls.
• (WV) West Virginia - We visited Harper's Ferry in 1992.
• (WI) Wisconsin - We drove through Wisconsin on our way from Washington to Connecticut in 1982.
• (WY) Wyoming - I really love Wyoming--the Tetons, the Wind Rivers, Farson, Devil's Tower, Martin's Cove, the 6th Crossing of the Sweetwater, Rock Creek Hollow, Star Valley.  It's kind of amazing!

Explore. Dream. Discover.  There's more to see and explore, but I'm grateful for opportunities that have allowed me to see and enjoy so much of our wonderful country and look forward to seeing and learning more!

(Some day I'll have to go back and pick a favorite picture from every state, but for now here are a few I have handy on my phone from a few recent travels.)