Have I seriously never posted about the 50 before 50 aka visit all fifty states before I turn 50 challenge? Maybe because as of last year, I didn’t think it was going to happen:
States visited as of July 2014
But 2015 has been very good for my progress:
States Visited: May 15, 2015
States Visited: September 15, 2015
With this past week’s trip to New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado (amazing! pics to come), I hit the 30 state mark. If it wasn’t totally cheating, I could even count Utah, but I won’t.
at the Four Corners Monument in September 2015
The craziest thing? If Labor Day were August this year it would have been an insane number of states as between 7/31 and 9/7 I was in:
- North Carolina (airport only)
- Nevada
- New York
- Connecticut
- Rhode Island
- Massachusetts
- Maine
- New Hampshire
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Colorado
Repeats in August, but still! Also with my 2015 progress I have:
- hit my first “A” state
- Finished off the “C”s with Colorado
I don’t think I’ll hit any other states in 2015 so it’s time to think ahead to 2016. I have the National Parks Pass valid through the end of September 2016 so that’s a likely starting point. I could:
- finish off the Anna Pigeon parks in states I haven’t been to. Would give me: Utah (Glen Canyon), Michigan (Lake Superior’s Isle Royale), Mississippi (Natchez Trace) and Minnesota.
- Do a spring trip to a location where I could easily get more states, such as Memphis
- Do others that have been on my bucket list which are a combination of the above and other factors: Yosemite, Salt Lake City, Mt. Rushmore, Glacier. That could definitely/partially be done via the Zephyr, although driving back on the table.
Park hopping is definitely an option, decisions, decisions