Alaska, the 48th State

Tricked you!

Yes, I studied history and know that Alaska was the 49th state admitted into the union. That happened on January 3, 1959, to be exact (I had to look that up).

When I was a kid, our family vacations were road trips around the country, hitting as many states as we could, trying to fit in as many historical sites, museums, friends and family and state parks as possible.

Of course, my sister, brother and I bitched and moaned the entire vacation. We were typical kids who just wanted to be with our friends or go to Florida and sit on the beach.

Despite that resistance, when my social studies teachers asked if anyone had been to certain locations/destinations throughout the United States it was very cool that I was one of the only students with his or her hands raised just about every time.

Have you been to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota? While you were there, did you also go to other “fascinating” tourist attractions like The Corn Palace, in Mitchell, SD or Wall Drug, in Wall, SD?

Been there, done that, didn’t get the souvenir t-shirt.

How about Cedar Park, Ohio, the Roller Coaster Capital of the World?

Been there.

Yellowstone, Bryce and Zion National Parks?

Check, check and check.

Alcatraz and Lombard Street in San Francisco? Cumberland State Park in Kentucky. Been there, been there and been there.

Have you toured any of the state Capital buildings? I’m betting I’ve been to more of them than you have. It felt like school at the time, but I still remember many of those facts and figures today.

All this and more from our summer road trips – all of which took place with five very opinionated individuals in a single five-passenger sedan.

As I aged and went out on my own I realized that I missed those road trips. One of the things that attracted me to Pete was that he also enjoys road trips and travel. In fact, one of our first real dates was an 11 hour drive towing a boat from Virginia to New Hampshire (that’s 6 states, not including Virginia) to vacation with friends and family.

I love making lists and crossing off the achievements, and one list that’s been on my mind for a long time is to travel to all 50 states. After all of that early travel, the progress has slowed, and now there are only 3 states remaining: New Mexico, North Dakota and Alaska. This month I will finally cross Alaska off my list as the 48th state I have visited.

I don’t dig the cold weather but I am so excited that I am even willing to put long johns on my list of clothes to pack.

Please don’t get annoyed with all the posts, pictures and videos we will be sharing. I am hoping that they will encourage you to make Alaska your [whatever number] state and travel with us next year. I’m pretty sure we’ll return to Bear Trail Lodge, in King Salmon, Alaska, before I find a reason to head to North Dakota.