30 before 30: US travel

You'd think it was planned... I counted up the states that I've stepped foot in and it turns out I've been to 30 states. I've been to 30 states in 30 years. Pretty cool, right?

At least two of these were just for flight layovers, but most of them were destinations, or at least extended stop overs. I've been lucky to travel so much in my life and I am grateful for the people I have met and the experiences I've had along the way! I am sure I could write a long story about many of these... but instead I'll just give a quick explanation of what I did there.

1. Alaska: in 2000 we took a cruise to Alaska to celebrate my Papa’s 90^th birthday! We went to Juneau, Sitka and Skagway.
2. Arizona: visited my grandmother who was living in Tucson. It was my first time flying alone!
3. California: I live here, so I imagine I have a lot of stories to tell about this state.
4. Colorado: Brandon lived in Denver for a year and half. This city is amazing and I was lucky to visit him several times. We dined in downtown Denver, hiked in the Rockies and visited Breckenridge. Brandon once asked me to move to Denver. If he had asked me to marry him, I would have moved there. I LOVE Colorado!
5. Connecticut: part of our East Coast trip that started in Vermont, took us north to Canada and then back to New York City.
6. Delaware: same East Coast trip.
7. Florida: my parents took us on a surprise trip... they didn't tell us where we were going. When we got to the airport and found out we were connecting to Orlando, we started screaming. It was awesome.
8. Hawaii: Maui, oh Maui. I have been to Maui four times (I think) with my family. I love, love, love Maui and I can't wait to go back with my husband and family.
9. Idaho: Couer d'Alene. Beautiful!
10. Illinois: I have flown through Chicago lots of times... but spent a bit of time there on my way to...
11. Indiana: I WENT TO VISIT NOTRE DAME!!!
12. Maine: Part of our East Coast trip. We spent a few nights here on the coast. Gorgeous.
13. Maryland: Visited Maryland when I went to DC.
14. Massachusetts: I've been to Boston and Cape Cod.
15. Michigan: One of my favorite trips! We visited our friends in Kalamazoo and then went to Mackinac-- an island with no motorized vehicles. This whole trip was amazing. It deserves its own post.
16. Minnesota: this is one of those states that only experienced my presence during a layover.
17. Montana: When we visited Couer d'Alene we drove to Montana. I can't explain why, but somewhere there is a picture of me standing in front of the "Welcome to Montana" sign!
18. Nevada: Reno, Vegas and driving through Nevada to get to Utah.
19. New Hampshire: Part of our great East Coast tour. I remember that we had a really good dinner here...
20. New Jersey: Went to New Jersey when we were in NYC. I don't remember why.
21. New Mexico: I went with my parents to Santa Fe for a business trip, and we took a day trip to Las Vegas, New Mexico to visit the town my grandmother grew up in. Very humbling to visit the place where she grew up and experience such a beautiful state like New Mexico.
22. New York: I went to New York City for the first time when I was 16 to see the Macy's 4th of July fireworks celebration. I went back again two more times for the 4th of July celebration. How lucky to experience New York that way!
23. Oregon: We spent many summer vacations in Black Butte. I have hiked and biked miles and miles of that state. I LOVE OREGON!
24. Rhode Island: Yup, part of the great East Coast tour.
25. Tennessee: one of my flight layover states. But this is definitely a place I want to visit again!
26. Texas: We flew into Houston and then drove to Galveston to leave for a cruise!
27. Utah: We spent one summer vacation outside of Park City. Hiking, biking and a near death experience involving a lightning storm.
28. Vermont: The starting point of our great East Coast tour. We arrived in Stowe, Vermont with no luggage and bought oversized t-shirts from the visitor center to sleep in. I also remember Vermont for the Ben and Jerry's factory. YUM.
29. Virginia: I stayed in Alexandria when I visited DC for the first time.
30. Washington: For as "close" as this state is, I haven't spent enough time there. We flew into Spokane and drove to Couer d'Alene. Seattle is on the top of places I want to visit!

There is my not-so-brief history of visiting 3o states in America... here is to crossing off the last 20 in the next 20 years!

+ the District of Columbia: my grandma took me to DC when I was in fifth grade. I was there for three days so we crammed a lot in, but I did get a private tour of one of the FBI buildings because she knew someone who worked there! My whole family went back in 2009 (on our way to Ireland!) when my friend Richard got married. It was a blast!!