Disclaimer: This post is about David hitting his 50th state, so he will be writing today’s post:

This past September I finally joined my beautiful wife in accomplishing our goal of seeing all 50 states! Jenny completed this achievement in May when we crossed into Montana. We had hoped to complete our final state together, but with the onset of COVID- we had to push Hawaii to last on the list. To be honest, though, I could not think of a better state for my last one.




It is a pretty nice feeling when you accomplish a goal that you set years earlier. What I will cherish most of all is the memories, special moments, and times we shared on the road with family and friends. The experience of visiting each state has given me an interesting perspective on this country. Here are ten random things that I've learned during our travels.
People are genuinely nice.
People honestly don't care what your political beliefs are. The media would have us terrified of others- Don't listen to the media narrative! People are just people and most of them are genuinely kind and helpful.
Try the local food! I cannot begin to tell you all the new foods and dishes I now love because of this journey.
If "it" scares you please go do it. Whatever "it" is, just do it. I promise you will regret the things you don't do more than the ones you do.
We live in the best AND the most diverse country in the world.
Our scariest experience has become the one that we talk about all the time. We drove through winter storm "Gage" across the panhandle of Nebraska. This trek included 70 mph winds, 6 to 7 foot snow drifts, white out conditions and tons of snow. Thankfully we made it to Cheyenne. I learned some patience and resilience and that adventure!
My favorite National Park is Zion in Utah. A close second is The Badlands in South Dakota. If someone would have asked me that questions few years ago, my answer would have been totally different.
New Mexico has became one of my favorite states. I never have considered this state very much to be honest, but after visiting TWICE, it has captured my heart!
My overall top three FAVORITE states are Washington, Maine and South Dakota.
The absolute best foods I have found along the way has been fresh caught halibut served at Olivia's Bistro in Skagway, AK, lobster rolls at various food trucks along the coast of Maine, and steak fajitas at Papa Nachos Catina in San Antonio, TX.
Nebraska during winter storm Gage

Zion

The Badlands

Angel Fire, New Mexico

Washington

Maine

South Dakota

Olivia's Bistro in Skagway

To wrap up I would like to say I am humble and grateful that we have accomplished this goal. At times it seemed impossible, but every time we ran into a challenge we figured out how to overcome it. In the end, we became travel experts, learned to embrace the unexpected, and grew into people we never thought possible. The best gift we have received is all the people that we have met along the way who cheered us on, supported us and became life long friends. Those friends are priceless! This goal also woke up something in us that we were not aware of. We realized we were not meant to settle in one place forever. We are explorers! We are adventurers! We were meant for this rootless existence!
Finally, I would like to thank my wife and best friend. We accomplished this goal because of you! You saw us through so many storms and you never lost faith in me no matter what went wrong. I will treasure every memory we created together. These experiences have created a love that is stronger and more intense today than any other time we have been together. I love you so much beautiful!

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