All 50 States – the Journey Is the Goal, pt. 2

…Oklahoma was tricky due to flights so I flew into Dallas and drove 90 miles north to Durant, OK, a small rural town with a huge Chickasaw Nation casino. I picked Durant for its proximity to Dallas (just over the TX border) and because it was in a rural area that would allow me to see the real OK – I did not visit the casino. This was a quick 3 day trip, but I got to see a lot of local history and Native American history at the downtown museum and at Fort Washita (built in the early1800’s to protect the Chickasaw and Choctaw people after forced relocation from their homelands), walked on the lower branch of the Southern CA Road from gold rush times (the wagon wheel ruts are still clearly visible!), toured Lake Texhoma, a giant reservoir spanning both states, and played disc golf along the shore of the lake in OK.

North Dakota was even tougher logistically as the nearest major airport with a direct flight was Minneapolis, 3 hours from Fargo. That afforded me the opportunity to see a LOT of Minnesota that I would not have otherwise seen (I’d only been in and around Minneapolis before) on my way across the Red River to state number 49. Fargo is a cool, funky little city, and they have a sense of humor there. The visitor center has the woodchipper from the movie Fargo, and a sign “Is this your 50th state?”. Another quick 3 day trip but filled with activity. I played disc golf in ND and MN in the same round - a footbridge across the Red River connecting the 2 courses - wandered through a craft fair in a park by the river, and found micro breweries to visit in both states within walking distance of my hotel.

Time for state number 50. While I planned to see that state with my wife, we didn’t have a trip scheduled. My mom wound up being the impetus for it as she went into hospice 3 days before our planned FL Keys trip in Feb 2018 and passed away 2 days before our re-scheduled FL trip that May. With Florida now off the table due to the summer heat, I concluded that Mom wanted me to get my 50th state that year, so we booked our Oregon trip. We flew into Portland and met up with friends, then headed down to the southern coast for a brief stay in Florence (chosen to honor my mom as that was her name). Turned out to be a cool town on a river a few miles from the Pacific and across from 60 square miles of sand dunes. Thanks to the woman at our hotel, we took a dune buggy ride on those dunes before heading north up the coast the next day for stopovers at Newport and Cannon Beach (my wife wanted to see Haystack Rock – the big rock the ship sails by at the end of The Goonies). That dune buggy ride was a top 10 all-time experience that we never expected in Oregon and a highlight of a fantastic trip to my 50th state, made more special by accomplishing the feat with my wife.

Side note: We drove north along the coast from Cannon Beach to visit The Goonies Museum in Astoria, OR and crossed the Columbia River into WA via a really steep bridge to get another state for my wife. Hey, it was right there, and that bridge was calling me. Plus we got to visit an old settlement at the mouth of the Columbia on the WA side – more unexpected local history, but no pin this time.

I got asked a lot in those last few states which one was my favorite. While every state has its highlights, my answer is NJ. Not because it’s my home state, but because NJ has everything either in it or within a short drive – mountains (OK, small ones), some of the best beaches on the east coast, theater, restaurants & bars, the best corn and tomatoes, rural areas (it’s not all paved like you see on TV), wineries, breweries, and on and on. And within about 2 hours from home, I can be in Philadelphia, Baltimore, or New York City. Yes, it’s crowded and expensive, but it’s got everything one could want and that makes it my favorite.

Is retirement your opportunity to complete such a quest? I know Covid has put a damper on travel, but it’s good to have something to look forward to and getting to all 50 states is certainly a worthy goal. There’s even a club for those of us who have done it: The All 50 Club: https://allfiftyclub.com/ If you are so inclined, get out a map of the US and see how many states you’ve already been to. You might surprise yourself and decide it’s time to get the rest of them. For me, the Journey was the Goal, as I wanted to experience a bit of each state on my way to 50. Go ahead and start on your Journey, whether it be to see all 50 states, try something new, or just break out of the Covid blues.