Ridiculous.
Impossible.
Doomed to fail.
Yep. It was a crazy idea — 50 states at 50 years.
When my husband Bill and I both turned 50, we decided to celebrate our milestone birthdays by visiting each of the 50 United States while we were 50.
Never mind that we had four busy schedules to contend with, and sadly, a limited amount of funds. A 50-week RV road trip was definitely out of the question. Instead, we figured we’d just work around Bill’s busy work schedule.
And the kids’ school calendars and homework deadlines.
Oh, and my new job. After 15 years as an at-home mom, I started a new, full-time job just before my birthday. A job with its own share of travel.
No problem. If there’s one thing we know how to do, it’s take a vacation. We knew we could work around all these minor obstacles. As many devoted parents know, the truly limiting factor would be the kids’ sports schedules. Heaven forbid that we missed a baseball game or basketball practice to visit Rhode Island.
We had a solid plan: we’d begin with a road trip through the Wild West the summer we turned 50, followed by a train trip down south at Thanksgiving, a flight to Hawaii at Christmastime, and an excursion to Alaska to wrap everything up just as we turned 51. In between the big trips would be a whole bunch of weekend getaways and a couple of nervous breakdowns.
We had some terrific suggestions on what to do in each state: go to a baseball game, visit Starbucks, eat a new dessert, drive a go-kart, photograph a garden gnome. Ultimately, we realized that we would make ourselves crazy if we tried to do the exact same thing in every state — and besides, what if they didn’t have go-karts in Alabama? Instead, we simply hoped to catch a brief glimpse of life in each state and figure out how they all somehow come together to make one nation.
We spent the night in each state, and we tried to visit a site that is part of our national heritage. We talked with a local or two, sampled some local food, and took a photo of an iconic image in every state. Our lofty goal was to compile a photo map that anyone could look at and clearly identify each state by its iconic photo. That was a challenge. What is the iconic image that best represents Connecticut? How about Virginia or Oregon? Not as easy as it seems. We gave it our best shot (pun intended). And what we consider to be iconic may not be what someone else considers iconic, but hey, this was our big adventure.
So, with bags packed and spirits high, we hit the road, hoping that good fortune would travel with us. We figured the odds we’d succeed were at least 50/50.
Did we make it to all 50 states? Well, you can read the book I wrote about our adventure: The 50/50 Tour.
Or send me a note at thefiftyfiftytour@gmail.com
And if you’d like even more detail, read the posts on this blog! Either way, you’ll get a taste of our travels. And maybe, you’ll be inspired to take your own road trip…..