Vermont

Year of First Visit – 2015
Point of Entry – Vermont 279 at the New York border


It was a getaway weekend.  I was in my doctoral studies and had exactly one weekend off between August and Christmas.  We loaded up the van and hit the road right after school in Friday night making it to Albany before bedtime.

Saturday was for Vermont.

It was about a week after peak color, but that still leaves a sight to behold.  Our plan was to drive from Albany to Marsh - Billings - Rockefeller National Historical Park to do some exploring.  We enjoyed the leisurely drive and the Vermont scenery.



The park itself was fascinating.  Through three owners, this property was the epicenter of the emerging environmental sensitivity and restoration that we take for granted today.  This was site was why these things are deep in Vermont's DNA.

We left the park in the early afternoon, driving out on a different route than the way we came in.  I got a lovely taste of Vermont and hope to go back for more.

Wyoming

Year of First Visit – 2007
Point of Entry – US-89 at the Montana line in Yellowstone National Park


I hadn't really planned to go to Wyoming as I always pictured it as a place without much of anything to see.  I was wrong.

Most of my time in Wyoming was spent on a trip that included about 4 days in Yellowstone National Park followed by about a day and a half in Grand Teton National Park.

A couple years later we spent time at Fort Laramie and at Devils Tower (with a very long drive in between).

My memories of the state are pretty much limited to those federal lands within it.

Wisconsin

Year of First Visit – 1978
Point of Entry – US-41 in Marinette


"Is it West Consin or Wisconsin?" is the question I would ask my 5th graders in Texas when we were learning the 50 states song.  For many of those students, English was not their native language so enunciation within a song was a part of learning at a different level.

I first entered Wisconsin when we were taking my brother to college in Iowa.  We had always gone south around Lake Michigan with the town of Standish being a signal point that we were getting somewhere.  That day we caravanned across US-2 through Michigan's Upper Peninsula and crossed into Wisconsin in time for lunch. My brother looked at the map and exclaimed, "We've been traveling all day and we're still not south of Standish!"

Another time, I was relatively new at driving I powered our brand new Oldsmobile down I-43 and I saw my first 65 MPH speed limit sign; they hadn't gone up yet in Michigan after the partial repeal of the nationwide 55 law.  A little ways down the road, I saw a sign that said, "Milwaukee 65" making the city an hour away.  The speed limit slowed to 55 around Sheboygan where I saw a sign saying "Milwaukee 55" making the city still an hour away.

We were dining at a former Sambos in Menominee Falls, the waitress stopped by the table to let us know that the tornado sirens had sounded and if we felt the need we were welcome to com into the restaurant's coolers.  We turned to watch the darkness and rain strengthen to the point that we couldn't see our car parked only a few feet away. 

I have many less intriguing memories of Wisconsin.  One brother lived in the Milwaukee area so visits there were a part of my regular summer travels as a teen.  Another brother live near Green Bay during my college and early career years so I had a few visits there as well.  I've traveled in, through, and round the state from the Apostle Islands to the Illinois and Iowa lines.

I was on a Southwest Airlines flight that stopped in Milwaukee on their inaugural day flying there.  The pilot was excited and invited those of us who were continuing west to get off the plane and see the airport.  He was quite surprised that I skipped the opportunity and stayed on the plane.

That sort of summarized my experience with Wisconsin.  I'm glad to go.  I'm glad to be there.  But I'm not quite as excited as those I'm with and it's not too long until I'm ready to move on.

West Virginia

Year of First Visit – 1998
Point of Entry – US 340 near Harper's Ferry


My first glimpse of West Virginia was out the window of a Suburban full of youth workers heading to Nashville for a Youth Specialties Conference.  It was mid-November and as we rounded the bend along the Potomac and Shenandoah river confluence, I saw what looked like a Christmas village being set up and waiting for the lights and frocking.

The intrigue brought me back to Harper's Ferry several times in spring, summer, and fall.  It's a quick trip from home and a quick trip back in time among a stunning blend of natural and man-made beauty.

I've had a couple of "drive through" trips in West Virginia where I could enjoy the scenery, like on our road trip that led us to Monmouth Cave that included a night in Charleston.  Or that drive west on I-70 through the Wheeling.

Beyond the drives, we spend a day or two at New River Gorge.  It was quite the blend of technologies, cultures, and time periods all living in both harmony and conflict simultaneously.

Fascinating.

Wild.

Wonderful.

Washington

Year of First Visit – 2007
Point of Entry – Spokane International Airport (GEG)


You may notice a gap in entries since Virginia.  What to write about Washington has been quite a puzzle.  Then life happened but I've been meaning to get back to this project.  I need to finish up this alphabetical list then go back and fill in the states I've visited in the past five years.

That actually fits a bit of my experience with Washington.  My initial experience was to land in Spokane as a launch point for a road trip to Montana and Wyoming the spend the night there before our return flight.  We meant to spend the afternoon in Spokane but only really went to the Best Western.

Perhaps later.

A couple years after that we flew into Seattle for a Pacific Coast vacation.  We spent time at Mount Rainier.  It left a deep impression and is a place I would to spend some serious time.

Someday, maybe.


From there, it was Mt. St. Helens.  Wow.  Just Wow.  I had been fascinated with the place since it erupted when I was in 4th grade.  It was utterly mesmerizing.  We didn't plan enough time to take in all that we wanted to do and it sits at the top of our places that we want to go back and explore.

Sooner or later.

We loved our morning at the mouth of the Columbia River.  We had to leave before the kids could turn in their Junior Ranger folders and they somehow got lost on the trip home.

When we get back there . . .




Olympic National Park was a delight.  So much to see and do and so many extremely different settings.  We weren't able to get to some of the key locations.  We also saw the dams the summer before they were removed.

We'll have to finish it up.

Bryce's school orientation was scheduled after we planned the trip so he and I went home before the ladies.  When we went home, they spent the day exploring Seattle around the Space Needle.

Next time.

Washington is filled with wonderful memories and experiences.  Getting back there to finish them up, though, has taken longer than coming up with this post.  Hopefully, I will eventually get back there like I finally did to this blog.

Virginia

Year of First Visit – 1998

Point of Entry – I-81 near Bristol

Many of my memories of Virginia start include heavy traffic.  Most trips in and out of Virginia, and there have been many, involve severe traffic in the Northern Virginia DC suburbs continuing down I-95 past Fredericksburg.

Trying to write about Virginia memories is a lot like trying to negotiate that traffic.  I have so many memories coming at me from so many different directions that they jam up when I try to put some order to them.

Like driving Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park and going deep into Luray Caverns.  Or spending a couple of Spring Break days in Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown.  Or a stress-relieving day trip to Washington's Birthplace and another one at his Mt. Vernon estate.

Plus spending five years on staff at summer youth camp followed by another eight years of dropping kids off and picking them up a week later.

And what about the chance I had in July of 2001 to spend time in the control tower at Dulles or riding the subway to take a friend to National Airport on September 10 of that same year?

Then there's the VA in Delmarva walking through the fence from Maryland on Assateague and the wildlife refuge on Chincoteague or the cool drive on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel.

Plus there were so many church meetings (including training, staff meetings, conferences, business meetings, reunions) in Springfield and Stafford and Hampton and Chester that I couldn't begin to sort them out.

Yes, memories of the commonwealth are thick.  Whether it's a vacation destination or that less-than-a-mile trip through the state on US-340 between Maryland and West Virginia, Virginia promises to jam up more memories on each trip.

Utah

Year of First Visit – 1995

Point of Entry – I-15 near St. George

There's probably no state more different from where I live than the state of Utah. Yet there is probably no place (besides places that I've lived) where I feel more at home.

The bulk of my Utah time has been spent in the Southwest corner of the state. Zion National Park is in my top 5 favorite places on the planet (others include Yosemite, Manhattan, San Francisco, and Disney World). And, depending on my mood, it usually ranks #1. I have days that I long to return and absorb all that it is.

Bryce Canyon is a treat, too, especially with my eldest being named Bryce. My kids think Knab was the model for “Peach Springs” in the movie “Cars.” The beautiful waters of Lake Powell set me to dreaming of houseboating there.

And though I'd like to explore much more of the state, like the northern mountains and the LDS Geneology Library, pulling off I-15 at highway 9 near Hurricane makes me feel like I've finally arrived home again.

Texas

Year of First Visit – 1993

Point of Entry – Houston Hobby Airport

“Life's too short not to live as a Texan” says the magnet on my fridge. I got it in a welcome basked of goodies from the women's group at our church not too long after we moved into our house in Houston and I tested that statement out for about 5 years when I lived there.

Before first visiting The Lone Star State for job interviews, I'd heard that everything's bigger in Texas. From day one there I found that to be partially true. The part I hadn't heard is that things aren't just big, they're also brand spanking new.

I taught is a school system so big and growing that the question was “How many new schools are opening this year?” It was a wild switch from the “Can we keep it open one more year before declining enrollment forces us to close?” situations I'd been a part of in other states.

I bought my first house in Texas. Though modest by Houston standards, we were its first owners and it was bigger than pretty much anyone else's in the family. And our “yard of the month” held a pool, 2 decks, an arbor, 9 trees, over 30 bushes, and still had lots of open green St. Augustine to cut (one year growing so fast that we had to cut it 3 times per week).

Our firstborn nearly immediately mandated a big, new van to haul him around.

We enjoyed the big sites in the area, ranging from Space Center Houston to the cowboy restaurants in Bandara, from the LBJ Library in Austin to the GHWBush Library in College Station, the flat dry plains of West Texas to the Riverwalk in San Antonio and Moody Gardens on the beaches of Galveston.

That bigness rubbed off on my spirit and let me dream big of what could be ---- new and growing ministries under Interstate 45 and the possibilities that I might do things that have big(er) impact on the world than what I was already doing.

And though I left my big new house and yard in Houston for a 100+ year old tiny rowhouse in Baltimore and my job at big new school for one at a little dilapidated storefront church, the knowledge of big and new that is deep in the heart of all Texans, native and transplanted, kept me looking for the possible and reaching for the impossible.

And if that's what it means to have a piece of Texas in me, then life truly is to short not to live as a Texan.

Tennessee

Year of First Visit – 1998

Point of Entry – I-24 near Chattanooga

It was a dark November night we traversed I-40 on our way home from the Youth Specialties conference in Nashville.  With every seat in the Suburban filled, we settled in for the overnight drive.

One passenger had trouble with the concept of silence.  If we didn't know this before the trip south, we definitely knew it before we headed home.

As the other passengers quieted down for the night, she kept going and going.  At one point, when no one  was responding, she simply filled the silence by saying, "Squirrel . . .  Squirrel . . .  Squirrel . . . " over and over until she came up with something else to say.

I've had less strange memories in Tennessee as well ----

-Touring Nashville.

-A family vacation in Great Smokey Mountain National Park.

-A retreat at Falls Creek Falls.

-The Dream Year conference in Nashville.

Then there was the rental car agent at BNA who noted that they didn't have any of the 4-door economy-barely-a-car cars available to fill my reservation and wondered if it would be OK to substitute a 2-door instead.  I was by myself so that was a non-issue to me.

By "2-door" he meant "Camero."

And though I thoroughly enjoyed my sweet ride during that rental and have great memories from Tennessee, somehow when I'm there I can still hear a faint echo ------

Squirrel

Squirrel

Squirrel

South Dakota

Year of First Visit – 2009

Point of Entry – I-90 near Rapid City

My life changed the instant I crossed into South Dakota.  My wife had visited more states than I.  I'd been catching up for years and even took some business trips to states she hadn't been.  When we touched down in Denver earlier that week we'd come to a tie in the number of states visited.  And she'd been to South Dakota before but I hadn't.

So as we rolled into the state I officially became the member of the family who'd visited the most states.  When I told the kids, they rolled their eyes and got back to the books they were reading.

We only visited South Dakota a couple days and wasn't be able to see everything we wanted.  We did Mount Rushmore (I liked the mountain but the displays around it would have fit better on the National Mall in DC and seemed out of place in the Black Hills), Jewel Cave, and the Badlands.

We'd seen on NPS.gov about the Minuteman Missile sited.  It seemed out of the zone for the kind of places we like to see but thought that, since we were staying very near it and not knowing if we'd be back in the area, we should reserve tickets for the tour.  It ended up being one of the most fascenating tours we've taken.

And of course we stopped in at Wall Drug.  This capitol of roadside attractions was surprisingly well done and was actually worth poking around for a while.  The buffalo burgers and "Free Ice Water" were a treat as well.

My being the king of the state count only lasted a couple of years as my wife and I had to share the title after our summer trip two years later.  But for a while, at least, I was king of the hill.  It seems appropriate that a place famous for men's faces carved in a mountaintop bestowed that title on me.

South Carolina

Year of First Visit – 2000

Point of Entry – I-95 at South of the Border near Dillon

Perhaps I should have taken the roadside abomination at the North/South Carolina line on I-95 as an oman predicting that weird things would seem to happen to me in South Carolina.

On one trip home from Florida we pulled in to the Econolodge for the night.  We figured we'd have dinner, swim with the kids in the pool, and get a good night's rest for the drive ahead.  Once we walked next door to the Sizzler for dinner a massive storm darkened the sky.  The torrents during short walk back to our room drenched us and only a fence distinguished the pool from the parking lot.

We all got showered, changed, and in bed.  It was then that we noticed light coming from under the curtains.  With the sky so dark we'd lost track of time.  The sun had now come back out.  We were all in bed for the night and it was almost 7:30 p.m.

While on a southbound Amtrak through the state we were awakened by a phone call.  Our home's burglar alarm had been tripped and the police were on the way.

We stopped at Congaree National Park on January 1, 2010, as a part of a Christmas vacation.  We never expected that many of the boardwalk trails would be underwater from flooding.  (Even so, it was still a neat place to see.)

But back to the North Carolina border, where else can I stand atop a giant sombrero?  I guess a few weird experiences are some welcome relief from the monotony that is travel along the eastern seaboard.

Rhode Island

Year of First Visit – 1999
Point of Entry – Green Airport (Providence)

The vast majority of my time and memories of Rhode Island at at the airport in Providence. I've flown in and out of there a few times for work meetings in southern Massachusetts so Rhode Island was my gateway to southern New England.

Pennsylvania

Year of First Visit – 1997
Point of Entry – Philadelphia International Airport

Unusually sweltering temperatures made was a bit more than we had anticipated when we arrived at the campground. Though we were living in Texas, the indoors are well air conditioned there while this Pennsylvania campground afforded us to sweat at the great outdoors.

The pool soon lured us to seek some relief. We set our towels on the patio furniture and headed for the water. We simultaneously stepped in and simultaneously screeched as we stepped back out. The water was colder than anything in the Lone Star State.

Over the years we've spent the night in several locations in the state. Each time we've gone for a swim in the hotels' pools, we found that they are all set at the same temperature. Now, no matter what land we are in, when we find chilly water we refer to it as a "Pennsylvania Pool."

Of course, I've done more in Pennsylvania than simply attempting to swim. I've been to historic sites like Gettysburg, Constitution Hall, and the Liberty Bell. Few places I've been have helped me connect with history as completely as have the sites of Pennsylvania.

And if I were to list the most significant spiritual experiences of my life so far, Pennsylvania hosted a disproportionate number of them, especially considering that I've never lived there. Who I am today was greatly shaped by events in the Keystone State.

So for me, Pennsylvania is the place where the water is cold and where I can still expect to swim in the deep end.

Oregon

Year of First Visit – 2007
Point of Entry – Portland International Airport

Oregon is another state whose memories for me started with a layover in the airport. Along with the requisite Starbucks and other standard airport fare, our terminal had a Powells in it. Used books at the airport? This was definitely a place for me to return to.

A couple years later we did, though not to the airport. And like that bookstore, Oregon had some wonderful things that seemed a bit out of place.

Like a spectacular waterfall --- along the freeway.
Like open flatlands --- with giant volcanoes rising out of them.
Like a stunning, giant, deep lake --- on top of an old volcano.
Like people bicycling --- on the Interstate.
Like a lecture at Fort Clatsop --- on the Battle of Baltimore.

Even the road we were on one Sunday afternoon was a bit out of place. We were on a newly opened bypass about which our GPS knew nothing. My kids squealed and laughed as the poor thing tried to tell us how to navigate across open fields.

Yes, much of what I remember of Oregon seems a bit out of place. But I'm one who loves sweet surprises so Oregon's memories are all real treats.

Oklahoma

Year of First Visit – 1993
Point of Entry – Will Rogers Airport (Oklahoma City)

Some people wouldn't count my first two visits to Oklahoma as being legitimate. The first was in Oklahoma City on a flight to Texas and the second was a few days later in Tulsa on a flight home from Texas. We didn't get off either plane.

So even if you dispute our original stake in the Sooner State, they did mark us for further Oklahoma travels. For on that trip to Texas via Oklahoma my wife and I both got our first "real" jobs.

Just a couple months later my wife, my mother-in-law, and I buckled ourselves into the cab of the U-Haul and, car in tow, drove through Oklahoma on our move. That was the first of several trips across the state. I don't remember the name of the town we spent the night in but, like our first stops in the state, we were filled with anticipation of the future.

So you're free to question the legitimacy of my first claim to Oklahoma. That's how it worked for the folks in the state's land rush, too. Like them, I know what I claim and I plan on holding onto it.

Ohio

Year of First Visit – 1987
Point of Entry – I-75 near Toledo

As my coworkers and I checked in to our hotel in suburban Cleveland that late November, the desk clerk gave us an exasperated, "Why are you here?!?!?"

"Business," we answered.

"Oh. That explains it. Nobody comes here this time of year without a reason."

The gloomy early winter gray drizzle even had the folks in the hospitality industry questioning our arrival in Ohio.

Not all of my Ohio memories are dismal and gray. They are made up of an odd combination of "Thru" and "To."

I-75 from Toledo to the Ohio River was my first experience in the Buckeye State. We were on our way to visit family who lived near the southern tip of Illinois so that was the most direct route.

Once living on the East Coast, the Ohio Turnpike (which, by the way, is the highway voted "easiest to drive" by members of my immediate family) became a regular through route from the Pennsylvania line to Toledo.

Separate from almost all these road trips, though, was a series of trips, mostly flights, to the Cleveland area.

In the early 2000s, my employer realigned our field and Cleveland became a central meeting point. This was especially handy for getting meeting space since we had historic sites and facilities in the area. For a few years I had an annual trek to gray and dismal Cleveland for week of gray and dismal meetings.

I've been back to that same site for meetings and retreats in the spring when the trees are in bloom and in the early fall when the leaves were at peak color. I've taken family and some work interns there in the summertime and experienced wonderful gardens in bloom.

And though I've been "thru" and "to" Ohio many times, I've got some places I've been near but not visited. That checklist includes places like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I'd also like to catch a baseball game in Cleveland and in Cincinnati.

So even if the folks checking me in to my next Ohio hotel don't know, I have good reasons to go back for a visit.

North Carolina

Year of First Visit – 1999
Point of Entry – Great Smokey Mountains National Park

After our hike we got into the car and drove across the state line just to be sure. All indicators said that we'd crossed into North Carolina while hiking in Great Smokey Mountains National Park but there were no "Welcome to North Carolina" signs along the trails.

Since then I've been to North Carolina many times, mostly traveling I-95 on the way to and from Florida. I've also crossed the state on I-85 and via Amtrak.  I've as had a couple of layovers at Charlotte-Douglas as well.

On one of those trips we were headed north on January 2 after a Christmas break in South Florida. We pulled into the outlet center in Smithfield to stretch our legs. We ended up stretching our wallet, too, as we stuffed our rented Prius with bargains on some necessary wardrobe updates. We were back on the road in under 90 minutes.

For many years we've collected refrigerator magnets of the touristy places we visit. Some friends visited the Outer Banks and brought us a magnet featuring the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Therefore, North Carolina has the distinction of being the only state featured on our fridge with a picture of a site we haven't seen. I guess we'll need to drive back across the state line just to be sure to we see what's there.

New York

Year of First Visit – 1998
Point of Entry – George Washington Memorial Bridge

Wow! Some people actually get to live here!



That's what I was surprised to hear coming out of my mouth one time when crossing the bridge from New Jersey to NYC. That's part of my feeling toward much of the entire state of New York.



New York City, especially Manhattan, is one of my favorite places on the planet. Memories of family vacations, business trips, and community development training all melt together into a wonderful collage of ----

--The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
--Touring city parks in preparation for redevelopment of our own Olmsted-designed green space.
--Subways the way they're meant to be.
--The best meal I've ever eaten (Thanksgiving 1998 at Carmines on Amsterdam).
--Seeing the Today Show live.
--The view of and from the Statue of Liberty both before and after 911.
--My toddler's temper tantrum atop the Empire State Building.
--Our friend's apartment which featured 2 full inches of kitchen counter top.
--My daughter hiding from the performers at Ellen's Stardust.

And the UN. And Roosevelt Island. And the Top of the Rock. And going backstage at NBC. And Aida on Broadway. And. And. And. And. And.



Yes, New York City has more memories per square inch than any place I've been or could even imagine. But New York certainly isn't limited to the city.



From Niagara Falls to the Hudson River Valley I have memories spread across the state.



Of those, my favorites are probably found in Hyde Park. The summer homes of the Vanderbilts and Roosevelts, along with the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, hold a special place in my heart. In fact, my long-term readers might recall that visiting Elenore Roosevelt's home there is what led to my starting to blog.



I still haven't made it to Cooperstown but it's on my "A" list of place to see. Of course, you don't have to ask me twice to go back to New York City, either.

So I hope and plan to return to New York again and again and again and create more memories with the people who actually get to live there.

New Mexico

Year of First Visit – 1995
Point of Entry – I-10 near LasCruces

I remember New Mexico not looking like the pictures. Not better than the pix. Not worse than the pix. Just different.

Of course, I didn't get to the places I'd like to visit. We traveled through both the north and the south paths through the state (I-10 and I-40) with several stops along the way. That just didn't take me to the places I wanted to go.

Carlsbad Caverns
White Sands
Santa Fe
Four Corners

And I'd like to go to Truth or Consequences. My grandmother's brother settled there for health reasons after WWII so I have family in the area who I never met.

So for for now most of my New Mexico memories are yet to be written. And I know they'll look different from the pix in my mind.

New Jersey

Year of First Visit – 1993
Point of Entry – Bridge near Washington’s Crossing

I first arrived in New Jersey by surprise.

Our flight was late into Philadelphia on our way to Deer Park Campgrounds in New Hope, Pennsylvania. A friend was driving the van with us plus travelers from Missouri and Florida to the campgrounds. Because our flight was delayed we’d all missed the camp's dinner that night. The driver hung a right by Washington’s Crossing and took a very narrow bridge into New Jersey to go to a diner there.

I found other surprises in New Jersey as well. On our first drive to New York City, we took the Turnpike and found ourselves on the “double double” north of exit 8. I wasn’t quite ready for where the highway shifts in Newark and found opposing lanes on both my left and right.

I was surprised when I found the Princeton area to be quite beautiful. Many of the other places in the state I've visited were rather bland looking, but when I went up to spend a day with a friend who was there for a few weeks of training I was most pleasantly surprised at the beauty of the area.

I even surprised myself when the family and I ended up in Atlantic City. Who knew that someplace could be vibrantly tackier and spiritually darker than Las Vegas? It was good to get on the Cape May/Lewes ferry and head home.

I’m hoping to have some additional New Jersey memories to add to the list. Most notably, I want to take the kids up to Edison’s historic site. Don’t be surprised to see me there again soon.