37 and Counting…

When I was 11 years old, my family took a trip across the country. It was a 7-week, riding in the woody station wagon, pulling a pop-up camper, close-quarters trip. Reminiscent of The Griswolds in the movie National Lampoon's Vacation. It was a grueling trip. We survived. Recently, I found the journal that I kept during the trip, and I was thrilled to read my 11 year-old kid perspective on vacation with the family. I was not a prolific writer. As I recall, during the trip my mom insisted that I write in my journal every day, because, “some day you will look back on it and appreciate it.” And so, 50-ish years later, she proved to be right.

As much as I have enjoyed reading the pages that were so expertly penned in the 1970s, I have been even more thrilled to find a map that I drew detailing the stops on our trip. In recent years, when I remembered the epic trip, I wasn’t exactly sure which driving route we had taken on our way from South Carolina to California, and even less sure of the route we took back. But now, I have a map in hand, a record of the journey, an answer to the question “Which States Have I Visited?” Turns out, the answer to the question is “A Lot.”

Here is my hand-drawn map from our 1970s cross-country vaca. It is VERY rough around the edges.

Because of that vacation, a few other camping trips with my parents, and trips I have taken as an adult, I am thrilled to discover that, of the 50 US states, I have visited 37. Well, you know what that means…….there are 13 states out there just waiting for me to visit. Then I can join the All Fifty States Club (yes, it’s a real thing.)

Now, here is the map that records my travels. See how there are clusters of states that I haven’t visited, the ones that are white? That’s where I plan to concentrate my efforts so that I can achieve my goal of 50 states. Sounds simple, right?

Well, I just finished the first step towards my goal because this week I checked off 2 new states, Oklahoma and Arkansas. (I already updated my map—I was so excited!) I just returned from a Spring Break trip which was jam-packed with fun. But, unfortunately none of the real fun happened in Oklahoma or Arkansas. So, I don’t have any pictures to share of my visits into those states. You just have to take my word for it. I traveled through those 2 states, because: The real fun happened in Texas (and a little fun in Tennessee.)

My sister and I decided to throw caution to the wind and purchase tickets to watch our favorite team South Carolina Gamecocks Women’s basketball play for the NCAA National Championship in Dallas, Texas. Our team was the heavy favorite to win the tournament. We spent a boatload of money to get the tickets and then started planning our trip, which coincided with my Spring Break. There may or may not have been a margarita or two involved when we were making our decisions.

The time came for the tournament, and my sister and I headed off on our adventure to Dallas, Texas. As we journeyed, there was one more game for our team to win, the Final Four game, before they would be able to play for the National Championship. Everyone expected them to win the Final Four game and then move on to play for the national title. After driving all day, we stopped for the night, planning to watch the Final Four game in our hotel room, and finish the drive to Dallas the next day. We knew there was bad mojo when we found out that the TV cable at the hotel tended to go out when it rained; and a big storm was heading our way. As we watched the game and rooted for our team, the TV went out several times, sending us into a frenzy to try to connect to streaming services on our phones. It was chaotic. And then the storm passed. But, the damage was done. Our negative vibes somehow affected the team. We (and much of the sporting world) were completely shocked when our Gamecocks LOST the Final Four game. Shocked. Dismayed. Devastated. We couldn’t believe it. 

After the realization set in that we would NOT be playing for the National Championship, my sister and I started the age-old task of making the best of it. We shook off our disappointment, licked our wounds, and continued our trip to Dallas, Texas.

We decided that we didn’t really want to spend that much mega money to watch “not us” play, so we listed our championship tickets online and sold them. I suspect that Ticketmaster ripped us off, but I forgot to take a screenshot when I saw the price listing on my phone, so it’s my word against theirs. Oh well, at least we got our money back and a very small profit. Coulda listed our tickets for twice what we paid, but we laid low and just tried to cover our costs.  After we dealt with our tickets, we turned our attention to the adventure at hand. Game aside, we vowed that we would enjoy our time in Dallas and do all that we could. We had a great time gallivanting all around Dallas at places like the Farmer's Market, the Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, a winery, and other nearby locations.

Bluebonnets are blooming! Bluebonnet fields and Indian Paintbrush plants in Ennis, Texas

Cattle Drive Statues at Pioneer Plaza, Dallas. I'm feeding this guy! lol

Real Cattle Drive in Fort Worth, Texas. That was super hokey. A handful of longhorn steer marched down the street. The parade started at 4:00 and ended at 4:02. But, we enjoyed the cowboy ambience.

Museum of Optical Illusions, Dallas. Small, but fun getting our hands on the Science.

NCAA Basketball Tourney Activities. See the Gamecock Wall of Love! I got to meet Mr. Aflac the real Spokesperson Duck for Aflac Insurance! We watched the championship game at a sports bar and cheered against Iowa, the team that beat us. Majority of the crowd agreed with us, and we all celebrated LSU’s championship win.

Back to Mr. Aflac the duck... Apparently corporate sponsors are very much into bringing their mascots to high profile sporting events. Last month, at the SEC women's basketball tournament, we saw Duke the dog who advertises for Bush's Beans. Isn't he cute?!! Dogs and ducks. But, Mr. Aflac was not the only duck we saw on our trip to Dallas. Keep reading...

My sister & I knocked around Dallas for several days, finding new and interesting things to do. We had so much fun in Dallas. When it was time to leave, we skirted off into Oklahoma so I could check that state off my list. We intended to do a wildlife viewing activity, but the weather was too bad. Next, we headed to Arkansas, another state I wanted to check off. We were driving across the state, but there was a major storm system just ahead of us. Heavy thunderstorms, tornado watches. We had to dilly-dally around so that we would not catch up to the storm. It made for a loooong day in the car.

Next, we had a one night stopover in Memphis, Tennessee. There we watched the most hilarious thing – the Ducks at the Peabody Hotel. About 300 people gathered around to watch the ceremonious red-carpet event. The ducks live in a penthouse on the roof of the hotel. Every day, amid much fanfare, they are brought down the elevator and escorted to the large fountain in the middle of the lobby. Well, they aren’t actually escorted. As soon as the elevator doors open they scurry with abandon and hop into the water. We laughed so hard at the ridiculous event. My sister and I agreed: people will line up for anything. And, there we were, lined up, snapping pictures too. It was all great fun. Later in the day the duckies retire back to their rooftop penthouse during an end-of-day ceremony, but we didn't stay to watch that. We concurred that the hotel really does it up and has a grand time accommodating their little duck residents.

Ducks at Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. What a hoot! The Duck Master making proclamations, kids rolling out the Red Carpet, the Elevator Attendant. Those little quackers ran so fast I could barely snap a picture!

And, then our trip was over. Spring Break 2023 came to a close.

Another random trip picture--We played Rock-em Sock-em Robots in the hotel lobby!

I still mourn what could have been if my team hadn’t lost their game. If they had played for the National Championship and we had been there to watch. But, whatcha gonna do, right? I was glad that my sister and I were able to find interesting things to do and that we enjoyed our time in Texas. And, I was thrilled that I added to my state count by hitting 2 more states. We had a very memorable trip!

So, now I look at my 50 states map and try to envision what my next adventure will be.

Any ideas?