25 Trips

Kellisa was well on her way to visiting and hiking in all 50 United States when Laurel joined our family in October 2010. Laurel started joining her sister on some of our trips while both girls also enjoyed their own trips. We weren't really going out of our way to visit new states since the goal was to complete all 50 for Kellisa by May 2017. It always seemed like we had time. 

The plan was to get Kellisa to the finish line and then work on Laurel's list since she didn't turn 18 until June 2027. Everything changed when Laurel started feeling left out and Kellisa was only ahead by a dozen or so states. We made the decision to have both girls finish the goal at the same time. This required Kellisa to visit about a dozen states for at least a second time. 

It took us exactly 6 years (November 2010 - November 2016) and 25 trips for both girls to visit and hike in each state together. There were many other trips during this time frame, but we are only counting the trips were they traveled together and shared a trail for the first time in a state. Since we make up the rules, some of Laurel's early states were completed on my back or in a stroller. By the end, Laurel has hiked in all 50 states and has pushed Kellisa in most (sadly, we didn't keep track of this statistic). 

We drove to many of the states and flew to the rest. Our journey started while we lived in Jacksonville, FL and we completed the promise after we moved to Roseville, CA. Below are the flights we took just for the purpose of visiting and hiking each state with both girls at the same time.

One regret, Laurel hasn't hiked in Washington DC. We planned to hike in DC when the girls visited VA, WV, MD, DE, NY, and PA, but our short window was filled with thunderstorms. Laurel was in a rental SUV that drove through DC, but hasn't hiked a trail. Since DC isn't a state, Laurel still completed all 50 states, but it would have been nice to check this box since Kellisa has hiked in our nation's capitol three times. 

Jax - Las Vegas (RT) 

Jax - El Paso (RT)

Jax - Chicago

Cleveland - Jax

Jax - Detroit (RT)

Jax - Minneapolis (RT)

Jax - St. Louis (RT)

Orlando - Jackson, MS

Jax - Nashville (RT)

Jax - Houston (RT)

Jax - Hartford (RT)

Jax - Denver (RT)

Jax - Oakland (RT)

Jax - Portland, ME

Manchester - Jax

Jax - Baltimore (RT)

Jax - Minneapolis

Denver - Jax

Jax - Seattle (RT)

Sacramento -Albany

Manchester - Chicago

Chicago - Sacramento

San Jose - Honolulu

Honolulu - Anchorage

Anchorage - Sacramento