Our
family would relocate from Jacksonville, FL to Sacramento, CA in 2016 for my
job. Our plan to move at the end of the kid's school year was changed when Lisa
accepted a position that started in mid-January.
After
spending many New Year's Days exploring the Okefenokee Swamp, we spent the
first day of 2016 at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.
We were
driving Lisa's van to California over the long holiday weekend and chose a
route that went through Oklahoma so Egypt could claim a new state visited and
knock off another state that both girls hiked together.
As a
micro-preemie, I promised Kellisa that we would visit all 50 states by her 18th
birthday. Later, I would expand the original promise with the addition of both
girls hiking at least one trail in each state. In fact, with Kellisa's 18th
birthday less than 18 months away, 2016 was mostly filled with our move,
getting settled, and hiking in the remaining states.
After Oklahoma, the girls had 11 states remaining to hike together and by Thanksgiving, after visiting Arizona, Utah, Nevada, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Iowa, Illinois, Hawaii, and Alaska, that number would be zero!
Hiking in Arizona
Repeat States in March: Arizona (Left) and California (Right)
After living in hotels for months, we finally sold
our house in Florida and closed on our house in Roseville, CA in early June. We
picked the city to live in based on the schools but fell in love with the
location of our house because it backed up to a protected ravine (Miners) with
tons of wildlife.
Backyard wildlife and the view
The trail through Miners Ravine
A trail close to our new home
Swimming hole in the Sierras
John Muir National Historic Site
The Final Stretch of States
Hiking in Nevada
Hiking in Utah
Hiking in New York
Hiking in Massachusetts
Hiking in New Hampshire
Hiking in Vermont
Hiking in Iowa
Hiking in Illinois (State #48)
Hiking in Hawaii
-21F Hiking in Alaska (State #50)
17 ½ years and the
promised to take Kellisa on a hike on at least one trail in all 50 United States ended on Thanksgiving
2016. Egypt was 6 months away from her 8th birthday and she is extremely
proud of her accomplishment, often telling people she just met. Most people are
surprised and the most typical response besides, “Really?” would be, “That’s
more states than I’ve been to.”
Hey, very nice site. I came across this on Google, and I am stoked that I did. I will definitely be coming back here more often. Wish I could add to the conversation and bring a bit more to the table, but am just taking in as much info as I can at the moment. Thanks for sharing.
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Keep Posting:)