Getting Close to All 50 States

Tahoe Meadows (Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada)
September 2016

What started out as a promise back in May 1999 only to be forgotten for several years before being turned in to a real goal is close to being realized after several revisions. 

The promise was to take Kellisa to visit all 50 United States by her 18th birthday. The promise grew to include hiking at least one trail in each state. 

Along the path, Kellisa became an older sister to Laurel who started joining adventures to new states and without much planning, both girls are close to hiking a trail (together) in all 50 states. 

Kellisa has visited 47 states to Laurel's 43 and together they've shared a trail in 41 states. Trips are planned to visit and hike the remaining states by the end of 2016.

FOX NEWS Health

Hopefully the post headline doesn't turn away readers because of their negative feelings towards FOX NEWS because this has nothing to do with politics.

In December 2015, I came across an article about providing a "disabled" elderly man equal access to a golf course in Massachusetts. I couldn't believe the article tied in to the disabled community. The golfer was in his 70s and had trouble walking on a golf course. I don't want to sound mean, but that is not the same as being fully disabled, at least in my opinion. I wrote a response to the article online expressing a few things that Kellisa deals with every single day in every day life. I hit send and moved on feeling satisfied to fight another fight for kids like Kellisa.

To my surprise, I received a reply back from Melinda Carstensen with an offer to be interviewed for a possible article on FOX NEWS Health. I was thrilled to have this platform and the opportunity to reach so many readers. I did not hesitate in accepting the offer.

I prepared myself to talk about the struggles of the disabled community and tell some of our stories of discrimination. The interview lasted 90 minutes and we covered many topics. I had no idea how the completed feature would turn out. We appreciate the opportunity to be covered on FOX NEWS Health.

You can find the article here.