We initially flew past the "Welcome to Iowa" sign as we crossed the state line. My co-worker stopped the car, put it in reverse and backed down the empty country road. We hopped out and one of them snapped a picture of me in front of the sign with Iowa's welcome mat in the background - corn. Standing among the corn fields, with crickets hopping at our feet and dirt scented with fertilizer dusting our shoes, Iowa became the 34th state in country I've visited.
In recounting my brief visit to Iowa, I've discovered that more people than I thought either have a goal of visiting all 50 states or are at least excited when they have an opportunity to visit a state for the first time. I'm not sure if it's the number of states we have in our country or the incredible geographical diversity that exists from coast to coast, border to border, but the quest to visit all 50 states (plus the District of Columbia) captivates many of us.
One of the most-asked questions about this quest is what counts as "visiting" a state? Along with many others, I don't count airport layovers. Airports are like no-man's lands. They have little flavor and feel of the state you're actually in.
As I filled out my list, the states I had visited as a destination were easy. Family vacation as a kid to Arizona where we hiked the Grand Canyon. Check it off. Friend's wedding in Utah in the mountains. Check. The road trip through North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota to visit national parks. Check, check, check, check.
I once took the train across the country and have taken extensive road trips, so should the state count if I never left the train or car as I passed through? I decided that I wouldn't count those states unless I had stopped there, did something and had a memory from that state. I thought about how my drive out to Minnesota when I first moved here brought me through a small portion of West Virginia and Kentucky. But I really only have a faint recollection of having even been through those states and what little I saw was from the interstate, so I didn't count them. But I do remember stopping in Ohio to see Serpent's Mound, which I had never heard of before that visit, but had decided it was worth the stop when I saw the sign from the road. On the train trip across the country, we had a long layover in Las Vegas, so my mom checked our luggage at the station and we ducked into a casino so my mom, who had probably never gambled in her life, could say she played a slot machine in Las Vegas. Nevada ended up making my list.
It'll be cool to one day be able to say that I've visited all 50 states, but ultimately, the purpose is to experience and appreciate this vast country and hopefully come home with a good story to tell. Sometimes that story is of a hike to the base of one of the world's natural wonders and other times a story of a short detour to a corn field on an end-of-summer evening.
35. Idaho
36. Oklahoma
37. Nebraska
38. Missouri
39. Louisiana
40. Alabama
41. Mississippi
42. Alaska
43. Hawaii
44. Kentucky
45. Tennessee
46. Georgia
47. Michigan
48. Kansas
49. Arkansas
50. West Virginia
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