We want to visit all 50 states by the time our oldest kid graduates high school in 2031. The rule is, we all have to be in the state together and take a picture together. Some states we simply drove through while some we actually did the tourist thing. Layovers in airports don’t count. Here are the pictures of our progress! Scroll all the way down to see the latest.
Current Status: 35/50 = 70%
Though we don’t live in St. Louis, we do live in Missouri, so naturally, that was an easy one to cross off the list.
A wedding to Kansas City took us the scenic route through Kansas!
An extended family vacation to Myrtle Beach took us to South Carolina before we started on this goal. BIG thanks to my father in law and Hilton for the gazillion points that made this family trip possible. We still talk about it! Thankfully, we had a family picture to add to the count.
Friends in Oklahoma and being a border state made this one an easy one. Speaking of, have you been to The Gathering Place in Tulsa?! Incredible…
Friends in DFW gave us an excuse for a road trip. After avoiding some speeding tickets in Southern Oklahoma, we made it!
Another border state on our way to visit family in Ohio. Insert joke about Effingham here. Photo bombed by one of the greatest presidents…
You have to look at this one and the Ohio picture. Go ahead, look at it. It’s the next one down.
Now know that I made my family run across I-70 to get the Ohio picture so I didn’t have to drive down the road and turn around. Some in the family thought it was awesome, others…did not. Can you tell who’s who??
Ha! Read the Indiana caption if you skipped it…makes me laugh every time I look at these two pictures. That’s what this goal is all about. Some GREAT family memories.
THIS! This is the beginning of the trip that spawned this whole idea. I had a work conference in Orlando, and I was planning to drive to help transport some materials. We had also been planning a trip to Disney World to coincide with the trip. We looked at the map and realized how many states we would travel through and wondered how many we had already been through. After this trip, we hit 15 states, so naturally, as the competitive people we are, we said, “BRING IT ON!”
Drove through Memphis and hit the Bass Pro at the Pyramid! Living in the city of the “Grandaddy of all Bass Pro Shops,” this was a big deal.
Okay, so this was another “run across the highway” picture combined with Alabama. We had limited time, and I didn’t realize David blinked. Oops! We did get to spend the night in the hometown of the King of Rock and Roll. Any guesses where that is??
A little easier to keep our eyes open with the sun behind us now as opposed to Mississippi. Good job, son. Of course, we listened to Sweet Home Alabama on repeat.
We crossed into Florida on a two lane road with no shoulder so we had to stop at a rest area to snap the picture. See, I’m learning to be safer as we go!
On our way home from the work conference and after a week of Disney. This was not a trip for the faint of heart, but we made it!
We took the long way back through Tennessee just so we could hit Paducah and cross Kentucky off the list. Our mantra has become, it’s about the journey, not the destination.
Ok, next trip took us to the Upper Midwest for a couple important weddings. Of course, we made a trip out of it!
Fun Fact: I-29 lets you look at Nebraska but doesn’t really let you enter! We crossed the river into Omaha while it was under SO MUCH CONSTRUCTION. We went downtown for a break and had to make due with this state office building sign. Worked for us while the kids enjoyed a fun little park to get some energy out during the drive.
What’s funny is that we spent most of our time in South Dakota on this trip, but the picture with the sign was the smallest. Of course I suggested we cross the highway to get closer, but my lovely and life-loving wife believed this was good enough. We haven’t really crossed the highway too often after this. SD, however, was one of our favorite states. Rapid City, Black Hills, Badlands, Dignity Statue, Corn Palace, Wall Drug, Ingalls Homestead. We did it all. But our favorite part were the friends who made it worth the trip.
The views in this part of the country are breathtaking. We drove through Spearfish, SD to get to Devil’s Tower. We even stopped in Sturgis since the bike rally was the following week. We experienced nothing but kindness from all the bikers we met. Video of the kids getting bikers to honk over on the video page.
I texted a friend from college who is from Montana and asked what there was to do in Southeast Montana. His response was “absolutely nothing.” So we took the long way back to Rapid City and hit the very corner of Montana so we could grab the picture. Because goals. The kids do still talk about how many gunshots were on the sign so there’s that.
We drove over to Fargo mostly through ND and saw lots of land. I mean, lots of land. So. Much. Land.
This was the last state on this trip, and it was a torrential downpour. The Minnesota welcome sign was off the highway quite a bit so we drove around Moorhead until we found this sign, and we called it good.
Next up we had an impromptu trip to Arizona in the month of December. It was a work trip, but of course we…say it with me….MADE A TRIP OUT OF IT! We flew into Mesa thanks to Allegiant Air (but no thanks to no snacks). We then headed north through the Navajo Nation for the Four Corners and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Lots of driving but a different type of majestic views. We were not expecting how diverse the terrain was in Arizona. The elevation change in Flagstaff was surprising too. Nothing like getting out and seeing these places in person…sort of like getting out and seeing people too! Nothing better.
Visiting the Four Corners definitely helped us knock out these four states in an efficient way. Lots of rocks, lots of deserts, and lots of learning about the Navajo.
Sure, we just hit the corner, and there’s plenty more to do, but it still counts! We were not expecting how cold it was. The morning we did the Four Corners Monument, it was 11 degrees!
This was a tough one. We were only about 30 minutes from the parks in southern Utah, but we really wanted to hit the Grand Canyon. We were on a limited timeframe so we went for the Grand Canyon. Sure glad we did. Seeing the Grand Canyon covered with snow was a really unique experience.
After a few months, we hit the rode again. Another wedding took us to Michigan so we did what we do (i.e. made a trip out of it!). We had all been in Michigan before, but never together. We went to the beach in Holland and Lake Michigan was…refreshing!
We were passing through Chicago and decided to swing up north an hour to see friends in Milwaukee. Of course we also had to knock Wisconsin off the list. Had to stop for sweatshirts right after this picture! The weather was good, the cheese was better, but the people were the best!
This was the first state on our “Northeast Swing.” It also happens to be where I went to high school. It was a blast to revisit places and people who deeply impacted me and introduce them to my family. My hometown, Philadelphia, Gettysburg, Sheetz, were just a few of the highlights.
We only had a few hours, but we made the most of our visit to “the City.” So awesome to see this place through the eyes of a child. Check out the 4,000 Miles post to see all we did.
In the midst of all the driving we were able to spend a day at the beach with the best boardwalk in the land. Body surfing, ice cream, and pork roll…a great day!
Of course we had to stop and get the sign, which was really the only thing we did in the first state.
Unfortunately we didn’t have time to do much but get the sign. Not even any crab cakes. Still counts!
I had never been to Mt. Vernon, and this was a super cool stop. Grateful to some dear friends who gave us a tour. It was incredibly hot, but so neat to be this close to so much history.
On our way back home we drove through Northern Panhandle and spent about 10 minutes in WV. Highway, not the country roads, but we still got the sign!
Though it’s not a state, still always significant to visit our beautiful nation’s capital.
We capped our summer (2024) by making it to the end of Route 66 and doing all the California things.
Check back here for updates as we make it to our goal. For 2024, we hope to cross off 5 more states. No idea when or how we will hit Hawaii and Alaska, but we will cross those bridges and oceans when we come to them.
Below are the states we have left to achieve our goal:
Alaska
Connecticut
Hawaii
Idaho
Louisiana
Maine
Massachusetts
Nevada
New Hampshire
North Carolina
Oregon
Rhode Island
Vermont
Washington
DADDYLESSONS 
Glad you made it to Michigan. If you ever get back to the Grand Rapids area, contact me and I will buy you and your fam lunch! Got a copy of your book today and intend to start reading it tonight. Tim Way
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Glad you made it to Michigan. If you ever get back to the Grand Rapids area, contact me and I will buy you and your fam lunch! Got a copy of your book today and intend to start reading it tonight. Tim Way
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Glad you made it to Michigan. If you ever get back to the Grand Rapids area, contact me and I will buy you and your fam lunch! Got a copy of your book today and intend to start reading it tonight. Tim Way
LikeLike