I started 2015 having been to 29 of our 50 US States plus DC and Puerto Rico. I manged to hit 30, 31, and 32 between April and November. Each new state had new adventures and old friends. Stories below.
State #30: New Hampshire
I'd like to thank our country's founders and line drawers for the very small states of New England. Once I was already out in Boston, hitting up a new state was no problem, especially since I was visiting my ultimate list competitor, Angela Mioglionico. She's been hanging around second place for years, and this visit gave her the resolve to steal that coveted #1 spot that hasn't changed since the list started.
The easiest choice would have been Rhode Island, which would have been nice, because I am fond of Rhode Island. My second favorite hockey player of all time is from Rhode Island. (My favorite hockey player of all time is from Michigan.) The problem with visiting nearby Rhode Island is that I know I like it because I've already been there.
So instead, we took about an hour's drive to New Hampshire. We may have barely cross the border, but we did sit on the edges of a salt marsh and formed an opionion on the epic regional battle for supremecy between Brown's and Markey's, two little lobster shacks just across the border of Massachusetts and New Hampsire. We shared a lobster roll, clam strips, and clam chowder. They were delish. Brown's clearly won the battle... mostly because Markey's isn't open yet for the season. 
We then drove a couple blocks to see the ocean. It's strange how different one ocean can look from another. It made me miss home. Partly because it was cold and there was no way I was touching that water, even in a full wet suit.
Then we drove the hour home, contemplating the logistics of salt marshes and the origins of cranberry bogs.
That's 31 (or 33) of the 50! (I honestly cannot remember if I've ever been to Connecticut or West Virginia. And I'm counting any state I've touched foot to ground.)
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| "Do most places not have lobster tanks like this?" "No, Angela. Most of the time I can't just touch the lobsters." "Don't touch the lobsters." |
State #31: Oregon
I scored yet another state this year! My road trip and determination to visit Eugene, Oregon brought me to... Oregon. I think I did Oregon. I think I've always known I would. Since this is an update post instead of it's own item, I'll save the details for my Eugene and road trip posts. Here's a quick summary of the 2 nights and 1.5 days I spent in Oregon.
I left the bay area around 9:30am. I was trying to leave after the majority of rush hour to get back to the 1, so I could drive up the coast until the sun set. It turns out there's never a good time to leave the bay area, so it took me forever to get out of the area. Plus, the GPS in my phone really doesn't understand the subtleties of northern California. I actually looped around once because it assumed I'd know to take an immediate, unmarked, sharp left turn instead of the easy, obvious right curve across a bridge. So that didn't help. I had a map, but trying to navigate a map alone in a city with that many highways just wasn't going to work.
Eventually I made it to the coast and had another fantastically beautiful drive. There weren't as many places to pull over for photos, and I decided that despite the incredible beauty, I'd just have to take mental pictures and focus on driving. The windy road first took me along the coast for views of the deep blue ocean and rocky cliffs, but then it would jut inland and I'd be coasting around my favorite kind of roads: curvy, mountain roads surrounded by thick, thick forrest. I'm used to driving the winding roads in the Adirondaks, but these roads were lined with redwoods. I was amazed about how much the light could change from one mile to the next depending on the density and elevation.
Two human things really struck me on this drive. 1) I have never seen so many hitchhikers as I did on this stretch of Jefferson. What is that? I was a little tempted to pick up a couple, but being a single woman travelling alone with no one who would notice my lack of arrival late at night in Eugene, I thought that was probably a stupid idea. But it also felt heartless to just drive by these people who purported to only need a seat in my car that I was only using to house my books on CD and some snacks. 2) As soon as I entered Oregon, there was a butterfly sanctuary and then across the street... a tiger ranch. I mean, WHAT. Just down the street, homes where clearly children live. No, thank you. I persisted awhile after that before stopping for dinner.
I wanted to stay on the 1, but I eventually just GPS'ed the quickest route to Eugene because I was several hours in and still had several hours to go, and I was exhausted already. The country roads took me inland through beautiful farmland and horse farms. I eventually ended up in Grant's Pass (which I only looked up today) and had a great meal at Taprock with the company of a very kind bartender.
When I went to pay for my grilled Caesar salad (awesome) and glass of wine (which he had upgraded at no charge when they were out of the house red), I couldn't find my debit card. He insisted I just go check my car and he didn't need any collateral. I couldn't find it in the dark. With tip, I was a dollar short. Even though he was having a tough night with some jerky customers who would surely short tip him, he waved off my problem, shook my hand, and told me that the universe would pay him back. I felt better and worse all at once. Until I got back to my car and realize I'd actually tipped him over 20%, and my initial math was just bad, probably due to the 11 hours I'd spent alone in the car up until then. I was relieved I only had 2 hours to go and thankful to Grace Bagunu for chatting with me for awhile to perk me back up.
I had a great almost-24 hours in Eugene, which is blogged here. Christian took me all around, so he gets credit for this one too.
I then took off for the coast to stay at the Sylvia Beach Hotel, which is hands down the coolest hotel I've ever stayed in. If you ever get the chance to go to the Oregon central coast, go. If you are a book lover, you need to book yourself a trip to Oregon. I'll detail that experience in the road trip post because it deserves a little more attention than under an "updated" post.
After that fantastic stay, I made my 9 hour drive to Sacramento. I was on a lot of back roads for the first 2 hours because I had not realized that my phone GPS was set to "walk," and my phone wanted to keep me off highways. I knew I should have followed the map. Always follow the map. The drive was going to be another long one, so I was hoping to short cuts around the traffic back ups. Nope, follow the map.
Oregon is a really beautiful state and I only met kind people along the way. I hope to visit again soon.
State #32: Hawai'i
I hate my birthday. I've hated it since I turned 17. That year, I was a senior in high school and nearly all of my friends were freshmen in college. My birthday always falls just before Thanksgiving (and never on Thanksgiving). That year, I was looking forward to seeing all of my friends who were coming back to town for the holiday, but then I was crushed when not a single one of them remembered to wish me a happy birthday the week before. My boyfriend at the time even blew it off. I was sad but also wanted to be happy when I saw everyone. Then the Friday after Thanksgiving, I went to my friend Heidi's house, and there, they threw me a surprise party. It was an extremely well-intentioned gesture, but I spent my actual birthday alone and feeling forgotten, and then the party itself was more about everyone seeing each other than my birthday. I also now hate surprise parties.
It wasn't a traumatic event. But it wasn't a fun birthday either. And that's how the week leading up to my birthday always tends to go for me. Just lots of little bad luck, like last year I had to park really far from work and when I got back to my car late at night, it had gotten hit hard, so now the back left corner is dented and scraped because I can't afford to fix it. Nothing life shattering. Just bummers.
I can handle a little bad luck. I can even make fun of myself for it. The real issue was that I started having so much anxiety about my birthday each year that whenever there was a gathering attended by most of my friends, I still didn't enjoy it because I was so focused on who wasn't there, whether they were late or ditching out, or who forgot to call or text. There could be 99 people fully out celebrating with me, and I would be distracted by the 1 who wasn't. I was spending all my energy on the people who didn't show up in my life instead of appreciating those who did.
In 2009, I decided to make a change. Three girlfriends and I booked a trip to Las Vegas. We had a fantastic time. Leaving town, I knew exactly who would be there, exactly who wouldn't (or so I thought: 2 of my college friends who live in San Diego surprised me), and I could have fun with the people I was with. In the following years, I took 7 friends with me to Louisville, 2 to Kalamazoo, visited 2 friends in LA, 4 with me to Puerto Rico, and 4 to Catalina Island (yes, that Catalina Island, Step Brothers fans).
Why am I telling you all of this when the sub-title of this section is Hawai'i? Because this year, I was trying to plan a vacation with my parents to the Pacific northwest. The plans weren't going smoothly. I really wanted to drive up the coast, but it would be easier to fly and meet them and then drive around. So on one of the calls, my mom said we could do something else. I said, "Want to go to Hawaii for Thanksgiving?" She said, "Okay." I had wanted to continue the island birthday getaway theme, I wanted to go to Hawaii, and this is definitely the closest I'll ever live to Hawaii, but I didn't expect her to say yes just like that.
My parents made the travel plans. My brother and his wife decided to come along. And then, one of my oldest and favorite friends, Nicole Green decided to join us for a few days too.
We ate seafood, did some stand-up paddle boarding, "surfed," snorkeled, took some scenic drives, stood on a volcano and walked through a lava tube, saw some waterfalls, had lots of Kona Brewing Company beer, laughed ourselves silly at Big Island Brewhaus (possibly due to the elevation-alcohol combo), saw lots of sea creatures like sea turtles and fish, and had Thanksgiving dinner at Macaroni Grill. (That last one wasn't quite in the plans, but we couldn't make a decision about the limited places to eat and chose Macaroni Grill for the price and convenience.) All in all, it was a lovely, relaxing week.
For anyone planning a trip to Hawaii (any island) without a very knowledgeable local guide, I highly recommend the Hawaii Revealed series AND mobile phone app. Both helped us find some great meals and sights!
I scored yet another state this year! My road trip and determination to visit Eugene, Oregon brought me to... Oregon. I think I did Oregon. I think I've always known I would. Since this is an update post instead of it's own item, I'll save the details for my Eugene and road trip posts. Here's a quick summary of the 2 nights and 1.5 days I spent in Oregon.
I left the bay area around 9:30am. I was trying to leave after the majority of rush hour to get back to the 1, so I could drive up the coast until the sun set. It turns out there's never a good time to leave the bay area, so it took me forever to get out of the area. Plus, the GPS in my phone really doesn't understand the subtleties of northern California. I actually looped around once because it assumed I'd know to take an immediate, unmarked, sharp left turn instead of the easy, obvious right curve across a bridge. So that didn't help. I had a map, but trying to navigate a map alone in a city with that many highways just wasn't going to work.
Eventually I made it to the coast and had another fantastically beautiful drive. There weren't as many places to pull over for photos, and I decided that despite the incredible beauty, I'd just have to take mental pictures and focus on driving. The windy road first took me along the coast for views of the deep blue ocean and rocky cliffs, but then it would jut inland and I'd be coasting around my favorite kind of roads: curvy, mountain roads surrounded by thick, thick forrest. I'm used to driving the winding roads in the Adirondaks, but these roads were lined with redwoods. I was amazed about how much the light could change from one mile to the next depending on the density and elevation. Two human things really struck me on this drive. 1) I have never seen so many hitchhikers as I did on this stretch of Jefferson. What is that? I was a little tempted to pick up a couple, but being a single woman travelling alone with no one who would notice my lack of arrival late at night in Eugene, I thought that was probably a stupid idea. But it also felt heartless to just drive by these people who purported to only need a seat in my car that I was only using to house my books on CD and some snacks. 2) As soon as I entered Oregon, there was a butterfly sanctuary and then across the street... a tiger ranch. I mean, WHAT. Just down the street, homes where clearly children live. No, thank you. I persisted awhile after that before stopping for dinner.
I wanted to stay on the 1, but I eventually just GPS'ed the quickest route to Eugene because I was several hours in and still had several hours to go, and I was exhausted already. The country roads took me inland through beautiful farmland and horse farms. I eventually ended up in Grant's Pass (which I only looked up today) and had a great meal at Taprock with the company of a very kind bartender.
When I went to pay for my grilled Caesar salad (awesome) and glass of wine (which he had upgraded at no charge when they were out of the house red), I couldn't find my debit card. He insisted I just go check my car and he didn't need any collateral. I couldn't find it in the dark. With tip, I was a dollar short. Even though he was having a tough night with some jerky customers who would surely short tip him, he waved off my problem, shook my hand, and told me that the universe would pay him back. I felt better and worse all at once. Until I got back to my car and realize I'd actually tipped him over 20%, and my initial math was just bad, probably due to the 11 hours I'd spent alone in the car up until then. I was relieved I only had 2 hours to go and thankful to Grace Bagunu for chatting with me for awhile to perk me back up.
I had a great almost-24 hours in Eugene, which is blogged here. Christian took me all around, so he gets credit for this one too.
I then took off for the coast to stay at the Sylvia Beach Hotel, which is hands down the coolest hotel I've ever stayed in. If you ever get the chance to go to the Oregon central coast, go. If you are a book lover, you need to book yourself a trip to Oregon. I'll detail that experience in the road trip post because it deserves a little more attention than under an "updated" post. After that fantastic stay, I made my 9 hour drive to Sacramento. I was on a lot of back roads for the first 2 hours because I had not realized that my phone GPS was set to "walk," and my phone wanted to keep me off highways. I knew I should have followed the map. Always follow the map. The drive was going to be another long one, so I was hoping to short cuts around the traffic back ups. Nope, follow the map.
Oregon is a really beautiful state and I only met kind people along the way. I hope to visit again soon.
State #32: Hawai'i
I hate my birthday. I've hated it since I turned 17. That year, I was a senior in high school and nearly all of my friends were freshmen in college. My birthday always falls just before Thanksgiving (and never on Thanksgiving). That year, I was looking forward to seeing all of my friends who were coming back to town for the holiday, but then I was crushed when not a single one of them remembered to wish me a happy birthday the week before. My boyfriend at the time even blew it off. I was sad but also wanted to be happy when I saw everyone. Then the Friday after Thanksgiving, I went to my friend Heidi's house, and there, they threw me a surprise party. It was an extremely well-intentioned gesture, but I spent my actual birthday alone and feeling forgotten, and then the party itself was more about everyone seeing each other than my birthday. I also now hate surprise parties.
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| Rainbow Falls in Hilo |
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| Dad & me at Pololu Valley |
In 2009, I decided to make a change. Three girlfriends and I booked a trip to Las Vegas. We had a fantastic time. Leaving town, I knew exactly who would be there, exactly who wouldn't (or so I thought: 2 of my college friends who live in San Diego surprised me), and I could have fun with the people I was with. In the following years, I took 7 friends with me to Louisville, 2 to Kalamazoo, visited 2 friends in LA, 4 with me to Puerto Rico, and 4 to Catalina Island (yes, that Catalina Island, Step Brothers fans).
Why am I telling you all of this when the sub-title of this section is Hawai'i? Because this year, I was trying to plan a vacation with my parents to the Pacific northwest. The plans weren't going smoothly. I really wanted to drive up the coast, but it would be easier to fly and meet them and then drive around. So on one of the calls, my mom said we could do something else. I said, "Want to go to Hawaii for Thanksgiving?" She said, "Okay." I had wanted to continue the island birthday getaway theme, I wanted to go to Hawaii, and this is definitely the closest I'll ever live to Hawaii, but I didn't expect her to say yes just like that.
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| Nicole & me stand up paddle boarding |
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| Waipi'o Valley |
For anyone planning a trip to Hawaii (any island) without a very knowledgeable local guide, I highly recommend the Hawaii Revealed series AND mobile phone app. Both helped us find some great meals and sights!
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