Cats and Trails and Garden Tales

I never intended to visit all fifty of these United States of America but once I realized I’d already made it to thirty-six of them, the remaining fourteen seemed a worthy goal. What are those states you may wonder?  Well they are last for a reason.  Most of them appear on someone’s list of least visited states (with the exception of Alaska, my apologies to them.) Here they are by region.

The Far West

• Alaska – That big beautiful icebox up north.  I’m from Seattle so I have no excuse.  I mean come on, it’s just up the coast from here. I’m a bit late, but I’ll finally check it off the list when we set sail for the Inside Passage soon!  (Yes, it’s my first cruise too.)  I plan to take way too many pictures and hope to share the best with you.  A bit more on that later.

The Middle West

• North Dakota –  A great place to be from, my mother in law used to say.  She should know. Born and raised in the small town of New Rockford, she moved to Seattle during the War to work at Boeing.  She met her husband and the rest is history; rather good history it turns out for me. I’ve already been to the best of the Dakotas but I hope to see this one someday too, if only on the way to somewhere else.
• Nebraska –  Because it’s there, and like every state, has something worth seeing, like landmarks from the Oregon Trail (Chimney Rock, Scott’s Bluff.)  And for what it’s worth, my dad was born there.
• Iowa –  ‘You really ought to give Iowa a try!’  this from my favorite musical, ‘The Music Man.’  So I’ll try. I really will.
• Oklahoma –  Another one of my favorite musicals.  I’m afraid I expect it to look like the movie and will be disappointed. (And not to mention, they took our basketball team.)

Great Lakes Region of the Upper Midwest

• Michigan – It’s easy to forget Michigan, as I almost did!  You might think only of Detroit and who goes vacationing there, am I right?  But look a little closer and you will discover the Upper Peninsula and Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior.

The Northeast

The remaining northeastern states are small and off the beaten path so I will group them together. They also have something to offer in the way of quaint towns, fall color and another National Park – Acadia, in Maine.

• Maine 
• New Hampshire
• Vermont
• Rhode Island

The Deep South 

A whole different culture to be experienced and explored. If our cruise to Alaska goes well, we may try another one down the mighty Mississippi and tackle a few of these at once.

• Arkansas
• Alabama
• Mississippi
• Louisiana

There you have it, a list of states I need to visit to see all fifty.  I admit some of them will be challenging.  Hopefully I won’t lose my resolve!

I’ll start with the easiest first, the great state of Alaska, by cruise through the Inside Passage.  Itinerary includes Glacier Bay National Park, and stops in Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan.  Stay tuned for that!

~ Susanne