50 by 50

I have always wanted to travel to all 50 states.  Not just pass through, but experience the culture or see something historical.  I realized earlier this year, that I was very close.  So close, that at the end of 2018, I would only need 14 more states to reach my goal.  I have decided to make it my two year journey to travel to the rest of those 14 states to reach 50 by my 50th birthday in February 2021.  So here is to my trek for 50 by 50…

 

In 1971, a girl from Tennessee came to be

Realizing at a young age, the U. S. she wanted to see.

 

A few states she must travel through and to,

Arkansas to get to Missouri for family she knew.

 

Close by was Mississippi, reaching without fret

She would go with Mom and Dad to the Carter’s Outlet.

 

Still under 10, Alabama and Georgia were reached

When vacationing in Florida at the beach.

 

Texas was next with family moving in.

Dallas and Houston were traveled to see those kin.

 

North Carolina, Kansas, Virginia, and Illinois came next,

While Kentucky and Indiana were seen on a work trek.

 

California was always a bucket list state

By way of work, she was able to see how great.

 

Washington was visited next, the state that is.

At the top of the Space Needle leaving her in a state of dizz.

 

The bright lights of Las Vegas, Nevada shone so bright

As the desert of Sedona, Arizona with colors of might.

 

School sent her to a conference in New Orleans, Louisiana after May

Where she experienced the Cajun culture and ate Crawfish Etouffee.

 

Another state on her bucket list – Hawaii

Fulfilled her dreams of what it should be.

 

Michigan was attended in a blizzard for a bowl game,

While the landscapes of Pennsylvania put many to shame.

 

Always wanting to visit New York – a dream to see.

While there, she also went over to the state of New Jersey.

 

Seeing many beaches in her time,

She added one more in South Caroline.

 

Going out west to Colorado made her day,

But walking to the high point of Nebraska, she didn’t have much to say.

 

Mount Rushmore in South Dakota was grand

And Devil’s Tower, Ahhh, a place for aliens to land.

 

Boston, Massachusetts filled with so much colonial history to take in.

Rhode Island and New Hampshire were wonderful day trips to pin.

 

A world filled with Poe in Baltimore, Maryland

With a jaunt to Delaware – to the beach – not so bland.

 

Oklahoma, a great state for simplicity and steak,

Travelling quickly to New Mexico for green chilies and hot springs to partake.

 

Thirty-six complete, and fourteen to go,

In two years before she turns the big 5-0.