Thursday, September 1, 2022
It’s been a busy time. After retiring we roamed around Europe for almost two years before coming back to Las Vegas for a rest. One year later we were about to get on a plane for another extended trip when COVID hit. For the next two years we were basically in a holding pattern. It feels great to finally be traveling abroad once again. We have a very ambitious plan ahead of us but are always alert to new opportunities and places to avoid (so much for our plans to see Moscow and Saint Petersburg).
In spite of the challenges here’s a partial list of some of the things we’ve managed to do these past five years…
- We visited these states for the first time: Oregon, Washington, Nebraska, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kansas, Iowa, Indiana. We’ve now visited 49 of the 50 States plus Washington, DC. We’re only missing North Dakota.
- We visited these National Parks for the first time: Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Zion, Petrified Forest, Pinnacles, Channel Islands, Bryce, Capital Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, Saguaro, Great Basin, Lassen Volcanic, Redwood, Grand Teton, Wind Cave, Badlands, Indiana Dunes, Cuyahoga. In total we’ve visited 32 out of 66 National Parks. We’ve still got a bit of work to do on this front. Getting to all of the parks in Alaska is going to be a MAJOR challenge.
- We visited these countries for the first time: Poland, Czech Republic, Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia. We’re expecting to add quite a few new countries to the list on this trip.
- We visited these Presidential Libraries/Museums for the first time: Clinton, Nixon, Reagan, Wilson, Jackson, Hoover, and Ford.
- I’m too lazy to list the 26 UNESCO World Heritage Sites we visited for the first time.
- Our travels have included 397 cities/towns that we’d never been to before.
