Seven months and five days. 27,283 miles / 43,908 kilometres driven. Three seasons. Five cars. Fifty-two Airbnbs. Thousands of photos. A million memories. One childhood dream. Two chicks.
FIFTY STATES OF AMERICA.
As we sit here at Honolulu Airport waiting for our flight back to Australia, we thought we’d sign off from this blog for the last time with some of our favourite photos from the trip and a few things we’ve learned along the way.
Things we are grateful for:
- All our state-side friends who took the time to be part of our journey, opened their homes to us and gave us experiences that were unforgettable
- Our new friends we have made along the way including Randy, Mike, Sunshine, Sherman, Tray, the Nolan family and the many other wonderful people with whom our paths have crossed
- Ruby, Wyatt, Pearl, Wanda and Danno – our four-wheeled companions who have safely carried us across the country and back
- The America The Beautiful national parks pass – worth its weight in gold
- The amazing hospital care we received in Tennessee when Sammy decided to test the health system
- Our Verizon Wireless plan that allowed us to always keep in touch with family and friends no matter where we were
- St Medard, patron saint of bad weather, who did a fine job of looking over us
- The history, geography and people who have made this amazing country what it is today
Things we are going to miss:
- Lemonade, ranch dressing, Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay biscuits, sweet pickle relish, half-and-half
- Turning right on a red light
- The fantastic rest stops along the highways
- Cheap petrol
- Buying one meal between us that will last for two days
- American television commercials, in particular the ‘Liberty, Liberty, Liiiiberty… Liberty” jingle
- The incredible scenery – there is always something to look at, even in the fly-over states
- The excitement of waking up and not knowing what adventure the day will bring
- The delight on people’s faces when we tell them we’re doing a 50 state road trip of their country
Cuisine that would have us going back for more:
- Barbecue – Joe’s Kansas City BBQ: Kansas City, Kansas
- Mexican – Manuel’s: Austin, Texas
- Southern – our friend Mike Lanier’s kitchen: St Augustine, Florida
- Seafood – For Sammy: Cajun crawfish at The Loop in Mobile, Alabama. For Priya: Lobster dinner at The Lobster Pot in Providence, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
- Steak – Cotton & Rye: Savannah, Georgia
- Burger – The Cowboy Club: Sedona, Arizona
- Fries – Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen & Bar: Las Vegas, Nevada
Experiences we loved:
- Reunions with all our friends across the country
- Driving through the wide open spaces of America
- The Alaska cruise
- All the National Parks: Yosemite, Sequoia, Glacier, Acadia, Arches…
- All our sporting experiences: baseball with The Chicago Cubs, basketball with The New York Knicks, college football with The Virginia Tech Hokies, NFL with The Kansas City Chiefs
- Watching the mustangs in the Outer Banks
- Christmas with Anand in New York City
- A day on Van’s farm in Hiawatha, Kansas
- Mackinac Island, Michigan
- Fall foliage in New England
- Thanksgiving with the Aimars and our first deep fried turkey
Places we wouldn’t mind living in:
- Anywhere in Florida
- Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Deadwood, South Dakota
- Outer Banks, North Carolina
- Annapolis, Maryland
- Savannah, Georgia
- San Diego, California
- Anywhere in Montana
Lessons we have learned:
- Music and podcasts are great on long drives but sometimes it’s good to just sit in silence and watch the world go past
- The national parks, museums, visitor centres and memorials in America are superb
- It is entirely possible to turn a planned three-hour drive into a nine-hour expedition stalking elk
- The people of America are warm, generous and welcoming and made this adventure rich beyond measure
- Our accents are enough to spark conversations with anyone and everyone
- It takes a lot of time and work to put together a blog post
Things we have to come back for:
- Yellowstone, Zion and Death Valley National Parks
- A Halloween haunted hayride
- Attend an ice hockey game
- Find saguaro cacti
- Clambake on Nantucket Island
- Visit Tombstone and Alcatraz
- Be here for a 4th of July celebration
- Ride a paddle steamer on the Mississippi
There are countless more memories we have made, sights we seen and things we have done but we just can’t list them all.
This has been the journey of a lifetime and one that has far exceeded any expectations that we had going into it. Thank you to everyone who has followed us on our adventure, and to all those who have read the blog posts, checked in with us to see if we’ve been ok, wished us well and who have given us advice and support along the way.
And thank you America. It’s been incredible ❤️
S&P xxx
