I have always loved to travel. I could sit and pore over the atlas for hours and hours when I was a kid. Who am I kidding? I could still be perfectly happy sitting with a cup of coffee and road atlas.
When I was in high school, I participated in the German-American Partnership Program (GAPP) and got to spend a month of my summer vacation in Germany. Besides staying with a host family, we also got to travel to Munich and Stuttgart, see a few castles, take a train trip to Lucerne, Switzerland and Salzburg, Austria, and spend a day layover in Copenhagen, Denmark. The girl I stayed with came and stayed with my family a few months later. It was such a wonderful experience.
I dreamed that someday I would work in an embassy somewhere far away. In case you didn’t notice, that didn’t happen – but that’s okay.
I joined the Air Force as a Russian linguist and even though I haven’t quite seen the world yet, I have seen a lot of our beautiful country.
In the past 10 years, I’ve had the chance to do a lot of traveling. Some of the neat places I’ve been are:
Alabama
U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville
Alaska
Denali National Park
Seward Aquarium
Exit Glacier
Museum of the North in Fairbanks, AK
Botanical Gardens at UAF (giant cabbage!)
Anchorage Zoo
World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks
Santa Claus House in North Pole, AK
The Northernmost Denny’s (in Fairbanks)
drove the Alcan from Fairbanks to the U.S.
Took the ferry from WA to Alaska
Arizona
Grand Canyon National Park
Tuzigoot National Memorial
Wupatki National Memorial
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
Coronado National Monument
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Saguaro National Park
Pima Air & Space Museum
Tombstone
Fort Huachuca
Walnut Canyon National Memorial
Petrified Forest National Park
Arkansas
California
Golden Gate Park
over the Golden Gate Bridge
Winchester Mystery House
Alcatraz
Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco
Hearst Castle
17-Mile Drive
Carmel Mission
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Big Sur
Santa Cruz Boardwalk
Sequoia National Park
Redwoods National Park
Pinnacles National Monument
Colorado
Colorado National Monument (2 times)
The Wildlife Experience in Parker
Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Walt Disney World (2 times)
Sea World Orlando
Fort Matanzas
Castillo de San Marco
Trolley tour of St. Augustine
climbed the St. Augustine lighthouse
Everglades National Park
drove all the way to Key West
Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Museum in St. Augustine
Georgia
Tybee Island
Jekyll Island
Forsyth Park
Fort Morris State Historic Site
Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge
Skidaway Island State Park
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park
Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Savannah
Augusta, GA
Atlanta, GA (for a genealogy conference)
Bonaventure and Colonial Park cemeteries
Fort Pulaski
Trolley tour of Savannah
Ghost tour of Savannah
St. Patrick’s Day parade in Savannah
climbed the Tybee Island lighthouse
Oatland Island Wildlife Center
Georgia Sea Turtle Center
Old Fort Jackson
Fort Frederica
Wormsloe State Historic Site
Fort McAllister State Park
Juliette Gordon Lowe’s Birthplace and Gravestone
First Girl Scout Headquarters
Owens-Thomas House in Savannah
Ogeechee-Savannah Canal
Lady and Sons (Paula Deen’s Restaurant)
Hawaii
Idaho
Craters of the Moon National Park
Idaho Potato Museum
Illinois
Metropolis, IL (Superman’s hometown)
Genealogy research in Alton
Indiana
Genealogy research in Clark county
Iowa
Genealogy research in Mahaska, Keokuk, Washington, Ringgold, Taylor, Woodbury, Buena Vista & Crawford counties
Kansas
Lawrence
Ft. Leavenworth
Fort Scott National Historical Park
Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop in Olathe
Kentucky
Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs
Louisville Slugger Museum
Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area
Mammoth Cave National Park
Patton Museum at Ft. Knox
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
St. Louis Science Museum
up the Gateway Arch (Jefferson National Expansion Memorial)
National World War I Museum in Kansas City
LegoLand Discovery Center in Crown Center, Kansas City
Montana
Glacier National Park
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman
Nebraska
Genealogy research in Dakota county
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
White Sands National Monument (4 times)
White Sands Missile Range (did the Bataan Memorial Death March there twice)
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Tubing in Ruidoso
City of Rocks State Park
Rockhound State Park
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces
Dripping Springs Natural Area (outside of Las Cruces)
Old Mesilla
Alien Zone in Roswell
New York
Old Fort Niagara
Genealogy Research in Niagara County
Over the Erie Canal
Niagara Falls
North Carolina
The Biltmore
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Crater Lake National Park (drove around the entire lake)
High Desert Museum in Bend
Fort Clatsop
Canon Beach
Multnomah Falls
Tillamook Cheese Factory
Myrtle Creek
Pennsylvania
Hershey, Pennsylvania (we stayed on Chocolate Avenue!!)
Lancaster County (Amish Country)
Punxsutawney, PA (yes, we saw the groundhog)
Genealogy research in Indiana County
Gettysburg National Military Park
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Magnolia Plantation in Charleston
Middleton Plantation in Charleston
Patriot’s Point and the USS Yorktown
Fort Moultrie
Charles Pinckney National Historic Site
Hunting Island State Park
South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston
Fort Sumter
Hilton Head Island
Paris Island – Marines Basic Training
South Dakota
Wall Drug Store (twice)
Badlands National Park (twice)
Reptile Gardens
Wind Cave National Park
Mt. Rushmore (twice)
Crazy Horse Monument
Custer State Park
Needles Highway Scenic Drive
Tennessee
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Texas
The Alamo
San Antonio Riverwalk
Sea World San Antonio
Chamizal National Monument
El Paso Zoo
Amigo Airsho on Ft. Bliss
Wyler Aerial Tramway in El Paso
Hueco Tanks State Park
El Paso Museum of Art
Franklin Mountains State Park
Utah
Arches National Park (2 times)
Canyonlands National Park
swimming in the Great Salt Lake
Zion National Park
Moab
Vermont
Virginia
Appomattox Court House
Shenandoah National Park
Manassas Battlefield National Park
Roanoke Zoo
Abram’s Delight (oldest home in Winchester, VA)
Monticello
Genealogy research in Roanoke, Bedford, Montgomery, and Patrick counties
drove the Blue Ridge Parkway
Washington
Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium
Fort Nisqually
Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Olympic National Park
The Space Needle
Pike Place Market
The Gum Wall in Seattle
The Duck Tours in Seattle
Forks and La Push
Pacific Science Center (3 times)
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Washington, D.C.
Memorials on the Mall in DC
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Air & Space Museum
Bureau of Printing & Engraving Tour
Canada
Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake, Canada
The largest mall in North America – the West Edmondton Mall in Alberta
