Capitol Challenge Trip Top Memories

I know it is going to take more than 3 hours to really reflect on this epic road trip that I took but I am going to try to reflect on some of the top moments from the last 3 weeks. Twenty days is a lot of time to be gone and to be with the same person. I already miss my travel buddy! There were so many amazing moments and the United States is a beautiful place! One of the things that I liked about the trip was that we spent a little time in each place - just enough to get a good taste of the state. One of the things I didn't like about the trip was that we only got a little bit of time in each place! Celeste and I both said many times "Next time we come we will...." which is a good thing because some day we will return to those places. I guess that is the good thing about only being 29! We are still young enough to be able to go back to a place. I was going to try to only pick the top 10 things from the trip, but it came to 13. 

13. Chalk Pyramids - I loved this day! We drove through farm land to get to Colorado. These random formations were in the middle of nowhere!

12. Wizard of Oz stuff in Liberal, Kansas - This was a first of many funny memories. Our Dorothy made this experience what it was. 

11. Hershey, Pennsylvania - Who doesn't love chocolate?? This was a fun city to stay in and explore. We learned how the famous chocolate bars are made and took in a 4D movie. There were "characters" to take pictures with. Fun memories! 

10. North Canton, Ohio - I loved seeing my family. My grandpa took us to lunch and ice cream and then showed us a war memorial. I was so glad to get to see old pictures of my mom. They are memories that will last a life time. I also did some manual labor for my 91 year old Great Aunt! 

9. Chicago, Illinois - We did so much in the 2 days we were in Chicago. We took in 4 museums, walked over 6 miles, saw "The Bean", took the train into the city, visited Navy Pier, and saw The Book of Mormon! All in 2 days!! We went to the Museum of Science and Industry, Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, and the Field Museum all in the same day. We got a little taste of all these places but will have to go back to explore some more! 

8. Wyoming - We were only in this state to drive through and see the capitol but it is a BEAUTIFUL place! I really want to go back some day! The downtown area of Cheyenne was really cool and looked like an old west movie. I want to visit Yellowstone National Park one day. We drove through farms and ranches and even got to see a beautiful rainbow! The welcome center was also really neat! 

7. Postcard Challenge! I had so much fun with this game! It was fun to try to find a postcard from each place and then it was fun to see who would guess it correctly! Thank you to all my friends/family for playing during the trip. It will live on in future trips! I hope others will adopt it; I would love to play! 

6. Rocky Mountains - We got to see snow/ice in July! One of my favorite memories was drinking hot chocolate 2 miles above sea level with snow on the ground. 

5. Mt. Rushmore - I've been wanting to visit for at least 4 years now and I can finally cross it off my list. It is a very moving place to visit. My favorite part was the lighting ceremony where they call service men and women up and they lower the flag. Such a beautiful tribute to the men and women defending our freedom. It makes you really appreciate how lucky we are to live in the United States of America. 

4. Custer State Park with the Buffalo! All I wanted to see this trip was a live buffalo. South Dakota did not disappoint! They walked right in front of my car!!!! South Dakota is a beautiful state. I will be going back someday! It was so beautiful in the Black Hills and the drives were amazing. I still can feel the excitement that I got when I saw the buffalo blocking traffic in the State Park!

3. Niagara Falls - Being in a different country was so much fun! Walking around the city was amazing and the weather was perfect. The Maid of the Mist was wonderful. Eating Beaver Tails for dinner was fun. The best part was seeing history with the Falls being illuminated Blue for the Royal birth of Prince George. 

2. Capitol Buildings! I am so excited that I am now more than half way through with my goal of seeing all 50 capitols. It is one way to honor my mom and try to complete her dream of seeing all 50 state capitols. I only hope that she is with me in some way when I visit. I don't have enough space for all 13 capitol pictures but you can look at my past blogs if you want to see them. 

And my number one memory from the trip would be: 

1. Seeing it all with my Best Friend! So many great memories! I can not imagine going on a road trip for so long with anyone else. I thank God that you are in my life. "My Buddy!" Here are just a few memories from the trip:

Now to find out what the next adventure will be.... :) Just Kidding! I'm taking a break from traveling for a little bit. Check back for other random things that go on in my life! Leave a comment! Where should I go next?? 

19 States, 13 Capitols, 2 Countries and 1,500 photos

Day 19

What can I say? We are almost to the last day of our trip. This journey has FLOWN by! I'm getting sad just writing this because I will be writing the last blog (for this trip) tomorrow from my own home! 

We have been playing the license plate game the whole trip and only have 2 plates left to find... Hawaii and Rhode Island! Can you believe we didn't find Rhode Island?? One more day left... 

Today was a lot of driving. We started in West Virginia at our lovely hotel. The lady at the front desk, Connie, was so nice and chipper this morning. She thought we had one more day... but we then checked out. Sorry Connie! See ya next time. Our first stop would be the Kentucky welcome center. They had a sign!! 

We then drove to Frankfort, Kentucky to see the capitol building. For this trip it was our 12th building to see but for my grand total it was my 26th!! We went inside and were in awe of how beautiful it was! There was gray marble everywhere. The staircases were beautiful.

The outside was even more gorgeous! Look at the blue of the sky and the green of the grass. Picture perfect!

We then sat on the steps and completed our photo challenge for today and wrote to the winners.

Before we left the capitol we needed to mail our postcards! There is a mail box inside the capitol. We were talking to the ladies in the front, and the security guard and they told us we could watch the mail come down the glass chute! Well, we had to do it! 

 This is where we dropped the mail from! 3rd floor!

 Then it came to the second floor!

We have video of the mail going down the chute. It is the little things in life that make you smile! 

After the Kentucky capitol we headed to Tennessee. We of course stopped at a Starbucks for some fuel and then on to the Tennessee welcome center. We had to park at the welcome center and walk to the sign. This was part of the walk: 

We safely arrived at the sign!

Our last stop was the Tennessee capitol building in Nashville. It is located at the top of a hill. You have to climb the stairs to get to it! It is a nice building. Very Greek in the architectural style. 

This is the last capitol for the trip. Number 27 is completed!! We officially visited 13 capitol buildings on this road trip. Thanks Celeste for being a part of it! Who's next??

We then ate at Firehouse subs. If you have never been to one you should put it on your list for sub places to eat at. We are staying with one of Celeste's aunts tonight. I love family!

Thanks for reading and following our trip. Shout out to those in Russia who are reading! One more day :)

Don't forget about Celeste's blog! http://34justme.blogspot.com/

I've Been Everywhere Man!

Day 18

States Traveled Through: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, and West Virginia! 17 total so far!! Almost through with our 20 :) 

Capitols: Denver, Cheyenne, Pierre, Bismarck, St. Paul, Madison, Lansing, Indianapolis, Columbus, Harrisburg, and Charleston. That would be 11 total this trip! 

Have you heard that Johnny Cash Song: I've Been Everywhere? Well, that is in our heads! I feel like I need to write my own version of the song just for this trip! 

Today we started in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. We stayed at a Quality Inn... part of the horrible Choice Hotel brand. I'm sure you all remember 2 years ago when the Choice Hotels gave away our PRE-PAID room and pretty much left us stranded in Florida. Were we compensated? Well... if you consider giving us our money back compensated. OK, enough of that. Moving on... We left right away this morning and headed over to: 

Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania!!!!! Chocolate makes everything better!!! The place did not open until 9:00 so we made sure to get there right away for the opening. While waiting for the magical place to open we snapped pictures. Those little characters are just so cute! 

When they finally opened we headed for the FREE tour to find out how the chocolate bars are made. It was a ride! It was interesting. We then met Hershey Bar himself! I can't pass up an opportunity to take a picture with a character. It is the closest I am getting to Disney World for awhile! Look how happy he is!

After buying some merchandise we saw the 4D chocolate movie. We had to help the chocolate ambassadors figure out who was messing with the chocolate factory after the plant closed. It was a really cute movie. It was also interactive. If you have been to Disney World and have seen Turtle Talk with Crush or Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor you can imagine how the chocolate bars interacted with us during the movie. It was pretty cool.

After the movie I got to meet Reese! He was just so cute. I love Peanut Butter and Chocolate!

After our time in Chocolate World we explored the city and looked for a post office to mail our post cards. Look at the lights!

After making a wrong turn we happened upon an Elementary School. Umm... wouldn't it be cool to work at Hershey Elementary?? Don't worry, I'm not leaving my current place of employment any time soon.

After our fun in Hershey it was time to head to West Virginia. We had a capitol to get to. To get there we had to drive through the Appalachian Mountains! It was another beautiful drive. These mountains are very different from the Rocky Mountains that we were at 2 weeks ago! I can't believe how many places we have been!

West Virginia marks a very special capitol building. Today is the day that I am half way through with my challenge. Charleston, West Virginia marks the 25th Capitol for me to visit. Each one has been unique in its own way. This capitol was beautiful. There is a gold dome, an Abraham Lincoln statue in the front, a couple fountains, and it over looks a river. It was very peaceful and quiet near this building. There were so many huge trees surrounding the building. The weather was also perfect! It was a nice 76 degrees here in WV... a lot cooler than Texas (the newspaper said it was 102 today!) 

 My Buddy :) 

Once we were done with the capitol we headed to our hotel. We asked for a restaurant recommendation and the lady told us about this Mexican place about a block away. Her selling point was that it has the best Margaritas in town. Sign me up! We walked the block to the restaurant and got in right away. It was OK Mexican food. The Margaritas (I had a Peach one) were the best part of the menu... I'll take Tex-Mex over what I ate tonight. It was good that we tried it. 

Our day was mostly in the car so that is all we did! Off to bed now. Another busy day ahead of us and there is much to see in America still. 

Thanks for reading and sharing the journey with me!