Travels around this great Nation.

Earlier this evening I was tagged in a note on FaceBook asking me how many states I have visited.  I am proud to say that because of my parents’ love of travel and my time and work with the Navy I have been in all 50 of the United States, as well as The U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.  Haven’t gotten to Guam or the Marshall Islands yet.

That note got me thinking about the wonderful country we are privileged to live in.  I was born nearly 48 years ago in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Lived there until I was 5, then Baltimore, Maryland until I was 11, and then Bainbridge Island, Washington until I joined the Navy.  By the time I joined the Navy at 19 I think I had already visited well over half, maybe even as many as two-thirds, of the States.

In all of my travels, i still say that Washington is my “home-state”, and my favorite.  It has so many things I enjoy.  The ocean, the mountains, even high plains deserts. Lately I have been working on a plan to explore some of the back-roads of Washington and photograph what and whom I find, see and meet.  This is a scaled back version of a goal I had when I was preparing to retire from active duty, which was to buy an old VW Camper and pack up my gear and my dog and spend 6 months to a year traveling the country on U.S. Routes and State Highways, avoiding the increasingly impersonal Interstates whenever possible.  Stopping when I found something interesting, and really try to get to know my country.  But with the responsibilities of family I may have to begin small and take the country in single State bites.