Well, I can dream, right? While this summer has been anything but easy, it has been fun. During June and July, my husband and I drove 7000 miles, visited 19 states, and took thousands of pictures. We drove the Blue Ridge Parkway (for book research and stock photos), Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park (more pictures), up through the Smoky Mountains and down to the Indian village (more book research), and back home to Texas on the first trip in June.
On this first trip, we hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail, hiked down (and back up, OMG) to waterfalls, saw black bears, and fell in love with the Smokies.
We thought that was it until Fall, until our daughter decided she’d had all she could take of Boston and needed us to come get her (and her third floor walk up full of boxes). So we took off again, this time taking a different route that took us through the Ohio Amish country, past two Great Lakes, through the Allegheny and Adirondack mountains, across Lake Champlain, and through the White Mountains, to the Maine coast.
On this trip, we fell in love with the Amish country (and the food!), swam in a waterfall pool in Ithaca, NY, took the ferry from New York to Vermont, and photographed the Portland Head Light (the world’s most photographed lighthouse.)
I’ve now visited 39 of the 50 states, and hubby has visited 48. So, of course, we now have a goal to visit all 50. And Canada. We’ve been to Mexico, so once we visit Canada, we’ll have the North American continent covered.
We’re hoping, finances willing, to travel this fall to California, up the west coast to Washington, and across the northern states as far as the Great Lakes, and back down, catching a few more states we haven’t visited along the way. Then next summer, we’ll finish off the lower 48 we haven’t seen, and make that trip to Alaska and across Canada.
I love traveling with the hubby. He’s extremely knowledgeable about so many things, so every trip is a learning experience. And more fodder for the books yet to be written.
Have you ever taken a major trip? What’s your favorite destination and favorites stops along the way?
Authors of Main Street 
I’m in California so we had to fly to do the Midwest. We flew to Chicago, saw town, took in a game a Wrigley Field, drove to Detroit, took in a game at Tigers Stadium (old one), drove to St. Louis, enjoy the sights, took in a couple of games at Busch Stadium, saw the Clydesdales, toured the brewery, and drove back to Chicago to fly back home. 13 days.
LikeLike
Great trip, Tori. Is the seventh photo at Clingman’s Dome in the Smokies? I’ve been there and think it’s one of the most impressive views in the Smokies. I’ve been in twenty-four states including Hawaii. Can’t get enough travel.
LikeLike
Carol, yes, that’s Clingman’s Dome. Quite a hike, but well worth it. That’s also where we saw the bear, just a few feet off the path. Armed park rangers stood nearby just in case. Jill, that sounds like fun!
LikeLike
What a fantastic trip. I’ve gotta get me a travel companion and do something similar. I did travel “through” 10 states this summer, but only stopped in North Carolina for some book research and the required picture taking. My pooch makes me feel safe when I’m traveling alone, but he isn’t very knowledgeable about the sights we see.
LikeLike
Sounds awesome. I’ve been to about 20 states. When I was a kid we drove down to Florida (Disney World) and another time across to Washington. We used to go to a resort in Vermont during the summer. Good memories. A few years ago my husband and I drove to Salem, MA, to see the witch trial sites. Still on my wish list: NY City.
LikeLike
Oh, to travel. I want my little tear drop camper. Camper, computer, and camera – will travel!
Glad you had a wonderful time. The White Mountains are so pretty.
🙂
LikeLike
Beautiful pictures. I think we visited or crossed every state from Ohio to New England and Canada. We often drove from Ohio to Boston, NY or VA to visit relatives, and later from FL to OH, Va. No more long driving now. My DH prefers cruises.
LikeLike
Beautiful photos, Tori. It looks like you had a whole summer experience and still were able to combine all that travel with your writing. Pretty cool all the way around. The photos of the waterfalls are amazing. I love the Smokies too and would like to do more than just drive through sometime. Can’t wait to see how your travels find their way into your stories! Thanks so much for sharing; it’s fun to live vicariously 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing the wonderful pictures! My husband’s idea of driving the Blue Ridge Parkway is to literally drive it! Most of my pictures are of tree tops! One a trip to Vegas, we left family at Lake Thomas (west Texas) went through one of the Carlsbad Caverns, looked at a petrified forest (one tree), drove through the Painted Desert, looked at petraglyphs?, watched students working on an excavation of a ficasaurus (cool), and watched sunset over the Grand Canyon!
I love enjoying exploring the eastern part of the country since that is the only area I haven’t lived in, but as you can see there is not much exploring going on. I REALLY enjoyed seeing your pictures!
Looking forward to your next release!
LikeLike