ALL 50 STATES!

CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA -- Well, I have done it. As of April 3, 2012 at 5:39pm Eastern Time, I have been to all 50 United States. Much like my recent foray making it to all seven continents by visiting Antarctica, I have had an abundance of time that has only produced more thoughts, without a whole lot of clarity.

What I have realized is that I could not have achieved either of those goals without the help of many people. For the continents, who is to say I would have gotten to Asia so soon without the help of Greg Steinberger and Diklah Cohen, at the UW Hillel Foundation? Or that I would have had the tenacity to go to Cairo and Alexandria by myself, if it wasn’t for my LSE classmate Eric Harrsch? South America without Jason Harris? Europe without my parents, People to People Student Ambassador Programs, and a teacher unbeknownst to me? Antarctica without Melissa Ardales to inspire me?

For the 50 states, the list is even longer. Countless road trips over the years, while often at my insistence, would still not have happened if not for many friends wanting or at least agreeing to come along. John Engelhart, who was with me in New England – Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. My brother Justin, who covered Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and then later flew up to North Dakota with me. Poppy Davis, who braved a cold and the cold to get over to Montana from Idaho. David Levinson, who was agreeable when I told him that he didn’t have a choice but to accompany me down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in 2009 – we hit Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi en route to Louisiana. SB, for getting me up to Alaska. And most recently, Mary Grace, who joined me on this final road trip to my last four states.

This trip has been in the making for a long time. Ever since I realized I had an actual ability to pull this off, I have been systematically targeting outlying states. I did Alaska in October 2010, Montana in December 2010, Oregon in July 2011, and North Dakota in September 2011. With that, I reduced my missing states to four, but all in one geographic region: Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia. All doable in one relatively short trip. The only question – when to go? Well, as the title of this blog suggests, the goal for the past few years has been to do it before my 25^th birthday, which is in just over two weeks. As it turned out, last Thursday I got word from my boss that he would be taking part of this past Monday, as well as yesterday and today off. There it was – my window. I jumped on flights and tried to figure it out.

After an extremely productive day in San Francisco this past Friday, I had a fun People to People meeting in Claremont Saturday afternoon. From there I headed straight for LAX, and hopped on a crazy three leg/two layover “red-eye.” I flew LAX-LAS, LAS-ORD, and finally ORD-ATL, getting into Atlanta, GA at 10:45am Sunday. Having already been to Georgia years ago, the immediate goal was to get out to Alabama. Lucky for me, Mary Grace, who I met in Argentina and Antarctica in December, lives in Atlanta and was so kind as to host me for a few days. She picked me up at ATL, and we drove over to the Alabama border for a photo stop at my 47^th state! 

April 1, 2012 - Welcome to Alabama! State 47!

However, as has been documented in this blog, a photo stop does not count – something substantial or at least significant needs to be visited or done. As such, we ventured to Cheaha Mountain, the tallest mountain in the state of Alabama at 2,407 feet above sea level. We drove to the top, and then climbed up Bunker Tower at the summit. From there we could see as far as the horizon 25+ miles away. The immediate area surrounding Cheaha State Park is preserved by way of Talladega National Forest – the view from the summit is nothing but rolling hills and a variety of species of trees. A gorgeous day – 80s and sunshine – only complemented the view.

April 1, 2012 - Perfect day at Cheaha Mountain, Alabama.

After a nice lunch overlooking the valley, we turned around and headed back to Atlanta. A couple of hours later we made it to The Varsity, an Atlanta famous establishment that is the Atlanta equivalent of a Chicago Superdawg. A burger place, you park and the servers come to your car window, just like the Chicago comparison. Having just had lunch in Alabama, we opted for the “F.O. – Frozen Orange” dessert, which was very refreshing (and full of sugar) on a warm spring day. Sunday night was Antarctica night at Mary Grace’s house. She invited a bunch of friends over for dinner, and afterwards we watched an Antarctica slideshow she put together, as well as my Antarctica videos and my photos as well. Overall it was a fun night and I think it was rather educational for her friends too. J

Monday morning we went for a 4.5 mile run around the neighborhood, which was very much needed. With the hills and the heat, it was a nice break from the flat trails I run in and around Burbank. After cleaning up, we headed into downtown Atlanta, where we walked through Centennial OlympicPark. Built for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games that were held in Atlanta, the park is the cornerstone of downtown Atlanta, on which many cultural attractions rest. We opted to visit the CNN Center, where we did a behind-the-scenes tour. The tour was rather generic, but as an avid viewer of CNN, I found it to be very interesting. We saw the control room, the enormous CNN newsroom, and then the live sets of CNN and HLN. It was pretty cool seeing Suzanne Malveaux broadcasting live, about 25 feet in front of me, and watching the live feed of the broadcast off to the side at the same time. The studio is massive, and as it is the most recently remodeled of CNN’s studios, it hosts all of the special election coverage. For the primary elections, CNN flies Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, and the rest of the New York and Washington D.C.-based crew into Atlanta to film the special events. Seeing how massive the studio is, it makes a lot of sense. Overall, in addition to CNN and HLN, the Atlanta center also broadcasts CNN International, CNN Espanol, and CNN Radio. Random fact: it is also home to the largest free-standing escalator in the world!

April 2, 2012 - Standing in front of the largest free-standing escalator in the world. CNN Center, Atlanta, GA.

April 2, 2012 - Famous fountains at Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta, GA.

Another walk across the famous fountains in Centennial Park, and we were on the road again – next stop South Carolina, my 48^th state! We took another photo at the border, and then headed into Greenville, where Mary Grace did her undergrad. A native South Carolinian, she showed me around downtown and introduced me to a couple of friends living in the area. We had a fun night at a local restaurant/microbrewery and then at a sports bar, where we caught part of the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship game, which Kentucky ultimately won.

April 2, 2012 - Welcome to South Carolina! State 48!

Yesterday morning it was time to say goodbye to Mary Grace. I thanked her for all her help and lovely hosting, and then switched into my rental car at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. Another 45 minutes later, I crossed the border into North Carolina, my 49^th state! After the obligatory mini-tripod timed self portrait off the hood of the car photo, I continued into Asheville, NC. Referred to lovingly by all who have ever been there, it was not hard to see why once I got into town. Asheville is the largest city in western North Carolina, and it is completely surrounded by mountains. An artist colony with a strong hippie vibe, it reminded me of Sedona, AZ, and is nicknamed the San Francisco of the east. As it turned out, one of Mary Grace’s friends I met in Greenville the night before is from Asheville, and he highly recommended a restaurant to visit as soon as I got into town. Thus, as soon as I parked the car I booked it for the Tupelo HoneyCafé on College Street, helped myself to a spot at the kitchen bar, and then proceeded to enjoy the best combination tomato soup and grilled cheese I have ever encountered. A fleshy vegetable broth with some kick enhanced the flavor, and the meal came with a biscuit with homemade jelly and honey. Simply phenomenal, and phenomenally simple.

April 3, 2012 - Welcome to North Carolina! State 49!

April 3, 2012 - Beautiful downtown Asheville, NC. 

April 3, 2012 - Life is good at the Tupelo Honey Cafe, Asheville, NC.

After lunch I walked around downtown for a little while, took some photos, and then decided that my last 30 mins would be best spent taking a few pictures at the grounds of the Biltmore Estate. I took the 10 min drive over to the estate, where to my disappointment I found out that tickets were required just to enter the grounds. At the same time, I noticed some rapidly approaching ominous clouds, and found out that a severe thunderstorm warning was declared for Asheville. I took a couple quick photos at the gate and then booked it out of town. Unfortunately I still got clipped by the storm, which came in fast and furious, but had blue skies ahead of me and after about 20 mins of slow travel due to torrential downpours I cleared the storm for good. Not shortly thereafter I crossed the Blue Mountains I-26 gap into Tennessee.

April 3, 2012 - Welcome to Tennessee!

April 3, 2012 - TN scenic overlook.

April 3, 2012 - Welcome to Virginia! 

Having been to TN a couple of times before (as mentioned above), I did a flyby welcome sign photo, took a couple pictures at a scenic overlook, and generally just made my way through the state. After an hour or so I crossed into Virginia, another state I have visited many times. As I entered the state I hit another round of powerful thunderstorms, and intentionally slowed my pace to try and let them cross the highway ahead of me. I ended up lucking out – I got caught in some heavy rain, but the lightning and hail all passed over the interstate ahead of me by a small margin. A little while later, I made one final turn north, and shortly thereafter entered the East RiverMountain Tunnel. When I got out, the first thing I saw was the welcome sign to West Virgina.

I put on my emergency lights, pulled the car onto the shoulder of the interstate, noted the time, and took a deep breath. 5:39pm. April 3, 2012. All 50 states.

April 3, 2012 - At 5:39pm Eastern Time, I made it to West Virginia, my 50th and final state.

I took a quick picture at the welcome sign holding up a sign I made with a big ‘50’ on it, and you can tell that the smile was about as natural as they come. Setting difficult goals, working your ass off for years, and finding a way to somehow accomplish them is powerful stuff. It produces a great feeling of real happiness, and causes great reflection too. I know a few people who have been to all 50 states. I know even fewer who have been to all seven continents. Most of them are in their 60’s… or 70’s… or 80’s… and of those who are young, most of their parents took them on annual cross-country road trips when they were children. But to do both, intentionally, without being forced into any of it, and without a penny being bankrolled for me, all at the age of 24? Ass-kicking pride, genuine accomplishment, and an enormous gratitude and thanks for all of those who have supported me in making this possible.

To conclude the trip, I drove another hour and a half into Charleston, WV, where I treated myself to a lovely Italian dinner. This morning I returned my rental car and ventured to the state capitol complex, where I found the West Virginia liberty bell replica (each state has one – I have been known to collect photos of these too), took some photos inside the rotunda, and then walked over to the Governor’s Mansion. A three mile walk back along the Kanawha River into downtown, and my trip was complete. I headed to Charleston’s Yeager Airport (CRW), and headed back to California by way of Chicago.

April 4, 2012 - West Virginia State Capitol, Charleston, WV.

All 50 states and all 7 continents, before age 25: check!