We drove from Arizona to New Mexico, stopping first in Las Cruces, NM. The only thing that was high on our New Mexico list was White Sands National Park (like any good Boyz II Men fans). Las Cruces is the closest decent size city, so we booked a room at the Hotel Encanto Las Cruces. The hotel leaned heavily into the Spanish colonial/cross theme of the area.

One of the few specific requests The Husband made during this part of the trip was to stop in Tombstone, AZ. Since I had just learned on the Alaska cruise that Wyatt Earp was a real person, I had no idea what to expect. Turns out, I wouldn't have imagined it correctly anyway. For those who are western-history-ignorant such as myself, Tombstone is a silver-mining town that is famous because of an 1881 gunfight at the O.K.

Loews Hotels have been one of our favorite chains since we started staying at the Don CeSar in St. Pete, back when it was a Loews hotel. I would always watch the hotel channel that shows the different properties, and the Ventana Canyon Resort looked amazing. So when we were planning the Arizona part of our 50 state travels, I knew we would stay there.

We flew from Seattle to Phoenix to kick off state 43, Arizona. We planned the entire Arizona trip around two things, and eating at Pizzeria Bianco was number one. Chris Bianco and his pizza are consistently winning awards, from Top 50 Pizza to James Beard. We also use Bianco tomatoes for everything, so we knew we had to eat here. …

We had a lot of factors to consider while planning how to see state 42, Alaska. We wanted a cruise that didn't begin or end in Alaska, was small enough to use the Inside Passage (so The Husband was less likely to get seasick), and had significantly more adults than children. We decided on the Holland America Noordam seven-day Alaska Inside Passage cruise in a balcony room.

Deciding where and how to go to Alaska was the hardest part of planning our fifty-state tour (thankfully we've already been to Hawaii). Alaska is far, remote, and almost impossible for my city brain to comprehend. We decided a cruise was the best option. The cruise we ended up booking left out of Vancouver, BC, which is a city we absolutely love.

Every time we visited Seattle, we talked about taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island. And every time, it got pushed aside for some other fabulous Seattle activity. But on our last trip, we finally decided enough was enough and we took a day trip to Bainbridge Island. The ferry runs from downtown Seattle's Colman Dock every hour or so during the day.

After leaving the beauty of Yellowstone, we decided to make Bozeman, Montana, our final stop in that leg of the trip. We wanted to cross Montana off the list (state 41!), and The Husband has a cousin in Bozeman he hadn't seen in almost two decades. The drive to Bozeman goes through Gardiner, Montana, where the Roosevelt Arch welcomes visitors to the north entrance of Yellowstone.

Yellowstone National Park begins a few miles north of the end of Grand Teton National Park. Looking at a map now, it seems obvious, but until we were planning this trip, we had no idea Grand Teton was in the same ecosystem. Access to Yellowstone is via a single road shaped like a figure-eight, with entrances from each direction. Each side of the loops had something worth seeing.

When I was in sixth grade, I did a tourism project on the state of Wyoming. At the ripe old age of ten, I couldn't fathom traveling to a place with more campsites than hotels. But I also became fascinated by Old Faithful. When The Husband and I were planning out our trips to finish the fifty states, Yellowstone was the obvious stop in Wyoming (state 40).

To include Idaho in our trip, we decided to drive from Salt Lake City to Idaho Falls, Idaho, spend a night, then continue on to Jackson, WY. Our first stop was the Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot, ID. Yes, it's literally a museum where you learn about the history of the potato and Idaho's potato industry. And there's the Potato Station Cafe, where you can order all kinds of potatoes!

We flew from Portland to Salt Lake City, Utah, to continue on our quest to visit all 50 states. After grabbing a rental car, we headed to Legend's Sports Pub so The Husband could watch the Tottenham Hotspurs match. We had lunch while we were there and it was pretty good for a sports bar. After the match, we stopped at my most anticipated spot, the Salt Lake City public library.

One of the best parts of our trip to Oregon last September was seeing so much nature. Living in Florida, I think we forget what it's like to see waterfalls, lush green forests, and moody beaches made for jackets instead of bathing suits. Silver Falls State Park is home to the Trail of Ten Falls, in Silverton, OR. The eight-mile circuitous hike takes you to ten different waterfalls, many of which you can walk behind.

While we could have easily stayed busy the whole week we were in Portland, OR, we decided to rent a car and take a road trip for a few days. Day 1 I took an early Uber to the airport to get a rental car, then headed back to our hotel to pick up The Husband, The Best Friend, and Her Wife.