Forty-Nine Down and One to Go

On My Way to Visiting all 50 States

I never set out to see all 50 U.S. states, but when you grow up with a father who was afraid to fly you get a nice headstart. By the time I got to college, I had visited just about half, and as an adult, I’ve managed to get to many many more. And now, having just returned from a cruise to Alaska, I sit on the precipice of completing this auspicious accomplishment. And then there was one.

I was born in New York (1), and as a young child, we’d visit family in nearby states. I remember driving to Massachusetts (2) more than once and to get there you’d have to go through Connecticut (3) and Rhode Island (4). I even recall taking the train once and stopping along the way in both of those states. In fact, I’ve visited many U.S. states multiple times.

My aunt and uncle lived in Staten Island, and we’d often cross the bridge into New Jersey (5) to shop as there was no sales tax there. And as I mentioned, my father wouldn’t fly so I certainly remember driving to Florida at least a few times to visit family. From Long Island where we lived, that trip would take you through New Jersey, Deleware (6), Maryland (7), Virginia (8), North Carolina (9), South Carolina (10), Georgia (11), and then into Florida (12).

Before I turned eight, my grandparents moved to San Diego and we flew out to visit them in California (13). Before long we followed them out there for good, and my folks loved to go to Las Vegas so Nevada (14) was a regular stop for us. I have faint memories as well of my grandparents, who not long after we moved to San Diego decided to move to Florida, driving my sister and me from Florida to San Diego, and along the way we passed through Alabama (15), Mississippi (16), Louisiana (17), Texas (18), Arizona (19), and then back home to California.

When I was a teenager my father took my sister and me back to New York to visit family, more than once, and of course, we drove. One time I remember driving my dad’s Toyota Celica with my sister scrunching down in the hatchback area! We went through New Mexico (20), Texas, Oklahoma (21), Missouri (22), Illinois (23), Indiana (24), Ohio (25), Pennsylvania (26), and on into New York.

After college, my buddy Mike and I decided to head out on an epic journey to see a baseball game in all of the major league parks. While we didn’t make it to all of them, during that trip I added Washington D.C. to my list, along with Michigan (27), Iowa (28), Nebraska (29), Colorado (30), Utah (31), Vermont (32) and New Hampshire (33). Not long after that, I took a job in Chicago as a magazine editor and while I didn’t stay long during that time I drove up to Wisconsin (34) to see a Brewers game, flew to Wyoming (35) for a conference, and spent a few days in Cincinnati and had dinner just over the border in Kentucky (36). When I quit that job I drove myself back to San Jose and took a more southern route along I-70 specifically so I could stop in Kansas City to see a Royals game (got to see Bo Jackson play), and passed through Kansas (37) along the way home.

A co-worker of mine back in San Jose was from Oregon, and one weekend we decided to drive up to visit friends in Seattle, Washington (38) and Lake Oswego, Oregon (39).

In 1994, after getting married, my lovely bride Leslie and I moved to Phoenix. She was a top performer at her company, and early on won us a free trip to the Grand Wailea on Maui in Hawaii (40). We fell in love with Hawaii and have been back several times. We also traveled to Texarkana, Arkansas (41) a few times to visit some of her family. In the late 90s I took a job in Atlanta, and though we didn’t stay long we did take a few trips to nearby states including Chatanooga, Tennessee (42).

After moving back to Arizona I had a job at a bank with its headquarters in South Dakota (43) and I had the chance to take a private jet one time to the main office in Sioux Falls. I went to a conference one time in Boston and Leslie came with me. After the conference, we stayed on a few days and drove up to Maine (44) specifically to add it to the list and also see a lighthouse and eat a lobster roll. By now I figured I was getting close to seeing all 50 and a little side trip was an easy way to add to the total.

A few years ago I met my college buddies in Boise, Idaho (45) to see our alma mater play football against Boise State. Last fall, specifically to get more states under my belt, Leslie agreed to take a trip with me to tick off three more. Our kid Ber flew in from Europe to meet us in Minnesota (46), we drove up to North Dakota (47), then into South Dakota and up into Montana (48) before heading down to Yellowstone for a visit. Then, with just two more states to go Leslie agreed to accompany me on a cruise to Alaska (49) and we just returned from that trip yesterday.

If you are paying attention, you now know that the only state I have not visited yet is West Virginia. It seems kind of random because it is. If I want to complete this silly mission I have to find my way to West Virginia sometime. I have no interest in it other than to tick off number 50, so we’ll figure something out to make it worth our while. I mean, I’m sure it’s beautiful there what with the Appalachians, the mountaintop removal and moonshine and all.

Leslie has never been to D.C., so I think our plan will be to visit the nation’s capital and see the sights, then maybe rent a car and drive 90 minutes to Harpers Ferry to see the site of John Brown’s failed slave revolt and bada bing I’ll check off number 50. All I have to do now is stay alive long enough to make it there. If I do, I suspect my eventual obituary will lead with something like “Len Gutman, who visited all 50 U.S. states, died this week…” So I’ve got that going for me.