The "I Heart America" Reunion Tour

I am a list-maker…to-do lists, packing lists, shopping lists…and “bucket” lists, my favorite list of all.  One item on THE LIFE BUCKET LIST (as opposed to other, more specified bucket lists—there is a hierarchy) is to see all 50 states.  As of this spring, I had only 17 states left to accomplish this goal. Between an adventurous family who enjoys a good drive and a career that has allowed me to travel, I’ve seen beautiful places across our country.  

Obviously, the only logical thing to do was to list all remaining "to be seen" states by region and plan road trips to check as many off as possible this summer.  I did, on the back of a crumpled article while flying home from Tanzania.

And so the “I Heart America” Reunion Tour 2012 was born.

I enlisted the help of five extra-special women to accompany me on these mad dashes across our great nation: (in alphabetical order) Alee, Chelsea, Jennifer, Melanie, and Stephanie. 

Chelsea, Jennifer, and Melanie are friends I met in my first few months in Fort Worth.  Since then, we have walked alongside one another as we navigate career moves, relationships, health scares, and late night Sonic runs.  Driving to Bismarck and back in four days seemed like an excellent way to catch up on the past year since we had all been together.

BY THE NUMBERS:

4 days

2750 miles

7 states*

14 mix cds with 16.9 hours of music

4 women, “75% single”

$273 total^

*Texas, Oklahoma, and Iowa, plus new states for Julia: Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

^Includes 3 meals a day plus miscellaneous ice cream sundaes in Nebraska/popcorn balls at the Corn Palace/chocolate truffle sampling in Keystone, SD.  Also…hotels, gas, tolls, and entertainment/monuments.)

Let the adventure begin!