Over the years, I have traveled to quite a few states, and I have many more ideas on my travel bucket list as well. Here are some of the states that I have travelled to: Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Utah, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington D.C., Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, and West Virginia. After counting them, it looks like I have been to almost half of the United States! How exciting!
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Arizona
When we took our 10 day Road Trip as a family, Arizona was one of the states that we drove through. We started our trip in Phoenix and then traveled to Sedona. After that, we visited the Grand Canyon National Park. Then, we spent a few days in Page and checked out Horseshoe Bend and the Glen Canyon Dam, along with Lake Powell.
That was a super fun trip. Click here to see more details!
California
We have been to Cali many times over the years. California is truly one of my favorite states to visit! Having family live in Cali gives us an extra excuse to go to this gorgeous state, lol.
In San Francisco, we have visited the San Francisco Zoo, Pier 39, the Golden Gate National Park, and Muir Woods (highly recommend!). When we drove a little south of San Francisco, we visited the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. We have also gone to California’s Great America in Santa Clara! That was a super fun Christmas adventure! As part of our 10 Day Road Trip, we traveled to Old Town Auburn, which is in the Sacramento area. Most recently, we spent a day at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. We really enjoyed that one.
When the kids were younger, we went to Disneyland and Cars Land in Anaheim, just outside of LA. Later, we travelled to Hollywood, where we went to the Hollywood Wax Museum, Beverly Hills and Universal Studios – Hollywood. On that trip, we also went to the Santa Monica Pier, which was pretty neat.
Throughout the years, we have also traveled to San Diego many times. We have visited the San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park (LOVE the architecture!), the San Diego Safari Zoo (one of my favorite zoos!), Sea World and Old Town Temecula. In addition to this, we have gone to Seaport Village, Cabrillo National Monument, and Joshua Tree (LOVE their desert trees! They are so unique!). I do have to say though, that my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE place to visit in the San Diego area is La Jolla Cove. The water is GORGEOUS!
Colorado
When we went to Colorado this past fall, we stayed in Denver for a few days. While there, we visited with family, checked out the Museum of Illusions, the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Mint. IN addition to this, we also went to the Denver Botanic Gardens (which I enjoyed). Then, we traveled to Glenwood Springs by train via the California Zephyr. We HIGHLY recommend taking a train ride. That was definitely the first of many to come!
Indiana
I’ve gone to a million places in Indiana, but here are some highlights: I love visiting state parks, so we have visited the Brown County State Park, Spring Mill State Park, Pokagon State Park, Turkey Run State Park and Hardin Ridge. In addition to this, we took the kids to the Indianapolis Zoo and the Fort Wayne Zoo, both are super nice! About 10 years ago, we travelled to Southern Indiana to Santa Claus and had fun at the Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari theme park. Also, this past summer, we followed the “Garfield Trail” and it led us to the Garfield museum in Fairmount. It’s a tiny museum, but it was super neat to see where Garfield was “born”.
Utah
We’ve only been to two main places in Utah, but they were sooooo gorgeous that we WILL be RETURNING some day! The mountains are BEAUTIFUL! As part of our 10 Day Road Trip, we traveled to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. I actually enjoyed Bryce Canyon more than the Grand Canyon! Really, I think I liked it so much because the rock formations all look like castles. Because of how beautiful it is, we would love to come back and spend an entire week exploring Zion National Park.
Michigan
Throughout the years, we have traveled to Michigan multiple times. We LOVE beaches and we discovered that both Lake Michigan and Lake Huron have AMAZING waters. (We have heard that the upper peninsula is even better, so that is on our bucket list.) Some of the places we have been in Michigan are: Mackinac Island, St. Ignace, Charlevoix, Traverse City and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore. Over the years, we have also visited beaches at St. Joseph (our favorite), Holland, South Haven, Marble Head Light House, and Mission Point Lighthouse. In addition to this, we have checked out the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, and the Detroit Zoo.
Ohio
In Ohio, we have been to the theme parks, Cedar Point and Kings Island and the ZOOs in Columbus, Toledo, and Cincinnati. Our favorite place in Ohio was Hocking Hills State Park. This was a mini glimpse of being hidden in the mountains. A fun tip: We did not have cell phone service that entire trip until we were high up in a Rock Cave!
Illinois
For one of Ashley’s birthday’s, I took her and a friend to Six Flags – Great America and the Gurney Mills Mall. That was a super fun trip. I accidentally booked our (FREE with points) hotel on the Chicago Bears Training Center grounds. It was super cool because the Bears actually stayed at the hotel while we were there, and the girls got their pictures taken with some of them. They even got autographs! That was a fun surprise.
Wisconsin
On our way to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, we stopped at the Wisconsin Dells. That is such a cute tourist town! Side note: They have the BEST macaroni and cheese!
Minnesota
While we were in Minnesota to visit the Mayo Clinic, we spent some time exploring the area a little bit. We found and visited the Forestville State Park Mystery Cave and we went horseback riding! In addition to this, we discovered an adorable tourist town about 45 minutes south of Rochester and we went kayaking down the Root River! The water was so clear and beautiful!
Kentucky
Over the years, we have driven through Kentucky several times. But we have also made a few trips to check out the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter and later the Newport Aquarium. The Ark is MASSIVE! We highly recommend spending a full day at the Creation Museum and then the next day visiting the Ark. There were two main things that stood out to me. One, the door to the Ark is HUGE! And two, they had a full blown garden inside the boat! I LOVED that part.
Tennessee
Tennessee is an amazing state to visit!! We have traveled to Nashville a few times. On one of the trips, we stayed at a Hyatt (FREE with points) and a different time, we stayed at the Gaylord Resort and checked out the ICE! winter special. We LOVED the resort! The indoor botanical gardens made us feel like we were in a completely different region of the country. In addition to this, we checked out the Dukes of Hazard museum, the Grand Ole Opry and the mall. Then, we went downtown Nashville and ate at the Wildhorse Saloon, where we learned how to country line dance! (Super fun!)
On another trip to Tennessee, I took the kids and our sugar babies to the Great Smoky Mountains. We stayed at a Hyatt in Knoxville (FREE with points) and checked out the city. Then, we drove down to Pigeon Forge where we went through the Titanic Museum and spent the rest of the day at The Island. Our sugar bears enjoyed the Ferris Wheel!
Florida
We have had sooooo much fun in Florida over the years! We LOVE visiting the Sunshine State! While in Orlando, we have gone to Walt Disney World. One year, we took a Christmas trip and stayed at a Hyatt Resort (FREE with points) in Bonita Springs. We thoroughly enjoyed that trip; taking a free ferry ride to their private island, and swimming in their many pools. Another time, we traveled to Tampa and went to Busch Gardens, the Tampa Zoo and Treasure Island. Ashley tried to get me to let her bring home a shark, but I informed her that they could stay in Florida, lol.
New York
A few years ago, we traveled to Niagara Falls, New York. This was also a fun trip! We stayed at a Hyatt (FREE with points) about a block from the Falls. Niagara has adorable tourist shops and the WATERFALL is AMAZING! It was definitely worth the trip. Some day, we would like to go back and explore the Canadian side of the Falls.
Washington D.C.
A while back, we took the kids on a trip to Washington D.C. This was truly one of our favorite vacations! We thoroughly enjoyed spending an entire week walking to all of the museums and monuments on the National Mall. We stayed at a Hyatt that was right on the National Mall. It was great because we did not have to pay for transportation. That trip was SUPER affordable because we used points to get almost FREE airplane tickets and COMPLETELY FREE hotels. The only cost was the food (which we actually learned was pricey in the D.C. area).
Nevada
Nevada was part of our 10 day Road Trip! We had so much fun trekking through this desert state. We stayed in Tonopah at the Mizpah Hotel and visited the Tonopah Historic Mining Park. After that, we drove on the Extraterrestrial Highway, past Area 51 all the way to Lake Tahoe, Incline Village. When we arrived at Lake Tahoe, we stayed at a Hyatt Resort (FREE with points) and really enjoyed the Lake that looked like an ocean in the mountains. The water was a clear blue hue and was so relaxing!
North Carolina
This was a super fun state because we went to visit my sister when she lived in Raleigh and in Jacksonville. She took us to museums and we spent time at the Beach!! We have plans to explore more of North Carolina some day. We actually plan to visit Asheville this month during spring break. We’ll see family and check out the Biltmore Estate.
Future Travel
I do have plans to travel to many other places within the U.S., and even farther outside of my gorgeous country. The sights I have already seen are so interesting that I cannot wait to go to some more places on my bucket list! I’ll share that list with you some time.
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What places have you traveled to? I would love to hear your stories! Please share in the comments below.