Quest

Well, Chris said this was going to be a repository for family memories, and I spend about 6 hours each Mon/Fri on airplanes so I have time to write.

Over the course of many years I have had a personal Quest. I have wanted to step foot in every state in the nation. My parents would take us kids to visit an old Army buddy of my Dad's and we got to see Texas, Illinois, Ohio. I think that's where I got the bug. Also there was the memorable "trip out West" Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. Then when I was asked to serve in the US Army I got to see such notable states as South Carolina, New Jersey, New York, California, Washington, and Oregon. The Army also showed me the State of FEAR!!

My personal Quest took on another dimension when Karen and I started our joint Quest or T.I.E.S., (Together In Each State). Along with this Quest came rules....on my Quest I just had to spend some time in the start. Go to the bathroom, and leave a little of myself. With T.I.E.S. the visit to the state had to have a true meaning, and a minimum one night stay. As our trophy we would search for a lapel type pin from the state and put the pins in a folder marking the city we stayed in and the date.

We have had some real adventures getting states. After Dan's wedding we went to Utah, Lin and Tom were there. We made a "Death and Destruction" weekend trip to Dallas, and Oklahoma City to see the Kennedy assassination site, and the Federal building. On a rainy weekend in NC we decided to go to Connecticut. Carolyn was a little surprised when she called and we told her we went to Connecticut for dinner. We did a Halloween weekend walking the graveyards in Salem, MA and saw the House of Seven Gables. We got Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

Our Southern weekend trips took us to FL, SC, GA, AL, MS, LA, TN, and many civil War sites. Trips to Madison offered an opportunity to get an unusual state....Illinois. We lived in WI for 40 years but never spent a night together in Illinois. The people that have been with us on our Quest the most, although they didn't know it, are Lin and Tom. We have been together in NE, IN, WI, TN, NC, NV, UT, and VA.

To date my personal Quest has only a few states left, Kansas west of the Mississippi and Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire East. Alaska and Hawaii off shore.

T.I.E.S. has 38 states. We lack the elusive Alaska, and Hawaii. West of the Big Miss. are NM, CO, KS, ND, OR, WA, and ID. East of Ole Man River, ME, NH, and VT.

When, and if, we ever retire we have a lot of booked frequent flyer miles to burn for our Quest. I guess to be Politically Correct with regards to our age we should call it a "Bucket List", but Quest sounds so much more Don Quixote of us.

So when people ask "Would you like to see Paris?", I usually answer "Hell, I haven't seen Kansas yet!"

Get you list started.