Not all who wander are lost

My Kindle goes on every travel and always has its picture made with the scenery.  

Our ever-evolving travel wall in our living room.
 It features snapshots from all of our travels

The fluke shot from our first Alaska trip

The White House taken from the lawn in 1994

I have had a severe case of wanderlust since I got my driver's license. I would just get in the car and drive. I never traveled too far, I mean, these were the days before GPS and cell phones...I detested using a road map, so I just mainly traveled to places I had been with my parents.  Then I found a way to not only pay for my new car and car insurance, but I also found a way to travel and get paid for it!  I worked for Cracker Barrel and they were looking for people that worked in the restaurant that would travel to new store openings and train new staff.  The hours were long, but the reward was that I got to see the good ole USA.


All the while, I was dating this guy, who was the son of retired Air Force veterans...now he came along when they were older in life and had already traveled the world and were very content to stay in little Mayfield, KY.  He didn't know it yet, but he had wanderlust too.  We started taking day trips.  Then we married and the travel bug really bit us.....we would wake  up early on a day off and say, "let's go to Tennessee." We got a few days off and we would wake up and say, "Let's go to Florida".

PNC Park in Pittsburgh

Once my in-laws had no kids at home they discovered cruising and finally convinced us to go with them.  We had our little Hannah then, but they said they would babysit while we toured the island so in September 1998 the love of cruising was born. Our first cruise took us to The Bahamas...and it was just the beginning.  We have discovered that cruising can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it.  Since we found out how to do it cheap we have managed to take at least one cruise a year for about 20 years now.  It was perfect for us because you see many places but unpack once.

Places we have seen thanks to a cruise:
The Bahamas (Half Moon Cay, Nassau, and Freeport)
Aruba
Curacao
Turks & Caicos
Martinique (Port a Prince)
Puerto Rico (San Juan, El Yunque)
Barbados (Bathsheba)
Mexico (Progresso, Merida, and Cozumel)
Honduras (Mahogany Bay and Roatan)
Key West
Grand Cayman (Georgetown)
US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas and St. John)
Sint Maarten/St. Maarten/St. Martin
Belize (Mahogany Bay)
Jamaica (Ocho Rios)
Cuba (Havana)
Canada (British Columbia, Yukon)

From the WP&YR in Canada between Skagway and Whitehorse

Washington (Seattle)
and my all time favorite.......Alaska (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm and interior tour to Denali, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Wasilla, North Pole, and Tok).  We love this one so much, we have been there 3 times.  For me, it was 28 days, my husband is only about 19 days.


Other places we have visited by land or plane:
New Mexico (Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Raton, and Santa Fe)
Colorado (Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and Denver---I have also been to Estes Park, Cripple Creek, and Central City)
Kansas (Topeka, Wichita and Kansas City)
Missouri (St Louis, Mansfield, Branson, Springfield and Cape Girardeau)
Illinois-mainly southern part (I also worked in Chicago with Cracker Barrel)
Indiana (Evansville to Indy---We packed to move to Terre Haute and didn't go at the last second)
Kentucky-all over

Michigan
Ohio (Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Mason---I also worked in Lima)
New York
Pennsylvania
Virginia (Virginia Beach, Richmond, Newport News, Williamsburg and Hampton Roads---I lived in Newport News with Cracker Barrel in 1994 and we went back for John's work in 2016)
North Carolina (mainly driving through)
South Carolina (Charleston and Hilton Head)
Georgia (up the "beautiful" I-75, stopped at some Chick fil a's and a few bookstores)
Florida (all over except the panhandle---I lived in Jacksonville with Cracker Barrel)
Alabama (Huntsville to Mobile)
Mississippi (Tupelo to Starkville)

The John Hopkins Glacier
GBNP&R

Louisiana (Baton Rouge---made this trip in 24 hours)
Texas (from Amarillo to Houston to Texarkana---I lived in Denton and Austin with Cracker Barrel)
Oklahoma I-40 all the way (maybe I-44 too because I remember a McDonald's over the interstate)
Canada (Ontario)

Pike's Peak 1998

Many visits to theme parts (many of these multiple times):
Walt Disney World
Universal Studios Florida
Six Flags (a few different ones)
Busch Gardens
Sea World Orlando (in addition I have been to San Antonio and the one that used to be in Ohio in Cuyahoga Falls)
Silver Dollar City
Magic Springs
Holiday World

Washington Monument

Garden of the Gods in Colorado

I am not sure where the next adventure will  take us, but I hope we have inspired you to see the world, from the monuments in your hometown to the mountains and glaciers of Alaska.

Hanging with Presidents

Michelle's faves
1. Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve
2. Denali National Park
3.  Havana, Cuba
4.  Maid of the Mist, Niagara Falls, NY
5.  Universal Studios Florida/Walt Disney World
6.   Forbidden Beach, Bathsheba, Barbados
7.  Pike's Peak, Manitou Springs, Colorado
8.  Washington, DC
9.  Phillipsburg, St. Maartin
10.  Maegan's Bay, St. Thomas

In Havana

War Memorial on the road to Denali

Hall of Presidents at WDW

My favorite spot on the planet, the Marjorie Glacier
Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve