Dutchin Family 14 State Tour

We have completed our road trips for the summer and the final counts are in!

Number of States:  14

Miles traveled:  7000 (approx.)

Days traveled:  38

Family and friends visited:  159

The boys traveled like little champs and we had a blast seeing so many people and spending time as a family.  One of our challenges as we approached each new state was to see if we could get a picture of the state sign.  Some were easier than others and a couple were impossible to navigate.  We now judge states by the quality of sign, and how accessible it is for picture taking.  Here is a quick look at our trip from the state borders:

Texas behind us!

 Samuel took the picture.  Cool sign and lots of space for picture taking.

Busy highway near Phoenix - impossible! 

No welcome sign at the border either. 

Arizona = fail.

 This one was a bit risky but we got it.

 We felt a bit colder taking this one!

 Nothing to welcome us to Washington on the 205 bridge

(we were heading to Camas) but Oregon sure has nice manners.

First state on our second road trip.

 This is a big one! 

We actually took this on our way home since the sign at the western border was under the freeway overpass and impossible to get.

 We took the southern route through Wyoming, South Dakota, and

Minnesota to get to Wisconsin.

 Both boys sleeping for this one which was too bad because both Wyoming and South Dakota earned big marks for their easy access to their great signs.

 

  We went through southern Minnesota late at night to get

to Wisconsin - no picture then but we got it later.

Wisconsin earns stars for the best sign and easiest access!

We crossed into Illinois to spend an afternoon in Chicago.  Pretty busy on the freeway but we took the risk and got the shot.

 After time in Wisconsin we headed back to Minnesota to spend time at the lake, then took the northern route through North Dakota to get home.

 North Dakota's eastern border earned low points but they did okay when we turned around to see the western side...just couldn't get to it.

Sadly my home state of Washington earned low marks at the I-90 border.  It's middle of the freeway location gave us no access and there was nowhere to stop.  Oh well...the state makes up for it with good beer and coffee, gorgeous mountains, and fresh produce!

We put together a puzzle at Grandma Linda's to show the states we went to this summer. It has been quite the summer and we now look forward to getting settled in Washington and spending a bit less time in the car.