"What was your favorite part?" - a state by state answer

"What was your favorite part?" is an understandably common question after coming home from a six months road trip. But it's also very hard for me to answer. Other than the honest, but cheesy general answers like "Spending time with Sandra", "Visiting National Park and Presidential Libraries" or "The Freedom of Life on the Road", how can you pick just one thing when you just had such a potpourri of experiences?

But I understand the need to choose favorites, nobody has the time or patience to hear about everything we did each and every day, so I picked one place, event or experience from each of the 22 states we visited this year. They are not necessarily my favorite places overall and definitely not my favorite pictures, but some of my favorite memories from this past trip:

Nevada
We saw "Hamilton" in Las Vegas and it instantly became our favorite musical.
Now we finally know what all the fuss is about. We will see this again!

Utah
Our surprise visit at the Olympic Park in Park City.
I was a tour guide at the Olympic Park in Munich,
but compared to our tour guide here, I was terrible.

Wyoming
We became part of the Gunslinger show in Cheyenne.
Definitely not the best show I have ever seen,
but so glad they did not hang me.

Nebraska
Fort Robinson State Park had it all:
Interesting history, a free rodeo, a fun cookout, and and
a private horseback ride into the mountains

South Dakota
Mount Rushmore - yes, it's 'only' four heads carved in stone,
but we love any ranger tour, talk or walk at any National Park Service site,
and we got to join six programs here!

Iowa
Grotto of the Redemption - I am still in awe that in the middle of rural Iowa
there is this gem of a chapel. Actually millions of gems since every square inch of this
huge complex, inside and out, is covered with gems, rocks, fossils and shells.

Illinois
By pure persistence and a lucky coincidence we got into the
sold out show of "1776" at the historic Old State House.
What a treat for us hobby nerds of American history!

Indiana
Indianapolis Motor Speedway - we thought we were not interested in auto racing,
but the tour of the Indi 500 track was fascinating!

Kentucky
Churchill Downs - great museum and behind the scenes tours
of the home of the Kentucky Derby 

Ohio
Rutherford B. Hayes Home and Museum at Spiegel Grove in Fremont.
Coincidentally meeting our long lost cousin Christie Weininger  

West Virginia
The Palace of Gold in New Vrindaban is part of a still active community of Hare Krishnas.
It is both beautiful and run down; it is also very welcoming and eerie at the same time.

Pennsylvania
Falling Waters - one of five Frank Llyod Wright buildings we saw on this tour.
Our experience of getting on a tour, even though they were sold out for days,
is proof that being lucky and persistent beats good planning any day.

Washington DC
We were so impressed how well organized the public tours at the Capitol were, until they told us we had
to go  see our representative to see the house and senate chambers. Turns out the visit at Senator's Hirono's
office and the underground tram ride back to the capitol was the highlight of the whole experience. 

Delaware
We thoroughly enjoyed all the DuPont sites (Hagley, Longwood Gardens, Winterthur and Nemours Estate),
we are also constantly amazed by the quality of the (often volunteer) tour guides at many historic sites,
but our private tour with Duncan at Winterthur was Simply the Best! 

Wisconsin
We got to tour the SC Johnson company headquarters in Racine. This great tour brings alive the history
of the company, the story of its founders and the architecture by Frank Llyod Wright.

Michigan
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Mackinac Island might be our favorite place in Michigan,
but the surreal experience of meeting these sword fighters on our hike through the dunes and them
giving us a lesson in their medieval German sword fighting techniques was really unique. 

Ontario
African Safari Park in Hamilton. We are not the only ones enjoying Joy, our RV.
The monkeys at this safari park used it as a jungle gym and caused
way more amusement than damage.

Missouri
after a day of touring all the Mark Twain sites in Hannibal,
what's better than meeting the man himself and hear him talk
about himself, politics and life in general.

Kansas
We have been to 10 state capitols on this trip alone. The one in Topeka is our favorite!
In all the other ones we looked up the dome and wished we could go up. Here they let us.
The stairs to get to the top reminded me of Hogwarts and the view from the top was amazing! 

Arkansas
Lost Valley at Buffalo National River. I love adventures that feel dangerous, but are actually really safe.
Spelunking in the Lost Valley to the Eden Falls inside a cave was just exciting enough to be fun,
but not too scary to still enjoy it.

Texas
The Alamo - so nice that we finally know what we are supposed to remember!
That and the Riverwalk made San Antonio our favorite city in Texas.

Hawaii
Technically not on our road trip, but we did spend 6 months in Hawaii this year.
My favorite experience was hiking to the lava flow wit my dad in February, when that was still safe..

Some really awesome things did not make it on the list, such as seeing our niece play at the Ultimate Frisbee World Championships in Cincinnati, several National Parks, any of the Presidential Libraries or our favorite disc golf course, great concerts like Def Leopard or Greenfield Village, our favorite museum in the world! But I guess rather than complaining that I could not all fit it in this list, we should be grateful we got to enjoy so many experiences on our trip. 

Life is good.