2019 Travel Plans

Let's Review the past year first:
-April- South Padre Island/ Nuevo Progreso, Mexico

May- Epic New England- Vermont-NYC-Long Island Sound,CT-Newport, RI-Cape Cod-Boston

July- Midwest: Minneapolis- Door County, WI- Lake Superior, MI- Iowa

September- Washington DC

October- Denver- Rocky Mtn NP- Scottsbluff, NE
Detroit/Windsor, Ontario

I entered the year with only 42 states with significant experiences but shored up Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and finally Nebraska.  That takes me up to 49 states in which I have stopped at a significant tourist attraction.  Hawaii is the only one missing and should be completed by 2021 when I finish the race states.

Now on to 2019:

Winter:
Miami/Florida Keys in either January or February depending on the temps.  I'll just make a cameo in Key West.  The race there is still a NO.  Miami also has a half marathon in late January and I am also leaning against that one.

March:
Philadelphia/Wilmington, Delaware.
I can do this one without missing any time at work.  This time, I will be racing in Wilmington and just hit a couple highlights in Philly such as the Liberty Bell and the Rocky Statue.

April-
Salisbury, Maryland or Newport, Rhode Island- Choose 1 of 2.
I prefer the former and this one would include a road trip through Delmarva plus Virginia and Maryland's Chesapeake region.  I will be repeating a small portion of last month's trip but if I miss out on something in Philly, I can hit it again.

As for Newport, I was just there last year too.  I'd fly to Boston and try to get on a tour of Fenway Park.  The advantage here is that it is quicker and would only require 1 or 2 days off work.

Summer-
South Dakota, Utah or Pacific Northwest.  Choose 1 of 3 and it will be epic.
South Dakota- Mt. Rushmore, Badlands NP plus Regina, Sasketchewan and a corner of Manitoba.  This adds 2 more to my Century Club tally.  I prefer this one but I'll do the other 2 in the future.

Utah- Race in Cottonwood and tour some of the Mighty 5 National Parks

Pacific Northwest- Race RnR Seattle.  Road trip includes Cannon Beach, Mt. Hood, Mt. Ranier and Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Late Summer/Fall- Choose 2 of 4:
Connecticut- There is a race on the Long Island Sound.  I will not do this if I also run Newport, RI in April.  I'll go back to NYC for another day or two to see City Island in the Bronx and the Empire State Building.

Iowa- Cedar Rapids or Des Moines race.  I will fly into Chicago and take 2 days to tour there. Cedar Rapids is in September and Des Moine is in October.  If I choose the former, I could swing a trip home for my birthday.

New Jersey-The race is in Jersey City in mid-September and will definitely allow me to swing a birthday trip home similar to DC last year.

Rhode Island- Again, the target is Newport in October.  Someday I will race here but not if I go to  Connecticut over the summer.

As for 2020 and beyond, I will go more international.