Several goals for this trip:
1. Family History Research in several places for maybe the last time there
2. Several national parks to continue to increase my NPS sites visited
3. Retake the photographs of some college campus signs that the earlier ones were 'less than ideal'
4. Golf with a friend in Indiana -- cancelled due to five days of rain
5. Check out apartments in some big cities to see if I want to move to a new town

MISSOURI: Springfield to try to find where the 1880's farm of Alfred Donley was located in the hope that his son-in-law, ancestor William Buhr and his second wife, daughter of Alfred, are buried on that farm. Also, I visited Kelly Greens Apartments about possibly moving there in October.

ARKANSAS: Only one stop in the state -- Tyler Bend Visitor Center for the Buffalo River National Park site

TENNESSEE: Only one stop in the state -- State Archives in Nashville to get a copy of my maternal grandfather's death certificate

KENTUCKY: Several stops in the state -- two national parks, one university, several counties historical societies or county courthouses, and the state archives. Had some success here with the family history research but encountered some closed historical societies.

WEST VIRGINIA: This was mainly a pass-thru state where I spent one night and drove on a highway I had never driven on before, that being between Charleston and Parkersburg

MARYLAND: This was simply a pass-thru state on the way to south central Pennsylvania. Did stop for gas along the interstate that goes through the beautiful terrain of the state's panhandle.

PENNSYLVANIA: A number of places to visit including two universities, a Toastmasters club, several places for family history research, and, some apartments in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh with the intention of possibly moving there in October. Turns out that Harrisburg is way more expensive for a place with a garage than their website states. That told me that, with having "run dry" the chances of finding new family history info in the state is near zero, it simply is not worth living in the state.

OHIO: I originally planned to visit Zanesville to try once more to find the obituary and any will/probate info for triple great grandfather Mathew Wilson but decided on the way there that I have already "run the place dry", plus, it was raining. I also originally planned to check out an apartment in Columbus but the Pennsylvania experience a couple days earlier made me decide that it is not worth moving to these eastern Midwest states for the purpose of more family history research. I did visit the Xenia area for one national park plus to once more try to find the gravestone of Thomas Melvin who died there 1890. Turns out that the cemetery office has his grave site as a Thomas Melvin who died in 1930. The office staff was surprised to learn this fact. Finally, I did some family research for the first time in Clermont county which is immediately east of Cincinnati and had some success. Garmin kept trying to route me way into Kentucky to get to the University of Cincinnati where I wanted to rephotograph their college campus sign. I gave up on getting to the college and went on into northern Kentucky.

INDIANA: I originally planned to met Cathy in her little southwestern town but her area was in day four of a seven-day-of-only-heavy-rain. The golf courses in the area would be soaked and have countless standing puddles.

ILLINOIS: Just one university to visit

MISSED VISITING:
--Fort Monroe and Prince William Forest ational parks in Virginia plus the various national park monuments/places in D.C. Also missed Ferrum College. These were missed because I decided to skip Virginia and D.C. altogether. The rain and the extra miles caused the decision.
--Tyrone Historical Society (Pennsylvania) which I was hoping would have family history info for Wilsons and Merediths has nothing before the year 1900. I lost about an entire day hanging around that area until that place opened. I should have contacted them before the trip began.
--Zanesville for one more opportunity to find that elusive obituary of triple great grandfather Mathew Wilson -- decided I have already made all attempts in previous trips
--Several historical societies that were closed the day I arrived: Muskingum County and Greene County and Clermont County in Ohio, Allen County and Campbell County in Kentucky.
--Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument near Xenia, Ohio.
--Golf with Cathy in southwestern Indiana -- cancelled due to days of heavy rain

OBSERVATIONS: Some observations made while traveling in this area:

• Trees from Clinton MO (which has three traffic lights that slow down the drive between Springfield and Kansas City) and south have started their spring blooming
• A home along highway 13 south of Clinton MO -- near Creighton MO -- had a mailbox shaped like a giant golf ball
• The terrain from a bit north of the MO-AR border and on to Harrison AR is quite hilly -- The Ozarks
• Along I-40 in Tennessee between Jackson and Nashville is exit 126 which is to Camp MacMorris, a camp I spent a weekend at when I was a Boy Scout Senior Patrol Leader. That first night was the coldest I have been in my life!
• Along I-40 in Tennessee between Jackson and Nashville an aqua blue pickup decided to run me off the road so he could pass other vehicles in the driving lane
• It rained on me most days during this trip, especially the last seven when I never saw sunshine.
• The hills in eastern Kentucky were very dotted with the white budding trees.
• Had to scrape thick ice on the car windshield before leaving Charleston WV. Frost on the trees until I got to Frostburg MD (how appropriate) in the Maryland panhandle.
• Got to visit the Now Hear This Toastmasters club in Carlisle PA. Big club, well organized meeting. They had already earned their ten possible DCP points.
• The drive on the narrow and winding highway north out of Carlisle PA to Bellefonte PA was hilly and had some great views over the valleys. It also was a smelly/stinky area. Farm animals presumably.
• When I woke up on March 31 in western Columbus Ohio, I was expecting to have the hotel breakfast then head on towards Xenia then the Cincinnati area. However, I was very dizzy and it would not dissapate. Had the hotel staff call 911 and they took me to nearby The Doctors Hospital which kept me for 31 hours running tests, mostly to ensure I was not having a stroke. Excellent staff but with over two dozen staffers from various departments attending to me it was the "Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth" situation and I am uncertain that I got the correct diagnosis -- vertigo. And, they failed to give me the prescribed prescription of meclizine (helps the dizziness feeling). Fortunately, they have a portal similar to St. Luke's that I could see all of my test results and staff notes. I copied it in case my KC doctor wants the info.
• Several of this historical societies I wanted to do family research at were closed -- they are open on only certain days of each week. My missing two days due to being in the hospital took me off my schedule. One historical society was closed for rennovations including new carpeting.
• The Kentucky State Archives in Frankfort was great. Much material there. I spent four hours there and could easily have spent four more hours. Some websites about the archives said there is limited parking there so I arrived nearly an hour early and got a parking space in the lot across the street from the archives. When it was time for the archives to open (and it was still raining), hardly
• Many of the two-lane highways in Illinois are flat and straight, quite different from states further east.
• I was able to find several documents/books/card-file-cards that backed up the info I already had from various websites that did not specify where they got the info.

The Bests:

1. Finding some family history research info for my first-ever research visits to Clermont county Ohio and the various counties of Kentucky. That is quite different from finding practically nothing in other states where I had previously researched.
2. Seeing the spring blooms in various stages in various towns/counties/states
3. Encountering nice people everywhere
4. Fun to be in a small town restaurant observing where everyone in there already knows most everyone else there

The Worsts:

1. Airlines and their hassles, hotels with their high prices and lack of good amenities and their noisy inconsiderate guests, countless many-miles-long construction zones, and, heavy traffic on most highways are all taking the fun out of traveling
2. Sonder the Chorus Hotel in Nashville -- zero staff on site, everything is done over the internet. I booked and pre-paid this place before I knew it was only virtual. Then, after I gave them one star in their review, they keep sending me emails and texts of deals to stay with them!
3. Having to spend 31 hours in a hospital that basically was unable to give me a helpful diagnosis
4. Garmin and its route methods that routes me to places I am trying to avoid
5. Encountering self-centered inconsiderate people everywhere

The Totals:

• Miles Driven: 3097
• Driving: 3097 miles in 13 days
• States: 10 -- Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois
• Major Universities: 4 (total 541 visited) -- all were to re-photo their campus signs: Penn State University, Northern Kentucky University, Robert Morris University, Eastern Illinois University (and missed University of Cincinnati thanks to Garmin)
• Pictures Taken: 164 (and deleted 24 of them)
• National Parks: 4 (363 of 429 visited) -- BUffalo River, Mills Springs, Charles Young BUffalo Soldiers, Camp Nelson

Remaining to Visit by State
• AL - DONE, but would like to revisit Russell Cave in the northeastern corner that was missed in Sept. 2022 trip
• AK - DONE, but would like to visit the Klondike National Park site in Skagway which requires driving through Canada's northwestern corner of British Columbia
• AZ - DONE
• AR - DONE, but could visit do family history research in two counties -- Pike and Clark
• CA - DONE, but three parks in the San Francisco area were closed in June 2023, and, in L.A. would like to visit JPL and Mt.Wilson
• CO - DONE
• CT - DONE, but maybe do family history research in Hartford county
• DC - A dozen national park monuments to visit as well as the Smithsonian is worth a visit
• DE - DONE, but might have ancestors there (via the Riggs line)
• FL - DONE, but maybe will visit Orlando area where a high school classmate and a cousin both live, still want to take the ferry at Fort Matanzas, and, re-attempt to visit a couple of places on the Gulf Coast: Sarasota (downtown), Pine Island and the Naples Botanical Gardens
• GA - DONE
• HI - DONE
• ID - DONE, but would like to drive from Boise to Moscow to cover that part of the state to yet drive through (planned for May 2025)
• IL - DONE, but Chicago has some tourist-type places yet to visit, and, might still re-visit counties for family history research -- Vermilion, Winnebago, Washington
• IN - DONE
• IA - DONE
• KS - DONE, but currently live here
• KY - DONE
• LA - DONE, but have some cousins in New Orleans
• ME - DONE
• MD - DONE
• MA - Family history research probably never ends for this state, including at NEHGS. Also, a good friend lives in this state, and, I know many fellow Toastmasters in Boston
• MI - DONE, but would like re-photo Univ. of Michigan Ann Arbor (lower penisula) and, in upper penisula determine what (and where) scenic things can be seen in Pictured Rocks National Park and maybe someday ferry to Isle Royale National Park
• MN - DONE
• MS - DONE
• MO - DONE, but might return once more to Lincoln and Pike counties for family history research of the Melvin and Riggs
• MT - DONE
• NE - DONE
• NV - DONE
• NH - DONE, but could re-visit the three southernmost counties for family history
• NJ - Recently discovered that the Riggs line goes back from northeast Missouri and northern Kentucky into seven counties of New Jersey
• NM - DONE, but I loved the town of Albuquerque and the surrounding area when I spent four days there in 2004
• NY - Many many places yet to revisit (from the 2015 trip) in this state. Also, need to visit White Plains area (family history research) of Westchester county. A visit to the New York Historical Society (77th St and Central Park West) might be a good idea too.
• NC - DONE although the Deaton allied families were in dozens of counties in the state
• ND - Visit the International Peace Garden, plus, need to spend a night at a third hotel in the state, and, drive from Bowman to Rapid City, South Dakota to cover a part of those states I have yet to drive through.
• OH - DONE, but still have mysteries and loose-ends with the Wilsons and Searls in various parts of the state such as Muskingum county and Medina county and Clermont county
• OK - DONE
• OR - DONE, and N E V E R want to be in this state again (despite two national parks there I have never visited)
• PA - Family history research probably never ends for this state even though I seem to have "run dry" the places for research -- the Wilsons plus a number of immigrants from Germany and Switzerland first settled in the state
• RI - DONE
• SC - DONE, but have recently discovered a couple of ancestral families that lived a few years in this state
• SD - DONE
• TN - The Deatons in western Tennessee may never be completed. ALSO, would be nice to find the Woody Cemetery property owners at home
• TX - Brother lives in this state as does a friend, also, would like to drive from Amarillo through Lubbock and on to San Angelo to cover a big chunck on the state I have yet to drive through
• UT - DONE, but some good friends live in Salt Lake City area
• VT - Family history research in several counties likely will never be complete including finding their cemetery burials
• VA - Several first cousins live in this state. Two national parks -- Fort Monroe near Hampton, and, Prince William Forest north of Richmond. Also, the Melvins were from the northeasternmost county before moving to Ohio. Lastly, Ferrum College in south central part of the state could have its campus sign photographed.
• WA - DONE, but a good friend lives in Seattle
• WV - DONE, but maybe the Melvins lived in the early 1800's in the extreme northeastern part of the state
• WI - DONE, but would like to maybe re-attempt (it was pouring rain years ago when there) to visit the House of the Rocks and Taliesman near the town of Spring Green
• WY - DONE
• AB - DONE
• BC - DONE, but would love to drive along the coast of Vancouver Island all the way to Port Hardy, several hours for two ferry rides are needed. Could also visit several places in central B.C.: Prince George, Terrace and Prince Rupert.
• LB - Newfoundland/Labrador is NOT worth a visit because the ferry ride and the three-leg airplane ride each way is expensive and time-consuming (i.e. two days each way). Plus, there really is very little to see on the island beyond St. Johns.
• MB - DONE, although it would have been nice to get a sunrise or sunset photo over either Lake Manitoba or Lake Winnepeg. And I spent the night in only one town of the province whereas I have spent the night in two towns of most other provinces
• NB - DONE
• NS - DONE, although never did make it to the southwestern portion of the island
• NW - The Northwest Territory towns of Hay River and Yellowknife might be worth a visit if I someday drive to Fairbanks, Alaska
• ON - DONE
• PE - DONE, though I did entirely miss the western half of the province, and, I spent the night in only one town of the province whereas I have spent the night in two towns of most other provinces
• QC - DONE
• SK - DONE
• YK - Yukon is NOT worth a visit since it is a long way to get there and really nothing in particular to see or do except the scenery, lousy hotel accommodations in the few towns