When I was younger I always had dreams of traveling to all fifty states.
So far, we have been to thirty two of them and the last one we visited was a real surprise.
We had always dreamed of seeing the glaciers and snow-covered landscapes but when we arrived it looked like many other areas of the United States. Everything was green and the flowers were in bloom. It was similar to the weather we experience during late Spring or early Fall. We had packed clothing for hiking in the snow and never even thought we would need shorts instead. We were hoping for cozy nights by the fire to warm ourselves and instead we needed to turn on the air conditioner during a couple of the warmer days. I suppose I should have checked the weather reports before packing but it never dawned on me that Alaska would have summer like conditions. I always pictured it as a frozen tundra and thought that was the case year round. At first I thought this had to do with climate change and all that came with it but after speaking with the locals I realized that they do have summer like conditions each year. Thankfully we were able to shop at the local stores and find some more appropriate attire for the rest of our trip and we were able to take a boat ride to see the glaciers which was really exciting. It did seem weird to be surrounded by the beautiful ice sculptures that nature had created while wearing summer like clothing. I can honestly say that our trip to Alaska was a dream come true and I am glad we were able to add it to our many states that we have visited.