Travel Goal Getter Travel Blog

all fifty club - june 29th, 2015, portland, Oregon

6/9/2015

Come join us for our first meet up in Portland, Oregon on June 29th, 2015 at 7 p.m. at Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB). The HUB is partnering with The All Fifty Club to offer a free beer (or soda) to the first fifty 50-staters! Come share and ale and a travel tale! All Fifty Club President Alicia Rovey is in town to meet and greet and celebrate visiting her 50th state - Oregon! The HUB is a family-friendly, unique venue located at 2944 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97202.

The All Fifty Club is for people who have or who want to visit all fifty states. We have over 2,100 members from all 50 states and over 10 countries. All Fifty Club membership ranges from college students to seniors, from those who love camping to those who prefer 5-star hotels. Any person who has visited all fifty states automatically qualifies for membership in the club. Travelers become official members by registering with the All Fifty Club. By doing so they can receive a congratulatory achievement certificate and other merchandise and be recognized as a 50-stater. Travelers are encouraged to join as associate members once they have visited 35 states. JOIN TODAY!
www.allfiftyclub.com, www.travelgoalgetter.com

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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT - PAIGE BERNICK

6/5/2015

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Congratulations to Paige Bernick who has visited all 50 by age 30! She finished up last month by crossing the state line into Maine.

Here are some of her favorite travel memories:

One trip was to Northern Idaho and Montana on a "girls trip" with college friends. They flew into Spokane, Washington, spent the night in Sandpoint, Idaho and drove to Whitefish, Montana and stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast. They drove on the Going-to-the-Sun Road and toured Glacier National Park and spent a day on Lake Pend O'rielle.

Another wonderful adventure was to.Mount Rushmore and the Badlands that she went on in middle school with her brother, mother, father, and two grandmothers. She also loved driving up the Pacific Coast - and like many she wants to go back!

This Memorial Day weekend she and her fiancé visited her final three states.They flew into Boston and rented a car and drove to Nashua, New Hampshire in hopes that they would "accidentally" run into a presidential candidate. (They didn't.) On the second day they drove to Brattleboro, Vermont which was quaint, on a river, with tons of bookshops. They had a beautiful drive across rural New Hampshire, then arrived in Kittery, Maine, where she took the ceremonial photo above marking her last state. They spent more time exploring Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Freeport, Kennebunkport and Portsmouth. Portsmouth was the biggest surprise for her as the downtown area appeared to be very industrial, but it turned out to be a fun stop with tons of restaurants and historical markers.

Paige credits her family and friends with helping her to get to all 50 before she turns 30 later this year.
Congrats Paige! May the travels continue!

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President OBAMA visits all Fifty states

6/5/2015

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Welcome to the All Fifty Club Mr. President. President Barack Obama joined the All Fifty Club record holder list when he visited South Dakota last month on May 8th, 2015, achieving his goal of going to all fifty states while serving as President. He delivered a commencement address at Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown, South Dakota. His last four states in addition to South Dakota were Idaho, South Carolina, and Utah.

Chief Official White House Photographer, Pete Souza, captured a moment of the President in each state creating a beautiful photo journal of the President's US travels in one album. Behind the Lens, Photographing the President in All Fifty States. Pete is now an honorary All 50 Club member too since he traveled to every state with the President with camera in hand.

Other Presidential All Fifty Club Members

President Obama is the fourth president to achieve this accomplishment after President Richard Nixon, President H.W. Bush, and President Bill Clinton. President George W. Bush visited 39 states in his first year as president but never got to Vermont making his total states 49. President H.W. Bush is still the only President to have visited all 50 in one term of office.

Already a 50 Stater?

President Obama was actually already an all 50 stater. After extensive traveling during his presidential campaign he visited his final state, Alaska, in November 2009. He told military personnel at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, "I have to tell you I'm also excited because I had up until today visited 49 states. So this is officially my 50th state." Many of the news reports did not report that his recent achievement was visiting all 50 as President. It is unknown how many states he had been to prior to his presidential campaign.

57 states?

One of President Obama's most widely spread misstatements was his comment that he had visited "57 states." His quote was "... it is just wonderful to be back in Oregon, and over the last 15 months we've traveled to every corner of the United States. I've now been in fifty .... seven states? I think one left to go. One left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit but my staff would not justify it.". It appears that he had meant to say 47 states since at the time of the speech he had only lacked one state from having been to all 48 contiguous states and had no plans to go to Alaska or Hawaii to campaign at that time.

Did he really visit all 50?

A political writer, Eric Golub, challenged President Obama's claim that he had been to all fifty because in some states he did not leave the airport. The All Fifty Club has long had the guideline that to count a state one must touch the ground and breathe the air of that state. This generally means that airport layovers do not count. However, President Obama's case is a little different, because although he did not leave the airport facility, he did set foot on the ground and did breathe the air by exiting Air Force One. The two states in question were Nebraska and Alaska. In Nebraska he was only in the state for a brief period of time when he landed at Offutt Air Force Base then traveled by vehicle and crossed the state line into Iowa. Alaska was a refueling stop on his way to Japan but he exited the plane and gave a speech to military personnel at Elmendorf Air Force Base before taking off again. These were short stops, but technically met the criteria as going there as President. Our hope is he and his family can visit all 50 again, making more of a visit in each state.

President Obama has also achieved the Travel Goal Getter Troika. Along with visiting all fifty states, he has visited 6 continents qualifying for the Continent Club and 50 countries achieving the Gold Level of the Traveler's Country Club.

photos from whitehouse.gov

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all fifty club - june 29th, 2015, portland, Oregon

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT - PAIGE BERNICK

President OBAMA visits all Fifty states

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