October 22, 2024
By Alicia Rovey, All Fifty Club President
I am SO proud and excited to congratulate my youngest daughter, Leah Rovey, on completing all 50 states! She is now a full-fledged, official member of the All Fifty Club and the Best for Last Club after visiting North Dakota this summer.
What started as road trips from TN to AZ to visit grandparents, became a family quest to see every state in the USA. Alicia completed in Oregon in 2015, Matt in Idaho in 2020, and Karina, Carsten, and Trevor in Hawaii in 2023. Leah was not born yet when the rest of the family went to North Dakota (via a wedding in Minnesota), so we took a dedicated trip to North Dakota so Leah could complete her 50-state journey!
Leah traveled by plane, train, camper, RV, bus, boat and lots of minivan on over 20 cross-country trips experiencing history, nature, architecture, wildlife, culture, food, and sports. She saw world-famous landmarks to extremely quirky sites and met so many people from all walks of life. She traveled from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic, from the Canadian border at Niagara Falls to the Mexican border at El Paso, and stepped foot in every state across the United States of America.
As a family, we saw the beautiful, the depressing, the inspiring, and the thought-provoking. Our imaginations ran wild as we stood where a rocket took off, where dinosaur bones were discovered, where soldiers fought for our freedom, where Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. We saw humble beginnings and how hard work and perseverance can overcome. We saw injustice and compassion. We witnessed the importance of standing together and helping each other. Through travel, we formed a deep love and understanding of the diversity of the USA and the American people and developed a desire to preserve and protect our wonderful country – our freedom and our environment for years to come. 
Leah has now set a goal to visit all the national parks of the USA and may become a park ranger herself someday. May her travels continue!
