This past summer Secretary Sherry Sarte finally accomplished the goal she made with her daughter when they visited their fiftieth state: Alaska.

Years ago, Sarte and her daughter, a Warren Hills Class of 2003 graduate, decided they would visit all fifty states together, starting with the New England states and ending in Alaska.

“When my daughter was seven months old she was on a plane to Chicago,” said Sarte. “Traveling has been a huge part of our lives. We pick a place, save up the money and make it happen.”

For someone who has lived in the same area her entire life, Sarte has seen more of the country than the average person.

“Every state was so unique,” she said. “The people were different; the scenery was different and each experience was different.”

Sarte’s love for travel started when she was twenty.

“It all started when a few friends and I jumped in the car in the middle of summer, with no air conditioning and decided to drive all the way to Colorado,” she said.

Although Sarte found each visit to a new state exciting, her favorite was Hawaii.

“Seriously, everyone needs to go to Hawaii,” she said. “It has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. I absolutely loved it.”

Sarte has done everything from visiting Elvis’s house in Tennessee to attending rodeos in Wyoming.

“I never liked Elvis until I went to see his house. Now I’m a fan,” she said.

Sarte and her daughter have been able to stay overnight at a multitude of hotels, but one stuck out to her.

“The coolest experience I had was staying in The Peabody Hotel in Memphis. Years and years ago, some guys decided it would be funny to put the ducks into the water fountain at the hotel,” she said. “Long story short, it became a huge attraction and since then the hotel has made a thing out of it. Every morning and every night the elevator opens with a ‘duck master’ who leads an entire line of ducks down a red carpet and up the stairs into the fountain. It’s adorable.”

Sarte and her daughter also have made sure to visit well-known attractions such as Mount Rushmore.

“It was such a moving experience. They acknowledge all the service members and play the national anthem,” she said. “The atmosphere is enough to make anyone cry.”

Along the way to the attractions, a lot of taste-testing has come into play.

“The best state to get food is New Orleans,” she said. “I could eat beignets and drink the coffee there forever and never get sick of it.”

Along with the big places, Sarte has also visited smaller areas like Winslow Arizona, a town featured in a song by the Eagles, as well as the Wigwam Hotel featured in the movie Cars on Route 66.

“In the song it talks about standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona and they have the truck and the girl mentioned in the song as a statue on the corner,” Sarte said. “ At the Wigwam Hotel we were able to sleep in teepees and there were all these old fashioned cars to look at during our stay.”

With fifty states, all with unique settings and different attractions to see, the possibilities for travel seem endless. Sarte advises that everybody get out and see the country.

“You realize how small you are and how big everything else is,” she said. There is just so much to see. Just get in the car and go. You won’t regret it.”