An American Odyssey
> The Dream Begins
> The Dream Delayed
> The Final Piece of the Puzzle
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| Dr. Timothy Chambers |
Dr. Tim Chambers was just 10 years old in 1962 when his parents loaded him, his brother and an old mattress into the back of their station wagon.Pointing their car away from their home and toward California, the young family embarked on a four-week adventure across America that ignited a boy’s passion for travel and inspired his lifelong journey of discovery.
While it wasn’t his first road trip, Tim clearly remembers this vacation as the beginning of his dream to visit all 50 states. A collector by nature, Tim embraced the freedom of the open road and soon began tallying the states he had visited. “As long as I can recall, our family cherished the opportunity to experience life through travel,” he said, savoring his memories of license plate games, quaint tourist attractions and roadside diners. “I had been to 35 states by the time I was 10 years old,” he added, “but it took me over 40 years to visit the last 15.”
Finally, in August, Tim and his wife Cheryl stepped off Holland America’s ms Ryndam onto Alaskan soil, and his innocently conceived childhood dream was at last realized.
As a child, while other kids watched television, Tim preferred instead to study his grandfather’s AAA TourBooks® and TripTik® travel-planning guides. “I had the whole set,” Tim said. “As soon as I finished one book, I asked my grandfather to go back to AAA for another.” He pored over road maps and travel articles, absorbing the details of routes between various destinations that piqued his curiosity. Tim dreamed of seeing every state by his 50th birthday, or in his words, “50 by 50.”
Yellowstone National Park, 1978.
Several leisurely cross-country journeys as a young adult set Tim on pace to easily achieve his “50 by 50” goal. He remembers each itinerary being deliberately planned according to which states he still needed to visit. In 1978, a six-week road trip in their Volkswagen Beetle took Tim and Cheryl through Yellowstone National Park and into California. From there, they flew to Hawaii, the next-to-last state on Tim’s list. “We were already halfway there,” Tim noted with an innocent shrug.
Alaska remained as the last holdout on Tim’s list of unconquered states. “50 by 50,” it seemed at the time, would happen with little challenge. How hard could it be to visit Alaska? “Then came the girls,” Tim said with the toothy grin of a proud father.
As parents, the Williamsville couple dedicated their lives to their two daughters and their careers. Family snapshots taken from coast to coast show that Tim and Cheryl hoped to instill in their daughters a similar passion for travel.
As time passed, Tim and Cheryl continued to set aside a few dollars into their growing Alaska fund, but life’s everyday challenges kept him from reaching Alaska before his 50th birthday. “Once I turned 50, I changed my plan to ‘50 by 50s’ so I could have a few more years to make my dream a reality,” Tim said, laughing.
Just as they were again considering an Alaska vacation, Tim and Cheryl learned about a AAA Travel event called On Stage Alaska. The images of spectacular wildlife and unspoiled landscape inspired them to commit that night to their Alaskan cruise. With the help of their AAA Travel Consultant, Ruby Nunez, the date was set and the plans were made.
Juneau Welcome Sign.
“Every day, I have the opportunity to help members realize a dream vacation, but once in a while, someone like Dr. Chambers comes along with a truly special story,” Ruby said. “It was fun to be a part of making his dream come true.”
“I had been stuck at 49 states for 30 years, so when we got to Juneau, I thought about kissing the ground,” Tim joked. “I decided instead just to have my picture taken with the welcome sign.”
Besides shopping in Juneau, Tim and Cheryl toured the Mendenhall Glacier and Tongass National Park and went whale-watching in Glacier Bay. A special highlight, he said, was the chance to be the copilot on a float-plane in Ketchikan.
“It was unforgettable, and it was absolutely worth the wait,” he insisted. “Material possessions come and go, but the simple memories of sharing an experience through travel can last a lifetime.”
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