97-Year-Old Woman Visits All 50 States To Complete Bucket List

A 97-year-old woman can proudly say that she has fulfilled her dream of visiting all 50 states in the U.S.

With a little help from her best friend, the elderly woman from South Carolina traveled to Rhode Island — the very last of the states she needed to cross off before completing her bucket list of visiting every single state in the country.

“I needed Rhode Island. That was my last state I hadn’t been in,” Helen Rains told NBC 10 WJAR.

Rains is originally from Pennsylvania but has been living in South Carolina for the past 32 years to be closer to her family. The retired psychologist, who worked in the defense plant during World War II, said traveling has always been a major part of her life.

“I’ve done a lot of traveling, mostly by car,” Rains told the outlet. “Then I got a motorhome. I went to Florida in my motorhome, went to Maine in my motorhome. All my life anywhere I traveled, I would go through many states, stop and visit. Not all of them I stayed over, but I tried to.”

When her longtime friend, Jan Ross, 79, found out that Rains had only one state left to cover all 50, she orchestrated their trip to Rhode Island as a Christmas present.

“I was impressed that she had gotten that far. I’ve done a lot of traveling as well, but not as much as she has. So, I wanted to make sure she did that last leg,” Ross told the publication. “I said, ‘Helen, you can’t pass on without getting that last one in, so let’s try and do it.’”

"So, for Christmas that was her Christmas present, so she could finish them off and feel real good about having completed them all," the friend added.

The two pals hopped on a plane to New England on March 1 with tickets that Ross arranged for them.

“They had a wheelchair for me at all the airports, and I was treated royally,” Rains told the outlet. “I had no idea that Rhode Island and Providence was going to look like another country. The architecture there looked like I was in another country. It was so European.”

They stayed at the Renaissance Hotel and even toured the State House, where a citation signed by Gov. Dan McKee was waiting for them.

Ross said the staff at the State House were “delightful” and made their tour so easy.

“That was the highlight. It was really unbelievable. I couldn't begin to describe it to anyone,” Rains added. “...They were lovely and I have a warm spot in my heart for Rhode Island and I’m glad it was my 50th.”

Although it is the smallest state, Rains said Rhode Island left the biggest impression on her.

“You know, the expression, you know, ‘best for last?’ That’s how I feel about Rhode Island,” Rains said, as quoted by NBC15.

Ross was also glad she could play a role in her friend's bucket list adventure and called it “a milestone for us both.”