Sherry Ott is a travel blogger who travels around the world and writes about her experiences. Her latest adventure is right here in the Peace Garden State, with plans to move on to neighboring states.
“During the pandemic, I took up biking because I couldn’t travel any longer outside of the country. I took up biking in Denver and I was biking all over Denver and one day it just hit me that I should finish this capitol to capitol walk,” Sherry Ott said.
Ott is continuing the unfinished route of her father, Lee Ott, who came up with the idea to travel to every state capitol by foot when she was only a teenager.
“I don’t really know why; it was kind of a Forrest Gump thing to do before Forrest Gump. He enjoyed walking, he wanted a big purpose, he wanted to do something unusual,” Sherry Ott said.
Sherry Ott says her father created a map connecting all the capital buildings. But communication was a lot different back in the 1980s when Lee Ott began the mission.
“There were no cellphones, so they would use poster notes to stick them on stop signs and my dad would use paper maps,” Ott said.
Sherry Ott’s latest journey includes traveling from Vienna, SD to Pierre, which was the last route she says her dad walked. She then made her way here to our Capitol city which was a challenging leg of the journey.
“It was a miracle; I did not have a flat the whole time and I rode on some really hard gravel roads. I was surprised. I was prepared to change tires, but it didn’t happen,” Ott said.
To learn more about Sherry Ott and her blog click here.