A BARRY grandfather’s 30 year quest to visit all 50 USA states is one stop away from its journey end with Alaska’s wilds yet to explore.

In January 62-year-old grandfather-of-six and dad of three, John Viney, returned from a visit to his 49th State of Hawaii, the 50th State to be declared, and is hoping to complete his odyssey by stepping into Alaska - the 49th US state to be declared - this year.

But his travel clean-up operation, which has seen him inside prisons alongside the normal tourist hotspots, began when a South Wales company made an error with a product based travel deal.

Cadoxton resident John, who owns a window cleaning business, said: “My first ever visit to America was courtesy of the famous Hoover flights offer that gained notoriety in the 1990s when customers buying a product over £100 could get two free tickets to New York. I bought two vacuum cleaners for my business and qualified for four airline tickets so that I was able to take my father and two daughters to The Big Apple. On that trip we also visited Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and drove up to Canada. I had no idea then that I would get the urge to repeat trips but did really fall in love with the country and its people.”

John said it was impossible to name a favourite State, but memorable visits include the Grand Canyon in Arizona, having been three times, the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and fun at Florida’s theme parks and the Everglades.

John and his wife spent three weeks driving Route 66, two years ago, taking the older roads where possible, and visiting ghost towns no longer on the main highways.

He said: “In Oklahoma we came across a section of 1922 road only about 10 feet wide and I laid in the road touching both sides with hands and feet. Back then though, they had to build a walking tunnel underneath in one town as the road was so busy it was impossible to cross.”

Several visits have been to six States making up New England, where historical features mix with Fall Foliage visitors or ‘leafers’, and the family once attended a mock televised trial in Salem of the infamous witch trials.

John has been whale watching off the North Eastern coast and visited Lizzy Borden’s house, the lady who was eventually was found innocent of murdering her parents.

Boston’s pavement walks takes visitors past famous events in the early history of the USA and on one trip he went looking for the original markers set up in the 1760s by Mason and Dixon when they surveyed the border dispute between Maryland and Pennsylvania.

He said: “One of my favourite USA vacation pastimes is visiting natural hot tubs or hot springs that just bubble up out of the earth. Many spots once used by Native Americans can be accessed and last year when revisiting Yellowstone National Park I asked a ranger if any existed there. In Yellowstone the whole park seems alive with erupting geysers or mud pools, but they are not safe to enter. "He gave directions to go near the north exit just where the State sign for Montana appears and sure enough there were people lying in the river at several points where a boiling hot spring joins the cold river water. It was heaven.

“In Idaho Springs one winter when the snow was covering the ground, my wife and I stayed at an old hotel that had a series of outdoor pools ranging from boiling straight out of the ground to cooler as the water ran down. We scooted across the snow to sit under the stars in the hot water up to our necks, money cannot buy these memories.”

The Wild West States have led to Custer’s ‘last stand’ up in Montana as well as Native American reservations around Deadwood in South Dakota.

The Civil War States have included famous battlefields such as Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Antietam and Fort Sumter in South Carolina where the hostilities began.

They visited the scene of the South’s surrender at Appomattox Court House in Virginia and a fascination with Abraham Lincoln’s life and assassination meant one trip had to include Fords Theatre in Washington DC where his assassination took place and Maryland where the culprit John Wilkes Booth went to see a Southern sympathiser - Dr Samuel Mudd – who was implicated in the fatal plot and sent to a penal colony Fort Jefferson - 70 miles off the coast of Florida.

John, who volunteers at Cardiff prison, has a fascination with USA jails and with special permission has toured San Quentin, Folsom, Sing Sing, and Atlanta Penitentiary.

“Touring San Quentin,” he said. “I had to wear stab vest and sign waiver for that would not be negotiated for if taken captive.

“Last year I spent a day at Huntsville in Texas where they execute their death row prisoners, and only last month in Hawaii went to Halawa Correctional Facility for a morning. Retired prisons I have visited such as Alcatraz and the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia have also been fascinating for their historical importance.”

He said human kindness – including one from an American family - had provided precious memories.

He said: “Whilst in the town of Lusk, Wyoming, we went to the USA equivalent of a car boot sale, and got talking to a lady selling items. She and her friends were most welcoming and in conversation, she learned we were travellers ad loved Native American history. She said that about 20 miles away on her ranch they had buffalo rings and tepee rings. I had to admit to ignorance of these things so an offer was made to take us back and her father agreed to take us out on his ranch to show us. In the 1800’s the Native Americans plains Indians camped in the area and when they erected their tepees, placed stones around the bottom of the tents so that they were secured to the ground. When leaving the area they simply left the stones in a ring and moved on. We were driven out to the fields by her father and shown half buried large rings of stones where over the years they had sunk into the ground but still clearly visible. Each ring of stones had secured the tepee while camped at that spot, and it was easy to make out the outline of the camp. Talk about spine chilling. It was very moving. From that spot at a higher elevation we were shown a prairie below where the grass had a distinct ring of a different green colour, and it was explained that when hunting buffalo, the adult animals would circle the young to protect them and when running round and round in this mode, would wear out grass that had now grown a different colour. The Indians had camped here for the buffalo, and the buffalo had tried to protect their young by this circular running motion and it was all in plain sight for us. That really had the wow factor and had not cost us a penny, except the kindness of these warm hearted folks, and we really appreciated their hospitality.”

“So next - Alaska. It will take some planning but if all goes well, I hope we may complete our 50 States project by the end of the year.”