People often ask me, "who are you?". So I tell
them. "I'm Roger R. Johnson, the worlds first self proclaimed welcome
sign photography expert. I was born in Minnesota in 1970. I wasn't alone however, 7 minutes after my arrival
the doctor exclaimed "OOPS, here comes another one".
I was joined by an identical twin brother. He was called Boy
Johnson #2, but was later renamed Rodney.
In the fall of 1989 on a trip to the Grand Canyon, we stopped
and took a photo in front of the welcome to Iowa sign starting
off my collection of all 50 States. By the end of 1991 I had
all of the lower 48 states. The following year I drove to Alaska and obtained my second to last photo. The trip and the collection
inspired my brother Rodney and I to produce our first film "Welcome
to Alaska".
As I have continued to travel I have updated
my collection getting better photos and updated signs. I'm
also in the process of visiting all 50 state capitols and
governor's mansions, as well as the highest point in each
state. Then of course there are the presidential sites, birthplaces,
homes, graves and libraries.
The Summer of 2004 I worked as a tour leader for Trek
America, a small group adventure travel company that runs
tours all over North America. Between May 16 and July 4, 2007, along with my travel partner Haley Chamberlain and my twin brother Rodney I took a trip to all 50 States in 50 Days. Rodney shot video of the whole thing that we edited together into a feature length documentary. Then in the fall of 2008 I got a job as a flight attendant for Mesaba Airlines, which was owned by Northwest which was merged with Delta, then Delta sold Mesaba off to another... It's at about this point that
I'm usually interrupted. They say "that's more than I wanted
to know", and I say "ok".