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Cades Cove: The Ultimate Guide to the Smokies’ Most Popular Valley

July 20, 2021

Cades Cove: The Ultimate Guide to the Smokies’ Most Popular Valley

16 Tips For Traveling With Dogs

July 15, 2021

16 Tips For Traveling With Dogs

15 Fun Things To Do In Medora, North Dakota

July 6, 2021

15 Fun Things To Do In Medora, North Dakota

One Day In Concord, Massachusetts

June 29, 2021

One Day In Concord, Massachusetts

The BEST Spots To Explore In Concord, MA

June 22, 2021

The BEST Spots To Explore In Concord, MA

Theodore Roosevelt National Park: 12 Incredible Adventures

June 19, 2021

Theodore Roosevelt National Park: 12 Incredible Adventures

Is Theodore Roosevelt National Park Worth A Visit?

June 15, 2021

Is Theodore Roosevelt National Park Worth A Visit?

Sunrise at Acadia National Park: 12 Best Spots for 2026

June 8, 2021

Sunrise at Acadia National Park: 12 Best Spots for 2026

Visiting Mount Rushmore in 2026: An Honest Guide

June 1, 2021

Visiting Mount Rushmore in 2026: An Honest Guide

11 Dog Friendly Adventures At Shenandoah

May 29, 2021

11 Dog Friendly Adventures At Shenandoah

Roaring Forks: 11 Reasons To Visit

May 11, 2021

Roaring Forks: 11 Reasons To Visit

The 12 Best Lobster Rolls In Maine

May 8, 2021

The 12 Best Lobster Rolls In Maine

Best Maine lobster rolls guide - McLoon's Lobster Shack in Spruce Head, Maine, with its iconic red waterfront building, hand-painted lobster sign, Adirondack chairs, and working lobster boats moored in the harbor. McLoon's Lobster Shack is one of the most scenic and beloved lobster pounds on the mid-coast Maine shore, offering fresh steamed lobster and lobster rolls with unbeatable waterfront views. A top destination for anyone exploring the Maine coast between Rockland and Bar Harbor.
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I waited 34 years to see a wild wolf. It took 11 s I waited 34 years to see a wild wolf. It took 11 seconds for me to cry watching them 😍🥹

Lamar Valley, sunrise, a whole pack moving across the flats with the bison watching from the treeline. They were playing: running at each other, rolling, splitting up and circling back. I stood at the 400-600 rental lens with my hands shaking and cried.

It’s Wolf Awareness Week, so here’s the part that matters: there were no wolves in Yellowstone for almost 70 years. They were killed off by the 1920s, and 41 were brought back from Canada in 1995 and 1996. Every wolf in the park today comes from that.

These are the only photos I took. They’re not great, but I really don’t care (that’s not the point 😉). I got watch wolves play in the wild. 

Canine distemper went through the packs in 2025. The count at the end of the year was 84 wolves, down from 108, and only 17 pups survived. That’s the lowest the park has seen since the reintroduction years. With the added threat of being hunted when they leave the park, it’s not great for wolves. 

They’ve come back from less, but it’s worth knowing when you’re watching them. Please make sure to remain 100 yards from wolves in the park. Their life could depend on it. 

If you go: Lamar Valley at dawn, a spotting scope, and good binos. These were taken with a 400-600-zoom lens that I rented for the trip, but you could watch them with binos easily! 

I’ll always go to bat for wolves, I’ve been obsessed with them since I was kid!
Did you know New Mexico had its name 200 years bef Did you know New Mexico had its name 200 years before Mexico did…

Spanish explorers were calling this country Nuevo México in the 1500s. Santa Fe was founded in 1610, which makes it the oldest capital city in the United States. The Palace of the Governors on the plaza has been in continuous use since that year. 

Mexico, the nation, didn’t exist until 1821. New Mexico became a state in 1912. And all of that is recent. Acoma Pueblo has been lived in since around 1150. Taos Pueblo, about a thousand years. 

Twenty-three tribal nations call the state home today, and the Spanish, the Mexican, and the American chapters all came after.

I fell in love with New Mexico while we were living in El Paso for a year Some of my favorites: White Sands, Ruidoso, Cloudcroft, Lincoln National Forest, 8,600 feet up in the south of the state, where the aspens go gold in October and nobody east of the Mississippi knows it happens. 

Think elk in the meadows, cool nights, a mountain town with a wooden trestle and one main street.

A place can hold four centuries of names and still be exactly itself. That’s the thing about New Mexico, it truly is enchanting! (Cheesy, but true!)

Photos from 📍 Ruidoso, New Mexico
If you’re going to Salem any time in the next two If you’re going to Salem any time in the next two weeks, you’re going during the busiest stretch of the entire year…

That’s not a reason to cancel. It’s a reason to plan like you mean it. Your trip really does depend on it. 

Salem in late October can be one of the best days you’ll have all fall. Skip the planning part and you’ll spend the day trying to find parking or in a line (lines will happen for everything either way.) 

The full crowd calendar, the parking lots by address, the kids version, and the Halloween-day schedule hour by hour are in the Ultimate Salem Guide ($) and the Salem Cheat Sheet ($). 

Comment WITCH and I’ll send you both links!
I have a soft spot for places when they’re not put I have a soft spot for places when they’re not putting on a show. I don’t want to get the shot you’ve seen 20 million times! 

This is Oxbow Bend (photo 2 &4), Grand Teton’s most photographed view. It’s gorgeous! You’ve probably seen it with golden aspens and a perfect reflection at sunrise.

We went the 2nd week of October at sunset. The leaves were almost gone, a storm was rolling in, the light was purple, and there were only a handful of other car in the pullout (which, if you’ve been there, you know is insane). 

Was it the most iconic shot? Nope. Do I love it even more? Absolutely.

A little farther down the road, a mule deer buck stepped out of the trees like he’d also been waiting for everyone to leave. We also saw elk and a grizzly cub (highlight for me, but no photos, I was just in the moment for that one). 

I think that’s why I love the off-season. The parks look different, the plans get a little looser, and sometimes you get a whole place to yourself.

Around here, we’re less chasing the perfect shot and more let’s see what happens if we stay a little longer.

If that sounds like your kind of travel, you’re in the right place. 💚
The best view of Acadia isn’t on Cadillac. It’s 3 The best view of Acadia isn’t on Cadillac. It’s 3 miles offshore, and I’ll stand by that! 

We took the Lighthouse, Wildlife & Acadia National Park Cruise with @barharborwhales last October with visitors in town, and the fog rolled in twenty minutes out. I was thrilled. Coastal Maine doesn’t owe you a clear day. It owes you a mood.

The plan was Egg Rock, Winter Harbor, Baker Island, and Bear Island. The fog had other ideas, so the captain swung us around the quiet side of the island and we got Bass Harbor Head from the water, which almost nobody sees from that angle. I wouldn’t trade it for a clear day! 

Practical bits: about two and a half to three hours, it runs through the fall, and the route changes with the weather, so go in with no expectations and a real jacket. It’s ten degrees colder on the water than on the dock, every time.

🌊🍁 Save this for October 🍁🌊 I hope you get some fog too! 😉
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