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July 6, 2021

15 Fun Things To Do In Medora, North Dakota

Medora, North Dakota was founded in 1883 and along the transcontinental rail line of the Northern Pacific Railway. While it may be a small town, it has a big history. This kitschy charming town is often considered the gateway to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. But what is there to do in Medora, North Dakota?…

June 19, 2021

Theodore Roosevelt National Park: 12 Incredible Adventures

There is a lot more to do then you would expect, but don’t expect many modern conveniences while inside the park. It remains largely as it was when Theodore Roosevelt ranched and hunted here, and that’s rare these days. So, what should you do if you visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park?…

June 15, 2021

Is Theodore Roosevelt National Park Worth A Visit?

You don’t really hear much about the National Park in North Dakota, do you? This hidden gem is often bypassed for its bigger counterparts, but find out, Is Theodore Roosevelt National Park worth a visit?…

Hi! I'm Vanessa, a 30 something, sunset chasing traveler. I'm here to inspire you to travel wherever, whenever, and with whoever you can. My Huskies, Loki and Freya are usually along for the ride. I have a soul that likes to wander, a desire to experience the unknown, and a curiousity to discover things off the beaten path. I hope you'll stick around for awhile!

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Recent Posts

  • Where to Eat in Salem, MA: A Foodie Guide to the Witch City (Plus October Treats)
  • Fall Road Trip Packing List: What To Actually Bring
  • The Ultimate Dog Hiking Gear List For National Parks
  • The Ultimate New England Fall Road Trip: A Six-State Foliage Loop (2026)
  • The Girls Trip Guide to Bar Harbor & Acadia National Park

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One Day In Sleepy Hollow, New York

Things to Do in Salem, MA in October: An Honest Guide to the Witch City in Fall (2026)

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Salem questions, round two. I love being your unof Salem questions, round two. I love being your unofficial tour guide for your October witch era. 🧙‍♀️

Which train should you take? Is 9 a.m. too early? (For Salem in October? Absolutely not.) Where did the witch trials actually happen? Can you go inside the Hocus Pocus house? (Nope. People live there. Please don’t be weird.)

We’re also talking coming in from Danvers, the ferry, what your 10-year-old will love, and whether November is too late for a Salem trip.

I lived in Massachusetts for 7 years and made the October pilgrimage more times than I can count. These are the answers I’d give a friend before sending them off to get aggressively distracted by every witchy gift shop in town. 

And if you want the whole game plan, I’ve got you:

🧹 The Ultimate Salem Guide ($): Week-by-week crowd calendar, parking lots by address, a kids’ itinerary, and what’s changed for 2026.

🎃 The Salem Cheat Sheet ($): The need-to-know details without the 47 open browser tabs.

Comment WITCH and I’ll send you the links. Consider it your official invitation to your 90s-kid, Hocus Pocus-loving witch era. 🖤
POV: You’re standing in the front yard of the man POV: You’re standing in the front yard of the man who gave Acadia to the world, and almost nobody knows it 😍

No circling the Park Loop Road looking for parking. Just old stone steps, the Atlantic, and a piece of Acadia history hiding in plain sight.

At the end you’ll find old stone foundations and steps going down to the rocks. That’s Old Farm, George Dorr’s house. Dorr spent his life and most of his money piecing together the land that became Acadia, then handed it to the country. He died in 1944, and the park took the house down a few years later. The story goes he swam off these rocks every morning well into old age.

So you’re standing in the front yard of the person who’s the reason any of this is public land. There’s no sign making a big deal of it. I think that’s the point.

Dogs on leash are fine. Park in the small lot on Route 3 just outside of Bar Harbor.

Then head back into town for dinner. Table Salt on Main Street if you want to sit down somewhere nice, or the Black Friar if you want a pub, a fire, and a bowl of stew. Both are a few minutes from the trailhead, which is the whole argument for doing Compass Harbor late in the day.

✨🍁✨ Save this one for the day you want Acadia without the Park Loop Road.

Heading to Acadia in the next few weeks? Comment Fall and I’ll send you links to my guide and blog post 🍁✨
If Horseman’s Hollow is on your Sleepy Hollow itin If Horseman’s Hollow is on your Sleepy Hollow itinerary, sit down, we need to talk 🎃👻✨

Sleepy Hollow rebuilt its entire Halloween lineup this year, and most of what’s on the internet about it hasn’t caught up. 

Horseman’s Hollow is gone. Kykuit’s paused. Irving’s ‘Legend’ moved outdoors to Sunnyside. Halloween is a Saturday and so is the parade a week earlier.

I lived in New England for 7 years and drove down almost every October. This is the version I’d hand a friend, checked for 2026: the honest week-by-week crowd calendar, every ticket and the order it sells out, the train and the parking lots, parade night and Halloween night hour by hour, one perfect weekday, and the seven real Legend addresses.

The Sleepy Hollow in October Cheat Sheet ($) is six pages you keep on your phone. The Ultimate Sleepy Hollow Guide ($) is the whole year including itineraries, where to actually sleep (RV included), the dog version, the estates, the real history.

Comment HORSEMAN and I’ll send you both links, plus my blog post One Day In Sleepy Hollow!
📰🗞️ It’s called Newspaper Rock, but there’s no hea 📰🗞️ It’s called Newspaper Rock, but there’s no headline. Just 2,000 years of people adding to the story.

Newspaper Rock, on the road into Canyonlands’ Needles district. Hundreds of figures carved into the desert varnish over roughly 2,000 years. Ancestral Puebloan, Fremont, Navajo, Ute, and people whose names we don’t have. Bighorn, riders on horseback (so some of these are after 1600), six-toed footprints. The Navajo name is Tse’ Hone, “rock that tells a story.”

It’s free. No hike. Most people take the photo and keep driving to the park. Stand there long enough and it stops being a photo op and starts being what it is: 2,000 years of people saying “I was here,” on land that was theirs before it was anyone’s park.

It’s worth remembering that the parks are on their land.

No touching, no chalk, no climbing the fence. 

✨✨Save this for your Utah trip✨✨
We took a random dirt road in Idaho with no plan, We took a random dirt road in Idaho with no plan, no destination, and 3 dogs who have opinions. Obviously, we had a great time. 😂

Mud Lake, Idaho. A two-track through the sagebrush, antelope in the distance, a sky that looked like that, and the Harvest Moon rising pink on the other side while we were still watching the sunset.

Not another person in sight. Nothing on the itinerary. Absolutely nowhere we needed to be.

And honestly? This is the whole point of living the lifestyle we do! But we we’ve been doing this since our 3rd date 💚🌲

The national parks are incredible. But some of our favorite memories happen on roads with no signs, no crowds, and no idea where we’re going.

Just us, the dogs, and a whole lot of dirt roads left to explore.

Want more of these little nowhere adventures? Because we’ve got a lot of dirt roads. 🤙
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