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Minerva & Sam

With Each Mile

Hey, we’re Minerva & Sam! We both work full-time, but spend as much of our free time as we can road-tripping with our dogs, Toby & Lily. So far, that’s taken us 37,000+ miles across 38 states & 14 National Parks and we share our experiences along the way.

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A person hiking with a dog on a gravel path next to a rustic split-rail fence, with the historic wooden buildings of the Mountain Farm Museum in a green meadow.
MUST READ
ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO • 1 MIN READ

One of the Only Dog-Friendly Hikes in the Smokies

Hey there Reader, Last month, we spent a quick weekend getaway in the Smokies with our dogs Toby and Lily. If you've ever looked for dog-friendly hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you probably already know that out of the 800+ miles of trails, dogs are allowed on exactly 2. There's the Gatlinburg Trail, which starts right in Gatlinburg, and the Oconaluftee River Trail, which is about an hour south of Gatlinburg deeper into the mountains near Cherokee, NC. While we do enjoy...

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A wide, wooden boardwalk with sturdy handrails curves gracefully through a lush, green floodplain forest filled with towering ancient trees.

Is this really the "worst" National Park?

4 MONTHS AGO • 1 MIN READ
Road Trip Car Cost Calculator with fields to enter trip distance, gas price, car and rental car mileage, vehicle type, and rental cost. Includes buttons to compare or reset results, with a note that costs are rough estimates.

Drive your own car or rent for your next road trip?

8 MONTHS AGO • 1 MIN READ

The Two Sides of Indiana Dunes National Park

9 MONTHS AGO • 1 MIN READ
A panoramic collage of Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park. The left panel shows a paved hiking trail with a rustic wooden railing. A person with dark, curly hair, wearing a maroon top and white shorts, stands by the railing, looking into the dense for

Your Guide to Sol Duc & Marymere Falls – PNW Series Finale!

10 MONTHS AGO • 1 MIN READ
A stunning view of Mount Olympus and the Olympic Mountain Range at sunset, captured from Hurricane Ridge. The snow-capped peaks are silhouetted against a soft blue and orange sky, with a foreground of grassy slopes and delicate wildflowers.

Exploring the Olympic Mountains – PNW Series, Pt. 3

11 MONTHS AGO • 1 MIN READ
A hiker walks beneath a massive, moss-draped tree arch along a shaded forest trail in the Hall of Mosses. Surrounding vegetation includes vibrant ferns and mosses, with sunlight filtering through the canopy above.

Olympic’s Rainforests & the Edge of the US – PNW Series, Pt. 2

11 MONTHS AGO • 1 MIN READ
A dramatic view of the Tree of Life, a windswept Sitka spruce in Washington's Olympic National Park, clinging to eroded cliffs with its roots exposed and suspended in mid-air. A person in a gray poncho stands beneath the tree, pointing toward it, surround

Oregon Falls & Olympic Coast – PNW Series, Pt. 1

12 MONTHS AGO • 2 MIN READ
Wide panoramic view of the spiraling concrete ramp leading to Kuwohi Observation Tower, surrounded by a dense evergreen forest under a bright blue sky with scattered clouds. Several visitors walk along the elevated path, enjoying the scenic overlook above

Mountains, Lakes, and Views We Can’t Stop Thinking About

ABOUT 1 YEAR AGO • 1 MIN READ
Panoramic view from the summit of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, showing hikers standing on smooth granite rock surfaces with a steep rock face on the left. In the background, rolling mountain ridges stretch out under a blue sky dotted with clouds,

So Many Stories to Tell, So Little Time!

OVER 1 YEAR AGO • 1 MIN READ