Memories in the Miles MN

It's almost the most magical time of the year in Minnesota! I am so in love with fall, as it brings cooler temperatures, light breezes, and, best of all, vibrant colors. After falling in love with the North Shore of Lake Superior, I knew I HAD to get there during peak fall colors. However, fall is also peak work season for my husband, so I knew it was going to be difficult. Last fall, we were lucky enough to have a rare free weekend at the end of September to make it happen. I am very intentional about planning itineraries and hikes around time of year, weather, crowds, and specific colors. My goal for this weekend was to find trails less traveled (the North Shore is crazy busy this time of year!) and specifically seek out orange and red. While vibrant yellow provides a beautiful contrast to the greenery around, I prefer the fiery hues. Plus, the green and yellow combo reminds me too much of a neighboring professional sports team of which we will not speak. 😉 The Minnesota DNR pro...

Over the winter, we realized we've never actually taken a trip with just our family. My husband and I have taken vacations and we've gone with my family or his family, but it's never been just us with our kids. Our children are 7, 5, and 3, and enjoy exploring and nature but need to work up stamina on hikes. One way we hoped to build up that stamina and motivation was by buying our girls the books for the Minnesota State Parks Hiking Club and Passport Club. Read this post for more about these clubs and our plan to check out all of the parks. We decided to plan our trip around some of these state parks and chose southeast Minnesota. I started by looking for Airbnb listings in the area for our timeframe, and once I found one in Lewiston , I put together an agenda using information from the Hiking Minnesota Facebook group, the Alltrails app, and the blog DayTripper . This trip actually took us from Southwest Minnesota to Southeast Minnesota and then back home to Minneapolis...