Keep at it...the picture idea is great. You asked on my page how long it takes to do 5 miles. Here it takes about an hour...very brisk walking and sometimes a bit of jogging. However it is easy to walk here cause lots of nice paths. The way I figured it out is...
Walked to a nice lookout point and did google map on my phone. It pin-pointed me and then I asked for direction back to where I stated. It gave me the mileage. I am sure there are easier ways or apps made just for tracking distance but this worked for me. I was surprised it was that far!
Keep going...you are doing great!