Images of My Last Trip to California -- but Not the Tour of California Route

For television viewers, long cycling races are a telecast travelogue that happens to follow the route pedaled by some of the best bike racers on the planet. The Tour de France is a favorite, and the Tour of California, which is now referred to as the Amgen Tour of California every single time  it is mentioned, is coming in a close second. Today, the penultimate day, was a time trial on the streets of Los Angeles. When I was in California last month, I visited several wonderful places in and around San Francisco that I had intended to post here. I'm finally doing it and posting a few of my favorite scenes from my brief time there. Living in Colorado, I'm not deprived of mountain scenery, so I especially treasure ocean views.

Below is just one of panoramas from the Fairmont San Francisco's tower with 360-degree views .

The fabled Golden Gate Bridge connects San Francisco on the south with Marin County on the north. This is a view from the north.

San Francisco's cable cars remain popular with visitors to the city, both to photograph and to ride.

The Marin Headlands, thankfully government land and therefore protected from California's penchant for development and sprawl, are across from San Francisco and offer beaches, cliffs, hills and valleys where wildlife habitat still exists.

More Marin Headlands views of waves rollling in toward bays notched into rugged coastal cliffs.

 

Pacifica Pier, south of San Francisco, on a gloriously sunny day -- not a given on this part of the Peninsula.

Pillar Point Harbor, where fishing boats still dock -- but so do pleasure craft.

Cairo: Traffic Impressions

Cairo though the windshield: Seeing the largest city in the Middle East the way most tourist don't

When my friend Katy learned that I was coming to Egypt, she told me that her sister Louise, brother-in-law Brian and two neices are living here and put us in touch. E-mail is a wondrous thing. I wrote to Louise, who replied quickly and invited me over for dinner this evening (Friday) and sent a driver to pick me up at my hotel just six hours after I arrived. What a wonderful chance to meet some worldly expats. Ibrahim, a Filipino and therefore also an expat, picked me up and drove me to the Maadi area. We drove many miles outward from the city center, which took about an hour and gave me a chance to see the non-touristic side of Cairo. En route in whatever direction we were heading (Ibrahim didn't know), I noticed:

• Streetlights are yellow-ish rather than glaring white. Advertising signs are affixed partway up the lampposts on arterials in residential areas. Coupled with wicked, visible air pollution, the impression is a gray-yellow gloom. Stores are illuminated with glaring fluorescents that are far brighter than the streetlights.


• Very few traffic lights and even fewer traffic cops -- and then only at a few major intersections. Drivers don't pay strict attention to either.


• Vehicle lights are random. Drivers might use headlights (one sometimes broken), parking lights or no lights at all.


• Replacing some red tail lights and/or white parking lights with blue lights is a favorite example of automotive decoration. Really tricked-out cars have additional trim of alternating red and blue lights on the sides.


• The vast majority of cars have something dangling from the rearview mirror.


• On major arterials, four lanes of traffic where there should be three -- if lines have been painted at all. Also if there are actual lines, straddling one rather than driving between two is common, Motorscooters are a bonus. Helmets? What helmets?


• Broken-down cars are common in the right lane -- and occasionally even the left lane. Some are abadoned where they died; others have their hoods up and the driver and perhaps onlookers staring balefully at the engine.


• The farther from the airport or the city center, the more signs are only in Arabic.


• Instead of traffic circles or left turn lanes on divided roads, drivers make U-turns from the left lane. This creates sudden traffic jams when drivers in the two left lanes wait for the smallest break in oncoming traffic.


• Double and triple parking is the rule. Add cars stacked up for a left turn to the parked cars, and four lanes quickly neck down to two.


• Obeying one-way signs seems to be at the drivers' discretion.


• Whether the traffic is moving or inching along, drivers perform astonishing lane-changing feats.


• Horns are used as alerts ("I'm about to cut you off"), as explanations ("I just cut you off because I could") or automotive conversation ("Same to you, buster!")


• There are no crosswalks (though in fairness, people wouldn't pay attention anyway). Pedestrians cross where ever they wish and pose an extra challenge, especially when said pedestrians are fully veiled women in head-to-toe black who are camouflaged in the dark night.

I saw signs for rental-car agencies. Would I ever? Not on your life.

Everthing's Coming Up Egypt

In Luxor, another tomb revealed. In Denver, city gets ready to welcome King Tut

Last year, when I visited Egypt, archaeologists and their helpers were busy excavating and sifting in dry earth on the west bank of the Nile near Luxor. Some people dig. Some look through what has been dug just in case some artifact is among the sand and stone. And some cart away the archaeological detritus. "Laborious" and "painstaking" are words that came to mind as I watched.

The efforts pay off when a major discovery is made like the one just announced by Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni. A dig led by Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA),  discovered an 18th Dynasty tomb (1570-1315 BC) in the necropolis of Dra Abu el-Naga, on Luxor’s west bank. Memphis Tours, which has nothing to do with Tennessee but which has been organizing trips to Egypt since 1955, posted the news on their blog. According to Dr. Hawass, the tomb belongs to the Supervisor of Hunters, Amun-em-Opet, and dates shortly before the rule of Akhenaten (1372-1355 BC). The image below is from Memphis Tours' blog.

 

Meanwhile, closer to home, the Denver Art Museum is getting ready for a blockbuster exhibit of  treasures from ancient Egypt. Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs will be in splendid residence at the DAM from June 29 through January 9, an extension of dates announced earlier. Back in 1978, I was one of the hordes who lined up for King Tut's first visit to the United States at a spectacular exhibit at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tut's was the only royal tomb found intact, with unsurpassed treasure, both in quality and quantity, because grave robbers had never breached it. Last year, in addition to visiting Luxor, I spent too little time in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which whetted my appetite for an encore. I only will have to go to Denver to satisfy that appetite, and the upcoming exhibit is important enough to attract visitors from afar.

The Westin Tabor Center in Denver this evening hosted a media event as a precursor to the exhibit. It is the first time these treasures will have appeared in the Rocky Mountain Region -- and considering how many millions the Government of Egypt requires to lend them out to other museums, the shipping, the insurance and security required, it might be the last time. My husband and I are museum members and have already bought our tickets, but for anyone wishing for a Denver getaway that includes line-beating VIP tickets, six downtown hotels are offering lodging/museum packages:

The Curtis Hotel

A Day In the Museum, A Night at the Curtis. Packages from $159 for one night's accommodations on the King Tut Floor (based on availability); $20 in Mummy Money (food and beverage credit for use in The Corner Office restaurant or Room Service); overnight Self Parking; 2 VIP Passes to King Tut, and a welcome amenity (either two Golden Nile Martinis or one Cairo Kid’s Pack). Book online or by phone, 303-571-0300 or 800-525-6651. Promotion code TUT.

Grand Hyatt Denver

Fit for a King. Packages from $159 for one night's accommodations, complimentary hotel parking, two VIP tickets to the King Tut exhibition at the Denver Art Museum and a welcome amenity. Book online or by phone, 303-295-1234 or 800-233-1234.

Hyatt Regency Denver

King Tut Package. From $159 for one night's accommodation in a Mountain View guest room  and two VIP tickets to the King Tut exhibition at the Denver Art Museum. Book by phone, 303-436-1234.

Sheraton Downtown Denver

Pharaohs’ Affair. Starting at $129 per night based on two-night stay; $149 for one night for accommodations and two VIP tickets for the King Tut exhibition at the Denver Art Museum. King Tut’s Treasure package includes accommodations, two VIP tickets for the King Tut exhibition at the Denver Art Museum, breakfast for two and overnight parking, from $159 per night based on two-night stay, $179 for one night. The best prices are on weekends. Hooray! Book online or by phone, 303-893-3333.

Westin Tabor Center

Pharaohs' Affair. Package includes one night and two VIP tickets starting at $179 per night; two nights and two VIP tickets from $159 per night. King Tut’s Treasure. Package includes one night and two VIP Tickets, breakfast for two and Self Parking from $209 per night; same offer for two nights from $189 per night. Also, weekends are the least expensive. Book online or by phone, 303-572-9100.

Brown Palace Hotel

Pharaoh’s Find. From $169, one night in luxury room and two VIP tickets. Booking code TUT. A Night to Treasure. From $199, same as Pharaoh's find plus two VIP tickets and enjoy luxurious accommodations accompanied by truffles dusted in 24-karat gold and valet parking. Booking code TREASURE. Book online or by phone, 303-297-3111 or 800-321-2599.

Cairo: Airport Impressions

You can't tell a book by it's cover, but I'm not sure whether or not there's a corollary about countries and their gateway airports, but here's my first impression of Egypt. Cairo International Airport (CAI) not only serves Egypt's capital and largest city but is also at the crossroads where the influences of the Gulf States, Africa and Europe meet. Terminal 1 has recently been renovated, Terminal 2 redevelopment has "been initiated" and a new Terminal 3 is "under construction and scheduled to open soon."

If you arrive without a visa, as many/most foreign tourists do, don't go straight to passport control. Go to the bank, where $15 will buy you a Monopoly money-size visa that will be pasted into your passport and decorated with an impressive official stamp. Also, don't expect anyone to take the entry or customs declaration forms that you filled out.

My initial impression therefore is of a bureaucratic country with systems that are not necessarily intuitive or logical to the outsider.

Car Rental Companies: Really Highway Robbers

Airlines aren't alone in digging deep into customers' wallets

Airlines have been getting a lot of static for unbundled air fares that make a bargain ticket no bargain at all when all the add-ons are, well, added on. This is especially irritating because many of them used to be included. But the arlines are pikers compared with car-rental companies, and it appears that locations at some airports are worse than others. My friend and fellow travel writer and blogger Hilary Nangle, with New England frugality running through her veins, got quite a travel shock when she rented a car in the Phoenix. She wrote on her Facebook page:

"Welcome to Phoenix: one-week car rental, $179 for a Toyota Camry PLUS taxes and fees, $195 (concession fee recovery 11.10%; county surcharge, $17.44; Customer facility charge, $42; Op/Maint/Bus/Recv and energ Srchg: $8.02; Tax-15.30, $82.10). By the time I added insurance, my $179 rental was $636.10."

Nangle is not an inexperienced traveler, but car rental companies are cagy unbundlers and have been for quite some time.SmarterTravel.com warned of hidden fees back in 2004, well before airlines were affilicted with raging unbundling fever. And last year Chris Elliott, travel consumer advocate, wrote "Broadsided: 5 New Car Rental Fees to Avoid"  on his award-winning site.

The truth is that travelers are often in a rush, especially at airport locations, and don't have time to read contracts or bills carefully -- or are a bit embarrassed to do so. Additionally, since many car renters are business travelers who expense their vehicles, companies can institute policies that are not generally questioned by those who don't pay the bill. But more and more, it pays to slow down, taking time to read and question suspicious add-ons to those lengthy contracts when picking up a car invoices when returning it.

Couple On Display in Free "Hotel Room"

Hotel room set-up in corner storefront promotes hotel -- and displays guests

Duncan Malcolm and Katherine Lewis of London are spending five nights in a luxurious New York hotel room. The BBC reported that the tradeoff is that they any passerby can look in on them as they relax, watch television and do what people generally do in hotel rooms -- except that the bed is screened from view and there is a private bathroom. This is part of the promotion of a hotel that the BBC did not identify, and the couple view it as an extension of their Facebook presence. Would a free, glass-front micro-tel be the equivalent of Twitter?

Colorado Summer Destinations

High-country escapes for Coloradans and visitors alike

"Colorado warm-weather getaways" has been on my to-do list for several weeks, but Denver Post travel editor Kyle Wagner beat me to it. Today's Travel Section is headlined "Where to bike, climb, fish, raft, hike, drive, golf and more in Colorado." She wrote, "Staycation, statecation, playcation, mancation, spacation, nakation, babymoon, girlfriend getaway. Who cares what it's called? We have just four words for you: Get out of town."

 Below are links to her suggestions in some of Colorado's terrific mountain towns (plus Colorado Springs at the foot of the mountains), so thank you, Kyle.

• Aspen/Roaring Fork Valley
• Colorado Springs
• Crested Butte
• Durango
• Grand County
• Gunnison
• Leadville
• Summit County
• Telluride
• Vail

What's missing? Off the top, perhaps Grand Junction/Palisade/Wine Country, Ouray, Pagosa Springs, Redfeather Lakes, but including any or all of them would have required more pages than were available.

Great Wildlife Viewing in Spring

At and near Rocky Mountain National, the critters are close to the road

Seeing wild animals in their natural habitat always gladdens my heart. Over the weekend, we took a friend from Maine for a drive to Rocky Mountain National Park. As we approached the park from the east (Estes Park) side via US 34, left via US 36 and on Trail Ridge Road as far as we could go to the winter road closure, we saw three of the park's big species: two groups of bighorn sheep (Colorado's official state animal), deer and elk.

We frequently see deer, even in our backyard, and watchable elk abound anytime other than summer, but bighorns are always a treat in the park. The Empire herd and the Georgetown herd sometimes graze close to Interstate 70 in the winter and are easy to spot, especially in the morning. But a national park provides a better backdrop than vehicles whizzing by on pavement.

Epic Snows 'Round the World

Heavy snows in the Alps, the Rockies, the Sierra and totally unexpected places around the world too

Scotland-based Patrick “Snowhunter" Thorne, who keeps track of such things, has reported "once in a generation” snowfalls on Mau Son Mountain in Vietnam, a meteorological curiosity but not necessarily germane for skiers. In the United Arab Emirates, In the United Arab Emirates, snow also fell on the northern emirate of Ras al Khaimah's Jebel Jais range. Thorne noted that the “situation [is] so rare that the local dialect doesn't even have a word for it.” Crown Prince Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, who is planning an indoor snow center larger than the highly publicized Ski Dubai facility, visited the area to see real snow.

Closer to home, Mammoth Mountain, Calif., was inundated with five feet of snow over four days, and Steamboat reports has been slammed with powder-bearing storm after powder-bearing storm (42 inches out of the latest for a season total of 119 inches) and currently has an 80-plus-inch base. Steamboat (right) recorded 42 inches from this storm, bringing their season total to 229 inches (just over 19 feet). Crested Butte snagged inches for a season total to 202 inches. In this same late-January storm cycle, Aspen Highlands got 39 inches of new snow, Winter Park 35 inches, Silverton Mountain and Snowmass each 30 inches, Aspen Mountain 27 inches and Copper Mountain, Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort, and Loveland are each welcomed 26 inches of new snow. Even Eldora, just 22 miles from Boulder, got a rare 19 inches of fresh powder. New England is expecting such heavy snowfall out of a storm today (Wednesday) that schools in Main pre-emptorily closed.

But wait, there's more! Snowhunter reported epic snows in the Alps. Austria's powder champ was Nassfeld, with about four feet of snow in a week. The Axamer - Lizum above Innsbruck, far better known to American skiers, snared 14 inches. The report that the Mölltaler Glacier has the greatest snow depth in the country with just under 11 feet on upper slopes and German's Zugspitz Glacier in the Bavarian Alps got 11 inches, which is encouraging in light of the world's shrinking glaciers. Zermatt is Switzerland's seasonal snowfall leader with 18 inches from the most recent storm and a seasonal snow accumulation of 33 feet on the glacier. "Snowhunter" further reported that in northern Italy, Cortina d'Ampezzo got nearly three feet of snow, and Limone Piemonte 20 inches. Arabba Marmolada has the most snow Italy with 16 feet on the upper slopes. In France, where the World Alpine Ski Championships begin next week in Val d'Isère, Jean-Claude Killy's hometown, conditions are splendid -- though racers prefer hard, hard snow to powder.

The Pyrenees have also enjoyed abundant snow, including more than three feet at Baqueira/ Beret, Spain, and 20 inches in Andorra just this week, but as elsewhere, it comes with significant avalanche risk. “The snow depth and quality is excellent, but the risk of avalanche is high, and we are strongly advising our customers to stay on the marked pistes,” Vincent Doutres, lift company manager at Cauteret-Lys, told Snowhunter. Andorra expects to offer lift service until the first of May. In Scandinavia, Sweden received recent major winter storms, including something like 25 inches at Kungsberget. Ski Kungsberget! In Scotland, as unlikely a ski destination for North Americans as Scandinavia, all five ski areas are operation -- a rare occurance.

And if you are interested in conditions in places like Cauteret-Lys or Kungsberget, either because you like to ski places no other kid on your block has, or you just like to know about offbeat things, check out Snowhunter's site (www.skiinfo.com), which tracks conditions at something like 1,500 large and small ski areas.

Hotel Accessibility a Requirement, Not a Request

Consolidators must now change the way they handle reservations for disabled guests

It should not have taken a lawsuit to require hotel consolidators to accommodate disabled travelers who ask for accessible rooms. But it did. Candy Harrington, author of several books on handicap travel, calls this settlement agreed to by those third-party reservations services that book discounted hotel rooms and other travel components "a huge victory for disabled travelers."

She posted an informative report on her Barrier Free Travel blog applauding the settlement in the case of Smith v. Hotels.com L.P, in which the consolidator "has agreed to alter their way of doing business." By September of this year, details about accessible rooms are supposed to appear on the searchable websites of Hotels.com and Expedia.com.

Harrington continued that "travelers will actually be able to search for an accessible room with specific access features. So, for example, you'll be able to search for a room at a three-star hotel with a roll-in shower in Cleveland. That's a huge improvement in the whole system, as currently you can't determine a room's accessibility features when you search their database....And, in many cases you will actually be able to reserve that specific accessible room. It won't exactly be a point, click and book option, but a trained customer service representative will work with each disabled customer to make sure an accessible room that meets their needs is reserved. The representative will have to contact the property directly to make these arrangements, as hotels.com buys blocks of rooms, not specific rooms."

Harrington speculated that "this settlement may very well influence the Department of Justice as they revise the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) for hotels (also called transient lodging). Revisions under consideration include making hotels responsible for third party reservation systems that don't adequately reserve accessible rooms; and requiring properties to block accessible rooms upon reservation."

Harrington also noted that the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) such those proposed revisions, though it is mysterious to me why they would not want to do everything possible to encourage hotel and motel occupancy by a large and growing segment of the traveling public. Boomers with wanderlust in their aging bones are beginning to have mobility issues, and I would the hotel trade association have applauded not opposed the settlement.

Cracks in the Checked-Bag Fee Policies?

Delta waives fee for some AmEx cardholders

Beginning on June 1, Delta Air Lines is waiving the fee immensely unpopular fee for the first piece of checked luggage checked for most people who carry the Delta-affiliated American Express Gold, Platinum and Reserve SkyMiles cards. Delta and other major airlines have these co-branded card arrangements, meaning that cardholders typically earn one frequent flier mile for each dollar they spend using it, not only for air travel but for other purchases as well. Most airlines airlines do not charge their premium frequent fliers for first checked-bag. Delta reportedly earned $215 million in baggage fees in the first quarter of this year, leading some people in the industry to speculate that American Express paid Delta to waive the fee for cardholders.

Other possible "cracks"?

• JetBlue's current one-day 10th-anniversary promotion charges $10 for all remaining seats on flights tomorrow (May 11) and Wednesdays (May 12). I've never flown JetBlue and don't know whether they customarily charged for checked bags
• Frontier's present Whole Enchilada sale is a fully refundable Classic Plus fare that includes two free checked bags and other extras.
• Southwest does not charge for the first two checked bags, No way. No how. At least not yet.

Glacier National Park's Centennial

Rededication ceremony May 11, the 100th anniversary of northern Montana park

In early May, the big rotary plows are still working to clear Going-to-the-Sun Glacier Road through Glacier National Park, a similar operation to the annual reopening of Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park. I can only imagine how deep the snows lay on On May 11, 1910, when Glacier  was designated as the 10th national park in the U.S. system. There are many similarities between these two iconic parks in the Rocky Mountains -- and also Yellowstone between them -- fantastic scenery, great wildlife habitat, far more vistation in summer than in winter when through roads are buried in deep snow.

In the Park Service's words,  "With a horizon dominated by snow capped mountains, and more than 130 lakes contained within its 16,000 square miles of pristine backcountry, Glacier quickly became a popular destination for outdoor adventurers and vacationing families a like. Today, 100 years later, Glacier attracts more than two million visitors a year, making it one of the most popular national parks in the States."

This Tuesday, May 11th, beginning at 10:30 a.m., the park celebrates its centennial with a rededication ceremony at the West Glacier Community Building with commemorative items and cake, of course, for attendees. After the ceremony, retired Park Service employees returning to Glacier for this one special day conduct special walking tours with stops at various historical points in the park's compound include the park's museum collection, historic fire hose tower, the original park headquarters building and the historic Belton Bridge.
 
Another landmark event in a fabulous national park. CEntennial events continue through the year, but I especially wish I could be there for this week's kickoff.

Hotel Room Rate Roulette

Online booking site's two-week game can pay off with dollar deals


For two weeks from January 26 through February 6, LastMinuteTravel.com will begin selling its worldwide hotel room inventory for just a dollar per night for up to a seven-night’s stay. The catch is that the the transaction must be completed within 10 15-minute windows scattered randomly on weekdays during those two weeks. During each booking period, the first 500 entrants who complete the process will be able to book every room in its inventory of over 15,000 global hotel partners

To participate in this "World for a Dollar" promotion, sign up here, and to increase the odds of success, travelers can capture clues from the posted videos to the exact sale time. I don't know whether there is a final date by which successful entrants must use their room reservations.

Arizona Travel Boycott Gains Momentum

Associations and municipalities pull meetings in Arizona; some individuals simply won't go

Municipal employees in Boulder, a very liberal place that has been described as a city with its own foreign policy, will not be traveling to Arizona on city business in the wake of stringent regulations seeking to identify and detain illegal immigrants. Specifically, it is now a state crime to be in Arizona illegally and requires police and other law-enforcement agents to check documents of people they "reasonably" suspect to be illegal. Those opposed to this law, which requires local law enforcement agencies essentially to act as an adjunct of the federal government and stop individuals with or without additional cause (like a traffic violation), with a demand to produce papers has all the signs of racial profiling.  Mexican citizens have been cautioned against visiting Arizona, and a number groups have begun pulling meetings out of the state.

Arizona has suffered self-inflicted tourism wounds before. It reportedly lost some 170 conventions and the Super Bowl in the early 1990s from boycotts because it refused to approve the Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday holiday. Overlapping that boycott was one against Colorado, after state voters approved a confusing, anti-gay constitutional amendment that was never put into effect but that earned it the nickname, "The Hate State." It seems as if Arizona is poised to take that mantle, with social media calls to avoid Arizona going viral. The Arizona hotel industry trade organization has launched its own defense Facebook page.

In addition to the Boulder City Council vote to boycott Arizona, Boston, San Francisco and Oakland have done so. An immigration lawyers convention has pulled out of Scottsdale, ABC reported that the law, if not repealed, could cost Phoenix the 2011 All-Star Game. The 2009 All-Star Game brought on the order of $60 million. It is estimated that up to 40 percent of Major League Baseball players at all levels (including Minor League and farm organizations) are Latino. Some interviewed on camera say the law does not disturb them, but some of them might well come from countries with random police stops and a requirement to carry a nation identity card.

While some entities and individuals are avoiding Arizona while this law is on the books, others predictably think it's a damn good thing, by God! A USA Today online  poll currently shows that two-thirds of the respondents clicked on "I'm more excited than ever to visit the state." The remaining third split their clicks among four other opinions.


Repressive policy. Support from some. Anger from others. Backlash and reverse-backlash. Defensive actions. Posturing politicians. Innocent people (low-wage hospitality workers in particular) caught in the cross-fire. Business as usual.

The Sound of Silence in Mexico's Copper Canyon

Riding a railroad to a stunning, quiet place

Most Mexican cities and towns are noisy places, filled with traffic, voices, music and miscellaneous sounds. The Barranca del Cobre, which in English we call the Copper Canyon, is one of the quietest places I have ever been. It is actually not one canyon but a labyrinth of seven enormous canyons that could swallow our Grand Canyon several times over. Other than the two times a day when the train (below) rumbles through the clefted upland called the Sierra Tarahumara, nature's sounds prevail: wind whipping through the trees, rain splashing on rocks and roofs, rain water coursing down hillsides, insistent roosters crowing from dawn to dusk.

Below is the view from the terrace of my room at the Posada de Barrancas.

Tarahumara women make and sell exquisite baskets crafted from pine needles, reeds and other natural materials. These quiet, shy people do not hustle or pester -- nor do they invite bargaining or other aggressive shopping.

Simple homes are perched on ledges or in valleys with some elbow room. Below, a washline with a wondrous view.

Tarahumara women wear bright clothes and keep babies on their backs.

Older children look after younger ones.

Simple, ancient churches established by Spanish missionaries are still used, with celebrations combining Christian and timeless Tarahumara symbolism. Below is San Alonzo de Arareko.

The Tarahumara walk up and down steep canyon paths and through widely scattered settlements.

The mother below set out her baskets near a roadside pull-out overlooking a reservoir called Arareko Lake.

Dawn and dusk create equally gorgeous light shows as the sun peaks over or dips toward the canyon rim.

A Tip for More Than a Tip for the Hotel Housekeeper

When you want to leave something besides cash for the hotel housekeeper, a simple step will keep her from getting into trouble

I just returned from a Society of American Travel Writers Western Chapter meeting in Mazatlan. In addition to printed material, our kind hosts presented us with gifts. Mine included a plastic briefcase, two T-shirts, three baseball caps, a zip-up rain jacket of a material like a lightweight Tyvek, a Nalgene water bottle, a mouse pad with three USB ports, several pens and probably some other schwag that I can't remember.

I will need the press materials and brochures that I gathered, and I already had filled much of the space in my one piece of luggage with Tarahumara baskets and other handicrafts. Sometimes at such meetings, there is a place in the press room where gifts we are unable to use can be returned to the hosts, but this time, there wasn't even a press room. My inclination would be to leave the stuff I couldn't take home for the housekeeper -- along with a gratuity, of course.

My well-traveled colleague Bob Bone suggested that when we do that, we also leave a signed and dated note with the giveaway material, specifying that perhaps the housekeeper or her children might be able to use it. He said that without such a note, a housekeeper might get into trouble if her supervisor sees her leaving with goods. Good point, and I did that.

Sometimes we take clothing or footwear with us for one last wearing before we plan to discard it. Doing this, especially in a developing country, can benefit someone down the line -- but not at the cost of getting the recipient into trouble.

Thanks, Bob, for the excellent suggestion.

TSA Tightens Policies -- After Bombing Suspect Slipped Through

Terrorists are creative; security agencies need to be as well

Little old ladies, families with toddlers and harried road warriors better be prepared for closer scrutiny by the Transportation Security Agency. After permitting Faisal Shahzad, who was charged with last Saturday's (fortunately) unsuccessful attempt to detonate a car bomb in New York's Times Square, screeners permitted him to pass through security at JFK International Airport on Monday evening, and Emirates Airlines let him on the plane.

Shahzad's name had been added to the no-fly list a few hours earlier, but it appears that no one (or at least no one with both responsibility and a functioning brain) at the agency or the airline had bothered to look at the list. He reportedly purchased his one-way ticket with cash in the last minute.Isn't that supposed to be brightest of all red flags? He could well have been winging his way to Dubai International Airport andthen on to Pakistan efore anyone looked at the list. Things changed fast after the close call.

Even though TSA personnel are supposed to match names on airline tickets with photo IDs before letting them proceed to the metal-detector and X-ray of carry-ons, airlines are responsible for monitoring the no-fly list. Everyone involed has gotten a wake-up call.

The government is now requiring airlines to check the no-fly list within two hours after being notified that the list had been updated. Until this new policy was instituted, airlines had had to check for updated every 24 hours. In 24 hours, a passenger boarding an international flight could be anywhere in the world. While TSA agents missed Shahzad at the security checkpoint and Emirates missed him when he checked in, Customs and Border Protection spotted his name on the passenger list and apprehended him before the plane took off for Dubai, Emirates' home base Meanwhile, since the incident,.Emirates, an enthusiastic proponent of Open Skies, does not mention a word of new alertness on its website.

According to a report in Travel Weekly, a travel trade publication, "The U.S. government's plan is to eventually take over the task of watch list matching. In 2009, the government began phasing in domestic flights. International flights aren’t covered by the government yet."

Like the Army is often accused of "fighting the last war," the TSA has been obsessed with the America's big airline incident, namely 9/11. The hijackers took over aircraft on domestic flights, so the security efforts have been directed there. A U.S.-bound Nigerian with explosives sewn into his underwear and a troubled Pakistani-American on the lam for a failed midtown Manhattan car bombing just wasn't on U.S. security's radar screen.

Good that someone was paying attention. And I hope that the TSA can keep its collective eyes and minds open, look for something else "unusual" and lay off little old ladies, families with toddlers and harried road warriors.

Indigenous Dances -- And Adaptations

Traditions preserved -- for tourists?

Indigenous villages in tourist areas, like El Fuerte where Mexico's famous Copper Canyon train leaves from, often find ways to preserve some of their traditions (usually dance, music, food preparation) by demonstrating them for visitors.

Such is the village of Camposa, where a local tour operator called Turismo Fuerte, has arranged for a family to open their rustic home to visitors. Emilia makes tortillas the old way. Jose-Luis dances. I am time-crunched and will have no Internet access for several days, so blow are a two photo of a traditional dance representing a deer being hunted. First, Jose-Luis Martinez performis in the village. Then, a dance student does the same dance in town.

If you can tell from the only images I managed to take under conditions too challenging for my my small digital cameras Note the differences in costume details. Jose-Luis is holding a real deer head in his teeth near the end of the dance. The costumed dancer never does that. And the deer head he is wearing is elaborately decorated.

United-Continental Image and Policies

Image of United-Continental merger emerges

 

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And behind the image is the intention is to be put into effect when the merger becomes official at the end of the year. This morning's E-mail brought an upbeat message called "Let's Fly Together" to members of United's MileagePlus and Continental's OnePass loyalty programs. The message touted:

• Ten hubs (including the four largest cities in the US).
• Service to 370 destinations in 59 countries.
• Continuing vice to 140 smaller cities (they don't say whether through regional affiliates or what, but smaller cities usually bear the brunt of big-business decisions)
• Refurbishment and replacement of older aircaft + Continental's more fuel-efficient fleet. 
• Implementation of both carriers; "best-in-class practices."
• Affiliation with 24 Star Alliance members with service to more than 1,000 worldwide cities.

Icelandair Adds Destinations, Lowers Fuel Surchargers

Icelandair to fly to 20 cities in the UK and Europe

With connections through its hub in Reykjavik and the addition of Stavanger, Norway, and Düsseldorf, Germany, later this year, Icelandair's route system is expanding to some 20 destinations in Scandinavia, Great Britain and Continental Europe. These new flights will operate seasonally from May 8 to September 29, 2009. Year-round North American gateways are Boston and New York-JFK, with season service to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Orlando Sanford, Halifax and Toronto.

United and Continental to Merge

Boards of Directors reportedly have approved joining of two airline giants

According to ChicagoBreakingBusiness.com, on Monday (tomorrow) United and Continental will officially announce a consummation of their courtship and become one -- the one being the world's largest airline, which is to be called United. Overlapping but not duplicate route systems and complementary corporate cultures are reportedly the benefits of this marriage of two airline giants. The corporate headquarters of the combined carrier will move its operations from Houston to Chicago's Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), but Houston will become its biggest hub. Stay tuned for more information.

More on Snow that Stays & Snow that Slides

Followup: With great ski conditions come avalanches

Since December 29, when I wrote a cautionary post on avalanches in western North America, the snow has kept falling and fatalities have continued to rise. Even the New York Times, which doesn't often concern itself with our mountains, has noticed. According to an article called "Fatal Avalanches Rattle Ski Country in the West" in today's sports section:

"Since Dec. 14, avalanches have caused 13 deaths in the United States and
23 total in North America — one in a roof slide and the others in skiing,
snowboarding, snowmobiling and ice-climbing incidents, according to Dale Atkins,
vice president for the avalanche rescue commission at the International
Commission for Alpine Rescue.

"Perhaps most troubling to resorts and safety officials is that three
people died in-bounds — areas at resorts that are perceived as safe terrain.
Avalanches in in-bounds areas have led to deaths of skiers at Squaw Valley in
California, at Snowbird in Utah and at Jackson Hole. It is the most in-bound
deaths in one season since three skiers were killed in a single avalanche at
Alpine Meadows in 1976.

“'One in-bound fatal avalanche in a season is unusual; three separate
fatal incidents in one season is really rare,'” said Bob Comey, director of the
Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center. “It’s been a really big problem.
We’re doing what we normally do. Our techniques work really well, but they’re
not ever 100 percent guaranteed.'”

This is the rare kind of winter when reports of epic snowfalls at Western ski resorts are cause for both joy and concern. So again, skiers, snowboarders, backcountry skiers and snowmobilers are advised pack a good portion of caution when venturing into the high country.

Air France's Reservation-Hold Fee

Airline booking procedures carry financial risk. A new way to mitigate it?

So you've snared a low fare to someplace you want to go. So you know about yield management, which results in air fare quotes that can change in a matter of hours, if not minutes. So you have to check with a traveling companion or the dogsitter to make sure traveling on those dates will work. So you stare at the screen, reading about sudden-death booking conditions -- once you've clicked to book a ticket with a well-priced fare, it's yours with no penalty-free refunds or changes.

UpgradeTravelBetter.com reported that "in some [Air France] markets, you can reserve a low fare for up to two weeks, without buying the ticket, for €10." That certainly should be plenty of time to get your proverbial ducks in a row before you nail down your ticket. Don't get excited yet. North America is not one of those markets -- yet. The site quoted the translation of a Dutch report with details on this innovation. (Why a Dutch report? Because the same holding company owns Air France and KLM.)

When reserving online, you can choose the Time to Think option*. Starting at €10 per passenger, this new option lets you hold your reservation and fare for up to 14 days**.


To purchase your ticket, simply visit the “Manage your reservations” section.

If you decide not to confirm the reservation, it will be canceled automatically when your Time to Think period expires.

* This option is offered on our flights within metropolitan France and from France to Europe and North Africa.
** The period allowed varies according to your reservation date, destination and travel fare conditions. Option non-refundable and in addition to your ticket price.

Is it a good idea? Probably for expensive long-haul tickets, but maybe not so great for (presumably) less expensive tickets for short flights. As for domestic "within metropolitan France," I wouldn't bother flying at all but would take the wonderful TGV. Why go through all the annoyances of airports and air travel these days when a high-speed train whisks you through the landscape?

Even though North Americans are not yet given Time to Think, Upgrade blogger Mark Ashley did offer a suggestion: "When I do a test booking of an itinerary between Charlotte and Paris (via Detroit and/or Atlanta), I’m given an option of holding the itinerary for over 24 hours — until 10 pm the next night — at no cost. It’s not 14 days of hold time, but it’s not 10 euros, either."

Travel within France and to nearby European countries aside, this is another add-on that other airlines are surely looking at and might copy.

Front Range Hotels: One Very Old, One Brand New

The Boulderado celebrated its 100th as Aloft was set to take off

On January 1, the Hotel Boulderado passed the century mark with a swank party New Year's party and then a Sunday open house commemorating 10 decades of hospitality -- luxurious, minimal and then luxurious again. All were welcome to visit the hotel, listen to live music, enjoy free hors d'oeuvres and punch and birthday cake -- and watch ballroom dancers in period costume performing dances popular throughout its long history.

















Dancers in period costume (above); Boulderado birthday cake (right) by Shamane's Bake Shoppe. By the time I shouldered close to it with my little camera, several of the top tiers had already been taken off, sliced and distributed to celebrants. The Daily Camera published excellent pix.

Meanwhile, as the gracious Boulderado was entering its second century, the cutting-edge aLoft Hotel (or is it the Aloft Hotel? or the aloft? or the ALOFT?) was getting set to open in Aurora, near Denver International Airport. There are 17 other hotels with this name, one of Starwood's brands, already open or about to open, and I'm thinking that images on the photo page of the website are of some other them. It brand's design seems hip, high-tech and super-cool with mid-century modern furniture and Technicolor hues in the public spaces and Euro-toned down (natural wood + white) in the guest rooms.

I haven't seen the Denver area hotel or received any press materials, so all I can do is quote its own prose:

stay & play: public spaces
Meet & mingle with friends at our w
xyz(SM) bar, grab a sweet, savory, or healthy snack from re:fuel by aloft(SM),
our 24/7 pantry, or play in our re:mix(SM) lobby. Plus, you can always stay
connected with complimentary hotel-wide wired and wireless Internet
access!

rest & refresh: aloft rooms
Breeze into one of our aloft rooms,
featuring our ultra-comfortable signature bed, an oversized spa shower, custom
amenities by Bliss® Spa, and more. Our plug & play connectivity station
charges all your electronics and links to the 42” LCD TV to maximize work and
play.

Colorado's first aLoft/ALoft/aloft/ALOFT is at 16470 East 40th Circle, Aurora; 303- 371-9500. Others are planned for the Arista complex in Broomfield (opening in May 2009) and Glendale (near Cherry Creek and opening March 2010).

May 1: BYOB Day For Airline Passengers

Consumerist website declares Bring Your Own Blanket Day

CrazyAirlineFees.com's home page features a chart comparing the myriad add-ons that airlines are now charging in an effort to "unbundle" air fares and, in the end, wring the maximum revenues from travelers. Now, the site has declared May 1 as Bring Your Own Blanket Day to encourage passengers to bring their own blankets on board. Pretty soon, Linus, who goes nowhere without his blanket, will become the patron saint of fliers.

American Airlines' new $8 blanket-and-pillow fee in domestic economy cabins inspired this new "holiday." Obviously, it's a great attention-getter for this website and will surely drive traffic to it, but every day needs to be BYOB day -- like every day is now BYOF (Bring Your Own Food) Day. If this catches on, I'm half-anticipating American, maybe Spirit or an other carrier to start charging for blankets that passengers bring on board. I'll just keep wearing a jacket when I board rather than pack it. I've been doing this for a long time, because even when airlines had blankets and pillows available, there often weren't enough for all passengers -- especially in the rear of steerage.

"Forty winks in the air shouldn't cost you eight bucks," said Leonard Lee, a former airline pilot who founded of CrazyAirlineFees.com. According to the site, USAirways, JetBlue and Virgin America have been selling what they are calling "sleep kits" with blanket and pillow (hopefully freshly laundered since they are charging) and Lee added, some of them also "conveniently include an eyeshade and ear plugs so you don't have to listen to other passengers complaining about all the in-flight fees."

The site also offers the following info about blanket fees:  "Delta Airlines is the only major U.S. airline that still provides free pillows and blankets for its Economy class passengers.  Several airlines, including Continental, United and Southwest, no longer carry pillows and blankets onboard for their Economy class passengers. Southwest removed its pillows and blankets last year because of concerns during the H1N1 flu scare." I guess it was OK for front-cabin passengers to catch the flu!

Carbon Offset Kiosk Coming to an Airport Near You

San Francisco International to install nation's first dispenser of carbon offset credits

Come spring, eco-conscious travelers flyhing out of San Francisco International Airport will be able to buy certified carbon offsets at self-service kiosks in a one-year pilot program (yes, that's an intentional pun) set up by 3Degrees, a local company that deals in renewable-energy and carbon-reduction investments. The San Francisco Airport Commission has authorized a $163,000 startup costs to provide kiosks, initially at the customer service desk in Terminal 3 and two wings of the International Terminal.

The kiosk will probably look a lot like an ATM or airline check-kiosk. According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, the flier will punch in the destination, and the kiosk's computer will calculate the carbon footprint and the cost of carbon credits to offset that particular flight. A credit card swipe then will buy the necessary credits.

Buying this credits will be an environmental good deed, but it's not a charity, so the cost is not tax-deductible. 3Degree's Krista Canellakis told the paper, "While the carbon offsets purchased at kiosks can't be seen or touched, they are an actual product with a specific environmental claim whose ownership is transferred at the time of purchase."

According city and airport officials, 3Degrees and city will choose projects to be funded from a list certified by the city's Environment Department such as "renewable energy ventures in developing countries, agriculture and organic waste capture, coal mine methane capture, and sustainable forestry." A portion of each offset purchase will also go to "the San Francisco Carbon Fund, which supports local projects such as energy-efficiency programs and solar panel installations for low-income housing, as well as efforts to convert waste oils into biodiesel fuels."

The cost of these offset purchases for travelers has not be finalized yet, but 3Degrees' web-based "carbon calculator" suggests that offsetting a two-hour trip using about 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide would cost about $4 per person. Offsetting a trip to Europe would is guesstimated at $36. Thirty percent of the revenues will go to 3Degrees and the rest to the city. If it works at SFO, it's sure to spread to other airports as well. Profits for the company, revenues to the airport without requiring any additional services other than electricity and a clear conscience for travelers. Seems like a good bet for success.

Ironically, just as SFO is ready to welcome the 21st century commodity of carbon offset credits, the city is set to bid farewell to Stacey's Bookstore, an 85-year-old institution at 581 Market Street, one of the diminishing independent book dealers that have sadly fallen victim to changing times.

Happy Anniversaries, Parks Canada

Canada's equivalent of the US National Park Service celebrates its 125th this year. But wait! There's more!

Happy Anniversaries -- plural "anniversaries" with an S is correct, as Parks Canada (and also Parcs Canada in our officially bilingual neighbor to the north) -- celebrates and celebrates and celebrates. Currently, the agency is responsible for 42 national parks, 167 historic sites, nine historic canals and three national historic conservation areas. Like trivia? Point Pelee National Park, between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario is the smallest and also the farthest south -- farther south, in fact, than New York City. The farthest north is Sirmilik National Park on northern Baffin Island, also the area where the earliest signs of human habitation have been found. Parks Canada/Parcs Canada certainly has a lot to celebrate.

2010 - 125th anniversary of the year (1885) that Cave Basin was established as a natural reserve to protect Banff Hot Springs. Two years later, it became the nucleus Banff National Park, Canada's first national park.

2011 - 100th anniversary of the creation of the agency now called Parks Canada/Parcs Canada

2012 - 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, commemorated and documented at numerous National Historic Sites close to the Canada-US border.

2013 - 300th anniversary ot the Fortress of Louisbourg, a faith reconstruction of a fortress built in 1713 to protect French poessesions in what is now referred to as Atlantic Canada.

Sites and Blogs with Names Similar to Travel Babel

With tens of thousands of blogs and websites, I found just a few similar domain names

I do occasionally check the number of visitors to this blog, but today I'm feeling puckish this morning and suddenly wondered how many other blogs and sites I could find quickly with names similar to my Travel Babel blog. I immediately found another Travel Babel in Poland. Its URL is almost identical to mine, but without the hyphen between "Travel" and "Babel."

Flipping the words around, I also found a Swiss tour operator called Babel Travel that organizes adventure trips to North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. There's a Travel Babble in Canada, a site that doesn't seem to travel far beyond Toronto and offers information for visitors traveling to that wonderful city. And I came upon a dead-end URL for a website called My Travel Babble that was once a domain name of Bob and Claudia Brill, " two people with extensive travel experience," says the Google search page. And I found a lame YouTube video titled "Travel Babble" of two blokes sitting around in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris and describing their time in Paris with only some words audible .

60 Hours of Capricious Front Range Weather

Four seasons in 2+ days. Boulderites don't need to travel. Weather variations come to us.

If you live in or have been traveling to Boulder, Colorado, starting this past Wednesday, here's the weather you would have experienced:

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Wednesday afternoon, gray.
Wednesday early evening, hail.

Wednesday later in the evening, regular rain. Then downpour plus thunder and lightening.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Thursday morning, gray.
Thursday mid-day, blue sky and sunny.
Thursday afternoon, clouded over.
Thursday evening and Friday morning, rain ranging from drizzle to deluge.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Friday late morning and early afternoon, rain that became sleet and then, heavy, wet snow.

Friday afternoon and evening, alternating rain, drizzle and gray.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Saturday day morning and early afternoon (which is now), gray and cloudy, then clearing and finally sunny.

All the photos above are of our front or back yard during a classic April on Colorado's Front Range. Bottom line is that if you live here, you don't have to travel at this time of year for a change of climate. For visitors, April weather can be an hour-by-hour surpirse. For my part, I love it.

Staycation for the Birds

Non-migrating avians have been bellying up to our heated birthbath and flocking around our feeder

A flock of robins (below) has all but taken over the birdbath.



The bird feeder atop a pole stuck into the ground attracts smaller birds (below) until a (relatively) large flicker chases them off.

Squirrels patrol the snow (below), picking up any scattered birdseed, and occasionally, the neighbored fox comes around seeking a squirrel to snack on (I've never caught Foxy with my camera, but trust me that s/he lives nearby).


Meanwhile, Johnny Cash, the Cat in Black (below) is an avid birdwatcher. He really doesn't care to go outside into the cold -- especially when he might get his paws wet in the snow.