DIA Offers Places to Plug in Laptops

Free WiFi at the airport is great; facilities for laptop users makes it better

Last January, I reported that Denver International Airport was installing terminal-wide WiFi. Initially, there were not a lot of outlets, which created a problem for travelers concerned about running down their batteries. When I had time to check E-mail on Concourse B (now called "the B Gates") a few months ago, I sat on the floor with my back against a stainless-steel post that happened to have an outlet in it.

I recently flew from a C Gate at DIA, and while I didn't have time to go online myself, I was pleased to see high stainless-steel tables with lunch counter-style stools and outlets in the area that Southwest uses -- and of course, laptop-toting travelers were using them. They looked a little tight, but the phrase "looking a gift horse in the mouth" comes to mind. I don't know whether the other gate areas formerly known as concourses are similarly equipped. I hope so.

Help Wanted in National Parks & Other Public Lands

Celebrate National Public Lands Day by visiting a park -- or lending a hand

Our Neighborhood National Park at the Change of Seasons

We are very lucky to have Rocky Mountain National Park a little more than an hour from our door -- and we never take it for granted. Today, my husband, a friend and I hiked to one of our favorite destinations, Cub Lake, walking first in sunshine, then through a stiff breeze that brought clouds in from the west, through some rain and finally in sunshine again.

This woolly worm crossed our trail. According to legend, the thinner the brownish red bands, the harsher the winter will be. If the woolly worm is mostly brownish red in the middle, winter will be mild. However, the legend doesn't indicated what a yellow band in the middle foretells.

The wind drove Cub Lake's lily pads toward one end. It drove me back down the trail quickly. After a quick look at a familiar lake and the sight of clouds moving in, I had no inclination to linger.

Near the trailhead, the elk emerged from the trees in Hollowell Park. It's truly fall when these magnificent animals appear.

What We All Can Do to Help....

In addition to visiting our national parks and periodically reminding our representatives in Congress how important the parks are, we can volunteer to help them. National Public Lands Day, Saturday, September 26, is a two-pronged day of celebration of and service to the country’s vast and glorious public lands. The National Park Service is waiving admission charges at all 391 national parks, national monuments and historic sites and properties that it manages.

In addition to National Parks, Americans and visitors to our country also enjoy lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management lands, state and local park departments and recreational corridors under various jurisdictions. In 2008, 120,000 volunteers built trails and bridges, removed trash and invasive plants, and planted more than 1.6 million trees. Click here to find one of the thousands of sites around the country that needs your help next Saturday. Expect to get a free lunch, gratitude and a whole lot of satisfaction.

...And What We Can All Watch on Television

And then, between Sunday, September 27 and Friday, October 2, tune in to your local public broadcasting station to see "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," a six-episode Ken Burns documentary that will remind us all what the crown jewels of our public lands offer to us.

Of the 319 units within the national park system, 58 are full-fledged national parks, and some of us are fortunate to live within easy-access distance of at least one of them. Film maker Ken Burns selected 10 don't-miss parks, which he wrote about in today's USA Weekend. In "10 National Parks You Don't Want to Miss," he wrote his reasons for selecting Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Denali, Glacier, Great Smokey Mountains, Acadia, Everglades, Zion and Shenandoah.

Boulder Celebrates the Fourth in Style

Close-to-home entertainment, music and great fireworks on Independence Day

We rarely go far for any holiday, because Boulder knows how to celebrate. My husband and I, often with friends, have have cobbled together our own Fourth of July traditions from the city's many options. For years, a goup of us would meet at Chautauqua Park for a picnic and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra's free afternoon concert of Sousa marches and other lively songs. That event no longer takes place. Instead, the orchestra plays a concert on the evening of the 3rd in the historic Chautauqua Auditorium, a National Historic Landmark with great acoustics. My husband and I and good friends are taking a picnic and going to the concert.

We usually take a morning hike on the 4th. The most appropriately named destination areound here is the Fourth of July Mine in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, west of town, but tomorrow, we will more likely to stay closer to home. In lieu of the afternoon picnic in Chautauqua Park, we might veg out a bit at home. Then, friends are coming over for hors d'oeuvres and drinks before we all walk up to the University of Colorado's Folsom Field for free entertainment and fireworks University of Colorado photo).

We are carpooling with neighbors this evening, so it seems as if we will leave about smallest possible carbon footprint for our Fourth of July activities.

Ski Train to Return for 2009-10

San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad steps in to operate Denver-Winter Park train

Shock and not a few tears greeted the abrupt announcement at the end of this past ski season that gajillionaire Philip Anschutz would no longer operate the 69-year-old Ski Train between Denver's Union Station and the base of the Winter Park ski area on weekends. His company sold the vintage railroad cars, and he washed his hands of this enduringly populat Colorado tradition.

Now comes the joyful news that the Ski Train will operate for a 70th year after all. Iowa Pacific Holdings, which is based in Chicago but operates the seasonal Rio Grande Scenic Railroad, an excursion train in southern Colorado's San Luis Valley, as well as short-line freight lines here and and elsewhere, said it wanted to operate the Denver-Winter Park service using rolling stock that would otherwise remain idle in winter. Amtrak asked the Union Pacific Railroad, which owns the tracks, for permission to operate a revived Ski Train on Iowa Pacific's behalf. Permission granted.

The old Ski Train website is still up with the announcement that the train ceased operations. The new broke so recently that there is not yet a new website, and of course, a timetable and fares have yet to be announced. The initial news indicated only that the revived train will run between December 16 and March 28.

Machu Picchu Under Tourist Seige

UNESCO warns that too many tourists now threaten Peru's top tourist attraction

I have not yet been to Machu Picchu, the Inca citadel high in the Peruvian Andes, but it is certainly on my go-to list. Maybe I had better move it up. According to an Associated Press report, "conservationists advising UNESCO's World Heritage Committee warn that landslides, fires and creeping development threaten the site," due to soaring visitation (800,000 annually) and excessive construction near the site.

The World Heritage Committee meeting in Quebec City, itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site, "was called to determine which of the world's cultural treasures should be added to its [endangered sites] list — and which of those already included there are now threatened. UNESCO committee spokesman Roni Amelan declined to confirm that Machu Picchu, which was named a World Heritage Site in 1983, would be classified as endangered, but said 'it's a possibility'."

The report continued that "unregulated growth, including a boom in hotel and restaurant construction in the nearby mountain town of Aguas Calientes, is putting pressure on erosion-prone riverbanks and could undermine the site." Agua Calientes is without "adequate sanitation" and "Peru's government has done little to address landslide concerns on the winding, mud thoroughfare that leads to the citadel, according to the report."

Residents of Cuzco, the an ancient Inca city and now a jumping-off point for excursions to Machu Picchu, have protested private development in Aguas Calientes, although Machu Picchu itself appears to be protected thus far. Continued uncontrolled visitation could change that as well. The article quote said Luis Lumbreras, identified as "an independent, Lima-based archaeologist who has studied Machu Picchu for more than 40 years," as warning, "Machu Picchu was never made for lots of people... "If we put tourists with boots [instead of people in sandals or bare feet] that are jumping, running, climbing the walls, etcetera, that's the danger."

Last February, locals protested plans to build more hotels and other tourist facilities, causing suspension of rail service, cancelation of tours and blocking of roads. At the time, the BBC reported, "Hundreds of local farm workers, students and teachers have blocked access roads and the only railway line, barring the way to tourists, who have been reduced to taking pictures of the demonstrators rather than the ruins themselves. The protesters want the government to invest more money in the area, and especially to improve the dirt roads."

A friend and her family recently returned from Machu Picchu filled with enthusiasm about the experience. She didn't mention protests or inadequate sanitation or overcowding, but other government have capitulated to development interests at the cost of local culture or respectful preservation of ancient treasures. The relevant UNESCO committee is concerned about this one -- and therefore so am I.

"I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane"

RIP: Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary

"All my bags are packed,
I'm ready to go.
I'm standing here outside your door.
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye.

"But dawn is breakin',
It's early morn'.
The taxi's waitin',
He's blowin' his horn. . .

"I'm leavin' on a jet plane.
Don't know when I'll be back again.
Oh Babe, I hate to go."

Mary Travers has gone on her final journey. We know that she won't be back again, but her music is her legacy. We'll miss her broad smile, her creative talent, her stage presence, her straight blond hair, her distinctive voice that harmonized so well with Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stuckey, her idealism. The whole package. Click here to listen to Peter, Paul & Mary's rendition of what I think of as the most poignant travel song.

Rumored Carry-On Charges Wean Travelers from Airlines

Newspaper poll indicates many travelers crying "uncle!" over airline surcharges

Today's Denver Post website included a non-scientific but enlightening reader poll regarding the rumor that airlines, already charging most travelers for checked luggage, might be introduce fees for carry-ons as well.

The question is, "Some airlines reportedly are considering charging passengers for their carry-on bags. Read story. If this happens, what will you do?" The as-of-now answers, which should be required reading for airline execs, are:

"I'm still taking everything in my carry-on" - 17.13%
"I'll still check bags and take a carry-on" - 26.12%
"I will wear multiple layers of clothes; no checked bag and no carry-on" - 7.28%
"That's it; I'm through with the airlines" - 49.46%

Perhaps another option should have been, "I'm only flying Southwest from now on." I flew Southwest to and from Oklahoma City last week. I was only gone for three days, so I did fit everything into a carry-on, but if I had checked bags, there would have been no charge. There was likewise no charge for non-alcoholic beverages, and every passenger on both packed-full flights was given two (2!) little bags of peanuts.