Oddball Tours Highlight 2010 "Obscura Day"

Quirky "holiday" spotlights off-the-radar local attractions

Obscura Day is a day for special tours and visits to places around the corner, around the country or around the world that you might never even have heard of, and it falls on Saturday, March 20, this year. It was organized by the folks behind Atlas Obscura, which describes itself as "a compendium of of the world's wonders, curiosities and esoterica." It's a bit like Ripley's Believe It or Not meets the Guinness World Records meets Wikipedia. Oddities around the world are posted, and site visitors are encouraged to enhance, correct or illustrate the posting with additional images.

But back to Obscura Day. Twenty-five places in the US and 29 in other countries are offering special tours to unusual places. The tours and visits tend to be cheap or free, and space is often limited, but they are places most people are likely to miss. In fact, some are sold out and have waiting lists. There are a lot of skeletons and such, including The Bone Room in Berkeley, National Museum of Health and Medicine's collection of medical specimens dating back to the Civil War  in Washington, D.C.; and the Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine. There are the mysterious stone ruins of Gungywamp Hill near Groton in my native Connecticut, and there are eerie streets of never-built housing developments, such as Everglades Unit 11 near West Palm Beach, now teeming with wildlife species, and California City, 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles with streets in the desert that resemble the Nazca Lines from the air.

And there are just plain  (OK, not plain) curiosities. They include the world's tallest treehouse in Crossville, Tennessee, the wild, whimsical Cathedral of Junk in Austin, Texas, the Newnes Glow Worm Tunnel in Australia; the Iceland Phallological Museum boasting "probably the only museum in the world to contain a collection of phallic specimens belonging to all the various types of mammal found in a single country." Probably?!?!.

Thanks to Harriet Baskas, travel journalist and Stuck at the Airport blogger, for alerting me to this, well, obscure holiday.

Skiers Thankful for Thanksgiving Weekend's Big Snows

Serious storms begin rolling through Western mountains

Just a few days ago, I expressed cautious concern about early-season snow conditions, happy that snow was beginning to fall and hoping for more. This weekend, my wishes were fulfilled, and while Boulder received just a dusting of snow on Friday night and Denver a few more inches, some ot the Colorado mountains have been slammed. Other than the miserable Sunday night drive that home-bound skiers endured, the heavy snowfall, mostly in the central mountains, is putting a smile on skiers' faces.

Here are the 48-hour snow totals for Colorado ski areas that are currently open:

• Arapahoe Basin, 21 inches
• Aspen Mountain, 17 inches
• Beaver Creek, 11 inches
• Breckenridge, 8 inches
• Copper Mountain, 14 inches
• Crested Butte, 13 inches
• Keystone, 6 inches
• Loveland, 32 1/2 inches
• Telluride, 8 inches (right, Nov 28)
• Vail, 13 inches
• Winter Park, 9 inches

Utah had gotten those storms a day or so earlier, and Alta, a powder capital, has all seven of its lifts running and 74 or its 116 runs open. But the unrivaled US snowfall leader is way up north. Alyeska Resort, AK, measured more than 117 inches of new snow over the past week, pushing the snowfall total for the season over 200 inches. The mountain reports almost spring-like conditions that it says "are more reminiscent of early spring than they are in December, with several feet of deep soft snow covering all elevations of the mountain."

Note: A day after I wrote this post, Alta retreated and now has four lifts and 55 runs available. The operational rollback might be weather related -- or perhaps only because midweek traffic tends to be slow between Thanksgiving and the Christmas-New Year's holiday period.

Luxury No Longer Means Security

Upscale hotels in unstable places and luxury cruise ships at sea are obvious targets for attacks
There isn't a day that goes by without press releases appearing in my inbox about yet another luxurious, deluxe, multi-star hotel or resort in some picturesque and/or exotic place. The recent attacks in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India, were just the latest high-profile targets that appeal to first-world travelers to developing nations. Reporter Keith Bradsher's New York Times feature called "Analysts Say It Will Be Difficult to Shield Luxury Hotels From Terrorist Attacks" began:

"For decades, luxury hotels have been oases for travelers in developing
countries, places to mingle with the local elite, enjoy a lavish meal or a dip
in the pool and sleep in a clean, safe room. But last week’s lethal attacks
on two of India’s most famous hotels — coming just two months after a huge truck
bomb devastated the Marriott in Islamabad, Pakistan — have underlined the extent
to which these hotels are becoming magnets for terrorists."

Left to my own devices, I'm more of a three-star traveler (OK, maybe four-star in third-world nations) than a five-star traveler. However, when I attend a Society of American Travel Writers convention or am on other tourism-related assignment or trip, I do find myself in unaccustomed luxury. A small part of me enjoys being treated like visiting nobility, but mostly, I am embarrassed by the ritzy glitz in places where so many people have so little. I know that tourism brings jobs (including jobs as security guards) and money into developing countries, but still, such opulence and extravagance are clearly an affront to many. When clashing political ideology or religious zeal are added to the volatile socio-economic mix, the result in these mean times is predictable violence. People die, property is destroyed and another door to international understanding and peace on the planet is slammed shut.

The Times piece discussed security precautions that hotels are taking, which should be of interest and some comfort to travelers heading for potentially dangerous places. Meanwhile, CNN reported that the 'Nautica,' an Oceania Cruises ship (left) en route from Rome to Singapore, outran pirates off the coast of Yemen over the weekend while in an area patrolled by anti-piracy craft. The cargo ships and oil tanker that have recently been seized by pirates were off the coast of Somalia. Smaller private yachts have also been seized.

"The 'Nautica' was in an area patrolled by international anti-piracy task forces when two small skiffs appeared to try to intercept it, Oceania spokesman Tim Rubacky said. The ship took evasive maneuvers and accelerated to its full speed of 23 knots or 27 mph. One of the smaller craft closed to within 300 yards and fired eight rifle shots at the cruise ship, he said, but the ship was able to pull away. . .'The 'Nautica' escaped without damage or injury to its 684 passengers and 400 crew, and arrived safely on schedule in Salalah, Oman early on Monday morning,' Rubacky said."

As disturbing as these reports are, personally, I don't want to stop traveling because "something" might happen. Last June, I visited Oklahoma City, the mid-America capital of Oklahoma where Timothy McVeigh, a US Army veteran and security guard, masterminded the massive explosion that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 2000. Also that month, my car was broadsided by a speeding motorcyclist on a rural highway in western Colorado. I just hope, in the interest of global sanity, that the attacks will stop and efforts to build a more peaceful, more tolerant world will recommence.

United Brings Paperless Boarding Passes to DIA

A SmartPhone and other smart phone is required

I don't have a SmartPhone or iPhone or PDA. I have a SimplePhone, also known as CheapPhone with a CheapCallingPlan, so this news doesn't apply to me. But for others, United's introduction of paperless boarding passes at Denver International Airport is relevant. United isn't the only airline and DIA isn't the only airport, but DIA is my airport and I fly United a lot.

It works like this: Passengers can check in at an electronic kiosk that rather than spewing out a paper boarding pass, sends a message to the one will be sent to Internet-enabled cell phones. The message includes a bar code that security screeners and gate attendants are able to scan -- in theory anyway, unless or until there's a bug.

This system doesn't get around the Transportation Security Agency requirement of showing an actual government-issued photo ID to the screener. United intentionally introduced this innovation at spring break time, when many young people who live and breathe by their cell phones are traveling. Click here for a list of 43 other US airports (plus Frankfurt, Germany) where paperless boarding passes were being used before they came to DIA; others will surely follow. Alaska Airlines, Continental, Delta and others offer paperless boarding passes too. Some see it as a convenience or at least an inevitable technological advance, but I see it as substituting one impersonal boarding-pass procedure for another. And unless they're working while flying, passengers will probably pull out their Kindlesor other paperless books and do some inflight reading.

Travel Blogger Explores Bereavement Fares

Ability to travel affordably to a death or other family emergency depends on the airline

Mark Ashley, a writer and frequent traveler whose Upgrade: Travel Better blog follows the in's and out's of the fickle air travel industry, recently had to fly to Germany for his 99-year-old grandmother's last days. He explored airlines' bereavement fares and wrote a lengthy post called "Bereavement and Compassion Fares: Firsthand Experience" about his findings. Among them: international compassion fares are easier to obtain than domestic ones; most such fares (Continental excepted) must be booked over the phone; and airlines have different policies regarding required documentation. His column on this topic is worth bookmarking, should the need arise.

Slides -- Snow, Then Rocks -- Wreak Havoc on Colorado Roads

Traffic from the Front Range to and from Aspen and Utah forced to take long detour

An avalanche on Friday night caused the closure of U.S. 40 over Berthoud Pass. The snow was cleared off the road by Saturday morning, so it was business as usual for skiers and riders heading for Winter Park. A rockslide in Glenwood Canyon around midnight on Monday morning was far more severe and will take longer to clean up -- to say nothing of road and bridge repairs.

Some 20 boulders ranging from 3 feet to 10 feet in diameter and tons of additional debris fell onto Interstate 70, created eight craters and dips, exposing the highway's underwiring, taking out a bridge and destroying guardails. Both sides of the highway were affected. In 1995, Aspen writer Kathleen Krieger Daily and her two young sons were killed in a Glenwood Canyon slide. Fortunately, at this late hour, none none came down vehicles this time, but drivers were forced to make a 200-mile detour between Glenwood Springs and Denver or elsewhere on the Front Range and will be for weeks.

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, the massive slide occurred on the west side of the Hanging Lake Tunnels,  where two bridges cross the Colorado River and Union Pacific Railroad tracks just west of the Shoshone Dam and the Hanging Lake trail parking area. CDOT says an average of 19,800 use Glenwood Canyon on an average day.

Other than traffic to/from Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction and points between, the biggest affect will be on skiers heading to or from Aspen from the Front Range. In summer, traffic can use Highway 82 over Independence Pass between Leadville and Aspen, but that road is not plowed out until May, and traffic must use 82 from Glenwood Springs that dead-ends in Aspen in winter. In addition, as slickrock season begins in Moab, cyclists headed to and from Utah will have to adjust their routes.

P.S. On March 9, the Aspen Skiing Company reminded visitors about access options to making the long detour, which both Gray Line Aspen/Snowmass and Colorado Mountain Express are doing. The trip is currently six hours from Eagle (287 miles) and seven and a half hours form Denver (379 miles) -- but at least someone else is doing the driving. It is also possible to fly directly to Aspen/Pitkin County Airport, or to Vail/Eagle County, Grand Junction or Montrose/Delta County.

Amtrak's daily service is scheduled to depart Denver’s Union Station to Glenwood Springs (only 45 minutes from Aspen/Snowmass) at 8:05 a.m. and arrive in Glenwood at 1:53 p.m. The return from Glenwood to Denver departs at 12:50 p.m. and arrives in Denver at 7:18 p.m. As a bonus, it's a simply gorgeous ride. Shuttle services, taxi, rental cars and RFTA public bus are options  for the 40-mile trip between Glenwood Springs and Aspen/Snowmass. Shuttle services and taxis are from Denver International Airport to Union Station, RTD's SkyRide (Route AF) goes to the nearby Market Street Station. The Amtrak schedule is such that most visitors will be spending a night in Denver before and another after their ski vacation in Aspen/Snowmass.

Frontier Airlines' Endangered Species

Lovable talking critters on airliners' tails threatened with extinction

When Cincinnati-based Republic Aviation took over Frontier Airlines last summer, it promised financial health without changing the name or doing away with the talking animals painted on aircraft tails that inspired one of the better advertising campaigns on television. First, Republic RIFfed the Frontier office in Denver, and more recently, rumors developed that Frontier's name and mascots would go away too.

The endangered animals are Grizwald the grizzly bear, Benny the other grizzly bear, Montana the elk, Stu the Eastern cottontail, Trixie the red fox, Rudy the other red fox, Mo and Jo the red fox cubs, Ollie the great gray owl, Humphrey the bison, Grace the swan, Woody the wood duck, Sherman the sea lion, Andy the pronghorn, Holly the great blue heron, Sal the cougar, Stretch the egret, Larry the lynx, Flip the bottlenose dolphin and others in menagerie.

Concerned Frontier employees rallied to save the animals and even launched a Facebook page called "Save the Frontier Airlines Brand and Animals." Nearly 400 people have joined the "Save Frontier" page on Facebook.