POSTCARDS FROM 2005
It's not often that we go to extremes around here. Oh, once in awhile somebody takes a bungee jump or rides a camel or struggles through an intricate expense account,...
All Stories
Sahara in the Rockies
All it needs is a camel, maybe a Bedouin tent, or a couple of date palms. The place is that deserty. It's a park centered around mounds of sand that...
Mackinac without fudge
Almost every summer of our childhood, my sister and I and various cousins came here at least once. Our parents or grandparents drove up as far as Mackinaw City, and...
Flying THROUGH 2004
Not long after Interior Secretary Gale Norton assured me that the Bush administration is more interested in upgrading the existing national parks than in adding new ones, the National Park...
SUITE DREAMS
SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES BORA BORA NUI, BORA BORA, FRENCH POLYNESIA As islands go, Bora Bora is barely there: an 11-square-mile blip in the Tahitian islands chain. But this tuft...
Michigan without sleds
Trees and heather look great. Trouble is, they eat Titleists like so much popcorn. Lakes and creeks add to the beauty. But golfers know they make Top-Flites go splash. So...
Head west for the other Samoa
This country used to be called the Independent State of Western Samoa, then simply independent Samoa, but now, the natives insist, this is the Samoa--two large islands and two small...
Nothing but paradise
NATIONAL PARK OF AMERICAN SAMOA -- As soon as she figured out what I was doing, Diana Richardson insisted that I tell readers how awful this place is. She meant...
Head west for the other Samoa
This country used to be called the Independent State of Western Samoa, then simply independent Samoa, but now, the natives insist, this is the Samoa--two large islands and two small...
24 great weekends–all in our own backyard
The Midwest is known for its front-porch folksiness and down-to-earth pleasures. But take a world-view of the region, and you find that some of its attractions are as exotic and...