New Ohio-Based Discount Airline

Skybus, a new low-fare airline based in Columbus, OH, has taken to the skies, using Airbus A319 aircraft. As a permanent pricing feature, Skybus plants to offer 10 seats of the 150 seats on all flights for just $10, one-way. It is also aiming to keep its average fares at roughly half of its competitors on each route.

Initial routes link Columbus with Burbank, CA (near Los Angeles).; Portsmouth, NH (near Boston); Kansas City; Richmond, VA; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Greensboro/Winston-Salem, NC; and Bellingham, WA (between Seattle and Vancouver). Oakland, CA, service is schedule to begin on June 12. In July, excpect to see service to Hartford/Springfield, CT/MA; Jacksonville, FL; and San Diego. How I wish that Denver were on that list!

Modeled on Ryanair, based in Ireland and one of Europe's most successful low-fare airlines, Skybus offers barebones, one-class service -- but all seats are leather, and the aisle is a tad wider than on most aircraft of this size. Booking is only available on-line (but the good news is that you won't be dealing with outsourced res agents whose English is robotic).

Passengers may only bring one carryon and one personal item of strictly regulated size into the cabin. The first two bags (weighing 50 pounds or less) may be checked at $5 each for each flight segment. More bags? Pay a lot more -- $50 apiece. Heavier bags (up to 75 pounds only) or odd-shaped bags are $25 more. Good news for golfers is that clubs are not considered odd-shaped.

Pets? No way. If Fido and Fluffy are flying, find another airline. Like Southwest Airlines, Skybus has open seating with boarding by groups. In other words, no reserved seats.

Skybus' website does include ads and links for other travel providers. If you fly with Skybus and want to keep those fares low, try booking as much of your trip with their partners and through them.

Here's what Skybus says about its own operations:

How can we offer fares, on average, 65 percent lower than other airlines? By doing everything possible to keep our costs low.

1. We automate anything that can reasonably be automated. You book your own flight online, check yourself in online or at the convenient Skybus kiosk at the airport, and head to the gate. Clean and simple. And a lot less expensive.

2. We give you the opportunity to control exactly what you pay for. You can customize your experience and fly the way you like. Pay a little extra to get on the plane early. Have your flight status sent automatically to your cell phone, e-mail, or pager. Buy food and beverages on board. Purchase a brand new blanket—yours to keep. Or check bags in addition to your free carry-ons. It’s completely up to you. (See our in-flight menu)

3. We fly in and out of less congested airports. At these airports our costs are a lot lower and your chances of arriving and taking off on time are a lot higher. We pass these savings on to smart flyers like you.

4. We keep operational costs low. We’ve eliminated expensive call centers and streamlined the booking and check in process to drive down costs. If you have a question or need information about a flight, you can find the answer quickly at our online Help Center. Or purchase e-mail, pager or cell phone notification and we’ll contact you with up-to-the-minute information about your flight.

5. We offer consistently low fares. We want to earn your loyalty—and we do it by offering consistent, no-surprise fares every day. Unlike other airlines, we don’t drive up fares by charging you for things your never asked for and don’t even want. Instead, we make money by booking hotels and car rentals, offering travel insurance, and giving you the opportunity to choose and pay for only those extras that are important to you. Plus, when we list a low fare on our website, you can be sure it’s available.

The bottom line? You pay less, so you can afford to travel more. Skybus invests in the things that have the greatest impact on your flying experience—new planes, veteran pilots, and airport agents who do their best to keep you coming back again and again.

Sound like a fair deal? Then Skybus is your kind of airline.

New Colorado Guidebook

Colorado's Classic Mountain Towns by Evelyn Spence, just published by Countryman Press, is a well-written guide to seven popular mountain destinations -- most of them wonderful 19th-century mining, ranching and railroad towns that are now significant ski and summer resort communities, plus Vail, opened for the 1963-64 winter and the only "new" resort featured in the book.

Within each chapter, she follows a scene-setting introduction with fairly extensive descriptions of each selected hotel and inn (and also the occasional guest ranch), but relatively little on condominium properties. It is impossible to cover every property, and she picked her focus. Her descriptions of other vacation components are briefer. It does make sense to devote more space to lodging, a major commitment in terms of time and expense, than places to eat, a lesser commitment involving just one meal at a time. In addition to full-scale restaurants, she covers bakeries, delis, grocery stores, seasonal farmers' markets and even cooking classes. I like that a lot, because people visiting a resort do get hungry and appreciate being pointed in the right direction, especially on their first visits.

Recreationally, skiing is the focus -- not surprising, since Spence is a former editor at Skiing magazine -- and she does a polished job of summarizing the mountains' characteristics particularly for skiers but far less so for snowboarders. (Is that because snowboarders don't read?) Still, I'm not sure, for instance, how Breckenridge can be described without its long commitment to single-plankers and five parks/pipes, or Telluride without its enormous 11-acre Air Garden. In fact, the glossary of "some useful skiing terms" doesn't include such words as "halfpipe," "quarterpipe" or "terrain park."

She touches on such other winter recreation options as cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, dogsledding, guided backcountry skiing, ice skating, sleigh rides and snowcat skiing. Summer and fall recreation includes mountain and road biking, fishing, golf, hiking and backpacking, horseback riding, hot air ballooning, hunting (the rare, non-specialized guidebook to even mention this activity), mountaineering and rock climbing, paragliding, rafting and scenic drives. Spence also covers children's activities, nightlife, seasonal events, museums and cultural offerings, and shopping. A useful "Nuts and Bolts" section includes transportation, emergency services, local media, libraries, ranger stations and tourist information resources.

Most of the flaws here are small ones that are endemic to any guidebook. Things change, often between an author's careful research and the time the book comes off press. For instance, Jimmy Clark, owner of Crested Butte's Buffalo Grille died in June 2006, and the restaurant is now called Harry's Fine Dining. And don't expect to bunk at Aspen's Sardy House unless you are friends or business associates of the very rich new owners, who bought the place in 2006 for $16.5 million and are using it as a "private retreat." But so it goes.

I have two other issues with this otherwise-fine guidebook. They are conceptual -- and this might well be the publisher's choice. While it is called Colorado's Classic Mountain Towns, it would more accurately be called Colorado's Classic Ski Towns. A book that purports to be "a complete guide" to classic mountain towns (as it says on the cover) should not ignore Leadville or even Salida, both gateways to some of Colorado's loftiest peaks; Westcliffe in the heart of the achingly beautiful Wet Mountain Valley; Ouray, the pearl of the magnificent San Juan Range, and Silverton, the destination of the country's premiere mountain railroad?

Secondly, while it is heavily ski-oriented, it isn't a complete ski guide either because doesn't include such "non-classic" resorts as Beaver Creek (except as part of the Vail chapter), Copper Mountain, Keystone and Snowmass (peripherally included in the Aspen chapter). With those caveats, it's a very good basic guidebook to seven of the most popular ski towns in the state -- and well worth the $18.95 investment for anyone planning a vacation to Colorado's oldies and very goodies.

'New York Times' is Taking a Road Trip

Many New Yorkers don't own cars. Many more don't even know how to drive -- which is no handicap at all in a city where driving can be daunting and parking a nightmare or phenomenally expensive -- but where it doesn't matter because subways and buses go virtually everywhere, and cabs can sometimes be found when you want or need them. So it was with surprise that I read in today's New York Times Travel Section that 'Frugal Traveler' columnist Matt Gross is embarking on a 12-week cross-country road trip and will be writing a series about every Wednesday.

The trip started with a New York glitch. Gross wrote, "As the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge faded in my rearview mirror last Thursday afternoon, I had only one thought in my head: Finally! I had woken up late, had spent way too long packing for this road trip and had been sitting in Brooklyn traffic. Typical. Now, however, my Volvo was zipping over what was once the world’s longest suspension bridge, heading west, and nothing could stop me. Nothing, that is, but the police officers at the toll plaza.

“'Don’t let him leave!' shouted a transit officer. Was my 1989 station wagon in violation of some obscure regulation? Had my paying the $9 toll with a crisp $100 bill set off some alert?

"No, the officer said: I had a video camera on the roof of my car, and filming New York City’s bridges and tunnels was illegal. I pulled off to the side and bit my nails while the officers talked among themselves, deciding my fate. Another delay, I sighed. Typical."

Starting out, Gross invoked the spirits of such American literary road-trippers as Jack Kerouac, John Steinbeck and William Least Heat-Moon, but I was also reminded of Jane Wooldridge, Miami Herald travel editor, who made a similar trip last year -- and won the Society of American Travel Writers' Travel Writer of the Year honors for her efforts.

Like many New Yorkers, Gross didn't own a car, so he bought a 1989 Volvo for $1,700 and had it tubed up with the hope that it will get him to Seattle. He wrote that he was setting off with a "budget of about $100 a day, including food, lodging, occasional splurges and gas. But unlike Kerouac (who hitchhiked) and Steinbeck and Heat-Moon (who slept in their vehicles), I’m out to prove that driving across America doesn’t have to mean roughing it. The Frugal Traveler is no backpacker; he seeks out affordable comfort, skimps when possible and splurges when he spots a relative bargain."

His first report explains his strategy, describes the beginning of the road trip and asks for readers' input and recommendations for great roads, places to sleep, eat and see. He'll post reports and video, and we can all vicariously become his traveling companions.

Two Longtime Vail Lodgings Bite the Dust

If you go to Vail to ski next winter and hope to sleep on a budget, don't expect to stay at the long-running Vail Village Inn or at the super-economical (for Vail) Roost Lodge. The VVI, just about as old as the resort itself, has been demolished to make way for the upscale Vail Plaza Club & Hotel, which offers both pricy fractional ownership units and hotel rooms. The Roost, a 72-room motel treasured by budget-watchers, is closed, to be replaced by a 102-unit Marriott Residence Inn plus 31 condos. Neither property met current standards of what guests expect, especially in a ritzy resort such as Vail, but at both properties, the prices were right.

Peace Through Tourism Developments

Right now, there are tens of American thousands of "war tourists" (notably but not exclusively American servicemen "visiting" the Middle East), and civilian tourists have sometimes been the victims of political strife. Yet the concept of linking tourism and peace is a noble and idealistic one that deserves support.

The fourth annual International Institute of Peace Through Tourism Africa conference takes place May 20-25 in Kampala, Uganda. If the images from "The Last King of Scotland" remain seared in your brain, it astonishing and encouraging to read that Uganda's President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, in his keynote address announced that his government will introduce Tourism Legislation in support of the UN Millennium Development Goals that link sustainable tourism with peace and the alleviation of the desperate poverty in which so many people around the world are mired.

In making the announcement, the President said, ”The role of the law in the sustainable development of tourism and poverty alleviation is critical. The legislation should enshrine policies that are pro-poor and underpin a coherent institutional framework and supportive infrastructure for the private sector....I specifically would like to sign legislation that empowers the local communities to take advantage of the opportunities to benefit from tourism and enshrine the principles of sustainable tourism development. Finally, as we grapple with the challenges of tourism development, we should not loose focus of the pre-condition of peace in fostering the growth of the travel and tourism industry. I wish to reaffirm my government’s commitment to the entire pacification of the country, to the maintenance of law and order, the provision of support infrastructure and sound economic management principles to facilitate the growth of the tourism industry.”

The IITP reports that, "The 4th IIPT African Conference on Peace through Tourism, being organized in partnership with the Africa Travel Association (ATA), World Bank Group and UN World Tourism Organization and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), will be hosted by Uganda - the Pearl of Africa. The Conference will seek to broaden awareness of the social, cultural, environmental, and economic benefits of tourism; identify new markets; facilitate product development and investment opportunities; and contribute to reconciliation, peace, wealth creation and poverty reduction on the African continent."

The millennium hasn't started out very well, peace-wise, but any effort is better than no effort -- particularly when it takes root in a country with a history like Uganda's.

Another Tip for Air Fare Savings

In addition to the tips and suggestions a couple of posts back (May 17), check Booking Buddy, which enables you to compare fares offered by Expedia, Orbitz, Ultimate Fares, Cheap Tickets, Cheap Air, Kayak, Tavelocity, Priceline, Travelation, Hotwire and loads of others. I haven't tested it, but it looks like a fairly easy way to compare fares.

A Deal for You if You Belong to JetBlue's TrueBlue

If you're a member of its TrueBlue, JetBlue's frequent flyer program, and if you register at http://www.jetblue.com/fifty, book roundtrip ticket before June 1 for itineraries commencing before June 15, you'll get a $50 voucher good toward roundtrip or one-way flights between September 5 and October 31. Up to four vouchers can be earned, so while those conditions won't be suitable for everyone, if you are flying soon and again in late summer or early fall, the discount can be significant.

JetBlue, though highly rated on many passenger surveys, has hit some turbulent air lately. Protracted and lingering flight delays and cancellations last February and the more recent resignation of the founding president have tarnished JetBlue's glowing image. Here's a way the airline is trying to polish it up again.

JeBlue currently serves more than 40 cities in the US and the Caribbean. Commencing on May 24 will be daily nonstops between New York's John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) and Nantucket. MA (ACK), and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (SDQ), and between Orlando (MCO) and Ponce, Puerto Rico (PSE). Those new routes begin before this promotion ends. In late June, JetBlue inaugurates daily nonstops between Boston (BOS) and San Diego (SAN), and weekly flights between Boston (BOS) and Aruba (AUA). A month after that, daily service begins between Salt Lake City (SLC) and both San Diego and San Francisco (SFO). You'll be able to redeem your vouchers on those routes. That JFK-ACK route might be seasonal (I don't know), but all others should be on the timetable when it's time to cash in those vouchers.

Tips for Saving on Air Fares

It never hurts to be reminded on how to save on air fares, the most visible and often the biggest single chunk of the budget for a trip. The Independent Traveler has released its top ten tips for saving money. My own observations on some of these points are in italics.

• Buy Early - At least 21 days in advance for domestic and three to six months for international travel.


• Buy Late - Take advantage of last-minute fares, available on airlines' own websites or E-announcements or through such services as Independent Traveler's Bargain Box and Last Minute Travel.


• Shop Around - Compare big booking sites like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and HotWire, the airlines' own websites or the new generation of aggregator sites, search engines that allow easy fare comparison, such as SideStep, Kayak, Mobissmo and Qixo. Ed Hewitt, Independent Traveler's features editor, did some fare comparison (read his article and you'll see his comparisons at the end) and he found, as I have when I've spent a lot of time noodling around on various websites, that the different is usually a few dollars. Spending a lot of time comparing fares assumes that your time is worth very little. For international travel, I would have focused on consolidators as well.


• Know When to Buy - Farecast features offer predictions on when fares from 75 select US cities will be offered at the best deal, plus a Fare Guard feature (at an additional fee) that locks your air fare, even if it increases.


• Be Flexible - If you live in a major metropolitan area, be willing to use an alternative airport. This might work if you live in the greater Los Angeles area or in the Philadelphia-New York-Boston megalopolis, but for those of us in the middle of the country, it is normally not practical. When short-lived Western Pacific and Reno Air (now part of American) were offering cheaper flights from Colorado Springs than Denver carriers, this was an option, but with gas at $3-plus a gallon, small savings are quickly erased).


• Don't Forget the Discounters - Discount airlines are not always easy to find, but they can save significantly. Aggregators and booking sites increasingly include JetBlue, Spirit and AirTran. Southwest Airlines, however, the big kahuna of discount carriers, only can be booked on its own site.


• Use Frequent Flyer Miles - "Although redeeming miles has gotten more difficult in recent years, it's still a good option to consider, particularly if you're booking early; airlines designate a very limited number of seats on each flight as eligible for award travel, and these seats go quickly," reports the Independent Traveler. Amen! Back in January, I tried to book late May flights to Germany, using frequent flyer miles -- or which I have nearly 200,000 on United alone. Impossible! Not on United. Not on Star Alliance partners. Not economy. Not business class. Not non-stop, one-stop or two-stop between Denver and Munich. Nada. Nichts. Zero.


• Get a Refund When Fares Go Down - "If fares go down after you've purchased your ticket, ask for a refund! You may not always get one, but policies vary by airline -- and many do not publicize the fact that they will refund you the difference if prices go down. It can't hurt to ask," says the Independent Traveler. Good idea. I don't think this has ever occurred to me.


• Buy Air Passes - Some national carriers, in order to promote tourism throughout their countries, offer reduced-rate air passes, which makes sense If you're planning to travel extensively in one country or region.


• Check for Deals and Discounts - Independent Traveler uses tip number 10 to again promote its Bargain -- a bit ingenuous, perhaps, but a good reminder nevertheless. If I had done this list, I would have included a reminder to compare service charges, booking charges and even ticket-change fees as one of my top ten.

Cruise Ship Runs Aground in Alaska

The Empress of the North is a 223-passenger cruise ship owned by Majestic America Line, but its history has been less than majestic. For the fourth time since it was launched, it had an accident -- this time hitting Hanus Rock at the southern end of Icy Strait, less than 60 miles from Juneau. The 206 passengers on board were evacuated early this morning by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Alaska State Ferry and several dozen volunteer rescue boats.

Majestic America is the rebranding of the combined American West Steamboat Company and Delta Queen riverboats, and now claims to be "the largest river and coastal cruising company in the United States." In fact, the 360-foot Majestic Queen was rebuilt to look more like a riverboat than a cruise ship. There's even a decorative paddlewheel at the stern. Bizarre!

This imperially named ship with the weird cultural cross-fertilization (a Mississippi riverboat in appearance gliding through Alaskan waters!) has sailed under a cloud since it was launched. According to KOMO-TV in Seattle, where the ship was built and is based, this is the fourth time it has hit something or run aground since it began service in 2003. According to the station:

• In October of 2003, the Empress of the North hit a navigation lock at the Ice Harbor dam on the Snake River.
• In November of 2003, it ran aground on the Oregon side of the Columbia River near The Dalles.
• In March of 2006 it grounded on a sand bar in the Columbia near Washougal.
• In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that the ship failed an inspection in February, and the agency is reportedly investigating what caused 26 passengers and seven crew members to get sick during a five-day Columbia River cruise in March.

This time, according to reports, the ship ran aground, took on water and suffered a breached oil tank, but somehow oil did not pollute the sea. It listed about 10 degrees but stabilized before continuing to Juneau under its own power with a Coast Guard escort. The weather was rainy and the glacier-fed water was a chilly 40 to 50 degrees.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
P.S. added to this post later in the evening:
The following press release (with no individual person's contact information) appeared later on the Majestic America Line website:

2101 4th Avenue, Suite 1150, Seattle, WA 98121 Phone: 206.292.9606
www.majesticamericaline.com

Revised Statement
3:30 p.m. PDT
May 14, 2007

Majestic America Line has announced that all of the passengers and crew of
Empress of the North have been safely transferred to Juneau following a
grounding incident in Southeast Alaska at 1:40 am local time today (May 14,
2007). The passengers and some crew members arrived in Juneau aboard the
Alaska state ferry, Columbia, at approximately noon today local time where
they were met by company representatives.

Passengers will be accommodated locally before boarding homeward
flights. Essential members of the crew stayed aboard Empress of the North,
which arrived under her own power in Juneau a short time ago. She is now
undergoing a thorough assessment and investigation of the incident.

No injuries were reported during the incident.

Empress of the North was on the second day of a seven day cruise of
Alaska’s Inside Passage roundtrip from Juneau that departed on Saturday, May
12. According to David Giersdorf, President “The safety and comfort of our
guests is our number one priority. We are continuing to take all measures to
ensure that all of their needs are met in as a result of this situation. We
are working closely with all regulatory authorities to undertake a full
investigation and assess the condition of the vessel.”

“In addition, we would like to thank the U.S. Coast Guard for their exceptional response and support in this incident We are indeed fortunate that we have such dedicated professionals protecting America’s coastlines and waterways. We also want to express our gratitude to the vessels and crew members who assisted with the transfer of guests off the Empress of the North, as well as the Alaska Marine Highway system for supplying the Columbia and her officers and crew for transporting our guests back to Juneau. The cooperation and support from all parties involved has been exemplary.”

Sustainable Travel Organization

I love to travel to the far corners of the world and gain some insight into the cultures of distant peoples with whom we share the planet. However, my conscience sometimes bothers me. Like an increasing number of Americans, I am increasingly concerned about what we're doing when we travel, particularly when our travels impose First World standards of luxury and comfort on the landscapes of developing countries. Five-star resorts in remote places are beautiful and seductive, but the price other people pay for our taste for indulgence can be stiff.

My conscience and my concerns involve the environmental, socio-cultural, and economic impacts of the travel and tourism that I fulfill me personally and are also key of my livelihood. I was therefore encouraged to learn about Sustainable Tourism International, whose slogan is "Leave the World a Better Place" and whose mission is to help protect and preserve the ecological and cultural environment. This not-for-profit organization is "dedicated to providing education and outreach services that will lessen the toll that travel and tourism takes on the environment and local cultures." And it does not concern itself only with developing countries but also with traveling, sometimes very luxuriously, in first-world countries but in a carbon-neutral way.

The website includes a directory that links to environmentally friendly travel providers, information and resources for purchasing carbon offsets, and an eco-certification program that is "designed to help travelers easily identify responsible tourism businesses and to help tourism businesses manage their impacts, and lower costs through resource productivity and waste reduction while contributing to environmental conservation and the well being of local people."

In the spirit of "think globally, act locally," STI's ReDirect Guides are comprehensive regional green business directories and resource guides that present consumers with a full spectrum of choices for more healthy and sustainable living. They are currently available online and in print versions in three regions: Portland, OR/Vancouver/WA metro area, Greater Salt Lake City and Park City region UT, and the Colorado's northern Front Range including Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins and the surrounding communities.

STI's newest program is an affiliate credit card, called ReDirect Guide Visa issued by the FDIC-insured commeercial ShoreBank Pacific. The bank claims to be the first "eco-bank" and the card the planet’s first credit card that helps fight climate change by directing a percentage of every purchase to carbon offset programs and offers customers discounts from green businesses is now available.

None of this will solve all the world's economic and environmental lopsidedness, but it's a good start.

Mega-Litter Is Road Trip Hazard

Litterbugs bug me. I cannot understand why anyone would drop trash on the ground or toss it out of the car rather than ferry it to the nearest litter basket, garbage can or, when it's the appropriate material, to a recycling container. But small roadside discards are nothing compared with large items inadvertently lost off vehicles. At worst, they can be read hazards, annoying traffic blockers or simply unsightly objects that diminish the experience of a road trip. And with gas topping $3 a gallon, wouldn't it be nice if we could at least see beauty while we're on the highway?

But a piece in today's New York Times points to the genuine hazard of mega-litter. During a single California rush hour, a rocking chair on eastbound Interstate 580 near Pleasanton brought traffic to a near-standstill, a trampoline blocked to southbound lanes of I-680 near Walnut Creek, and bagged loaves of sourdough bread blocked U.S. 101 near Petaluma. A plastic sink, mattresses, aluminum ladders, sofas, buckets and "the occasional spilled Napa County grapes thrown in" were among California's 140,000 cubic yards of annual road debris, enough to fill 8,750 garbage trucks, which would extend for 45 miles, according to the report.

The Times article continued, "The nature of road debris has changed, and litter anthropologists are now studying the phenomenon. Where 'deliberate' litter used to reign — those blithely tossed fast-food wrappers and the like — 'unintentional' or 'negligent' litter from poorly secured loads is making its presence felt.

"While by no means unique to California, pickup trucks and other vehicles piled high with improperly secured loads are a fact of life here," according to the paper, which also reported that 155 people died in the state in the last two years after accidents involving objects on highways, and states are beginning to address the issue. "Next week, a murder trial is set to begin in the death of a Los Angeles county deputy sheriff who was killed when he swerved to avoid a stolen stove that had fallen from a Long Beach man’s truck," the Times reported. That was just one out of many, but it happened to be fatal and the negligent driver was found. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 25,000 accidents a year in North America are caused by litter that is dumped by motorists or falls out of vehicles.

California, like other states, has laws on the books imposing fines on drivers " if anything other than feathers from live birds or water should escape. (In Nebraska, the exception is corn stalks; in Kentucky, coal.)" Following an accident in Washington State, in which 24-year-old Maria Federici was blinded and disfigured when a piece of a shelving unit flew off a trailer and crashed through her windshield, Maria's Law was passed, raising the penalty for an unsecured load from a traffic citation carrying a $194 fine to gross misdemeanor status with a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine if someone is injured. That doesn't seem like much when weighed against causing loss of sight, disfigurement or death, but it's a step in the right direction.

Last summer, on I-70 between between Idaho Springs and Bergen Park, my husband and I came up behind a van with a piece of plywood tied to the top. the closer we got, the more the plywood flapped. My husband, usually a speed-limit driver, gunned the car and passed the van. Not 15 seconds later did we see, in the rearview mirror, the plywood sailing off the van. Along CO 93, a sign at a waste-transfer station warns that drivers with "unsecured loads" face double dumping fees. But these laws, like so many others, are rarely enforced. California spends $55 million a year to remove roadside litter, but it remains a problem.

Deliberate litter annoys me and befouls the landscape, but so far, we have avoided death or disfigurement due to other drivers' negligence. Now, along with dufus drivers gabbing on their cell phones or eating banquet-size meals and slurping super-sized drinks while they're driving, and of course the occasional DUI-citation candidate, we've got to worry about dangers mega-litter on the road.

More Food at DIA's Concourse C

On the one hand, I can't get a lot more excited about airport food than about airline food (what there is of it there days). On the other, I empathize with travelers with rumbling stomachs and a lot of time to kill -- either because of earlybird check-in requirements, flight delays or generous connection time. At Denver International Airport, Councourse B has the most food service. It is the main concourse used by United, DIA's largest carrier.

Now, with increased traffic on Concourse C, thanks to Southwest Airline's success here, the Denver Post reports that several new concessionaires (airportese for restaurants and retailers leasing space there) have recently opened or will soon do so. New eateries include Timberline Steaks & Grille, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, Paradise Bakery, Caribou Coffee and Dazbog Coffee.

Meanwhile, Denver-based Frontier Airlines is eliminated service between Denver and both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Frontier uses Concourse A.

Three Things You Can't Do in Colorado Right Now

• Fly into Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE), which closed on April 9 and remains so until June 7 for runway rehabilitation and other improvements. The good news is that the airport expects more than a 20 percent increase in flights over last summer.

• Ride the free gondola (right) between Telluride and Mountain Village. It was put into service in November 1996 and therefore just celebrated its 10th winter of operating both as a ski lift and as wonderful local transportation. It closed on April 8 when the ski season ended and reopens on May 24 for the summer season. It is handicap-accessible, and some cabins have been designated for dogs as well as their humans.


• Drive Trail Ridge Road all the way through Rocky Mountain National Park between Estes Park and Grand Lake. Road workers always try to get this road, the nation's highest continuous paved route, open for Memorial Day, but heavy late-season storms are making it less likely.

US Travel Survey; Aussie Prize. Huh?!?!

Travel + Leisure magazine has launched its 2007 "favorite cities" survey. Go to http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2007/ and rank "25 of America's hottest cities on their dining, shopping, culture, nightlife, and more," according to the website. As an inducement to casting your E-ballot for US destinations, the magazine adds that it is tied to a promotional sweepstakes, explaining "After you complete the survey, you can enter to win a fabulous trip to Australia!" Maybe I'm dense, but I don't get it. For being well-traveled within the US and lucky in the contest, the winner (presumably and America) won't get a trip to a favorite American city or to one s/he has never been to before, but halfway around the world. Australia is wonderful (I wouldn't mind the trip myself), but the message is really weird for a survey clearly intended to promote domestic US travel. That would be like ranking US automobile brands and being entered in a sweepstakes where the top prize is an import. Are these people thinking? If so, what are they thinking?

Front-of-Plane Toys on American

American Airlines is introducing small portable entertainment devices to first- and business-class flyers on some domestic transconintental as well as international routes. The airline says these are the first personal devices with new movies and news programming updated daily. Each unit has a seven-inch, touch-screen monitor. Each one is loaded with a dozen movies, some prior to their release on DVD.

This isn't American's first venture into personal entertainment It has been offering domestic first-class passengers on transcontinental flights a DVD player with 20 DVDs. Business-class passengers have had to watch on overhead projection screens, like those of us in the back of the plane.

Meanwhile, passengers on Frontier planes have less diversion -- unless they are willing to pay for it. The airline has halted its free Wild Blue Yonder seat-back inflight channel. Now, it's $5 for DirecTV or $8 for movies -- or, you can just bring a book.

Calculating Enviro Impact of Dive Travel

When you get your scuba certification -- or at least when I got mine -- you had to learn to calculate your dive profile (how long you could stay underwater, at what depth and how long you had to stay on the surface before your next dive). Now, with the broad recognition of global warming, the first small strokes have been made to mitigate the impact of travel itself to dive destinations.

Sustainable Travel International (STI), a US-based non-profit, has introduced what is thought to be the world’s first custom carbon dive calculator that determines the carbon emission costs incurred from air travel and diving activities on a diving vacation. Beautiful Oceans, which runs what it calls "eco-dive trips," compensates on behalf of each guest by funding carbon offset projects. Like melting glaciers and fracturing ice shelves, coral reefs are bellwethers of climate change. Recreational divers and dive operators have observed, and coral reef scientists have confirmed, reef damage from rising ocean temperatures.

Scientists predict that a 2-degree Fahrenheit rise in temperature will cause 8 percemt of the reefs globally to bleach. Ironically, divers who travel to see these reefs contribute significant carbon dioxide to the problem, due to air travel, dive boats, desalinated water and even air-conditioned hotels. In addition to being a progressive dive-tour operator, Beautiful Oceans is a coral reef education organization. Now, it is attempting to neutralize the impact of its eco-dive vacations through carbon offsetting. This is a first in the dive travel industry -- and Beautiful Oceans is using the carbon calculator developed by STI and adapted by Ocean Frontiers.

It's been several years since I have been underwater, but I am thrilled that someone is doing something to keep those reefs colorful for the next time I take the plunge.