By Allen Dale OlsonServing a birthday cake embossed with chocolate rattlesnakes and surrounded by dozens of real rattlesnakes may not agree with most people’s idea of a perfect birthday party, but the seven-year-old honoree was delighted. His family had set up the party in the center of one of the exhibit areas in the American […]
By Heather RathITWPA MemberI don’t feel well.I’m in Cuenca, Ecuador, at an altitude of 8300 feet and I think I’ve got a touch of altitude sickness (soroche). My heart beats quickly and I have to catch my breath. Climbing stairs in our hotel or up the barranco (cliff) leaves me winded. When I lay down […]
By Suzanne LaBergePhotos by David J. GruskinWe slip back in time on a narrow gravel road that twists and turns into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. North Carolina’s Cataloochee Valley lies ahead. Thick forest opens to wide green meadows and a young brown bear runs across the road and into the trees beyond. Later […]
By Janice HortonThink small town. Average income half the state median. Still proud of the glory days that put towns like Bolivar in the southern tier of western New York State on the map — in this case, the oil boom of 1885. Evidence of those prosperous days is in the fine homes in the […]
By Kerry WattsThe air was hot as we stepped outside Kahuli Airport, Maui, but who wouldn’t love that if it means you’re standing in the sunshine of a Hawaiian island. We traveled about six miles on the local bus (just $1 per boarding, regardless of the distance) to the beachside town of Paia. The bus […]
By Bob StarinkWhat do you do after you’ve gambled your house away, wandered the streets admiring the glitz, questioned why anyone would think you would want a girl to your room in twenty minutes when you’re with your wife and kids, and seen every song the Bellagio fountains can play? You might try leaving the […]
