City Slickers Montana

by Erik Olsen on

You
have to love the film City Slickers with Billy Crystal and, of course, Jack Palance, whose grimy, tobacco-chewing cowboy
was one of the finest depictions in the genre since John Wayne…even if it was satire. And every time I think about the
film, I think about dude ranching on Montana. I have to face facts myself. While I lived for years in Colorado, Seattle,
other far-off places, I am a full blown city slicker myself now, so notions of dude ranches flutter in my skull quite
often. How great it would be, I sometimes think to myself, to live again in a place where the tallest things around are
trees and cliffs.

Well, this story out of
Montana helped rekindle my notions of Montana and the West as the great, gaping place to get away from it all.
Written by the Copy Chief for Fodros, one Linda Schmidt, she headed to Choteau, Montana and worked for the month of
November as a cook at the Seven Lazy P guest ranch outside of Choteau. Take a
read of her interesting little tale.

Tobago in Go World Travel

by Adrienne Wilson on

Nothing beats clicking into
some of your favorite travel publications and finding an article or two about the piece of paradise you’re getting
ready to explore. Agreed? Go
World Travel features a story by Eric Lucas and his time spent in the quiet lesser known Tobago, a place as foreign
as Tuva for me. Though I was a few hours away by ferry at some point in the past I never made it and truthfully I was
okay with that. The week spent in Trinidad wasn’t nearly enough so to compensate I’m spending three weeks between both
of the islands. Splurging and comfort were priority for Lucas and his travel companion, which landed them at The Palms,
one of the finest resorts on either of the islands. This will be the exact opposite for me and my companions. While we
have plans to stay at the Tobago Plantations it probably won’t be as nice as this resort the writer describes up to the
very ceiling fan, one of the best amenities you can have with blazing hot temperatures and sticky humidity 24/7. In
addition to pinpointing some of the island’s finest luxury accommodation he writes about snorkeling Buccoo Reef,
birding, and hiking. Slowly Tobago is becoming less of a mystery, but until explored by my own two remains one all the
same.

Two-Heeled Drive

by Erik Olsen on

Just came across a pretty nice
hiking blog called Two-Heel Drive. Not only is that a very clever name
for a hiking blog, but the damn thing is well-written and pretty interesting. The site is run by Tom Mangan, a
self-professed "rabid hiker " who works on the copy desk at a San Jose newspaper. The site offers some
excellent advice and commentary on hiking in general and gear, but also some extremely well-written hikelogues that
Mangan has taken. And finally, there are numerous links to other hiking blogs and sites that could really come in handy
if you’re an avid hiker.

Cook Islands, Rarotonga

by Neil Woodburn on

Rarotonga is the most popular of the Cook Islands and the place where I spent all of my time on my
recent sojourn to the South Pacific.  It’s the most developed of the islands, and caters the most to
tourists, but don’t let this turn you off.  “Developed” is a relative term.  The island has
just enough modern conveniences to make life comfortable for visitors (air conditioning, potable water, ATMs), but not
enough to prevent them from enjoying the unspoiled treasures of a remote, tropical island. 

Only 8,200 people inhabit this small island which takes just one hour to drive entirely around—indeed, a
public bus does so every hour on the hour (I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor driver who just motored
around in one big circle all day long).

One of the reasons Rarotonga appealed to me was that in addition to its miles of beautiful beaches, the island is
also blessed with a thick, jungle interior.  My last tropical vacation, to Turks and Caicos, was a little
disappointing because the island had only beaches to offer.  The landscape of Turks and Caicos was flat,
desert-like, and boring!  Rarotonga, however, is much more like the now famous island of Oahu, recently
popularized by the TV series Lost.  Large mountains rise from its center and are covered with rich foliage that
creeps down to the beaches.  A challenging, yet rewarding cross-island trek leads the adventurous
through this thick, mysterious jungle and across the middle of the island.  Don’t do as my girlfriend and I
did, however, and attempt the trek from the south side (despite warnings not to do so). 

For those seeking less machete-inclined activities, Rarotonga also offers the regular slew of tourist attractions
ranging from scuba diving, horse riding, scooter rental, deep sea fishing and, of course, sun-bathing.  The only
real disappointment we ran across on the island was a few days of intermittent rain.  Nonetheless, the weather
stayed in the 80s during the downpours (and people didn’t even bother getting out of the water) so it was just a
mild setback in paradise. 

Utah's Secret Snow

by Erik Olsen on

You wouldn’t figure that a big East Coast paper would
know much about the ski conditions in the West…that is would profess to know he "secret spots" in a place
like Utah. But the Washington Post yesterday made a pretty respectable
effort at it. Now, up front, I need to say that I am a big fan of skiing, and a big fan of Utah. Since living in new
York City, I can say I’ve been back to Utah much, but it has a place in my heart, especially since my wife went to
school and lived there for many years. I know most of the big areas in the state, and have a particular fondness for
Alta. You can keep Deer Valley as far as I’m concerned. I don’t need m slopes groomed to death, thank you. Deer valley
is a resort for old people with bad backs and a  Park City is fine.

The two areas that the piece here singles
to are both deserving of mention…and certainly deserving of a day or two if you happen to be in the state. The two
areas are Solitude and Brighton. I’ve skied both and found each to be
quiet, nicely managed, and impressive hills. The writer of the piece here comes to a similar conclusion. So give it a
read and at the very least the next time you’re making plans to ski in Utah, consider these two lesser-known
places.