Janet Fullwood

It comes fast. Look out your window this week, and you'll notice: Summer's leaves have lost their luster, and lawns are looking wan. That bit of yellow creeping into your willow tree is a precursor of things to come.

SAN FRANCISCO – Putting a major cultural institution into mothballs is not an easy thing to do. Repurposing it for the 21st century is an even bigger challenge.

Would you like to host adult foreign visitors in your home for a week – or be hosted by a family in another country?

Like it or not, Labor Day marks a change of seasons. True, autumn doesn't officially arrive until Sept. 22. But mentally, it starts when the kids go back to school, the days grow noticeably shorter, and fall colors start slipping into our daily wardrobes.

The Learning Exchange is offering several travel classes in coming weeks. A session on planning an Italian vacation is set from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, followed by an afternoon course on planning a trip to Spain.

Every summer seems to spawn an animal- related news story that sparks as much media interest as the Brangelina twins.

The term "staycation" has been the buzzword of summer, picked up by the media to refer to a home-based vacation as an alternative to one taken out of town.

You've seen Lake Tahoe from the shore and perhaps from the decks of the venerable Tahoe Queen or M.S. Dixie II paddlewheelers.

Travelers heading through airport security soon may be spending less time in line, thanks to new rules that allow laptop computers in "checkpoint-friendly" bags to pass through X-ray machines without being pulled out for inspection.

If outdoor sports are your thing, this weekend is your nirvana.

RENO – Some people go to Reno for the gambling, some go for the shows, some go for the outdoor life that starts at the edge of town.

Heavenly Mountain Resort

When the Valley heat gets you down, there's just one place to go: up.

There's no denying the virile, roaring sex appeal of a classic wooden boat. But how often do most of us get close enough to a meticulously restored specimen to admire its sleek lines, mahogany decks and masterfully tooled engine?

Consider this a detour of sorts.

The seminal event in California history lasted just a few years, but in Calaveras County, the Gold Rush never quite died.
Photo gallery

It's doubtful that people across America will camp out in front of their local bookstores Sept. 8 to get first crack at a copy of "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star." But for fans of Paul Theroux, a new travel book is the equivalent of the next Harry Potter tale.

LOS ANGELES – The prospect of a trip to Disneyland inspires in many parents both giddiness and dread.

This year's spike in fuel prices is having some interesting spinoffs in the travel industry, and they don't all have to do with airlines.

With summer kicking off and gas prices putting a crimp in just about everybody's travel plans, it's time for some good news – and some money-saving tips.

So it's come to this: Free rides for baggage no longer are available on American Airlines, while pretzels and peanuts have gone out the window on US Air.

'Tis the season when a whiff of vacation time is in the air and every segment of the travel industry is vying for its share of the economic pie.

You want to visit Disney World, while your spouse wants to trek the Mount Everest region of Nepal. Is it time for separate vacations?

Holiday Inns and HoJos have their place, but most are as interchangeably bland as the spreads on their beds, and hardly worthy of memories.

For 2 1/2 years, the world has been saturated with images and stories of the day New Orleans died. The photos of ruined neighborhoods and tales of human misery know no end. Yet news from the shattered city is pretty much relegated to the back pages these days.

You've probably experienced some oohs and aahs just driving down the road this month: The wildflower season is upon us, and it's shaping up to be one of the best in years.

Business at the Western Railway Museum in Solano County will hit its seasonal high in the next few weeks – about the same time the native wildflower bloom hits its peak.

We've all heard – even if we haven't been there – how Europe has become mega-expensive for Americans, due to the sorry state of the dollar. And there seems to be no limit to how low it can go.

Eager to travel (legally) to Cuba? Don't get your hopes up. Last week's news that Fidel Castro will step down and pass the reins to his brother, Raul, does nothing to loosen travel and trade restrictions imposed by Washington almost five decades ago.

Hottest. Lowest. Driest. Those words describe Death Valley, but leaving it at that is like describing chocolate merely as brown. You have to taste this storied slice of the California desert to understand its calling. Taste it with your eyes, your skin, your ears, your mind.

Death Valley Junction comes at you like a mirage, a whoosh of deserted white buildings and tumbling tumbleweeds; turn right or turn left, blink and you'll miss it, it's gone.

Death Valley lies in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada and three other mountain ranges that block the storms moving inland from the Pacific. By the time the clouds reach the valley, they usually have been stripped of moisture.

The basics: Death Valley was given its name by a group of pioneers dubbed the "Lost 49ers" who were stranded there in the winter of 1849-50. Only one of them died, but they all expected to.

Death Valley is a hardscrabble place, all rock and sand and sky and emptiness ... except where there is water.

Death Valley is easily one of the best "drive through" parks in the country. You can easily spend several days just cruising from one natural wonder to another.

Everybody loves an eccentric, especially when the eccentric was rich enough to live a life of comfortable derring-do.

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK – Funny how certain music, images or words can trigger memories made while sitting in front of the television set as a kid.

The rescue teams that combed Sierra slopes around Alpine Meadows last weekend in search of two vanished skiers weren't all of the two-legged variety.

If hindsight is 20/20, it's easy to find humor in events that, at the time, didn't seem funny at all.

Some people go to San Francisco for the shopping, the dining, the urban delights that smaller cities just can't provide. Me? I go for the ocean, the nature, the people-watching, the fresh air.

Traditions aside, we asked our Bee writers to come up with some more uncommon must-have stuffers – for $25 or less.

Living in Northern California brings with it seasonal opportunities of which folks in other parts of the country can only dream. We're not talking about the horrifying fire season, which (cross your fingers) is over now, or even snow season, which has just begun. We're talking about gray whale migration season, a phenomenon unique to the West Coast.

Down comforters and fine wine weren't what 19th century crusader John Muir had in mind for his beloved Yosemite National Park.

Cable cars ding, are you listening? On Maiden Lane, shops are glistening. A beautiful sight, all those lights, a Northern California wonderland.

Dog-friendly it may be, but Carmel is anything but a "who-let-the-dogs-out" canine circus. Sure, you'll see a noticeable number of people with dogs on the street, but most people have shopping bags, not leashes, in their hands.