Janet Fullwood: Train travel hopping with new riders

Travel In Depth

Trends: An old-fashioned vacation, anyone?

The staycation...the mancation ... the nakation ... the babymoon. ... Who isn't fed up with all the impossibly cornball names dreamed up to market niche travel experiences?...(more)

Nonstop Hops: Spokane

Frequency from Sacramento: Two flights daily, on either ExpressJet Airlines or Horizon Airlines....(more)

Travel Log: Lake Powell rising

California may be burning up in the grip of a vicious drought, but not all the West is suffering. The heaviest Rocky Mountain snowpack since 2000 has seen water levels at Lake Powell, on the Arizona-Utah border, rising a foot per day for weeks....(more)

Now Hear This: 'Bodies Revealed' in Redding

The fascinating "Bodies Revealed" exhibition of preserved human bodies is up and running in Redding through Sept. 14 at Turtle Bay Discovery Park. ...(more)

Plan Ahead: Celebrating Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels are hitting the road for the brand's 40th anniversary. A free event featuring life-size versions of the beloved toy cars will be held at locations around the country after a kickoff for employees Aug. 19 at Mattel headquarters in El Segundo....(more)

Take It With You: This duffel is good to go

Just about every traveler these days pulls a wheeled carry-on bag. A few – usually the young and the strong – shoulder a duffel. Not even a padded shoulder strap could entice me to carry one down a long airport corridor....(more)

Trips & Tours: Bridges of the bay

Friends in Travel of Sacramento is organizing a group for a Saturday cruise aboard the USS Potomac, a yacht commissioned in 1934 and once known as the "floating White House." The cruise will pass under the Golden Gate, Richmond/San Rafael and Bay bridges. Pickup will be in the College Greens area. The $98 per person cost includes lunch. Information: (916) 207-9691....(more)

Travel Troubleshooter: Burned by crack pipe experience at Motel 6

Q: Last summer, I took my daughter and 4-year-old granddaughter to San Antonio to visit SeaWorld. We stayed at the Motel 6 on Market Square, where I had been a guest more than a dozen times in the past....(more)

Amsterdam pot shops survive smoking ban

By SHELLEY EMLING

Cox News Service

As of July 1, the Netherlands has banished tobacco smoke from restaurants and all other public places. But in a bizarre twist, patrons of certain coffee shops where marijuana is sold over the counter can still light up their cannabis joints.

Possessing the weed is actually illegal in the Netherlands, but smoking it is tolerated.

Owners say the tobacco ban -- a trend that becoming increasingly widespread in Europe -- could be a threat to the specially licensed coffee houses, because patrons traditionally prefer their cannabis joints mixed with tobacco....(more)

Smiles and waves

This is the home of Sinaloa Surf Adventures, an all-levels school and camp that celebrates the soothing harmony of the ocean and the immutable force of its waves. People come here to surf, and invariably restore their kinship with the sea....(more)

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