Death Valley: A different kind of winter wonderland

In the summer, the sun in Death Valley shows no mercy, pushing the mercury over the 115-degree mark, sucking every drop of moisture from the...

Houston's offbeat art scene

Let's play a quick word association game. I say "Houston," and you say, "(Fill in the blank)."

Ojai, an oasis of art and serenity

In Ojai, serenity prevails. Over the years, I've felt it here during many a laid-back weekend visit. But my most recent trip wasn't intended...

Ice transforms into art in Fairbanks, Alaska

When the temperature hovers around zero, most of us head for a warm fire, but not the good folks of Fairbanks.

More For Your Money: Simple and fun Valentine's Day trips

With Valentine's Day two weeks away, hotels are romancing travelers' pocketbooks with Champagne, chocolates, flowers and more. Hand over...

Coming soon: Civil War in Calico Ghost Town

The War Between the States comes to Southern California on Presidents Weekend, Feb. 19-21, when hundreds of re-enactors, a gaggle of...

Trailer accommodations in Joshua Tree

I had my doubts as I turned off the isolated highway onto the sandy open desert.

Sleep with Julia Morgan in Berkeley, for $80 a night

The Berkeley City Club isn’t just a civic organization in a quirky little castle designed by renowned architect Julia Morgan. For...

Sober traveling: AA roadside assistance for a recovering alcoholic

I creep through Los Angeles traffic on Interstate 10 toward my destination: an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting a couple hundred miles east on...

Bugsy Siegel's Las Vegas

To Millicent Siegel Rosen, her father was a loving parent. She knew nothing of his life as one of America's most notorious gangsters —...

What travelers can expect in 2011

North Dakota enacted a hail insurance law. Crisco was introduced. And the hull of the Titanic was launched.

California tourism is in a bright spot

Who wants to hang around you when you're down on your luck? And yet California, mired in budget distress and other economic woes,...

Sports fans: Time to plan 2011 trips

At first blush, 2011 doesn't seem like much of a sports year, at least compared with 2010, which saw the Winter Olympics and the World Cup....

Snow hits Lake Tahoe area, Utah, Colorado slopes early and often this season

The skies have dropped seasonal gifts of snow on many winter resorts in the Western United States, earlier and in greater quantity than...

Ski poll: Readers split in a three-way helmet smackdown

That smacking sound you hear are a couple hundred of our readers, butting heads over the question of helmets on ski slopes.

Budget-friendly destinations for the holidays

Tired of the same holiday traditions? Is the neighbor's decoration aesthetic too Barnum & Bailey? Had it with the drunken Dec. 31 frat...

Reality check for beginning skiers

Call it a mini-crisis. It was my fourth day of skiing — ever — and Vail Mountain was getting pounded with snow.