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September / October 2007
Top Stories:
Lodi, Calif.: New Wine Country
California’s Central Valley grows fine grapes and boasts some 65 wineries.
Great City Parks in the West
Explore these 14 city parks in the Western U.S. for meadows, trails, ponds, zoos, museums, and a lot of fun.
Movie Palaces
Old movie palaces still lure cinema buffs with their bright lights, gold, and glamour. Here are a few favorites in California, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and Idaho.
Small Town Museums: Vanishing?
The future of little, eccentric, local museums may be in peril.
Lake Mead: Nevada’s Oasis
Cool off in the waters Lake Mead National Recreation Area or explore desert destinations such as the Valley of Fire State Park.
Bitterroot, Mont.: Ski Heaven
The Lost Trail Power Mountain Ski Area offers world-class skiing for bargain prices.
Canada’s Icefields Parkway
The scenic drive between Lake Louise and Jasper bypasses alpine forests, glaciers, waterfalls, and stunning vistas.
David Thompson: Western Explorer
Author Jack Nisbet discusses British fur trader David Thompson, who mapped large areas of Canada and the Pacific Northwest.
Greystone’s Polly Lappetito
Lappetito, the executive chef at Greystone Restaurant in St. Helena, Calif., talks about cooking.
Atomic Testing Museum
Las Vegas’s monument to the A-Bomb offers interactive exhibits and an unusual gift shop.
Jet Lag Tips
VIA readers share their best ideas on how to beat jet lag.
Latest Western Happenings
Check out the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, Calif., the Hawaii Superferry, a new Portland walking tour, and the Grand Teton National Park Discovery and Visitor Center.
Hawkes Winery Teapots
Hawkes Winery in Healdsburg, Calif., exhibits hundreds of unusual teapots.
Portable Grills: The Grilliput
A lightweight, collapsible, stainless steel grill is perfect for barbecues.
Garden City Harvest: Josh Slotnick
Slotnick, the founder and director of a garden project in Missoula, Mont., promotes locally-grown produce and community involvement.
Weekenders:
Downieville, Calif.: Sierra Autumn
For fall colors amid a quiet foothill town, head up Highway 49 in Gold Rush country.
Mount Angel, Ore.: Oktoberfest
One of the nation’s largest annual celebrations of German culture happens in Oregon.
Arches National Park
Here are six fun facts about Utah’s famed Delicate Arch.
Odd Lakes in the West
For unusual landscapes, visit Mono Lake in California, Pyramid Lake in Nevada, and Soda Lake in Wyoming.
Folsom, Calif.: Historic Streets
Sutter Street, in the old downtown district, offers shopping, dining, and access to the American River Parkway bike trail.
Grand Teton’s New Preserve
The 1,106-acre Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve, opening in September 2007, includes Phelps Lake and a new visitors’ center.
Space Museums in the West
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of space exploration at one of these centers that features artifacts, space modules, and spacecrafts.
West Cliff Inn
Santa Cruz, Calif., welcomes a new bed-and-breakfast just steps away from its famed boardwalk.
Autumn Color in the West
For great fall color, head to Carson City, Nev., Quincy, Calif., and Springdale, Utah.
Small-Town Museums
For a bit of history and eccentric exhibits, peruse the displays at local museums in California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Montana.
Reindeer Farm in Palmer, Alaska
Tour a farm, where you can pet, feed, and photograph elk and bison, as well as tame reindeer.
Portland Art Museum
Visitors can view Robert Rauschenberg’s Patrician Barnacle (Scale), along with 400 other works of art.
Yellowstone’s Volcanic Crater
Chuck Wicks of the U.S. Geological Survey discusses calderas, geysers, and earthquakes in Wyoming.
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