American Hiking Society Resource Center LIVE

AHS is a great organization and has now made a Resource Center freely available on the web.  Check it out at this link (http://www.americanhiking.org/HikingResources/Main/)


I like it since in not only offers info on LNT and gear, but how people can help protect, preserve and plan new trails.  


Consider joining the American Hiking Society to help out!

Ridgerunners and Caretakers

Ridgerunners and Caretakers are needed for the Appalachian Trail.  Does this sound interesting?  Check out the ATC page at  http://www.appalachiantrail.org/what-we-do/trail-management-support/ridgerunners-caretakers to find out more.

Volunteers are always needed too.  For Massachusetts see this blog for current information.

See you on the trail!

National Park Service Planning

Want to find out about NPS Planning?  visit the site.

And the NRPA just recently published a paper in Parks and Recreation on planning as well at this link.

I have been research park planning a bit more recently since I will likely teach a new course this fall on Site Planning Studio.  Should be fun.

Sound of Horror

I've not seen this one.  Have you?
watch it on Archive.org for free.

http://archive.org/details/SoundOfHorror1964

Get Ready for Monster Bash

and watch this ten minute clip posted on YouTube for my favorite monster movie.

Reptilicus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=javwT9eyR9g

(I have this on 16 mm too!)

Monster Bash 2012 next weekend!

Too bad I will not make it this year, but I have fond memories of the Monster Bash. Located north of Pittsburgh, PA in Butler, the Bash theme is Prehistoric Monsters.

Check out to meet celebrities, view classic films and visit the vendors.  If you like old horror films, this is the place to be.

Nearby in Evan's City is the famous graveyard shown in the opening scenes of the original Night of the Living Dead.

Online Travel Sites

Now, I have been buying domestic plane tickets online for probably 15 or more years.  For foreign flights it is probably more like ten.

But my most recent experience with an online broker is less than satisfactory.  I used Oxxxxx recently to book a multi-airline flight from Hartford/Springfield (BDL) to Tortola (EIS).  Since the two airlines were not partners, I received paper tickets after some delay since I needed to provide a street address instead of a mailing address.

The day before my flight I phoned the first airline and while they had my reservation, I had no assigned seats and none could be assigned until I arrived at the airport at 4:30 a.m. the next day.  And the best seats I could get put my wife and me apart or in the bulkhead.

I generally use a couple of search engines to check airlines, times and dates.  I like KAYAK and HIPMUNK for starters and then will go to the individual airline to book the flight.  I try to be a loyal flyer with a few different airlines and try to fly via San Juan PR (SJU) to clear customs instead of Miami (MIA).  But as I shared earlier, since the two airlines were not partners, in order to get the "whole" package, I needed to use an online broker.

What a royal pain.

And I will never use Oxxxxx again.