Bon Voyage: Rendezvous with snow geese

Birders and hikers, pack your bags for a winter weekend vacation. Birds of a feather arrive en masse, and Chico is ready to welcome them at the 14th annual Snow Goose Festival of the Pacific Flyway.

Festivities are from Jan. 24 to 27. Venues stretch from the Sacramento area to Redding. Events include the Gathering of Wings banquet, hikes, trips to reserves, exhibits, birding, wine tasting or food pairings, and events hosted by local businesses. ...

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http://www.redding.com/news/2013/jan/20/bon-voyage-rendezvous-with-snow-geese/ 

Bon Voyage: Remembering Concordia

Anniversaries aren't always happy affairs.

Today marks the first anniversary of the partial sinking of the Costa Concordia.

The cruise ship hit a rock outcrop in shallow water off the Isola del Giglio, Italian. The disaster killed 32 of the more than 4,000 people on board, and more than 60 passengers and crew reported injuries.

American-owned Carnival Corp.'s Costa line — at that time known for its excellent safety record — bore not only the public's blame for the incident, but the shame of Concordia's Captain Francesco Schettino allegedly deserting the ship before all passengers and crew were evacuated. ...

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http://www.redding.com/news/2013/jan/13/bon-voyage-remembering-concordia/

Bon Voyage: Kids cruise to outdoor adventure

I blame my Ranger Rick subscription and "Daktari" reruns for my departure from the Brownies at age 6. I left my first meeting bitterly disappointed that activities didn't include white water rafting trips down the Colorado, snow camping — with bears, of course — or African photo safaris.

Apologies to the Brownies. My expectations may have been a tad unreasonable. ...

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http://www.redding.com/news/2013/jan/06/bon-voyage-kids-cruise-to-outdoor-adventure/

Bon Voyage: Resolutions include travel? Get a passport

I still hear people mention how small is the percentage of Americans who own a passport. Like many statistics people quote, the percentage is dated — and the world has changed.

In 1991, only 5.7 percent of Americans owned a passport, according to National Geographic's Digital Traveler Andrew Evans. But as of January 2012, more than 35 percent of American citizens owned a passport or passport card.

Of these, about 13.1 million were issued from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, according to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State website. The highest annual number issued to date was in 2010 — 14.8 million. ...

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http://www.redding.com/news/2012/dec/30/bon-voyage-resolutions-include-travel-get-a/

Bon Voyage: Ice hotels make cool vacations

People who love travel and long for snowy landscapes with bare trees dripping sparkling icicles — if just for a week or two — can scratch both itches with an ephemeral vacation experience: an ice hotel.

Temporary by nature, ice structures for holidays are nothing new.

In 1739, Empress Anna of Russia ordered architect Pyotr Yeropkin to design an ice castle in St. Petersburg to celebrate Russia's victory in the second Russo-Ottoman War. The 20-by-50-meter structure was decorated with ice furniture, ice sculptures, and a garden of ice flora and fauna. Yeropkin's legacy is felt in a variety of temporary castles, churches and hotels throughout Europe, Canada and states including New York, Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin. ...

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http://www.redding.com/news/2012/dec/23/bon-voyage-ice-hotels-make-cool-vacations/

Rebirth of Myspace?

Definitively some interesting design choices that will attract some attention, maybe even wake up Facebook gurus to do something about its quite boring and inflexible design. But, overall, I don't think that Myspace will take over the lead or even come close to Facebook popularity, not because of design choices Myspace makes but because of distancing itself from a full or generic social networking site concept and sticking to its primarily (and somewhat mediocre) music-oriented concepts. We'll see how this third reincarnation works out for Myspace and its owners (including Justin Timberlake). It seems like Myspace will never recapture its glorious years (2005-2008) when, at its peak, the site was visited more than Google, but it may prove attractive enough to regain a more serious standing among social networking sites. The design itself looks promissing, but the reasons why Myspace lost its former glory may still be there. New Myspace promo:

Bon Voyage: Experience the coast, redwoods and a cozy bed and breakfast in Crescent City

The last of my three-column series on post-holiday escapes is a redwood and beach excursion to Crescent City in Del Norte County.

Crescent City is a nice spot to spend a quite cozy winter weekend. If you're of hardy stock and like the wind on the waves — or at least you're not bothered by the chill — in winter it's a great place to hike in the redwoods, fish or stroll the beach. ...

Continue reading:
http://www.redding.com/news/2012/dec/16/bon-voyage-experience-the-coast-redwoods-and-a/