Dark Shadows at MPI Home Video
Sherlock Holmes Featuring Basil Rathbone
Granada Sherlock Holmes Collection Starring Jeremy Brett
Dark Shadows DVD Collection
MPI Home Video - Your Source for Classic Film and TV on DVD

Western States Update
by Elana Andersen

Alaska

The Ulu Factory has opened a new location at Ship Creek in Anchorage.Visitors gain insights into the use and function of this traditional native knife from viewing stations overlooking the manufacturing area, and demonstrations are given on the contemporary use of this unique device. The factory showroom features various ulu sizes and designs and other "Made in Alaska" products. The company works closely with the Alaska Native Heritage Center and offers native dance performances at its showroom during the summer months. Also during the summer, free transportation is available via Lolly the Trolley from Fifth and Sixth Avenues to Ship Creek..

Arizona
Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art in Phoenix is celebrating its 75th anniversary with new exhibits at the main museum and at its satellite locations. It also offers several special events for the occasion. At the main museum is a new signature exhibition, "Home: Native Peoples in the Southwest," opening May 22. The exhibit features over 2,000 of the most important and historic objects from its permanent collection plus many new and recent acquisitions. The display covers the life and art of southwestern Native Americans. The display is divided into five distinct regional sections: the Pueblos, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Central Mountains and the Sonoran Desert. In addition to artifacts, there are videos, interactive computer displays and replicated housing structures. Also new is "Breaking the Surface: Carved Pottery Techniques and Designs," through Oct. 3. This show features the works of potters and the various techniques used in carving, etching and engraving over the past 80 years. At the museum's Crossroads Gallery is "Virgil Ortiz: La Renaissance Indigène," through June 5.

California

vacation links | choice vacations | vacations | vacations 2 | cyber vacations | vacations 3
mummy space | couples surfing | scenic parks | outdoors | motel 1 | motel space|
motel 2
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has numerous special exhibitions scheduled for 2005. It will be displayed through April 3. "The Posters of Robert Rauschenberg," March 10-June 19, features more than 100 posters which illustrate the technical and artistic innovations of the artist. Many posters are familiar and were used in advertising and propaganda, while others are fine art works popular during Rauschenberg's lifetime. "Images of Fashion from the Court of Louis XIV," March 12-June 26, displays rare bound books, costume accessories and textiles from LACMA's permanent collection. Featured in this exhibition is LACMA's recent acquisition of 190 colored engraved fashion plates dating from 1678-1693 that were used to promote France's luxury goods and culture. They are considered among the first used to show fashion designs found at the French court. For a detailed exhibit schedule and descriptions of featured shows, visit the museum's Web site.

Nevada

Cirque du Soleil has added another spectacular show to its Las Vegas roster. KÁ , the new production playing at the MGM Grand, combines acrobatic performances, martial arts, puppetry, multimedia and pyrotechnics. A cast of 72 artists tell a story of separated twins who embark on fairytale journeys through various landscapes and themes which eventually linked their destinies. The show is inspired by the ancient Egyptian belief in the "ka," an invisible spiritual duplicate of the body that incarnates from one life to the next. KÁ is performed nightly Friday through Tuesday

Oregon

The Antique Spinning Wheel Showcase, March 12-13, is held at the Old Colony Museum in Aurora. This event combines the talents of Northwest spinners and old time fiddlers in a weekend of demonstrations, entertainment and family fun. See the processing of wool from the time it's sheared to the making of garments and enjoy the music popular during the times of early Oregon settlers.

South Dakota

Xanterra Parks & Resorts has announced many enhancements to its food service and visitor facilities at the Mount Rushmore National Monument. In time for the 2005 season, the cafeteria-style food service area will be transformed to a food-court style facility featuring different food stations for various items and meal courses. This design change offers visitors quicker and more convenient access to menu options.

Utah

Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort offers travelers a unique ranch-resort experience for groups when visiting the scenic Four Corners region, just outside the eastern entrance to Zion National Park. Guests are Accommodated at log-cabin suites that sleep up to six persons. The cabins vary in size and design with each having a bedroom, bath, living room and private porch. Recreation options are abundant and include swimming, hiking trails, horseback riding, ATV tours, wagon rides, tennis and sand volleyball

Get more information at Western States Updates at Leisuregrouptravel.com

For more information on Student Travelvisit Grouptraveldirectory.com

Why Should You Use Grading In The Garden?

Not all houses have perfect surroundings that will be easy to transform into outdoor recreation and entertainment areas with good lawns and gardens. It is frequently necessary to undertake some construction projects to obtain the quality and type of outdoor area you want. One of the basic construction problems for any landscaping task is grading the soil. Generally, grading means building a slope into the garden area. Sloping ensures that there is proper drainage, and it can make the house look better while allowing for easier maintenance.

Whether you want to have a garden, a lawn, or a terrace, you must do your grading first. The best time to grade is when a home is being constructed, since it is relatively simple to add a few inches between the entrance level and the ground level at this point. Just a few inches can ease the creation of a grade away from the house to improve its appearance and make for a drier basement, if you have one.

It is difficult to measure a grade by eye. Even professionals cannot do this. You should use a piece of twine as a guide. Pull the twine tight between two sticks imbedded in the ground. Once you've completed the rough work for leveling, use a long board as a straight edge on the ground to make sure you've been accurate. Rough grading is the first step in landscape construction. The extent of the grading depends on the condition of the ground and ground levels desired. You must also pay attention if there are extreme slopes and try to keep as closely as possible to natural contours. This reduces the expense of grading in a big way.

Begin grading by stripping and separating topsoil from the areas where the level is to be altered. Even if you are grading for a stone or concrete terrace, you should save the topsoil. You can spread the topsoil in areas where it is thin, or you can use it a flower garden and save yourself some money. Once you have stripped the topsoil, subsoil can be graded to the desired contours, leaving space for adding the topsoil that has been removed. You should also plan to have a slope for every one-hundred feet of lawn. The same measurement can be applied to a stone terrace to prevent pools of water to develop during periods of rain.

When you level an area for a terrace, you don't need to insert subsoil drainage. Just save the topsoil. For nearly all terraces, it is good practice to tamp the soil down and even to put a layer of gravel cinder or crushed rock as a base for the terrace. Terraces typically require a level area, but the grade that slopes away from the house should be maintained.
About the Author
Read more articles and find gardening tips by visiting http://complete-gardening.com.

Adventure on HooDoo Creek: the boys explore Mount Gunnison in Colorado
by Gordon Hollingshead

Mount Gunnison was calling as we three 13 year old boys laid our plans and set out on our next Colorado back country adventure. We had studied our Forest Service map and convinced our parents that we knew what we were doing. It seemed fairly straightforward. We would follow the Forest Service trail about a mile toward Minnesota Pass from Beaver Reservoir up the East Fork of Minnesota Creek. To get there you headed southeast from Paonia, Colorado following Minnesota Creek along road 710. Paonia, Colorado, was a quiet little town about 25 miles up in the mountains from Delta, Colorado following highway 92 and 133. Growing up in the area I saw Paonia valley as a Shangri-La. The mountain ringed valley provided a glorious abundance of apples, peaches, cherries, plums, and pears, and the 4th of July was a community celebration called "Cherry Days".

Completing the Shangri-La illusion, southeast of Paonia, Mount Lamborn and Landsend Peak form an amazingly close mountainous backdrop for the town. East of Lamborn, above Minnesota Creek, Mount Gunnison stands tall, remote and seemingly inaccessible. We three boys meant to change that perspective, taking on the peak, or at least taking a good shot at it. Ron, Larry and I laid out our provisions across the living room floor, checking our lists and divying up the loads accordingly. Larry with his weight training had the dubious honor of the heaviest pack load. Ron and I split the remaining supplies.

Our adventure forty some years ago was outfitted in a pre-modern camping gear era - at least in our lives. My Boy Scout backpack was an open bag into which everything was piled, our tent a piece of tarp strung between two trees. And my bedding - a couple of wool blankets that Mom thought couldn't get too badly damaged. Interesting the way the world and our expectations change over time.

My folks dropped us off up at the Beaver Reservoir dam, and the adventure began. We excitedly covered the first mile of the trail quickly. Around a mile, a side trail turns sharp left leading around the side of Mount Gunnison, over to Coal Creek on the other side. That was not for us though. It appeared on the map that you could head directly east at that juncture, following HooDoo Creek as it led up a draw toward the summit of Mount Gunnison. You could see the beginnings of a trail heading up that direction - the trail we chose to follow.

The excitement of exploration drove us onward, upward through aspen groves on the lower flanks of Mount Gunnison. Always keeping HooDoo Creek within sight to our left, we followed that narrow, windy trail through the increasingly dense brush. It became apparent that the "trail" we were following was probably a game trail going nowhere in particular. Hitting multiple forks on the path, within an hour of leaving the main Minnesota Pass Trail our trail disappeared completely. Undeterred, we struggled onward and upward through dense brush for another hour or so. The relatively open aspen grove transitioned into dense pine forest, the trek becoming even more challenging as dissension arose within the ranks. It was unclear that there was any easy route through the timber, or which way to go, and some were questioning if we were - lost.

Lost? How could we possibly be lost? Three 13 year old boys way off trail, bumbling around in dense forests on the flanks of Mount Gunnison in the West Elk Wilderness Area - lost - it's possible. Ron climbed a taller pine in the forest to see if he could make out where we were. It was obvious where we were - in the middle of a deep pine forest somewhere on the side of the mountain.

We seldom apply - lost - to our adventures. Afterall, we spent days and days out exploring the mountains, creeks and draws throughout the whole Paonia valley. As long as we could hear HooDoo Creek cascading down the draw to our north, we hadn't strayed far from it. We knew we could follow it down to the East Fork of Minnesota Creek and our main trail out.

But the upward trek toward the summit of Mount Gunnison was questionable. The journey became bushwhacking, and the day was waning. So, we halted our upward struggle, worked our way across to HooDoo Creek, and found a wonderful spot on the creek bank under the tall pines to pitch camp.

The tarp strung between trees, the three of us jockeyed for which rock we were going to be sleeping on underneath it. With a fire in the fire ring, we whipped up standard gourmet camp fare - Lipton chicken noodle soup - accompanied by excellent shoestring potatoes and home made cookies. Following rousing camping songs, where we learned that Larry had a budding career in the bluegrass industry, we settled in for a memorable night in the woods.

The following morning dawned cold and rainy. Yes, a little rain into the "tent" during the night, soaked the three of us to the skin. We struck camp early and waded through dripping wet brush, plodding back down from the lower ridges of Mount Gunnison, continuing singing those same great tunes we shared around the campfire. Maybe we understood why there was no trail straight up next to HooDoo Creek, leading to the top of Mount Gunnison. "Wouldn't it be great if there were a trail up there?" we laughed, enjoying the view of the peak as we waited at Beaver Reservoir for our ride.

Reflecting back forty-some years on that wonderful adventure, I probably wouldn't change a thing, except for the gear. And now that I've found that I can begin and end that journey in the comfort of nearby motel accommodations in either Cedaredge or Delta found at: http://www.montanaadventure.com/out/state/us-co.html I am excited to re-explore that wonderful area.

As web designer for the Montana Recreation Connection and Colorado Wilderness Tours at ( www.montanaadventure.com/out/state/us-co.html, Gordon Hollingshead has provided an online travel directory for the past 10 years for people planning theri vacations and travels throughout the western United States. More information contact Gordon at gordonh@montanaadventure.com.
About the Author
As web designer for the Montana Recreation Connection and Colorado Wilderness Tours at http://www.montanaadventure.com, Gordon Hollingshead has provided an online travel directory for the past 10 years for people planning their vacations and travels throughout the western United States. More information - contact Gordon at gordonh@montanaadventure.com