The following is a sponsored post from the fine folks at G Adventures.

G Adventures, the world’s adventure travel leader, is seeking enthusiastic AARP members with a passion for travel to become Possibility Leaders committed to one of four trip themes. Does your passion include food & wine, nature, photography or perhaps hiking and biking? If so, these themed trips offer endless possibilities and, for a select few, it could mean traveling for free!

An AARP travel provider, G Adventures is launching a “World of Possibilities” – a series of small-group trips designed exclusively for AARP members to connect you with the things that inspire you most.

For years, you’ve focused on other important things—your family, your friends, your company. Now is the time to reconnect with someone you haven’t had much time for in a while: Yourself.

G Adventures is hosting a Casting Call exclusively for AARP members

“We developed a series of trips around themes we feel will resonate with today’s active, engaged AARP members, many of whom want to pursue and share immersive travel experiences,” says Cyndi Zesk, vice president of global marketing and US managing director for G Adventures. “And now we’re looking for AARP members to become G Adventures’ first Possibility Leaders willing to advocate around one of the four trip themes they are passionate about.”

The World of Possibilities campaign aligns closely with AARP’s new “Real Possibilities” national campaign, delivering a message of strength and empowerment to 50+ Americans.

To be considered for the role of Possibility Leader, AARP members are asked to select one of the four themes and submit a short online (www.gadventures.com/leader) application detailing why they would make the ideal candidate and what they would do to engage other AARP members, family and friends to travel with them on a G Adventures trip.

The deadline to apply is July 1, 2013, and selected candidates will be notified no later than July 10, 2013. No experience is necessary to become a G Adventures Possibility Leader – just a willingness to market their Possibility Trip to friends, family, acquaintances, and other like-minded groups and individuals.

Adds Zesk, “As a Possibility Leader, AARP members will be tasked with promoting their trip through any channels available to them such as social media and special interest groups. We’re seeking enthusiastic individuals to drive awareness and interest for their Possibility Trip and to inspire their network to travel. If they succeed in getting eight paying passengers to travel with them, the Possibility Leader will travel for free.”

In addition, AARP members can save on a wide variety of trips around the world with G Adventures: $200 per person on all land- and marine-based trips seven days or more including G Adventures Expedition departures; $100 per person on Discovery Adventures™ land-based trips; and $50 per person on all land- and marine-based trips under seven days.

With G Adventures, AARP members will find the largest variety of destinations, departure dates and an unparalleled choice of trip styles. Service levels from basic and standard to an expanded G-Plus Comfort are designed to meet most tastes and budgets.

To become a Possibility Leader and qualify for FREE travel …

Hong Kong Skyline

As luxury baby boomer travelers, we find annual tourism reports to be a valuable tool to help us discover new destinations for our bucket list.

It helps us to understand where the world’s travelers have been spending their hard earned paychecks.  We can study year-to-year trends that might lead us to one destination over another.  And, we can perhaps give consideration to a number of the emerging economy destinations that might otherwise not even appear in our radar.

Yesterday, the United Nations World Tourism Organization released its annual report on tourism receipts.  Interestingly, in spite of sagging world economies, international tourism receipts hit a new record in 2012, reaching an estimated $1.1 trillion.

Did you know that Spain was the #2 travel destination in the world?

Let’s see what we can glean from the report:

• By regions, the Americas (+7%) recorded the largest increase in receipts, followed by Asia and the Pacific (+6%),Africa (+5%) and Europe (2%). Receipts in the Middle East were still down (-2%); yet report a steady improvement compared to the decline recorded in 2011.
  
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  The Alhambra in Spain

  In absolute values, Europe saw US$ 457 billion in tourism earnings (euro 356 bn) equivalent to 43% of the world’s total tourism receipts, the largest share by region. Destinations in Asia and the Pacific (US$ 323 billion or euro 251 bn) account for 30% of international tourism receipts and the Americas (US$ 215 billion or euro 167 bn) for 20%. In the Middle East (4% share) total tourism receipts reached US$ 47 billion (euro 36 bn) and in Africa (3% share) US$ 34 billion (euro 26 bn).

• The top 10 ranking of destinations by receipts remained virtually unchanged in 2012, with the United States, Spain, France, China and Italy leading, followed by Macau (China), Germany, United Kingdom, Hong Kong (China) and Australia.
• A number of the more mature destinations among the world’s top 10 earners showed remarkable results: the United States (+11%), France (+7%), Germany (+6%), the United Kingdom (+5%) and Hong Kong (China) (+14%). Other advanced economy destinations with growth rates of 10% or above include Sweden (+17%), Japan (+33%), the Republic of Korea (+14%) and Finland (+16%).
• Among the emerging economy destinations highest receipts growth was reported by Thailand (+25%), India (+22%), Poland (+13%), South Africa (+18%), Egypt (+14%), Vietnam (+18%) and Ukraine (+13%).

Thoughts from the report:

• The U.S. dominates the world travel scene with $128 billion in tourism receipts.  The second closest is Spain with $55 billion.  We all knew that the U.S. is a great place to travel.  No surprise there.
• But, did you know that Spain was the #2 travel destination in the world?  We didn’t until we visited Spain last fall.  For a video highlight of our Spain trip, go here.
• While European countries dominate the world travel market by region (43%), their market share has softened with only 2% growth.  This is made more evident with recent cruise ship company announcements shifting a percentage of their fleets away from the Mediterranean to growing Asian destinations.  That, along with increasing air fares, might cause some softening of prices for European travel.  Fingers crossed.
• Maybe it’s time for us to consider destinations away from the Western part of the world.  Hong Kong has long been a major tourist destination, and Thailand and Vietnam are both seeing considerable growth from the emerging economy destinations category.

Interesting stuff.  What thoughts come to your mind?

What do you think, if we planned a small group of boomers headed to Hong Kong, would you want to come along?

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We’ve been huge fans of the Phoenix Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) since they opened their doors three years ago.

The mammoth museum features more than 5,000 instruments and artifacts from around the world.

But what makes the museum unique is that visitors tour the museum with wireless headsets to wear throughout the museum.

As guests approach each display, they can hear the instruments being played, either solo or as an ensemble. Audio and video clips familiarize guests with the unique sounds of each musical culture, allowing them to share a common experience.

It’s huge fun!

The collection includes instruments from around two hundred countries and territories in the world. Some larger countries such as India, China, Russia, the United States, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and others have multiple displays with subsections for different types of ethnic, folk, and tribal music. The instruments have both historic and artistic merit and many are more than fifty years old.

The Recycled Orchestra

We were recently invited to view the MIM’s Recycled Orchestra Exhibit.  The exhibit’s instruments come from a shantytown built on a landfill in Cateura, Paraguay, where families survive by collecting and reselling garbage. In this small town on the outskirts of the country’s capital Asunción, a violin can cost more than a house.

There, visionary music teacher Favio Chávez gathered a team to search the landfill for usable materials and create instruments from recycled trash. In just a few years, their program has led to a thriving music school and a youth orchestra that performs internationally.

Made with items such as metal oil barrels, tin paint cans, old x-ray films, coins, bottle caps, spoons and plastic buttons, these instruments prove that poverty doesn’t preclude a life rich with music. The recycled instruments on display at MIM include:

• A viola made from a tin paint container, recycled wood and a fork as a tailpiece
• A violin whose body was cut from a metal commercial glue canister covered with Portuguese writing
• and symbols warning of toxic fumes
• A flute made from a tin water pipe, lock pieces and a spoon handle
• A rotary valve trumpet made from recycled metals, including worthless coins serving as valve caps
• A soprano saxophone made from a tin water pipe, metal bottle caps, plastic buttons, a metal spoon
• and fork handles
• A drum with chest x-ray films as drumheads, instead of animal skins
• A cello made from a PetroBras automotive oil container from Brazil, with used strings held in place
• by a spatula
• A double bass made from a metal calcium carbide container and bolts, with a fingerboard and scroll
• salvaged from a bass smashed in a car wreck

You know, music in the world’s international language, and it was very touching to watch the video display as members of the Landfill Harmonic proudly played their instruments from recycled garbage.

We strongly encourage you to visit the Phoenix Musical Instrument Museum.  You might also want to bring some tissues with you as you are certain to be moved by the infinite will of the human spirit.

Bravo!

Links:

• Musical Instrument Museum
• 10 reasons why you will love the Musical Instrument Museum
• Our first visit to the Musical Instrument Museum
• Lunch at the Cafe at MIM

Disclosure: our wonderful experience was provided by the kind folks at the Musical Instrument Museum.  Thanks!

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America’s Roaring 20s was a time of opulence in the hotel industry, and Northern Arizona’s La Posada Hotel thankfully remains as a glowing testament  to the era of railroads, the Harvey Girls, and in its heyday was a favorite destination of the Hollywood jet set.

Former guests include the likes of Charles Lindbergh, Gene Autry, Howard Hughes, Jane Russell, John Wayne, Dorothy Lamour, James Cagney, Clark Gable, and a long list of presidents and foreign dignitaries.

Fred Harvey, known as the man who “civilized the west”, was legendary for developing grand luxurious hotels and restaurants along the Santa Fe Railroad.  Ultimately building an empire that spanned the continent.

“In the 1920s, Harvey decided to build a major hotel in the center of northern Arizona. “La Posada”—the Resting Place—was to be the finest in the Southwest. Construction costs alone exceeded $1 million in 1929. Total budget with grounds and furnishings was rumored at $2 million (about $40 million in today’s dollars). They chose Winslow, then (as now) the Arizona headquarters for the Santa Fe Railway. Winslow was ideally situated for a resort hotel since everything to see and do in northern Arizona is a comfortable day’s drive. They asked renowned architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter to design the new hotel.

Colter worked for the Fred Harvey Company from 1905 until her retirement in the 1950s. Although famous for her magnificent buildings at the Grand Canyon, she considered La Posada her masterpiece. Here she was able to design or select everything from the structures to the landscape, furniture, maids’ costumes, and dinner china. Many people consider this the most important and most beautiful building in the Southwest.” (via La Posada website)

In the early 1990s, the hotel was slated to be demolished.  However, a caring group of folks stepped in to save the hotel, and after a $12 million refurbishment, the hotel again stands in all of its former glory.

We arrived at the La Posada Hotel after a long day of driving as we explored the nearby Petrified Forest National Park, the world-famous Painted Desert, and greatly enjoyed the views offered by Flagstaff’s  snow-capped San Francisco peaks in the distance.

From the moment we walked in the front door, we were taken back by the newness of everything, yet we felt as though we had just stepped back in time a hundred years.

Here we are exploring the hotels museum area…

The La Posada’s hotel rooms are very attractively priced, yet offer the luxury traveler all of the expected amenities.

We enjoyed a night in room 126, named the Tom Ford Room, after the American fashion designer and film director.

Our room featured a king sized custom bed, a 44 inch LCD TV, a hand-painted bureau, and a hand-painted talavera sink and jacuzzi tub.  Plus, we also enjoyed comfortable living space with a couch, desk, and two comfy chairs.  Very nice!

Besides a fabulous place to spend a night or two in Northern Arizona, dining in the hotel’s renowned Turquoise Room is also an absolute must.  The restaurant is owned by the James Beard nominated chef,  John Sharpe.

Everything is baked and cooked from scratch, and offers a fabulous taste of southwestern cuisine.  You can read about our dining experience here.

Listen, if you’re making a trip down Arizona’s stretch of Route 66, headed for the Grand Canyon, or simply exploring Northern Arizona, do yourself a favor and spend some time at the La Posada Hotel.  There isn’t much in Northern Arizona that will give you this kind of luxury experience.  Plus, its a hoot walking around in all of this history.

Photography by David A. Porter.

Disclosure: our wonderful experience was provided by the kind folks at the Las Posada Hotel.  Thanks!

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The Arizona Restaurant Association is pleased to announce the return of the biannual, Arizona Restaurant Week for a ten-day culinary celebration beginning Saturday, May 18 through Monday, May 27.

The palate-pleasing event highlights Arizona’s vibrant cuisine, and provides families, friends, visitors and residents the opportunity to indulge the foodie within. Spring Restaurant Week brings together more than 125 restaurants, each offering a specialty prix-fixe dinner menu for $30 and $40 per person at participating restaurants.

Win one of two $50 Gift Certificates to a Participating Restaurant.  See below!

““Having just wrapped up a record-breaking fall event, we are looking forward to again celebrating Arizona’s top restaurants and the industry as a whole”, said Steve Chucri, president and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association. “Twice per year, we highlight Arizona’s emerging restaurant scene and the industry that employs more than 260,000 Arizonans.”

Spring Arizona Restaurant Week encourages the grazing of Arizona, making the discovery of hidden taco shops and award-wining white tablecloth dining alike, accessible to everyone. Keeping this goal close to heart, Arizona Restaurant Week has partnered with the Valley of the Sun United Way, Unite to End Hunger campaign in an effort to assist the 82,000 households in Maricopa County struggling to put food on the table. Visithttp://www.vsuw.org/hunger for additional details.

In addition, a full list of participating restaurants and menus will be featured on www.ArizonaRestaurantWeek.com. Check back frequently for new participating restaurants and explore an easy-to-use interface to search for a favorite local chef, or to explore vegetarian and gluten free options. Don’t forget to download the DINEAZ mobile application for up-to-the minute information about Arizona Restaurant Week and stay up to date on the latest delectable details by following Arizona Restaurant Week (ARW) on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

Win a $50 Gift Certificate

We have two $50 dining gift certificates to give away to our fans, courtesy of the fine folks at Arizona Restaurant Week.

If you’re a baby boomer living in Arizona, then join our Arizona Roaming Boomers Group Event List to be entered to win one of the two $50 gift certificates.  If you’re already on the list, don’t worry, you will be entered in the drawing.   Winners will be drawn on Friday, May 17th, 2013.

To win, click here.

From the very first day we launched The Roaming Boomers®, fellow baby boomer travelers have been asking if they could come along with us on our exciting journeys.

We weren’t equipped for this in the beginning, but the chorus of travelers with wanderlust has been so strong, we decided that we had better do something about it.

Therefore, let us invite you to come along on our very first Roaming Boomers small group tour:

The Roaming Boomers Santa Fe Culinary Group Tour

Highlights:

• 

  Click button to Register

  Fabulous AAA Four-Diamond Inn and Spa at Loretto

• Private Olive Oil Tasting
• Dining w/ nationally renowned chefs every evening
• Learn to make tamales at the Santa Fe School of Cooking
• Walk Santa Fe’s fabulous Chocolate Trail
• Explore Santa Fe’s world-renowned galleries and museums
• Tequila tasting dinner
• Have fun traveling w/ like-minded foodie travelers

Join us for our very first Roaming Boomers Group Event!

Itinerary:

Day 1 - Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013 (Meals D)

Inn & Spa at Loretto

Guests will make their own way to Santa Fe and we’ll begin this exciting long weekend culinary journey at the AAA Four-Diamond Inn and Spa at Loretto (see video). We’ll begin our culinary adventures in The Living Room at Loretto (5:30pm) where we’ll congregate for a welcome reception before heading off for a private olive oil tasting at Oleacea. We’ll learn some of the mysteries of olive oil as well as how to create amazing recipes using organic fruit based vinegars and smoked olive oils.

We will then proceed to El Meson for dinner and entertainment. El Meson is an award winning Spanish restaurant in downtown Santa Fe where we will enjoy an assortment of Spanish wines, tapas and paella prepared by Chef David Huertas.

Day 2 - Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013 (Meals B, L, D)

Native American Chef Lois Ellen Frank

Breakfast at Luminaria Restaurant inside the hotel. The group will then take part in a 3-hour hands-on class at the Santa Fe School of Cooking to learn the intricacies of making tamales. You’ll have a chance to try at least 3 different types (Red Chili and Pork, Southern Mexican Chicken and Sweet Anise Seed) that highlight techniques helpful in tamale-making. You’ll then make your own and receive some in-depth information from the chef while the tamales cook!

After lunch, the group is in for a chocolate tasting at Todo Santos Chocolates and Confections. The owner, Hayward Simoneaux, was named one of the 10 best artisan chocolatiers in the country by Chocolatier magazine in 2001.

Enjoy some free time to rest, shop, or perhaps visit the spa at the hotel!!

In the evening, the group will enjoy a cooking demonstration and 4-course dinner of Native American foods in the home of local chef, author and food photographer, Lois Ellen Frank. You’ll learn about the flavors of the real Southwest reflecting the unique cultural mix of Santa Fe.

Day 3 - Friday, October 25, 2013 (Meals B, D)

Start your day with a hearty breakfast at the hotel before we all meet for a 1.5-hour guided walking tour of the historic downtown Santa Fe Plaza, With a local expert leading the group, you’ll walk through more than 400 years of history, art and culture as this personal guide presents an extraordinary introduction to Santa Fe and provides an entertaining, humorous and accurate portrayal of the “City Different.” The group will visit both the Historic Plaza and the Palace of the Governors while you learn about St. Francis Cathedral and explore the Loretto Chapel with its miraculous staircase.

The walking tour ends at 11:30am at The Shed a local (legendary) restaurant serving up authentic New Mexican food – a favorite of locals and visitors alike. Lunch at The Shed is optional (not included in the package) but it will be lunch time and we will be hungry!!

Tequila Wine Pairing Dinner

The group will then proceed to our second stop on the Chocolate Trail, Kakawa Chocolates for sipping chocolate. Kakawa has been named one of the Top 10 luxurious places in the WORLD to drink hot chocolate!!

Free time or join us to explore the amazing galleries along Canyon Road or you may choose to explore the amazing Georgia O’Keefe Museum!

After an afternoon of exploring the wonderful galleries and museums of Santa Fe, the group will return to the hotel for a little relaxation before we are treated to a special tequila pairing dining experience by Chef Sparman in Luminaria Restaurant.

Day 4 - Saturday, October 26, 2013 (Meals: B, D)

After breakfast, we’ll walk to nearby Santa Fe Farmer’s Market for a guided tour by a local chef. You’ll be able to sample fresh breads, cheeses and produce with plenty of free time for browsing and shopping for spices, food and souvenirs.

Famous Chef Restaurant Crawl

The group will have two more stops on the Chocolate Trail for more chocolate tasting at C.G. Higgins where we will enjoy samples of their “Sipping Chocolate” along with other samples from the shop. We will all receive a 20% discount for anything you would like to purchase. And if we’re lucky they will have the chocolate machine running, so you could create your own, chocolate dipped strawberry!…. and if your “Chocolate Cravings” have still not been satisfied, we can move onto the last stop on The Chocolate Trail ….The Chocolate Smith.

The afternoon is free to explore!

You’ll have time for a short rest prior to the group heading out for our private and exclusive Taste and Spirits of Old Santa Fe Tour. Led by a professional museum docent guide from the New Mexico History Museum, we’ll stroll through old Santa Fe and visit three extraordinary historic Santa Fe Restaurants!

This unique Santa Fe Culinary Event starts at the historic hacienda of La Case Sena with old charm and unique Southwestern cuisine and continues to La Taberna featuring authentic tapas created by celebrated Chef James Caruso. The Taste & Spirits of Santa Fe Event concludes at Coyote Cafe known as a forerunner of contemporary Southwestern cuisine! Each outstanding restaurant will serve us a signature cocktail/wine & tastings” created with southwestern flair by award winning Santa Fe Chefs!!

Day 5 - Sunday, October 27, 2013 (Meals B)

After a group breakfast at the hotel, you many have time to roam over to the plaza to do any last minute shopping before departing on your own.

Note: itinerary is subject to change without notice.

Tour Leaders: Dave and Carol (aka) The Roaming Boomers

Cost: $1350 per person (double occupancy) – Single Supplement is $460

Price Includes:

• 

  Click button to Register

  4 nights lodging in a Superior Deluxe Room at The Inn and Spa at Loretto,  a block from downtown Santa Fe.

• Full Breakfast everyday (4)
• All tours listed in the itinerary above
• Dinner every night,(4) plus one (1) lunch
• Guides, entrance fees, transportation included in events listed on the itinerary, all services and gratuities and local taxes.

Price does not include: airfare, airport transfer or alcoholic beverages (unless paired with dinner). No need to rent a car. Fly directly into Santa Fe airport or Albuquerque. Easy transportation from either airport.  If you like, we’re happy to book your flights and help you with airport transfers.

Chef John Sharpe

If you find yourself standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, then a visit to the award-winning Turquoise Room Restaurant is an absolute must.

In fact, if you find yourself anywhere in Northern Arizona, do yourself a favor and make a reservation to sample the cuisine of one of the southwest’s most sought-after chefs.

A semi-finalist nominated by the James Beard Foundation as “Best Chef: Southwest” in 2012, Chef John Sharpe had earned an illustrious reputation with a string of very successful restaurants in Orange County, California before chucking it all to leave “the congested and hectic life of Southern California”.

While visiting friends, who had been asking him for the past few years to come to Winslow, he and his wife Patricia decided to move to Winslow and open The Turquoise Room Restaurant inside of the historic La Posada Hotel.

It quickly became one of the finest restaurants in Northern Arizona drawing a clientele from far and wide.

Chef John is committed to the cause of both the Slow Foods movement (alternative to fast food) and the Chef’s Collaborative (promoting sustainable cuisine).

A delightful first impression of dining at The Turquoise Room is certain to be that it is housed within the historic La Posada Hotel.

La Posada is “the last great railroad hotel” built in 1929 by the Santa Fe Railway for the Fred Harvey Company, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The hotel’s architect, Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, famous for her magnificent buildings at the Grand Canyon, considered La Posada her masterpiece.

Alright, let’s get down to our dining experience.

We started our gastronomical journey with Piki Bread with Hopi Hummus. 

Piki (or piki bread) is a rolled bread made by the Hopi with nixtamalized corn meal. Blue corn and culinary ash give it a dark grayish-blue color. The light, thin sheets are dry to the point of brittleness and have a delicate corn flavor. It is considered the Hopi version of the tortilla. (via wikipedia)

Our waiter instructed us that the piki breads were hand-rolled on hot rocks by Joyce Saufkie of Second Mesa, a nearby Hopi Reservation. Although their brittleness made them a bit difficult to eat, we enjoyed sampling such a unique appetizer crafted by local artisans.

Accompanying our piki bread was Chef John’s version of Bad-dap-suki. A hummus made with reservation grown Tepary beans, pit roasted corn, and sunflower oils.

Not to be missed is Chef John’s Signature Soup (creamy sweet corn in the same bowl with smooth and spicy black bean topped with a signature of spicy chile cream).

Wow! Absolutely delish!

As we were traveling with friends, we have three entrées to share with you.

First up is Grilled Chicken Breast with Tomatillo Sauce and Tamale (grilled breast of chicken with a green chile, tomatillo sauce,
their famous sweet corn tamale, black beans and fresh vegetables).  The chicken was an 8oz all natural skin-on drumstick and attached breast, and was hormone and antibiotic free by “Harvest Land”.

Not only was it tasty, but it was beautiful to look at.  And oh, the tamale might just have been a show stealer!

Our friend Bob prefers heart-healthy options, and greatly enjoyed the Killer Vegetable Platter (steamed fresh vegetables, grilled tofu, sweet corn tamale, red caboose mashed potatoes, grilled fresh corn, grilled mild chili stuffed with three cheeses, wild mushroom corn custard and a crispy fried egg roll filled with red, brown and black sticky rice, roasted chile and jicama).

There was no shortage of smiles coming from Bob’s direction.  In fact, I don’t think he said a word until he cleaned his plate clean!

As I (David) enjoy a little adventure in my dining experiences, I opted for Navajo Churro Lamb, a Three-way Sampler (green chile lamb from the shoulder served over sweet corn tamale, a small bowl of posole topped with lamb sausage, a grilled medallion served on a mound of Gilfeather Rutabaga purée with mint and garlic jus).

Oh my sweet Lord in heaven, that was good.  So many flavors to enjoy.

Now, we were all starting to get very full bellies, but waiter Richard insisted that we sample The Turquoise Room’s famous Double Chocolate Grand Marnier Soufflé.

My photograph says it all, right!  Pure heaven!

What an absolutely delightful and delicious experience.

Dear friends, as I mentioned above, if you find yourself on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, make certain that you get yourselves to The Turquoise Room.  It’s such a fine dining experience “to see”.  

The Turquoise Room is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Link: The Turquoise Room

Disclosure: our wonderful dining experience was provided by the kind folks at The Turquoise Room.  Thanks!

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What if you could pull your car out of the garage, push a button, and fly away to your favorite nearby travel destination?

Well, a company called Terrafugia, Latin for “Escape the Earth”, has a working prototype that does exactly that. While the currently working model isn’t as slick looking as this futuristic artist’s rendition of a future model, the age of the flying car is actually here.

In fact, in 2012, the company had a backlog of 100 orders for their upcoming flying car.

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to the day when I can say to Carol, “hey honey, let’s jump in the car and fly over to Santa Barbara”.

How ’bout you?  Want a flying Car?

Link: Terrafugia Flying Cars

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We’ve been members of the Global Entry program for quite some time, and it is real sweet to completely bypass the long lines in one of the 40 participating airports.

And now, these benefits are going to extend to international travel. Yabba Dabba Doooo!

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that beginning May 7, 2013, in addition to domestic travel, TSA Pre?™ participants will be eligible for expedited screening on select international travel itineraries. Eligible passengers traveling on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways will be allowed to leave on their shoes, light outerwear and belt, keep their laptop in its case, and their 3-1-1 compliant liquids/gels bag in a carry-on.

How sweet it is to bypass the long TSA security lines!

Passengers flying internationally from the 40 participating TSA Pre?™ airports may be eligible to receive expedited screening. In addition, passengers with connecting domestic flights who arrive in the United States on an international flight may use the TSA Pre?™ lanes when going through the screening process at participating airports after being cleared by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“By expanding TSA Pre?™ beyond domestic air travel, we are further demonstrating our commitment to identifying innovative ways to securely move travelers more quickly through our airports,” said TSA Administrator John S. Pistole. “Through TSA Pre?™, TSA can quickly process passengers who we know more about. This allows us to focus more of our time on those passengers about whom we know less.”

Eligible passengers include U.S. citizens who are members of certain airline frequent flier programs or are members of CBP Trusted Traveler programs, including Global Entry, SENTRI and NEXUS. Additionally, Canadian citizens who are NEXUS members are also eligible for TSA Pre?™. Individuals interested in joining a CBP trusted traveler program can learn more by visiting www.cbp.gov.

TSA Pre?™ is part of TSA’s intelligence-driven, risk-based initiative to move away from a one-size-fits-all model, enabling TSA to focus efforts on travelers considered higher risk and about whom the agency knows less. To date, more than 9 million passengers have experienced TSA Pre?™ since it launched in 2011. Other TSA expedited screening initiatives include modified screening procedures for travelers 12 and under and 75 and older, as well as Wounded Warriors and severely injured members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

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Note: click all photographs for a larger view. Photo credit: Michael Wilson Photography

Arizona’s Grand Falls, also known as Chocolate Falls, is one of those illusive spectacles of nature that requires you bend to her timetable if you desire to see her in all of her glory.

Located 40 miles northeast of Flagstaff, the Grand Falls is certainly one of the great unknown wonders of Arizona.  She’s tucked away in the Painted Desert, on Navajo Nation lands, and can only be found if you know exactly when and where to find her.

“At 185 feet, Grand falls is higher than Niagara Falls and is known to many as “Chocolate Falls” because of its muddy color. The enormous waterfall was created when lava from a nearby volcanic eruption poured down into the canyon and blocked the river’s course, causing the water to seek a new path around the lava dam until it found its way back down into its original canyon; forming this waterfall in the process. The best time to see the falls is after snow melt in the early spring, or after a summer thunderstorm.” (via Navajo Tourism)

We just returned from a short northern Arizona road trip with great friends visiting from Michigan.  While planning to find ourselves “standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona“, I thought we should also drive out to the Grand Falls to see if we might witness this marvel for ourselves.

Sadly, we missed the spectacle as the bulk of the snow melt had already made its way through before our visit on May 1st.  Here is what we witnessed upon our visit:

While still a beautiful site, we were disappointed that we had missed the ravenous beauty of the flowing snow melt pictured in Michael Wilson’s beautiful photograph.

Nonetheless, we greatly enjoyed the long-range views of the distant San Francisco peaks in Flagstaff.

Irrespective of our bad timing, if you find yourself roaming through northern Arizona between March and April, we highly recommend that you journey on the road less traveled to gaze upon Arizona’s Grand Falls.

And, to help you find your way, please consult the Google Map found below.

View Larger Map

Note: huge thanks to Michael Wilson Photography for supplying us with a stunning photograph of the Grand Falls while flowing.  Michael also provided us with a link to the U.S. Geological Survey website to determine when/if the Chocolate Falls is running.

Michael says, “Scroll down to “Little Colorado River Basin”, and under that you want to look for “Little Colorado River at Winslow, AZ” and “Little Colorado River at Cameron, AZ.” All the way to the right side of the page there should be 3 columns with numbers in them. The center column represents the cubic feet per second (cfs). You’ll want to check the cubic feet per second for both of those locations”.

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