Great fishing, stunning natural surroundings and amazing wildlife may be the biggest draws to Alaska, but a recently completed expansion has put the Anchorage Museum high on the list of must-see attractions in the 49th state.

This is something that I learned on the last day of a weeklong visit farther south to the Kenai Peninsula that concluded with a day in Anchorage before my flight home. While kayaking, hiking, horseback riding and fishing on the Kenai allowed me to experience the allure of Alaska, the museum offered an awe-inspiring overview of the state’s culture, history and geography.

The $106 million expansion, completed in May after nearly four years of construction plus fundraising that began in 1999, brought a sleek 80,000-square-foot wing to the downtown facility, and the exhibitions inside are more than worthy of their new digs.

The Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center forms an impressive centerpiece to the new wing. Representatives from Alaska’s native cultures helped curators from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History interpret and select about 600 culturally significant objects from the latter’s collections. The objects are arranged in parallel glass cases that form rows down the middle of a rectangular space. Each case is dedicated entirely to a separate cultural group: the Iñupiak, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Northeast Siberian, Athabascan, Yup’ik, Unangan, Sugpiaq, Eyak, Tlingit, Tsimshian and Haida. Objects such as hunting implements, clothing and elaborate ceremonial items show the similarities and differences between each group. Together, they paint an inspiring portrait of how these groups not only survived, but thrived, for centuries in some of the harshest weather conditions on the planet.

The Imaginarium Discovery Center, which closed its separate facility last year to relocate into the museum’s new wing, is clearly the liveliest exhibit space. More than 80 hands-on displays provide glimpses of science in action. Parents seem to have as much fun as kids doing such things as seeing infrared profiles of themselves projected onto a screen behind them and creating auroras with a magnetized metal sphere.

My favorite space is the Alaska Gallery, which provides a powerful look at the history of Alaska and its people from the times of its earliest occupants nearly 10,000 years ago to the present day. As a history buff, I found it interesting to learn more about the early history of the native cultures, the arrival of Europeans, the discoveries of gold in Alaska’s various regions in the mid-19th and early-20th centuries and the territory’s strategic significance (statehood did not occur until 1959) during World War II. A section of the gallery focusing on oil and the Trans Alaska Pipeline raised provocative questions about our nation’s future energy policy.

I spent nearly half a day in the museum, and the only thing I could think about on the plane ride home was how much I wanted to come back to visit more of the places that I had just learned about.

(Photo of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center by Chuck Choi, courtesy of the Anchorage Museum.)

Willows Lodge kicked off its Iron Vintner Challenge on June 2 in fine fashion as winemaker Mark McNeilly of Mark Ryan Winery beat Efeste’s Brennon Leighton in an event that is bound to breed hours of smack talk in Woodinville’s food and wine circles.With a format similar to that of the Iron Chef television show, the participating winemakers showed off their cooking skills in front of spectators gathered on a patio outside the resort’s Fireside Cellars. The winemakers-turned-chefs each had an hour to prepare an appetizer and entrée featuring a mystery ingredient that was revealed at the beginning of the competition, in this case wild king salmon.

Leighton prepared salmon ceviche over cellophane noodles as his appetizer and an entrée he called “salmon three-ways over asparagus.” The latter included salmon mousse, roast salmon and salmon roulade. McNeilly countered with spring rolls stuffed with salmon and mango followed by a risotto with salt-roasted salmon, asparagus, mint and other goodness. The judges were three Seattle food writers who gave the nod to McNeilly.

I caught up with both contestants after the results were announced, and it was clear that each takes his food-preparation skills seriously. McNeilly attributes his passion for cooking to his mother, Suzanne, who leads culinary tours through Italy with Changing Gears Journeys. Leighton seemed down but not out. “Food, to me, is what everything is about,” he said. “I make wine as a complement to food.”

The Iron Vintner series continues on successive Wednesday evenings through June, with Tim Stevens of Stevens Winery cooking off against Darby English of Darby Winery on June 9. The winner battles it out with McNeilly in the finals on June 16. Admission to these is $25 (tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets), and guests can watch and learn cooking tips from the contestants while sipping varietals from their respective wineries (admission includes two tasting tickets for featured wines, and additional beverages and food are available for purchase). The Championship Dinner ($135 per person) takes place at Willows’ Barking Frog restaurant on June 23. The Barking Frog’s executive chef, Bobby Moore, emcee for the cook-offs, will serve a special four-course meal accompanied by varietals created by the participating winemakers. Proceeds from the event series benefit the Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center, which gives people with disabilities opportunities to incorporate horseback riding into their treatment programs.

From what I hear, chef Moore came up with the idea of hosting such a competition after hearing his winemaker friends boast about their own cooking skills. Consequently, while helping raise money for a worthy cause, the participants, all friendly rivals, have serious bragging rights at stake.

Can’t make it out to Woodinville for the cook-offs? Treat dad to an indulgent weekend at Willows Lodge for Father’s Day. The resort’s Room with a Zoom package, available June 20, includes a room at the inn, a couple of complimentary beers from Red Hook, whose brewery is right next to the hotel, and a chance to test-drive a Tesla electric sports car. (We recommend waiting until after the test-drive to drink the beers.)

The arrival of summer means many different things to different people, but for those who live in and around Riggins, Idaho, it seems to mean only one thing: big water. That’s because the Whitewater Capital of Idaho celebrates prime rafting conditions on the Salmon River (above) with the Bigwater Blowout River Festival on Saturday, June 5. In an annual tradition that dates back to 1998, about a half dozen of the area’s rafting outfitters offer abbreviated tours on wild-flowing sections of the Salmon at discounted rates (typically around $30, though this year’s price has yet to be confirmed). The gathering point for the tours is in the town’s main city park, where live music, a barbecue, refreshing beverages in the “Beer Eddy” and a Dutch-oven cook-off round out a full day of fun. You can sign up for your tour in the park. The outfitters provide the equipment and guides and shuttle you out to the river and back.

“This is a safe way for people to experience the big whitewater flows that the Salmon River provides in the spring,” says Amy Sinclair, whose company, Exodus Wilderness Adventures, offers guided rafting, fishing and jet-boat tours along the Salmon out of Riggins. She expects the river’s biggest rapids—identified with such names as the Pencil Sharpener, the Pancake Wave and the Big Easy—to be flowing at high Class IV levels for weeks.

A wetter-than-normal spring appears to have made up for winter’s below-normal snowfall, and Sinclaire is bullish on summer’s water-flows. Her advice to you adrenaline junkies out there: Get out on the Salmon between Memorial Day and mid-June, when the flows are at their peak (the rafting season typically lasts through September).

I discovered first-hand how wet this spring has been on my visit to the Riggins area in late April. Rain showers greeted me as I pulled into town and followed me and other journalists touring the nearby Hells Canyon National Recreation Area aboard a jet-boat along the Snake River.

“This is one of the most extreme things you can do on a jet boat,” our pilot Kurt Killgore of Killgore Adventures told us before we dropped into the Granite Creek rapids, which were flowing at Class V on the afternoon of our trip. The nose of the 28-foot-long boat plunged about 12 feet down a steep chute, sending a huge wave over the bow. Killgore then gunned the throttle to the dual 350-horsepower engines that pulled us through the rushing water. It was the most exhilarating five seconds I’ve experienced in a while. Most of us were seated under a tarp that covered the front portion of the deck, but two colleagues standing near the stern were drenched as we shot through the rapids. The huge sprays of water are more popular among passengers in the heat of summer, when daytime temperatures regularly exceed 100 degrees.

Family-owned and operated, Killgore Adventures takes passengers from Pittsburg Landing, near White Bird, Idaho, upriver to Hells Canyon Dam and back on its Wild River Hells Canyon Dam Tour ($165). The 64-mile round-trip tour typically lasts about six hours and takes you through the steepest parts of America’s deepest river gorge, with stops to walk up and see historic riverside settlements, eat lunch and cool off in swimming holes along the way. The Killgores also offer guided fishing tours along the Snake and other excursions. This spring’s bountiful Chinook salmon run is expected to last a few more weeks, while summer brings opportunities to fish for trout, bass and giant (catch-and-release only) sturgeon on the Snake.

So, what are you waiting for? Big water season is here.

Now that the Olympics have come and gone, this spring and summer may be the best times of all to visit Whistler and Vancouver, B.C., simply because the new amenities that came on line in the run-up to the 2010 Winter Games still retain their luster.

This became clear on my drive up to Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort last weekend when I caught a glimpse of one of the Canada Line trains outside of Vancouver zipping on down to Richmond. A few minutes later, my traveling companion and I were enjoying a delay-free drive up the expanded Sea to Sky Highway.

Several feet of fresh snow had blanketed the mountains the week before, but we left our skis behind. On this visit, we were seeking adrenaline rushes from zip lines at Whistler and at the WildPlay Elements Park at Cougar Mountain, about 15 minutes up the highway from the ski resort.

WildPlay seems to be the latest rage for people seeking family-friendly adventure in British Columbia. During the past four years, WildPlay Ltd. has opened its Monkido Tree Courses in Nanaimo, Whistler and Victoria. A fourth course in Maple Ridge, about 20 minutes east of Vancouver, is on track to open this summer, pending permit approvals. Similar in concept to those ropes courses used for military training and corporate team-building, Monkido courses let you walk, climb, swing or slide over a series of obstacles, or games as they call them, set in the trees at heights ranging from 10 to 60 feet above the ground (you are connected to safety cables the entire time). The obstacles, which get progressively more challenging, playfully test your sense of balance and adventure. The courses are designed for everyone from preteens to senior citizens, and smaller courses for kids aged 7 to 13 are available at all of the parks.

At WildPlay Whistler, one of the more challenging games requires you to balance yourself on all fours on a twin-set of cables stretched between two trees, about 50 feet above the ground, and pull yourself across. Another requires you to use a rope-swing to cross over a stream. You land in a net and then climb onto a platform in a nearby tree, where the next game awaits. In addition to being one of the best core workouts you’ll ever have, the Monkido course is a total blast. Even though the 11-year-old girl in our party crossed most of the obstacles faster and with more grace than I did, I still felt pretty good about completing the course. WildPlay charges $49.99 (CAD) for the regular courses and $29.99 for the kids’ courses. For comparisons sake, a full-day adult lift ticket at Whistler Blackcomb costs $93.

The safety precautions at WildPlay leave you constantly fastening and refastening the carabiners that connect you to the safety cables. You also have to clip your bracket onto zip-line cables that help you make several crossings along the way (the folks who manage WildPlay Whistler also offer separate zip-line, ATV and whitewater-rafting tours). This and the amount of physical exertion it takes to complete the course offer contrasts to an afternoon soaring among the trees at Whistler with Ziptrek Ecotours. In between strapping your harness onto lines up to 2,000 feet long, Ziptrek’s guides discuss the area’s natural history and conservation efforts during the nearly three-hour long tours. Of course, when you’re getting ready to jump from a platform about 150 feet above the ground to essentially fly across a canyon, it’s a little tough to pay full attention to your conservation lesson. Luckily, Ziptrek’s harnesses and cable systems are so well conceived that all you really need to do is lean back and enjoy the rides. Our party consisted of 10 people, including four children appearing to be between the ages of 4 and 12, and after we finished, you couldn’t wipe the smiles off of our faces if you tried. Ziptrek charges between $79 and $119 per person per tour, and in my opinion, it’s worth paying the few extra bucks to go one of the Eagle Tours, which offer the longest zip lines—and highest speeds—of all of Ziptrek’s offerings.

I was very much enjoying my daughter’s issue and the travel articles encouraging travelers to choose local, ride public transport, and hopefully have a lighter impact. And then, in the article about visiting Spokane, I read the meal choices: ‘tacos filled with blackened ahi tuna, jicama and lime creme fraiche.’  I’d like to encourage your writers to practice what they preach. As far as I know tuna, jicama and lime are not local to Spokane. I look forward to future travel articles with emphasis on local produce, local transport and less impact.  Good luck.
Alice Scavarda

There was a time when part of the allure of dining at a chain restaurant was the fact that you knew exactly what you would be getting. These days, with local, sustainable and artisan cuisine being all the rage, part of the stigma of dining in a chain restaurant is the fact that you know exactly what you will be getting. Where’s the fun in bragging about the bacon-wrapped beef medallions you had at the steakhouse last night when your friends in other cities can get the same dish at the same steakhouse chain’s location in their area? These days, people want a more personal, unique experience—and fresher ingredients—when they dine.

The folks who run the Palomino family of restaurants get this. With nine restaurants, including the flagship in Seattle and a location in Bellevue, the Palomino is far from a massive chain. Nevertheless, its parent company, Seattle-based Restaurants Unlimited Inc., owns 57 restaurants in 14 states, and its parent company’s parent company, Sun Capital Partners, is a lot bigger than that (at last check, SCP’s portfolio included 66 companies in 17 industry sectors). Despite their place in such a large corporate structure, the Palominos are distancing themselves from the cookie-cutter mold of chains by synching their menus to ingredients unique to their respective markets—and pimping up the offerings in the process.

Case in point: one of the items on the Seattle Palomino’s small bites menu that is sure to be a hit is a riff on pigs in a blanket. Italian-style links by Seattle-based Uli’s Famous Sausage are stuffed inside a chewy shell made from the house pizza dough. Clearly, this isn’t your father’s PIAB. The Seattle and Bellevue restaurants will also be working with Macrina Bakery, Salumi Artisan Cured Meats and other local artisans. Norman Abdallah, who took over as RUI’s president and CEO last year, says the chefs at each location are allowed to incorporate locally produced ingredients from their respective regions into the restaurants’ Mediterranean-inspired menus. For example, Washington state’s Palominos are emphasizing seasonal Northwest seafood and produce, while the Dallas restaurant will probably offer a wider variety of steaks. Who knows, maybe the Palomino in Pittsburg will offer a customized version of the all-in-one sandwich.

I need to make up for lost time. Every day that I spend at my desk is another day that I am missing out on a chance to carve out that perfect set of turns down the side of a mogul-pocked mountainside.

I don’t ask for much when I ski. All I need is an easy traverse to the lifts from my room, whether said room involves a luxury suite or a friend’s couch. As far as terrain goes, I just want to warm up on a few cruisers and then go find the soft, steep bumps that I swear are going to one day make me famous, if only in my mind. Of course, a little powder is always nice.

As simple as they may seem, these basic needs seem so hard to find. Or at least they did until I hit the jackpot last weekend during my visit to Sun Peaks Resort. Though the ski area, nearly an hour outside of Kamploops, B.C., is far from a secret, I am constantly surprised by how many avid skiers I meet in western Washington who say they have never ventured out to such places as Sun Peaks, Revelstoke, Big White, Silver Star and the other gems that await across interior British Columbia. Sure, Whistler Blackcomb is the king of B.C.’s hills, if not all of North America’s hills, for good reason. But many of eastern B.C.’s resorts offer all of the essentials of skiing at a pace that reminds you that some of the greatest joys of strapping on the boards come from the serenity and natural splendor that secluded mountainsides have to offer.

Its 3,678-acres make Sun Peaks the second largest ski resort in British Columbia. For comparison’s sake, Whistler Blackcomb offers more than 8,000 acres. Washington’s Crystal Mountain offers about 2,600 acres and Idaho’s Sun Valley offers a shade over 2,000. Many ski resorts across the Pacific Northwest had been grappling with below-normal snow depths at the time of my visit, but Sun Peaks was holding its own. The reported snowpacks were listed at between just 4 and 5 feet, but time and time again, in-the-know locals steered me to hidden caches of freshy in off-the-beaten-path areas, and each night brought a few more inches of the fluffy white stuff.

As a first-time visitor, I found the resort’s free Sun Guide Tour program particularly helpful. In little more than two hours, our charming guides Donna and Chase escorted our party of four skiers and a snowboarder to the top of Tod Mountain, Sunburst and Mt. Morrisey—and back down, mostly on beginner and intermediate runs. By the time afternoon rolled around, I felt as though I knew the mountain like the back of my hand. With this knowledge came the confidence to take on black-diamond challenges on such runs as the Headwalls, the run that daredevil skiers fly down during the Velocity Challenge each spring (this year’s dates are March 4-7).

I took comfort in the knowledge that the walk to my room was less than a hundred yards from the base of the hill after I finished my last run. My face was chapped by wind and muscles from my calves to my shoulders throbbed in unison. In other words, the mountain had given me everything that I could have asked for from a day on the slopes. Still, the resort kept on providing more nuggets of joy.

On a stroll along the village walk, I couldn’t hold back a smile when a lively group of uncles and aunts cheered on as their niece, about five years old, glided down to the base on her shorty skis. At the Bottoms Up Bar and Grill, a group of skiers and snowboarders shared secrets of the mountain with me as I noshed on fried halibut and chips. At the casually luxe Delta Sun Peaks Resort, where my room for this trip awaited, I was tempted to join the party that raged in the indoor/outdoor pool and Jacuzzi. Instead, I headed over to Masa’s Bar and Grill for a food-and-wine tasting dubbed Wild Game and Wild Wines. The latter was one of the inaugural events for the resort’s Winter Wine Festival. Formerly the Icewine Festival, the event series showcases varietals grown in the nearby Okanagan Valley through seminars and tastings that continue through Jan. 24. I washed down samples of wild boar sausage, smoked trout and roasted lamb with sips of cool pinot gris and viognier. An African band was still playing as I headed back to my room. As much as I wanted to stay, I knew I had to rest up for the next morning—and another chance to make up for that lost time.

(Photo of Sun Peaks Village by Adam Stein, courtesy of Sun Peaks Resort.)

Hello Hana! …Now what? So you’ve made the trek along the long and winding road to Hana and—once your stomach settles down from car sickness—what ever will you do? Get uplifted on a tandem powered hang gliding flight with Hang Gliding Maui. Don’t gasp. It’s safe, exhilarating and a very different (and spectacular) way to explore Hana. Owners and husband and wife, Armin and Karin Engert, use an Airborne trike with tandem seating for one instructor and one student. The trike runs with a small motor, which can be turned off per your request, in case you’d like to glide your way back down to the ground. Which I’d recommend, as you wouldn’t really be hang gliding now, would you? All the necessary gear such as helmets and flight suits are provided. All you need are socks and shoes…well, and preferably a T-shirt and shorts.

Bask on black. Or red. Or gray. Sand that is…here are three not-to-miss beaches near Hana: Pa`iloa Beach (Black Sand Beach) within the Wai`anapanapa State Park—beautiful, but can be dangerous for swimming due to strong currents. Check out the stone bridge and take a short hike into the lava tube to the right of the beach. The state park is located off Hana Hwy., just beyond mile maker #32, at the end of the paved road on the left. As tempting as it may be, do not take any sand off this, or any, beach. Hawaiians believe that when we die our souls go back into the earth, which includes sand. You don’t really want to take someone’s great grandmother home with you, do you?
Kaihalulu Beach (Red Sand Beach), located in Hana, is difficult to reach, but well worth the effort. You’ll need to find the Hana Community Center on Ua Kea Road. At the south end of the community center take the narrow path that passes an old cemetery. You should find the beach at the end of the path. Unless it moved. Which is highly unlikely. Note: You might also find the occasional nude sunbather.
Hamoa Beach (gray sand beach) is situated along Haneo’o Road about a mile past Hana. It’s consistently rated a favorite beach among visitors for its salt and pepper sand and lush vegetation.
Just in case gray, red or black sand isn’t your thing, a few locals recommend these Maui beaches: Honokohau Bay, Honolua Bay, Mushroom Reef in Kahana, Waihee Beach and Kamaole III.

Visit a goat farm. Yeah really. The Surfing Goat Dairy offers “daily tours” for $7. You can meet the animals (including Charlie the pot belly pig), pet the goats and get a glimpse of the inner workings of the dairy’s operations. The best tour though is the “evening chores and milking” tour, for only $12. Get down and dirty with the goats as you round them up, hand-milk one, help with the feeding and learn all about how the dairy’s award-winning cheeses are made. Don’t forget to buy one of the goat’s-milk soap bars before you leave—it’ll make your skin as soft as a baby goat’s butt.

Get married at Makena Cove. Hmmmm. Don’t think this needs much commentary from me. It’s pretty straightforward: If you have someone you want to marry, grab him/her, book a flight on Hawaiian Airlines (my personal fave because of the yummy FREE meals and friendly flight attendants) and get out to this popular beach wedding spot. A word of advice though: Shoot for a morning wedding as the beach at sunset tends to feel more like the Las Vegas Strip with all of the other weddings going on.

Go to jail. Ok, not really. But do visit Hale Paahao (The Prison) on the corner of Wainee and Prison streets in Lahaina. The prison house was built in 1852 and had separate quarters for men and women. According to the Lahaina Historical Guide, most prisoners ended up there for deserting ship, drunkenness, working on the Sabbath or reckless horse riding. Those jailed for longer than a year were sent to Oahu. …Sheesh, I’d hate to hear what shenanigans those prisoners got themselves into…

Wander away from the tourist shops in Lahaina. (To the north on Ala Moana Street) because that is where you’ll find the cool Pagoda and the Great Buddha statue at the Lahaina Jodo Mission. The statue, pagoda and temple were built to commemorate the centennial celebration of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. Quite unexpected architecture in the middle of Lahaina.

If you get sick while on Maui: Like I did, visit the good, thorough and personable Dr. Norman Estin at Doctors on Call (three West Maui locations: Hyatt Regency, Westin Maui and Ritz-Carlton/Kapalua). I went in to see him for some weird eye infection I had going on. Unfortunately, I went to him after a waitress at a restaurant told me that the best way to cure an eye infection is to squeeze lemon juice directly in the eye. (Which, like a complete moron, I did, and almost passed out from the excruciating pain.) When Dr. Estin heard what I had tried in order to cure my ailment, he didn’t lecture me. He just casually smiled and gently shook his head, put some real eye drops in my eye, wrote me a prescription and sent me on my merry way. I could see the next day, and I was very happy about that. No more lemons for me.

Row, row, row, your outrigger canoe. Whether you are a guest at the beautiful Four Seasons Maui or not, you can always learn how to row an outrigger canoe, used by the first Hawaiians who ventured to the islands from Tahiti. Your two guides, part of the resort’s championship paddling team, will introduce you to Hawaiian-style paddling techniques and terms, and also teach you the historical and cultural significance of the outrigger canoe. The guides have a fun sense of humor (at least mine did), so don’t hold back joking around or asking them whatever you’d like to know about rowing or the ocean or even a good place to get a drink and watch the sunset.

The term “Olympic aversion” describes the phenomenon in which people avoid traveling to an Olympic host city in the weeks and months before the Games actually start, out of a fear that all of the hotels and attractions will be booked to capacity and overcrowded. The trend can create lean times for tourism officials in a host city.

The existence of such a phenomenon is not the best piece of news for those in the tourism industry in the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympics, but it is great for those of us who like to visit Vancouver, British Columbia, as often as we can. From now through the end of January, with the exception of the peak holiday periods, several hotels and inns in downtown Vancouver and Whistler are offering screaming deals. The specials include five-night stays at Whistler resorts with four-day lift tickets, beginning at $389 CAD per person, and attractive discounts at many downtown Vancouver hotels. You can find out more about these deals by contacting a AAA travel agent, Tourism Vancouver or Whistler.

From the expansion of the Sea to Sky Highway to the opening of the athletes’ village along False Creek, the final pieces of Vancouver’s Olympic puzzle are coming together. Visiting Vancouver between now and the end of January is a great way to get a sneak peek at the city’s massive makeover before the crowds really do arrive for the Games, which officially begin on Feb. 12.

For those who take advantage of these deals, the savings are likely to leave you feeling less guilty about splurging in some of the big-name restaurants that have opened in the past year. The highlights include Market by Jean-Georges in the new downtown Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver’s tallest building, and DB Bistro Moderne Vancouver in the Kitsilano neighborhood. The latter serves a version of the famous DB burger that the restaurant’s founder, Daniel Boulud, introduced in Manhattan. The Vancouver restaurant’s $28 “burger” features top sirloin filled with braised short rib and black truffle on a toasted parmesan bun. From what I hear, it’s worth every cent.

On a section of Main Street that is attracting a new wave of trendy boutiques and restaurants, Campagnolo offers a cool, locally grown dining option. The restaurant, opened by the team behind Fuel restaurant in Kitsilano, offers modern takes on the cuisine of Piemonte and Emilia-Romagna in a sleek setting. The signature appetizer is the crispy ceci, a serving of deep-fried chickpeas seasoned with mint, chilies and citrus. Nibbling on these prepare you for a parade of courses that can include more antipasti, cured meats, egg-topped pizzas, pastas and roasted meat entrees. What better way to whet your appetite for the Olympics?

On any given day, I’m the lucky recipient of piles of press releases highlighting all of the great deals going on right now to entice everyone to get out and travel. Some I may choose to write about, but for the most part, we typically don’t cite a specific special or package within the magazine. Mostly for space reasons. So I thought to myself … why not post them here so that our deal-hunting, bargain-loving Journey readers can still benefit?

The most recent one to grace my inbox is The Inn at El Gaucho’s swanky holiday-in-the-city overnight packages. These are ideal for couples, best buds or moms and daughters who’d like to pop into Seattle for some holiday shopping fun. The Winter Wonderland Package includes a junior suite, $50 dining credit in the El Gaucho dining room, a hot toddy or hot chocolate delivered via room service and white flowers to greet you upon your arrival. All this for a mere $325. And for 100 bucks more you can do the Inn”Spa”rational Shopping Package which also includes a junior suite, along with a $50 gift card to an upscale local boutique, an in-room massage, a $50 room-service credit and a bottle of Alexandria Nicole Cellars wine. Can’t go wrong with that one. Packages run through the end of the year. Tip: If you’re with your sweetie, call ahead to request strategically placed mistletoe in your room. It can be added to either package. www.inn.elgaucho.com

Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham has a great mid-week special going on. Stay a minimum of two nights, Sunday–Thursday, for $141 per night. This deal runs through the end of 2009. www.hotelbellwether.com

Lakedale Resort on San Juan Island is offering shoulder season deals. My favorite (since I’m a proud dog owner) is the dog-friendly “Pampered Puppy Pack” with log cabin accommodations for two nights, a Chuck-It ball launcher, foldable water bowl and organic island-made doggie treats. Rates start at $449. For Lakedale’s other specials, visit www.lakedale.com.

And while you’re out there on the island, Friday Harbor House will be knocking 35 percent off the best available guestroom rate for overnight stays during the month of October. The deal is being offered in conjunction with the month long celebration of Savor the San Juans this October. www.fridayharborhouse.com

On another island, bit farther away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the Four Seasons Resort—Maui at Wailea, which is sporting a brand-new, adult-only serenity pool, is offering rates beginning at $395 per night, through Dec. 17. Considering Four Seasons’ rates usually hover around $600 per night for a standard room, this is a great rate for escaping our infamous dark and dreary Northwest winter. www.fourseasons.com/maui

Just next door a stone’s throw away is the Grand Wailea Resort where you’ll find an awesome “Hawaii Five-for-Five” package. They pay YOU to stay: $500 to use for spa, golf, dining, island activities and retail when you book a five-night stay (Now through Dec. 21) at either Grand Wailea (below) or its luxury villas, Ho’olei at Grand Wailea just across the street. www.grandwailea.com

Those who want to visit the Borrego Ranch Resort & Spa in Southern California this fall are in for a treat: The all-inclusive Borrego Ranch Experience starts at $295 per person, per night (2-night minimum, double occupancy required) and includes: deluxe accommodations, a spa treatment OR a round of Tom Fazio Signature golf, and all meals included. www.borregoranchresort.com

Triple Creek Ranch in Darby, Montana, is celebrating the end of summer with its “fall escape” discount of 15% off rates for Oct. 19 through 31, 2009. www.triplecreekranch.com

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the Spa at the Woodmark. Try out the spa’s “Look Ten Years Younger” spa package (sign me up please), or benefit from a 10% discount on 10 treatments throughout the month along with top age-defying tips from spa staff. My favorite tip is from lead esthetician Mary Conway on how to alleviate puffy morning eyes: “Soak cotton rounds in cold black tea and apply to the eyes for 10 minutes, follow with eye cream or gel.” www.thewoodmark.com.

Keep checking back, as I will be updating this hot-deals list as the press releases roll in!