Greetings!

Travelscope/Winter 2017
Page 2
Getting Around
Celebrations U.S.A.
LOT Polish Airlines is set to begin nonstop service four
times a week from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
to Warsaw, Poland in April 2017 onboard the Boeing 787
Dreamliner. This is the first direct flight between Los Angeles
and Eastern and Central Europe and is the shortest flight
time from the U.S. West Coast to many destinations in
Poland and other countries in Eastern and Central Europe.
Lot.com. (Watch for Joseph’s Poland show airing now on
PBS and public television stations.)
Now, you can fly direct to Cuba from Los Angeles. Beginning
January 5, 2017, Alaska Airlines will offer the only daily,
non-stop flights from Los Angeles to Havana, Cuba. The
flights are set to depart Los Angeles International Airport
(LAX) at 8:50 a.m. and arrive in Havana, Cuba at 4:55
p.m. Passengers must be authorized under one of the 12
categories to visit Cuba. AlaskaAir.com.
Watch the Aurora Borealis dance over black spruce forests
outside your lodge by night and enjoy a dose of local culture
by day on the GondwanaEcotour Alaska: Northern Lights
Ecotour. Now through December 3, 2017 book this fabulous
six-night tour into the Alaska countryside outside Fairbanks.
Enjoy dog-sledding, hiking alongside Reindeer, geothermal
hot springs and even a curling lesson. Each 12-person tour
is led by a Northern Lights photographer, who works one-onone
with each guest. $2,345 per person, double occupancy.
GondwanaEcoTours.com
Go off the beaten path in Joshua Tree National Park
in California on a personalized tour with Joshua Tree
Excursions. Experience hidden valleys, streambeds and
giant boulders seen by only a few. Excursions are based
on individual capabilities from novice to experienced hikers.
JoshuaTreeExcursions.com. (Check out Joseph’s California
adventures airing now on PBS and public television stations.)
Protect yourself from sickness when you’re traveling with the
Sickweather – Sickness Forecasting & Mapping iPhone App.
Every day, people around the globe update social media sites
when they get sick. Just as Doppler radar scans the skies for
indicators of bad weather, Sickweather scans social networks
for indicators of illness, allowing you to check for the chance
of sickness everywhere you go. Sickweather.com
Warm up your winter at the 33rd National Cowboy Poetry
Gathering, January 30 – February 4, 2017 in Elko, Nevada.
All around Elko you’ll experience poetry, song, video, visual
art and new media featuring first-hand accounts, narratives
and tall tales. The Gathering culminates with The Moth
Mainstage, a leader in the resurgence of nonfiction
story telling as heard on The Moth Radio Hour on NPR.
NationalCowboyPoetryGathering.org
Party hearty at New Orleans Mardi Gras, February 11 –
28, 2017. Parades begin in January, and the party ramps
up on February 11 followed by 12 days with dozens of
parades dancing through the streets – 14 parades alone on
February 18, culminating with the parades of the popular
Krewes of Rex and Zulu on Fat Tuesday, February 28. The
whirlwind of balls, beads, King Cake and non-stop revelry
dates from the 1830s. NewOrleansCVB.com
If you’re going to San Francisco be sure to celebrate the
50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. In 1967, nearly
100,000 young people converged on the Haight-Ashbury
neighborhood turning the city into the epicenter of a cultural
phenomenon known as the Summer of Love, where
music, fashion, art and new ideas flourished. Throughout
2017, museum exhibitions, special events, concerts and
volunteerism events will explore what that period meant
then and now. SummerOfLove2017.com (Watch Joseph’s
California shows airing now on Public Television throughout
the U.S. and Canada.)
Enjoy tasty temptations and fine wines in the Florida Keys
during Uncorked – The Key Largo & Islamorada Food &
Wine Festival, January 5 – 15, 2017. Eleven glorious days
of wine tasting events, cooking demos, wine dinners, live
music, food and wine pairing classes, progressive wine
dinners and art and wine shows. FloridaKeysUncorked.
com
Make it a Maple Weekend, March 18-19 or 25-26, in New
York State. Taste pure maple syrup in its many forms –
right from the source – at some 160 maple farms as well
as museums and other sites. Enjoy tours, samples and
pancake breakfasts. NYSMaple.com