One Colorado Vacation Planner Excludes Boulder

En route back from Hawaii (more posts from that trip to come), I picked up a copy of the “Colorado Summer Vacation Planner 2009″ (top right) at Denver International Airport this morning. A bit spacy after a full day on the Big Island and a red-eye nonstop flight from Kailua Kona International Airport, I thumbed through it on the ride home. There were the usual towns, resorts and counties in almost-alphabetical order: Aspen, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek, Cañon City, Chaffee County — all the way to Winter Park.

Then I looked again. No Boulder! No Boulder? I know (and have repeated) the one-liner about “the People’s Republic of Boulder,” but as far as I knew, Boulder hadn’t actually seceded from the State of Colorado, nor had Boulder been kicked out. Colorado towns as small as Ouray (population under 900) and even non-towns like Gateway, which is actually a resort development called Gateway Canyons Resort, near the Utah state line, get their own chapters. But no Boulder — except in the lodging listings, where 11 properties are given.

I looked again through bleary red-eye flight eyes and finally noticed that this vacation planner is not the one issued by the Colorado Tourism Office, but rather by the Colorado Hotel & Lodging Association. The CTO’s “2009 Official Sate Vacation Guide” (lower right) does not feature specific destination chapters, so low-keying Boulder is not quite so obvious. (I’m sorry that there’s no larger image downloadable from the CTO’s site, but you can see it here.) The covers of the two planners are similar: blue sky dome above a wildflower-filled meadow, with a couple of hikers on the CHLA’s planner and a romantic couple lounging (off-trail) amid the flowers on the CTO’s planner.

But back to omitting Boulder, oversight? Maybe. Deliberate? Maybe, perhaps because of an insufficient level of advertising support by city interests for state-wide tourism promotion efforts. Too bad? For sure.

Hommage to Captain Cook with a Hot, Humid Hike

Sea-level obelisk can be seen easily from the sea — or step by step on a hiking trail

We have seen the monument to Captain Cook, the 18th century English navigator who met his end on February 14, 1779, at Kealekehua Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii. His Wikipedia entry is worth reading. An unhappy Valentine’s Day for the adventurer who on his third epic voyage.

Monday was a cool day (for Hawaii). In fact, Lihue on Kauai registered a record low temperature of 61 degrees for the day. What better day for a sea-level hike? The trail to the Captain Cook monument is off a side road north of the eponymous town of Captain Cook. It is unmarked. Cars park along the road, reeking from sewer pipes under the pavement. The trailhead is across from three tall palm trees. I’m not kidding. A few steps and the sewerage strench is mercifully gone. Rooster and wide bird seranades accompany hikers who descend through rows of old sugarcane fields.

The cane fields give way to open woods and then to stark lava flows. The current Kiiuea erputon is on the other side of the island.

The vegetation thickens near the shore, where sea kayakers pull up. Authorities are concerned about damage to corral, and kayaking is probably going to be banned soon from Kelalekahua Bay.

A short spur trail leads to the monument, which is officially on British soil to this day. Note to the Queen: Send someone to repaint the monument. It’s peeling.

Here is the inscription on the base of the obselisk. A couple of other, small commemorative plaques have been placed around the platform too.

The hike isn’t too long (a tad over two miles each way, with about a 1,300 elevation difference), but coming up was miserable. No matter what the thermometer registered, it felt beastly hot — at least for people like us who live in a low-humidity place. But even as we took sweaty step after sweaty step, it was the least we could do to recognized one of the important navigators who began mapping the world as we know it. I won’t get into the political aspects of these voyages, “discoveries” and conquests. I’m just honoring the curiosity and courage required to make the trips.

Poland -- Warsaw Museum Inches Ahead, More Quickly

The new Museum of the History of Polish Jews is one step closer to realization. The Museum reports that a contract has been signed with a Polish construction company, and actual work could commence as early as next month. The deal was made April 30.

Here’s what the Museum says:

Five companies answered the call for tenders issued by the Warsaw City Development Board.The winning bid, estimating Museum construction costs at PLN 152,3 mln gross (USD 43.5 million as of 30.04.09), came from the Polimex-Mostostal/Interbud-West consortium. After accepting the offer when asked to comment, Robert Supeł, Museum Deputy Director for Finance and Operations, could not contain his excitement: "If yesterday's decision is not contested, the contract with the consortium will be signed before the end of this month and construction will start very soon thereafter. This means that the Museum of the History of Polish Jews will open in the summer of 2012 at the latest." Under the contract, the builder has 33 months to complete the project. After the building is completed, a few months will be devoted to equipping it and completing installation of the multimedia core exhibition – already being developed by an international team consisting of scientific experts from Poland, United States and Israel and designers from the UK.

Polimex-Mostostal is Poland's largest engineering-construction company with experience especially in steel constructions which is very important when it comes to the construction of the unique free form wall of the Museum. The company posted an income of PLN 4.3 billion in 2008 (15% more than in 2007) and is among the 20 blue chip companies quoted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. It carries out both large construction and industrial projects (motorways, railways, power plants, Legia stadium in Warsaw, Wisła stadium in Kraków) as well as special cultural projects (the Chopin Centre and the University Medical Library in Warsaw, the Artistic Education centre in Gorzów Wielkopolski).

mn

Warsaw, 9.05.2009

Warbud S.A. which also participated in the tender filed an appeal on May 8. The company's offer was worth PLN 163.3 million. The appeal is under consideration. It should be resolved within 10 days.

Follow-Up to Epic Delay

A few days ago, I posted an item called “Air Travel — Fun or None?” detailing an delay in San Francisco, connected from Denver to Maui on the same aircraft (different flight numbers). Cynic that I am, I was not expecting more than a a verbal apology from United. Much to my surprise, the airline did not charge for food or drinks on the long-delayed flight — a delay that was nearly five hours by the time the aircraft finally pushed back. Much to my greater surprise, I received an E-mail offering a $250 credit on a future flight, some kind of upgrade oppotunity or a credit of 10,000 Mileage Plus miles. I picked the $250 credit.