Cowboy poetry event sells tickets online

Cowboy poetry event
sells tickets online

ELKO, Nev. — Tickets have gone on sale for the 24th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nev., which is scheduled for Jan. 26-Feb. 2.

The sponsors say they are selling tickets to the event online for the first time at www.westernfolklife.org.

Tickets range from $11 for a yodeling workshop to $151 for a day of ranch tours.

The campus of Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, hosts the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Feb. 29-March 2.

Chuckwagon breakfasts, a Saturday night dance, a Sunday morning “Cowboy Church Service” and plenty of “Recitation” events are on the schedule at www.cowboy-poetry.org.

If you can’t wait till 2008 for the Elko or Alpine cowboy events, Monterey, Calif., is hosting a Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival and Western Art & Gear Show Dec. 7-9 at the Monterey Conference Center.

Tickets for individual events run $15-$35 or $190 for an all-event pass. Details at www.montereycowboy.com.

A calendar of cowboy poetry events throughout the year and around the country can be found at www.cowboypoetry.com.

Top boutique city hotels?
San Francisco, Denver

MENLO PARK, Calif. — Accommodations in San Francisco, Denver and other cities in the Western U.S. have made it onto a list of top 10 boutique city hotels compiled by editors of Sunset magazine.

In addition to the Hotel Drisco in San Francisco and the Hotel Teatro in Denver, the list includes the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel in Honolulu; Inn At Playa Del Rey in Playa Del Rey, Calif.; Hotel 43 in Boise, Idaho; Pensione Nichols in Seattle; The Inn of the Five Graces in Santa Fe, N.M.; Portland’s White House in Portland, Ore.; Fairholme Manor Bed and Breakfast Inn in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; and the Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel in Las Vegas.

Details can be found in the magazine’s November issue and online at www.sunset.com/sunset/travel.

Lake Tahoe tops list
for many Orbitz users

CHICAGO — Lake Tahoe, Calif., is the No. 1 destination among travelers booking hotel and vacation packages at Orbitz.com for travel between Nov. 20 and May 1.

Mammoth Lakes, Calif., was second, followed by Park City, Utah; Breckenridge, Colo.; Jackson Hole, Wyo.; and tied for sixth place were Steamboat Springs, Colo., and Vail, Colo. Three more Colorado ski spots finished up the list: Snowmass, Keystone and Winter Park.

The ski mavens at Orbitz also offered some staff picks for ski areas outside the top 10, including North Carolina’s northwest corner, home to Appalachian Ski Mountain, Hawksnest Ski & Golf Resort, Ski Beech Mountain Resort and Sugar Mountain Resort; New Mexico’s Taos Ski Valley, Red River Ski Area and Angel Fire Resort; New Hampshire’s White Mountains, including Attitash, Bretton Woods, Waterville Valley Resort, Wildcat Mountain, Cannon Mountain and Loon Mountain; and outside Buffalo, N.Y., Bryncliff Resort, known for its cross-country trails, and Holiday Valley.

Religion, spirituality trips
rise, tour operator says

LITTLETON, Colo. — The tour operator Globus says bookings for its trips themed on religion and spirituality have increased 74 percent this year over last.

The company started a division for religious or faith-based travel in 2004, and is offering a variety of trips next year.

Details at www.globusfaith.com.

Associated Press