TOURING - Brief Article

Travel America, Nov, 2000

Scenic Southwest

* TrekAmerica, a camping tour specialist, offers a series of "Footloose" tours for active adults interested in walking and hiking. Some tours feature lodges, cabins, and motels instead of camping. The seven-day "Canyons and Indian Lands" loop from Las Vegas (from $729) visits Utah's Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, and Canyon de Chelly. Contact: TrekAmerica (TravelAmerica Magazine), P.O. Box 189, Rockaway, NJ 07866; (800) 221-0596; www.trekamerica.com.

Good Bet

* Mayflower Tours offers "Tunica Gambling Express," a four-day tour with nights at Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica, Mississippi. Memphis sightseeing includes Elvis Presley's Graceland. Also visited is author William Faulkner's home in Oxford, Mississippi. Twin rate is $425. Contact: Mayflower Tours (TravelAmerica Magazine), 1225 Warren Ave., Downers Grove, IL 60515; (800) 323-7604; www.mayflow ertours.com.

Holiday Cheer

* Collette Tours offers four- to seven-day holiday packages that feature Virginia's Colonial Williamsburg, New York City, Branson and the Ozarks, New England, San Antonio, New Orleans, Nashville, and the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. Contact: Collette Tours (TravelAmerica Magazine), 162 Middle St., Pawtucket, RI 02860; (888) 292-3150; www.collettetours.com.

Bike Hawaii

* Bicycle Adventures offers a six-day trip on the Big Island of Hawaii, from Hilo to Kona. Cyclists pedal through sugarcane fields along the shore and down the side of a volcano. Activities include hiking in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and a chance to swim with giant sea turtles. Cost is $1,856, plus airfare. Contact: Bicycle Adventures (TravelAmerica Magazine), P.O. Box 11219, Olympia, WA 98508; (800) 443-6060; www. bicycleadventures.com.

Honeymoon Haven

* American Hawaii Cruises offers a "Beautiful Seas" wedding package that features an onboard ceremony, an album with 24 photos, champagne, and a wedding cake. The "Island Sweethearts" honeymoon package includes champagne, strawberries, framed photo, massages, and a convertible rental car in any port. One-week cruises from Maui on the S.S. Independence visit the Big Island, Kauai, and Oahu. Contact: American Hawaii Cruises (TravelAmerica Magazine), 1380 Port of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70130; (800) 765-7000; www.cruise hawaii.com.

New England

* American Cruise Lines' new 49-passenger American Eagle next summer offers a series of one-week "New England Islands" cruises from its home port in Haddam, Connecticut. Stops include Block Island, Rhode Island; Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts; and Mystic, Connecticut. Twin rate is from $2,380. Contact: American Cruise Lines (TravelAmerica Magazine), One Marine Park, Haddam, CT 06438; (860) 345-3311; www.american cruiselines.com.

Musical Memories

* Those who remember the Big Band era of the 1930s and '40s can take a sentimental journey on the Mississippi Queen and American Queen paddlewheel steamboats. Musicfilled theme cruises (from $1,070 for seven nights) on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers depart from such cities as New Orleans, Memphis, Louisville, and Pittsburgh. Contact: Delta Queen Steamboat Company (TravelAmerica Magazine), 1380 Port of New Orleans Place, New Orleans, LA 70130; (800) 543-7637; www.delta queen.com.

Western Splendors

* Cosmos offers "Golden West Adventure," a 14-day circuit from Los Angeles. Featured are Disneyland, Palm Springs, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park, Gold Rush towns like Columbia and Sonora, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Carmel, and Santa Barbara. Twin rate is $1,219. Contact: Cosmos (TravelAmerica Magazine), 5301 S. Federal Circle, Littleton, CO 80123; (877) 325-0656; www.globusandcos mos.com.

Nevada Plus

* Mayflower Tours offers "Laughlin and the Wonders of the West," a 12-day tour from Chicago. Included are three nights in the gaming city of Laughlin, Nevada. Other highlights include Salt Lake City and site venues of the 2002 Winter Olympics, Lake Havasu and its London Bridge, Petrified Forest National Park, Santa Fe, and the Air Force Academy and Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Missouri stops include Kansas City and St. Louis. Twin rate is $929. Contact: Mayflower Tours (TravelAmerica Magazine), 1225 Warren Ave., Downers Grove, IL 60515; (800) 323-7604; www.mayflowertours.com.

Maui On Foot

A seven-day hiking trip in remote parts of Maui ($2,469) is offered by Country Walkers (TravelAmerica Magazine), P.O. Box 180, Waterbury, VT 05676-0180; (800) 464-9255; www.countrywalk ers.com. Tour members walk four to eight miles per day on easy to moderate terrain. Other activities include swimming, snorkeling, and horseback riding.

Special Events Sports Empire offers hotel packages for events like the Daytona 500 (February 15-19), Kentucky Derby (May 4-6), and Indianapolis 500 (May 25-28). Contact: Sports Empire (TravelAmerica Magazine), P.O. Box 6169, Lakewood, CA 90714-6169; www.sportsempire.com.