Jaunted

National Parks / Active Travel / Green Travel / Travel News / → All Tags

The Grand Canyon's on the Edge of Banning Plastic Water Bottles

You better revise your list and ask Santa for one of those stainless steel water bottles, as there’s one place your plastic bottle is no longer welcome.

Initially the head honcho over at the National Park Service wasn’t totally cool with banning plastic bottles at the parks across the land, but now it sounds like things might move forward at places including the Grand Canyon. Parks considering getting ready of plastic need to do a few things first, however, including making a checklist to report how much waste they’ll eliminate, as well as the effect on businesses and other groups that benefit from selling stuff at the park.

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Holiday Travel / Christmas Travel / Train Travel / National Parks / Grand Canyon / → All Tags

The Polar Express is a Real Thing, for the Next Month Anyway

If your ride aboard the commuter rail just isn’t giving you that warm and fuzzy feeling this holiday season, it might be time to look for a different kind of train. The Polar Express is certainly an option, especially the one offered by the Grand Canyon Railway in the days leading up to Christmas.

All your favorite aspects of the children’s book—and none of the creepy ones from the feature film—come alive as you board the train just outside the Grand Canyon in Williams, Arizona. After a customary declaration of “All Aboard,” the train chugs off through the woods and wilderness on its way to the North Pole. Cookies and hot chocolate are served on the train while enjoying a rendition of the classic story, and then the main event arrives when it's time to visit Santa and his reindeer.

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Airport Restaurants / Airport Dining / Airport Food / Food Travel / PHX / Airports / Airport News / Phoenix Travel / → All Tags

Move Over, Sbarro's; Phoenix Airport Gets New Eats

Whether it's awesome sandwiches or the latest frozen food fad we're all over airport dining, so we just had to pass along a few updates about the new eats options that are coming to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport in the future. The best part of the new options is that it's just not Sbarro and Starbucks, as some local options are sneaking through the security line; however, no need to worry, as there will still be a Starbucks too.

Last week airport officials did their thing to grant approval to a bunch of new spots for the airport's Terminal 4, and everything should arrive both before and after the TSA checkpoint by sometime between now and 2013. There will be some Phoenix specific pizza from La Grande Orange, and Cowboy Ciao from over in Scottsdale will also be making an appearance in the airport. There will also be a few spots from Fox Restaurant Concepts including Sauce, Blanco's Tacos and Tequilia, and Modern Burger.

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Rental Cars / Cars / Avis / Budget / Hertz / Travel Deals / Road Trips / Arizona Travel / Road Trip Travel / → All Tags

More Road Trip Deals! Drive Outta Arizona For Just $5 Per Day

Not too long ago we were all excited about rental car deals out of Florida to pretty much everywhere, thanks to the migration of old people and college kids south. Now the rental car party is moving the way of Lewis and Clark, as Arizona has some cheapo one-way deals.

Now through the end of May you can grab a car from Hertz for as little as $5 per day. There’s no mileage caps, no drop-off fees, and all kinds of places to pick up the car and drop it off. California, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington are just a few of the states where you can end your road trip. Just be sure to use the code DRV5 to get the deal or just click right here.

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National Parks / Green Travel / Active Travel / Grand Canyon / → All Tags

Water Bottle Refilling Stations Arrive at The Grand Canyon

There’s some good news for those looking forward to visiting Grand Canyon National Park this summer, as the park is now fully prepared to quench your thirst for both beautiful scenery and clean drinking water.

The park is upgrading its water offerings, so you’ll no longer need to hunch over water fountains in the main buildings to fill up your Nalgene or Sigg. They're adding around nine new water bottle refilling stations around the park, and this will provide free access to some tasty—and refreshing—Grand Canyon spring water.

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Festival Travel / Events / Arizona Travel / Animals / Animal Travel / → All Tags

Two Words: Ostrich Racing.

The Southwest might not be on your Spring Break short list, but they’ve got something that might be even better than the surf and sun. It’s definitely a little warmer there, and in just over a week one of the most unique festivals invades Chandler, Arizona.

This year’s Ostrich Festival—yep, it’s exactly what it sounds like—runs from March 11 through March 13. They’ve been putting on the party for almost 25 years, so at this point it’s pretty much a must-see.

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Theme Parks / Amusement Parks / Arizona Travel / Snow / Winter Travel / → All Tags

Arizona May Welcome an Indoor Snow Theme Park

Arizona really isn’t known for their vast variety of roller coasters or theme parks, and that’s probably because it’s just too darn hot to even go outside during the summer. There’s a solution to this weather problem, and a group of investors is looking to build it, with a new kind of amusement park right in the desert that will keep visitors cool all day long.

Catalyst Land Holdings is planning an amusement park filled with snow. They want kids to be able to build snowmen, go sledding, and chuck snowballs at one another while temperatures soar well above 100 degrees outside, yes just like the one in Dubai (although without the skiing).

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Airport News / Airports / PHX / Free Stuff / Events / → All Tags

Feel The Love (and Get Free Stuff) Today at Phoenix's Airport

We love visiting airports around the globe, but it’s rare that we truly feel appreciated and loved by the airports back. Well Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is looking to change that, as today is the airport’s second annual Customer Appreciation Day. That’s right—the airport is glad you are visiting the area or just passing through on your way to another destination.

Unfortunately it doesn’t look like the airport has the authority to hand out free flights; however, they do have some stuff that might just make you feel warm and fuzzy all over. Free candy and popcorn are just some of the freebies that airport personnel will be passing out within the terminals. The airport claims it’s America’s friendliest, so we’re sure there will be plenty of service with a smile.

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Weird Travel / Arizona Travel / Tourists / Bus Tours / Sex Travel / → All Tags

Would You Go on a 'Polygamy Experience' Bus Tour?

When it comes to polygamy, many people's experiences with the practice of having multiple wives is limited to watching documentaries on it on TV. But one Arizona bus tour is looking to change all that, by offering a "Polygamy Experience" tour, which takes a 4-hour-long journey into one of America's communities where this is practiced.

Aol Travel reports on the popular tourist excursion:

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Movie Set Travel / Lake Havasu Travel / Beach Travel / → All Tags

'Piranha 3D' Takes a Bloody Bite Out of Lake Havasu

Piranha 3D, in theaters today, is set on fictional Lake Victoria but was actually filmed in Lake Havasu, which borders Arizona and California.

The movie brings all the cheesiness of old horror movies—think naked chicks, lots of blood, and vicious fish in the water—to a new generation, in 3D. According to one of the movie's co-stars, Kelly Brook, "This movie is probably going to win the record of most dead people — and most blood and most nakedness and most everything."

Of course, all of the piranhas in the movie are fake and there's never been any killer fish loose in Lake Havasu, but apparently some people need a bit more convincing.

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National Parks / Active Travel / Outdoor Travel / Bike Travel / → All Tags

Bike Rentals Arrive at the Grand Canyon Just in Time for Summer

Bicycles have been allowed within Grand Canyon National Park for years, but the policy was always BYOBike. Now the National Park Service has given approval for someone to set up shop right in the park at the South Rim, and visitors are welcome to ditch their four-wheeled vehicles in favor of two-wheeled ones.

Bright Angel Bicycles has gotten the official go ahead to start offering bike rentals within the national park. Visitors can pick up their bikes at the beginning of May at the Canyon Visitor Information Plaza, and pedal-power will be available from 8am to 6pm into the fall. Apparently there’s not much interest in a winter bicycle tour of the canyon.

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Spring Training / Baseball / Baseball Travel / Arizona Travel / Sports Travel / → All Tags

Where To See Your Favorite Team During Spring Training in Arizona

Somehow it’s already March, and we’re excited to talk about baseball spring training travel. We've already discussed the excellent options in Florida, but the teams in Arizona are a worthy competitor to the Sunshine State's group. The only downer is that there aren’t too many beaches in and around Phoenix, but there’s always cacti! Here’s the deal on a few teams, where they play, and what they offer.

· Chicago White Sox
President Obama has a lot on his plate right now, so we’re thinking that he won’t be taking Air Force One out to see any Chicago White Sox games this spring. Regardless of how much you have going on at work, you can always call out sick and head to Glendale. Here the the White Sox work out the winter kinks at Camelback Ranch—it’s also the spring home to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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