Land Of Oz Theme Park

Enthusiasts have chance to go on Tour

A French company that specializes in bringing clients up close and personal with the Tour de France welcomes amateur cyclists as well as non-cyclists to join customized tours to the world's greatest bike race. The trips include VIP access and champagne at a team time trial at the finish July 3, opening day, at Les Essarts and a village gathering with former teams and tour officials on July 4 at Olonne Sur Mer.

Discover France Adventures at www.discoverfrance.com is one of four companies licensed to give Tour de France access to its guests.

No place like Kansas

One trip on the Wetlands & Wildlife National Scenic Byway and you'll know why Dorothy was in a rush to get home from the Land of Oz.

This is how Kansas tourism officials describe it:

"... radiant wetlands exploding with wildlife; prairie vistas with immense blue skies; and rural communities shaped by nature and the entrepreneurial spirit. Although the wetlands are beautiful and rural life will charm the traveler, it is wildlife that captures the spirit of this byway. Clouds of sand hill cranes descend and pelicans, bald and golden eagles, shorebirds, ducks, geese and whooping cranes gracefully rest here. The marshes that anchor this drive, Cheyenne. Bottoms and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, are international treasures nestled in the heart of America."

Visit www.ksnature.us and www.TravelKS.com to learn more.

Hole in one?

Golfers seeking a new destination might consider Scottsdale, Ariz. Within city limits are 1,223 tees to try for that hole-in-one on 51 golf courses. Three times that many are located in the neighboring Valley of the Sun. Twelve million rounds get played each year where the sun shines more than 330 days annually. Rainfall totals less than 8 inches.

While in Arizona, take a ride on the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams, Ariz., recently named one of "America's Top Train Rides" in Parade magazine. Check out www.thetrain.com or call 800-THE-TRAIN.

It's gold!

The best-preserved town dating to the California Gold Rush of 1849 and a train circa 1897 lie about two hours from San Francisco at Columbia State Historic Park and nearby Railtown.

Used in more than 300 movies and television programs, the buildings and scenery re-create the mood of the mid-19th century old west. Walk the street where Gary Cooper met Grace Kelly in the western classic, "High Noon." Railtown features the train the bad guys rode into town in that famous film.

Richard Skipper Presents...: Finding YOUR Oz!

It has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of both the 1902 stage play and the 1939 film version. The story chronicles the adventures of a girl named Dorothy in the Land of Oz. Thanks in part to the 1939 MGM movie, it is one of the best-known stories in American popular culture and has been widely translated. Its initial success, and the success of the popular 1902 Broadway musical Baum adapted from his story, led to Baum's writing thirteen more Oz books. The original book has been in the public domain in the US since 1956. (Here I am with Meinhardt Raabe, the coroner of Oz!) Set shortly after the events in the first book, the protagonist is a boy named Tip, who for as long as he can remember has been under the guardianship of a witch named Mombi in Gillikin Country. As Mombi is returning home, Tip plans to frighten her with a scarecrow he has made. Since he has no straw available, Tip instead makes a man out of wood and gives him a pumpkin for a head, naming him Jack Pumpkinhead. Tip leaves with Jack that night and steals the Powder of Life because Mombi plans to turn him into a marble statue in the morning. As they head for the Emerald City, Tip uses the Powder to animate the Sawhorse so Jack can ride him – for even though his wooden body does not tire, it can get worn away from all of the walking. Tip loses them as the tireless Sawhorse gallops faster and he meets with General Jinjur's all-girl Army of Revolt which is planning to overthrow the Scarecrow, who has ruled the Emerald City since the end of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Marching with the Army, Tip meets again with Jack, the Sawhorse, and now the Scarecrow as they flee the Emerald City in Jinjur's wake. I've written often about my childhood growing up on a tobacco farm in South Carolina. I couldn't wait to get to New York and become an actor! THAT was and IS my Oz! At the end of the The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy tells her Auntie Em, "But it wasn't a dream, it was a place...It was a truly live place and some of it wasn't very nice, but most of it was beautiful!" (We used to go to Tweetsie every Fall!) Both men were exceptional "visionaries". It was their plan to create something special for children - something that would be fun and financially compatible with the ski slopes of Beech - and, in turn, would bring parents, purchasers of resort property.

Remembering Avery County, Old Tales from North Carolina's Youngest County

Beech Mountain

The American amusement park

Creating the Land of the Sky, Tourism and Society in Western North Carolina

Runner's World