Mary Lynn Biggs, 73, of Manchester Township just could not believe it when her travel agent gave her seven pages of information she needed to know before flying to Alabama in July.

Biggs was thankful for the advance warnings, but flabbergasted by the way air travel changed in just the five years since she and her husband, Donald, flew to Alaska.

Sure, the rules are easily accessible online. But Biggs, her husband and many other older people they know don't use the Internet. "The younger people are seeing this, but we're not aware of it," she said.

Thank God for Sandy James. That's Biggs' advisor at Carlson Wagonlit Travel on N. George Street. "Thank heavens for her," she said. "If it weren't for Sandy James, we would have been in duck soup."

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I'm relatively new to the whole aunt thing, so you might understand why I had problems figuring out what to get for my nephew and niece on the few gift-giving occasions that have popped up thus far in their short little lives.

As far as I'm concerned, they get more than enough colorful and expensive toys and gizmos. My sisters are practically busting out of their living space because of them. I didn't want to add to the toy craze, so to date, I have given them books. Board books, picture books, fairy-tale collections for their moms to read to them as they get older.

Then my friend Laura -- who is an experienced aunt of five or six older nieces and nephews -- gave me an even better idea.

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We're nowhere near becoming an East Coast Napa Valley, but York County's wine scene will soon get a boost with the addition of Browns Vineyard and Winery.

In this story from last week's YDR, the name frequently associated with to-die-for baked goods might soon become linked with to-die-for wines.

Of course, we won't know for a while yet. Fruit wines and white varietals will be ready for sale later this year, but reds won't make an appearance until the fall of 2010.

Still, it will push the number of wineries on the Uncork York wine trail to an even dozen. Maybe the critical mass will draw even more locals and visitors to the wineries.

We'll toast to that.

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She made a nest and did her best
To hatch her goslings well.
The spot she took by Borders books
Brought gawkers from all 'round.

But then one day, in search of food
She flew into a storm
Hit a line and took a fall
That left her injured, worn.

Kind people came and took her 'way
Together with her nest
They gave her medicine and care
To heal her, let her rest.

The eggs were cold, the people said,
The goose, too ill to care.
They wondered, would she ever mend?
Soon, she began to repair.

First she stood; then she wobbled
A step, then two, then three.
She sat on her eggs except for meals
When she hid them so no one would see

Her precious babes, without a dad
Eventually she knew

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As a general assignment features reporter, I tend to get the stories that nobody else wants. They're the ones that nobody else thinks are real news. I call them "the fun stories."

Like a goose in a parking lot.

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After sampling wines in Argentina's Mendoza grape-growing region in February -- and after learning that I could buy a bottle of this wonderful wine for about $6 in the grocery store -- I had to bring some home with me.

I had never brought back food products from foreign travels before, so I wasn't sure what the rules were.

Online research at Argentine Internet cafes didn't help. All I could determine was that I couldn't take it in my carry-on bags. It would have to be checked with my luggage.

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Check out this bunch of dancing feet I collected during just a couple of hours at a milonga in Buenos Aires in February. The Argentines really dress up when they go out to dance. No need for signs reminding patrons not to show up with ball caps or sneakers or ripped jeans there.

Since my return from the southern hemisphere, I've been trying to get out dancing more with a friend of mine. I have yet to try the tango, but I love salsa, merengue, bachata -- all that good Latin music that practically challenges you NOT to get moving and have a blast.

As long as it's not a couple-y event and people ask you to dance, it's a lot of fun. I'm not the greatest dancer, but I have fun trying. And by the end of the evening I feel like I've gotten the equivalent of three gym workouts of exercise. Just listening to the music and watching the really good couples dance can take you miles away from workday stress.

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I've seen these cute little drive-thru coffee shacks on two different trips now -- in and around Anchorage and also Seattle.

They look like garden sheds, only spiffed up. You'll find them in suburban shopping mall parking lots and tucked around the bend on country roads.

This isn't one of the better ones I saw, just the one I saw when I had my camera in hand. Some are shaped like coffee pots. Others have cute names that play on coffee words like mocha and espresso. They're often decorated with crazy bumper stickers and/or signs.

It must be a Pacific Northwest thing. But seriously, why don't we have these on the East Coast?

We have drive-thru everything else these days.

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Are you looking for something fun to do this weekend? Silly question -- of course you are. What about something fun with live entertainment, educational exhibits and exercise?

I'm talking about the Great Green America Fest taking place Saturday and Sunday on the grounds of the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.

Learn ways to protect the environment and conserve energy as you stroll among the rows of vendors and exhibitors at the Mount Hope Estate & Winery. Listen to live folk music. Sunday, bring your bicycle and get some exercise by joining the metric bike ride.

I did it last year and survived to tell about it.

I'm bummed that I won't be able to make it this year (they moved it from July to May), but if you get there, leave a comment upon your return and tell us how it was.

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It seems like this is the year of things getting worse just when you think they can't get any worse.

The horrible housing market. Layoffs. Gas prices that leap by quarters and dimes every day with seemingly no end in sight.

Lately, you can add air travel to that list.

Not only do you have to jump through security hoops that make you wonder how secure we really are, but the planes are more crowded. The airlines are charging more and offering fewer flight options. Delays and cancellations and lost luggage are becoming the rule rather than the exception.

The past few weeks have been filled with news about maintenance oversights and bankruptcies among the big carriers. It seems small airlines are dropping from the skies.

And you can't just say you'll drive instead of paying fares that rose eight times already this year, because you really can't afford to do that either.

For once, I don't envy people with plans to fly this summer because they say it will be so miserable that you'll probably need a vacation to recover from the hassles of getting to your vacation.

It seems our country's transportation system is failing and failing miserably. Who is going to take responsibility for this? What can be done to fix it? How's a traveler to survive in the meantime?

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