Pam Grout: Hi Ohio--If you look hard enough there are discounts every week of the year. My current favorite is southwest airline's beep. You sign up to be on their beep list and they beep you every so often (at least once a day) when they are offering discounts--usually less than $50 one way to all sorts of destinations.

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Lansing, MI: During July, my roommate and I will be driving across the country and have already made our hotel reservations. We will be staying in St Louis, Missouri; Hayes, Kansas; Grand Junction, Colorado; Las Vegas, Nevada; and finally, Camarillo, California. We were wondering what to do in these places to have fun like the locals do. Specifically in Kansas. Could you help us? Thanks.

Pam Grout: Kansas. Well, I happen to think Kansas is one of the most interesting states and because most people don't know that, you kinda get the place to yourself. I'm an expert on oddities (I've written 3 books on curiosities), so I like some of the offbeat things. You can dig for dinosaurs (lots and lots to be found) near Scott City, you can visit a bunch of presidential libraries--Eisenhower's of course, but there's an also-rans museum in a bank. Also ran's are the presidential nominees who didn't make it, there's a presidential museum for a guy who was president for one day and, of course, the Bob Dole Institute (another wannabe president) in my hometown. Well, i could go on and on about Kansas, but I suggest either of my two books--Kansas Curiosities and You Know You're in Kansas When.

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Grundy Center, IA: My family and I will be visiting Vienna, Austria from 12/29 to 1/2. My daughter, who will be 13, and I are interested in a "girl's day" at one of the spas in the Baden region south of Vienna. Have you any suggestions for a place to go that the both of us would enjoy? Thanks in advance for your help! -Marcia

Pam Grout: I love the spas in Baden. You might forewarn your 13-year-old daughter (mine is 12, so I know the age group) that people are a bit more open with nudity in Europe. My daughter's used to it, but it can tend to shock and embarrass that age group. I already mentioned spafinder.com. but there's also experienceispa.com that might have specific suggestions. Just google spas and Vienna and you'll get lots of suggestions.

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San Diego, CA: Hi Pam, My girlfriend and I are trying to plan a trip out of United States, but we just cannot figure where to go. Since both of us are female, so we would like someplace fun and safe. We are very adventurous girls. We are willing to spend only US$1500. Any Suggestions? Thanks!

Pam Grout: I'm a big fan of Rio Caliente near Guadalajara, Mexico. It's relatively expensive, located on a natural hot spring and far enough off the beaten path that you will not feel threatened one bit.

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Minneapolis, MN: My sister and I are going on a tour of Italy with a group of seniors. We would like a side trip to Fatima, Portugal and would appreciate any advice. We will be doing that portion on our own, unless we hook up with a tour but timing could cause problems with that. There is a 3-4 day period at the end of our tour Nov 29-Dec 2 that we could fly to Lisbon, take a bus to Fatima and back to Lisbon and then to Venice to go home with our group. We speak no Portuguese or anything but English. Any ideas would be appreciated.