When my sister-in-law first suggested New Hampshire for a summer vacation, I looked at her quite quizzically. I had only been to New Hampshire for skiing. I had not thought much about a summer vacation but there was an appeal to the idea.

The thought of leaving the humidity of Florida in the middle of August to go to the mountains of New Hampshire was very appealing indeed. The house we rented was a 2 ½ hour drive from Logan International Airport in Boston. The time went quickly as the scenery grew more and more beautiful as we progressed north on the interstate. When we finally arrived in town, the afternoon sun was washing the mountains with it warm rays and the sight was spectacular and worth every minute of our travels.

My partner and I were joining my family for a gay family vacation. We settled into our rental house and got the barbeque going right away for dinner. We had snacked a lot in the car but we all were looking forward to some barbequed chicken and fresh corn and vegetables that we bought at a farm stand nearby.

The next day we took off for the Basin and Cascades of the Pemigawasset River. The basin was carved by glacial waters thousands of years ago. A small waterfall spills into the basin and passes over a rock formation nick named “The Old Man’s Foot.”

The trail continues past the basin and down along the river where you can watch it run over the large granite rocks in the river’s path and on to Kinsman Cascades.

This inaugural day was for easy hiking and little discoveries. On our second day, we took on the Flume. The Flume is a natural gorge 800 feet wide with walls of granite rising 70 to 90 feet. Over the years, steps and boardwalks have been constructed to enable visitors to reach the falls easily. The trail is classified as a walk but the climb is strenuous at times. The walls of the flume are slippery and covered in moss where the water continuously rolls down the rock. At times the passage is only 4 to 6 feet wide and voices echo off the walls. The trail back down the mountain is much wider and twists around with a wonderful covered bridge takes you back over the falls. We were up and back in two hours with lots of stops for photos and appreciating the scenery.

The following day we made the mistake of taking the Mount Washington Cog Railway. It was very expensive with tickets priced at $55 per adult. I thought my nephews would enjoy the experience but it was definitely not worth the price. The ride to the top of the mountain was unpleasantly smelly, noisy, slow and sooty. The train has a coal burning engine and you are covered in soot by the time you reach the top where you are given only a half hour to take in the sights before you have to return to the base. I would never do this again.

We ventured over to Meredith for a day trip. Meredith sits on Lake Winnipesaukee. There are a few public beaches in and around Meredith. One of which is Weirs Beach that has a large sandy beach with shops and restaurants nearby. My nephews liked the arcades in particular.

The next day we hiked up to Lonesome Lake. The lake is a 1.5 mile hike up from the trail head by Lafayette Campground. This was a challenging climb over very steep slopes and rocks. By the time we reached the lake, some of our hikers had sore thighs and aching knees and looked forward to a rest at the Lonesome Lake hut. The lake did look inviting but it had gotten cloudy and cooler and we decided against a swim.

We took a ride over to North Conway for another day trip. The town is quaint with lots of shopping and a park in the middle of town. We strolled around the shops and had a nice lunch. My nephew is a die hard Yankee fan and got a lot of ribbing by the wait staff in the restaurant for wearing his Yankee baseball cap. Needless to say, they are all Red Sox fans.

On the way home we stopped along Route 302 and took an easy hike to Ripley Falls. The boys enjoyed rock hopping but neither was hot enough to get into the cold water.

To get a little historical perspective on the area we headed this day to the Robert Frost Museum in Franconia. The Frost family lived on the property full time from 1915 to 1920 but spent 19 summers here. The house is open to visitors and in the barn is a small TV to watch a 20 minute video of Frost’s life and accomplishments. There is a short hiking trail at the back of the property. At various points on the trail are Frost’s poems posted on display panels. It was a very nice way to spend a relaxing afternoon.

New Hampshire is a beautiful state and the White Mountains offer swimming, biking, hiking and relaxation. We hope we get to see the moose on our next visit!

Two very good books to use for selecting your hikes in the White Montains are:

• Waterfalls of the White Mountains: 30 Hikes to 100 Waterfalls
• Foghorn Outdoors New Hampshire Hiking

If you happen to be in New York, more specifically Long Island, and you are into historical architecture you may want to visit Old Westbury, Coe Hall or other Gold Coast mansions.

Most of the glitter that was once gold on Long Island, is gone, but some still remains hidden.

During the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s, Long Island was the backdrop for architectural extravagances and reckless spending for luxuries. This propensity for lavishness was characteristic of the period referred to as the “Gilded Age” or the “Age of Elegance.” It was a time when American tycoons had big money, no taxation and were vying with one another for prominence.

To read more about two very popular sites on Long Island’s Gold Coast, you can visit the following websites:

• Old Westbury Gardens
• Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park

If you would like to read more about Long Island’s Gold Coast, you can purchase a copy of Glitter That Was Once Gold

There are so many types of scams spread over the Internet, that sometimes it is hard for a vacation rental owner to be sure that an inquiry is legitimate. Let’s remember that although some scam emails are poorly written, some could have been written by a legitimate prospect who doesn’t know English all that well. Let’s remember also that there are doctors, professors and scientists all over the world, even in far away and exotic places like Nairobi. Besides, there are plenty of people who don’t know geography well enough to be able to ask specific questions about a destination.

Having said that, it seems that when an inquiry brings a combination of several of these elements, chances are that you are dealing with a scam. So, here is a list of the most commom red flags vacation rental owners should watch for:

• Very poorly written English. Very formal but poorly written English
• Sob or exotic story; too much detailed information given upfront
• Stories involving very “high level” professionals or people with very exotic, interesting careers that come from a free, anonymous account such as yahoo, hotmail, gmail and others
• Stories that mention prospect will get reimbursed by some agency, church or association
• Requests asking for your bank account information before getting a confirmation from you
• Requests mentioning that they will make an overpayment for whatever reason
• Requests mentioning that you will need to pay someone for them, from the overpayment
• Requests that sound fishy, smell fishy and make you feel slightly sick
• Requests that sound too good to be true, such as an extended stay for several months in your peak season
• Last minute requests from people who want to bend all possible rules

Obviously, not all emails containing all of the above is a scam. I’ve heard of some weird inquiries that turned out to be real - but you’d better protect yourself! The best way to approach a suspicious email is to treat it as a possible scam. If an inquiry raise these or other red flags, take all the steps you can to protect yourself:

• Don’t bend your rules!
• Make sure you get a valid phone number and try to speak to the person
• Make sure you ask for some kind of identification in advance - this may not be totally foolproof, but it’s an additional precaution and an additional barrier to scammers
• Try to get a work number, check out the company on the Internet and check if the number matches what is posted on their site. You can do the same for email - ask for a professional email address, if the person uses an anonymous email account. (But remember that many people are just cheap and love to use free email!)
• Never accept more money than enough to cover your fees
• Check where the email is coming from (IP address location) or who owns the domain

These two lists are just the tip of the iceberg as scammers tend to be very creative! So, we want to invite VR owners to post their tips on identifying scams. You can also post suspect inquiries (without identifying the sender and/or individual names) to alert others and/or to ask if others have received a similar inquiry. Please post your suspicious inquiries in this category: Vacation Rentals Owner’s Exchange. Thank you, we are looking forward to your feedback!

Pink Pavilions is dedicating a new section of its blog to VR owners. Share your concerns, ask for advice, learn how others dealt with important vacation rental related issues. This space is for vacation rental owners who would like to share practical information with other VR owners.

Rio de Janeiro, July 31, 2006 - Sunday started cloudy, breezy and rainy. Oh, oh. I didn’t think people would show up… But, here in Brazil, if there is a party waiting to happen, we’ll be there. The “trio eletricos” (trucks with floaters and huge sound systems combined) lined up on Avenida Atlantica early on, and started getting ready for the parade. There were 20 or so of them, starting at Posto 5 and going all the way to the Forte de Copacabana. By noon, they were blasting music all over Copacabana Beach, and people slowly started showing up. By 3:00 PM the place was packed with colorful people dancing and cheering, despite the rain that was coming down here and there.
The parade started at 4:15 PM, after a few speeches from non-profit organizations engaged in the gay rights movement. With election coming up in Brazil, one of the speakers reminded gay people to find out the views of the candidates on gay rights issues before they vote. Well-reminded, since a law for domestic partnership is waiting since 1995 to pass through Brazilian Congress. Human rights, equal rights, non-violence and peace were other topics of the speeches. But the day was not meant for speeches only, so, the party moved on, slowly, on Avenida Atlantica, and ended around 9:00 PM at Posto 2. Police estimated 500,000 people attended the event. Not bad for a rainy day… You can check out all the fun, umbrellas and all, in these photos.