MESSAGE CENTER

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Over the Edge

YOUR OTHERWISE enlightening article on the new Skywalk constructed on the Hualapai Indian Reservation above a portion of the Grand Canyon National Park has a significant geographical error ["Over the Edge," July 1]. The author states that the last 50 miles of the drive to the Skywalk "is on a lightly traveled country road that takes you through Joshua Tree National Park." That park is in southeast California, a good distance southwest of the reservation and a long way downriver via the Colorado.

Ron Tipton

Senior Vice President

for Programs

National Parks Conservation

Association

Author Cindy Loose responds:

The reader is correct. Joshua Tree National Park is in California. I passed through Joshua Tree Forest, a national monument on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management.

IN APRIL 2006, my family visited the Grand Canyon. One of the highlights of the trip was a day-long rafting trip on the Colorado River given by the Hualapai on their reservation. It's the only single-day trip on the Colorado through the Grand Canyon. In the morning, there was whitewater, then a stop to climb to the beautiful travertine waterfall, then more whitewater. We stopped for a picnic lunch, then floated in calm water for the afternoon. At the end, we were lifted to the canyon rim (where the new walkway is now) by helicopter.

If you're visiting the Grand Canyon and don't have time for a multi-day rafting trip, you shouldn't miss it. Info: Destination Grand Canyon West, 928-769-2219, http://www.destinationgrandcanyon.com.

Kathy Napierala

Silver Spring

Jersey Shore, Cont'd

HAVING GROWN UP at the Jersey Shore, I was pleased to see your June 24 spread about our coast. However, you shortchanged our little village. Ocean Grove is a national historic site with the largest aggregate of Victorian homes of any town or city in the country. There are 24 inns, B&Bs and small hotels of varying price ranges.

Besides the more religious activities of the town, which refer to the 1869 founding of Ocean Grove as a Methodist camp meeting, there are classical concerts in the Great Auditorium, as well as fun concerts with lighter music. On July 20, the Historical Society offers its annual public tour of private homes and the inns.

Last but not least is the beautiful, uncommercial beach and boardwalk, which has lured visitors for well over a century.

Nancy Bracken Garson

Ocean Grove, N.J.

Passport Crisis, Cont'd

KUDOS TO Andrea Sachs for her article ["Queue and A: Will I Get My Passport in Time?," July 1]. Love the pun, too!

Please, please, please consider a weekly (or at least monthly) column on the Passport Office backlog -- until the office's processing backlog is back to "normal."

Bob Ehart

Silver Spring

LET'S HEAR IT for passport expediting services! I used Travel Document Systems at McPherson Square. I went to TDS on a Thursday afternoon, and 14 days later FedEx delivered the passport to my door at 9 a.m.

How do they do it? I found out that the State Department releases passports to TDS after hours, between 5 and 8:30 p.m. The $120 I coughed up with such trepidation was well spent! How much would most of us pay to avoid standing in line downtown?

Outsourcing passports -- that is the free enterprise system.

Ellen Iscoe

Hyattsville

Travel With Kids, Cont'd

MIKE FREDERICK didn't appreciate the Travel section devoting space to travel with kids [Message Center, July 1]. While Mr. Frederick may not appreciate it, traveling and children are not mutually exclusive, and putting the two together, especially when venturing outside of the typical beach vacation, is challenging.

I thought taking a look at the subject from the children's point of view was a good idea. Like it or not, the residents of Washington are indeed like those of Des Moines and the other cities he brushes off so casually. Some have children, some don't. Some have traveled extensively, others haven't. Some are well-educated, others aren't. Some earn plenty of money, others just get by.

Not every article in the Travel section is for everyone, but let's at least try to understand that there is a wide demographic range of readership. And let's also attempt to keep our cosmopolitan noses at a reasonable altitude.

John McLean

North Potomac

HEY, MIKE. Many of us who populate this area, and who are "well-traveled, worldly," have children!

And our children are well-traveled and worldly, too -- possibly even more so than you. Lighten up!

Stephanie Waldrop

Arlington

Lima Cuisine

MIRAFLORES, PERU, was my home from 1973 to 1975 when I worked at the American Embassy in Lima. This was before the flowering of its great restaurants as described by Jonathan Yardley ["Lima Cuisine: You Don't Know What You're Missing," June 10], as I did not recognize a single one. I wonder if my favorites are still there.

At the Granja Azul, outside Lima, most of the cocktails offered were daunting combinations of alcohol, but my favorite -- two or three rums with fruit juices -- was perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon under the bougainvillea waiting for our crispy roast chicken. One dish I miss is coconut flan.

Around the corner from the embassy, there was a clinica where we regularly ordered the lomo saltado (beef sauteed with onions, tomatoes and potatoes) for lunch. And I still often make the clinica's pork chop, served with sauteed banana and rice with a fried egg on top.

Murrow Morris

Alexandria

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