Get a Free Tourist Guide to New Mexico

New Mexico is called the Land of Enchantment.

It is, perhaps, a perfect description.

There are few places in the world that can match its variety of geography, climate and cultures. Replete with thriving arts and crafts colonies, enduring American Indian and Mexican lifestyles and influences; filled with sports activities for all seasons, New Mexico simply is a Southwestern wonderland.

Here's your free guide to vacationing in New Mexico. Keep it handy in your motorhome or travel trailer. It will call to you.

Try your luck with free internet services

We all know you get what you pay for and if you get something for free you should expect some sort of trade-off. Free internet services, more readily available before the dot-com bust of the nineties, are still available and they still require one big quid pro quo: you get ads in exchange for online connection.

Not that ads are a bad thing! We heartily endorse free enterprise, especially when the end result is free to the consumer.

But here's the thing: you can't expect lightning-fast, smooth online connections at all times. In fact, you'll probably have to settle for old-fashioned, slow-as-cold-molasses 56k bps dial-up connection. You remember how that worked, right? You can fix dinner while waiting for a picture to download.

But if you don't need or want daily, constant, high-speed internet service while you're on the road in your RV you might want to check out the offerings by NetZero and Juno, which both offer ten hours of free dial-up service per month in addition to paid subscriptions. There are other, more local and regional companies with similar offerings.

Some customers complain that the service is slow, the ads annoying and the ability to connect and disconnect can be spotty. But hey, you get what you pay for, right?

Free 2011 Guide to Georgia State Parks Now Available

It's time to start planing summer vacations and weekend escapes. The newly published “2011 Guide to Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites” is the perfect resource for planning quick getaways, spring breaks and summer staycations. The free, 64-page booklet is filled with the best hiking and biking trails, top fishing spots, affordable accommodations, family reunion ideas and much more.

Produced by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the guide features colorful photos that make for a scenic armchair tour of the Peach State. For a free copy, call 1-800-864-7275 or stop by any Georgia state park. An online edition is also available for instant reading.

Get your free Idaho camping guide. . . and more

It's free and it can be yours -- the 2011 Idaho RV Park and Campground Directory, a 48-page, comprehensive map-size directory listing all private and public RV parks and campgrounds with a foldout Idaho map and dump station locations. Keep a copy of this helpful, easy-to-use camping guide at your fingertips for quick reference while traveling in Idaho. If you're already on the road, free copies are available at all visitor centers, most Chamber of Commerce and CVB offices, RV dealerships, area RV parks and campgrounds, as well as most local attraction and event sites.

If you order online, you can also request the official Idaho state travel planner, a state map and information about following the Lewis and Clark Trail. Place your order here. It's free.

National Park Week Celebrates Healthy Parks, Healthy People with free admission

The growing connection between public lands and public health is the focus of National Park Week, April 16-24 when entrance to all national parks will be free.

Need some fresh air to clear your mind? How about a stroll through a garden to mellow out the stress of a busy day? Or maybe winter has packed on a few extra pounds and it’s time to hit the bike trails again.

America’s 394 national parks offer many close-to-home opportunities for health-enhancing outdoor recreation.

In addition to waiving entrance fees throughout the week, national parks and their partners are offering programs as part of National Park Week festivities. On Saturday, April 16, many parks will be looking for volunteers to help with projects and on Saturday April 23, kids will be the special guests for the 5^thannual Junior Ranger Day.  More details are available at www.nps.gov/npweek.

Get your free 2011 California Travel Guides

A California vacation offers unparalleled diversity. Whether traveling to Southern California or Northern California, and all points between, the diversity of culture, scenic beauty and things to do makes travel in California unlike any other place in the world.

The new 204-page edition of the 2011 Official California State Visitor's Guide and Road Trips magazine includes 36 all-new trip ideas with detailed planning maps and stunning photography. Readers also get a free pull-out Official State Map with all-new roundups of California destinations and activities.

Sign up for the maps and the 2011 Official California State Visitor's Guide and Road Trips magazine, available free online or by mail, at www.visitcalifornia.com/Visitors-Guide/

National Parks Announce Fee-Free Days for 2011

More than 100 U.S. national parks that usually charge admission will be open free of charge to all visitors on the following days in 2011:

• January 15-17
  (Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday weekend)
  
• April 16-24
  (National Park Week)
  
• June 21
  (First day of summer)
  
• September 24
  (Public Lands Day)
  
• November 11-13
  (Veterans Day weekend)

Making the fun even more affordable, many national park concessionaires are joining the National Park Service in welcoming visitors with their own special offers.


Here’s another tip – many of our 394 national parks NEVER charge an entrance fee. To learn more visit: www.nps.gov

*Fee waiver includes: entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not included unless stated otherwise.

Free to See Nebraska!

by Dave Williams

My grandfather was born in Nebraska but as a young man he emigrated to the coal mines of southwestern Wyoming. When I was a kid with him in Rock Springs he talked fondly of Nebraska, as much as he was able and willing to remember it. He said he liked the Oglalla people and the rivers and corn fields.

He said the snow that fell horizontally and stung my face in the fierce plains winds of a Wyoming winter would land hundreds of miles away in Nebraska and eventually water the corn I loved to eat off the stalk late in the summer.

My grandpa was a fanciful story teller, a hard-pan coal miner who took his evening drink as seriously as the life he risked daily in the mines. But he did teach me to love Nebraska, among other important places.

If you're heading that way, get this free Nebraska Travel Guide, just for the asking. 

There's more to see and do there than Grandpa let on.

The IRS wants to give you money!

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2011 — Refunds totaling more than $1.1 billion may be waiting for nearly 1.1 million people who did not file a federal income tax return for 2007 according to the IRS. However, to collect the money, a return for 2007 must be filed with the IRS no later than Monday, April 18, 2011.

The IRS estimates that half of these potential 2007 refunds are $640 or more.

Some people may not have filed because they had too little income to require filing a tax return even though they had taxes withheld from their wages or made quarterly estimated payments. In cases where a return was not filed, the law provides most taxpayers with a three-year window of opportunity for claiming a refund. If no return is filed to claim a refund within three years, the money becomes property of the U.S. Treasury.

For 2007 returns, the window closes on April 18, 2011. The law requires that the return be properly addressed, mailed and postmarked by that date. There is no penalty for filing a late return qualifying for a refund.

The IRS reminds taxpayers seeking a 2007 refund that their checks will be held if they have not filed tax returns for 2008 and 2009. In addition, the refund will be applied to any amounts still owed to the IRS, and may be used to offset unpaid child support or past due federal debts such as student loans.

By failing to file a return, people stand to lose more than a refund of taxes withheld or paid during 2007. In addition, many low-and-moderate income workers may not have claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The EITC helps individuals and families whose incomes are below certain thresholds, which in 2007 were $39,783 for those with two or more children, $35,241 for people with one child, and $14,590 for those with no children.

Current and prior year tax forms and instructions are available on the Forms and Publications page of IRS.gov or by calling toll-free 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676). Taxpayers who are missing Forms W-2, 1098, 1099 or 5498 for 2007, 2008 or 2009 should request copies from their employer, bank or other payer. If these efforts are unsuccessful, taxpayers can get a free transcript showing information from these year-end documents by ordering on-line, calling 1-800-908-9946, or by filing Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return, with the IRS.