1 comments about Key West (Tourist Town Guides).

1. Whether you're taking a family vacation, reveling on a wild spring break, or immersing yourself in one of the alternative or eccentric lifestyles for which Key West is so famous, you can't miss if you have this well-researched and informative guide. I love the Itineraries section, with something for everyone. By the way, don't worry about the 'un-gentrified' neighborhood in which Blue Heaven restaurant is located - it's one of the best in South Florida. Just about everything you need to have a great time in a tropical paradise 150 miles south of Miami. Five stars.

5 comments about The Best in Tent Camping: Northern California (Best in Tent Camping).

1. We just got back from a car camping vacation transversing the Northern Sierras from North to South. We used this book exclusively and it was spot on. We stayed at Warner Valley in Lassen National park by hot springs of Drakesbad,Salmon Creek by the unbelievably dramatic Sardine lake in the Gold lakes region, Woods lake by Carson pass: a true Gem in the high country with wildflowers, and Wahakaluuhepyou on the Stanislaus river where it was hot and the swimming holes were refreshing. It was a perfect vacation with especially nice campgrounds in remarkably scenic areas.
   I liked the fact that only the authors favorites were included in this guide. I have another camping book which lists all the California campgrounds which is just too confusing. This book has a focus."Proof is in the pudding" applies to this invaluable guide to the "Best in tent camping": we used it and discovered places that exceeded our best dreams.
   Highly recommended!



2. Overall I really appreciate this guide book but it's continually frustrating to try to match up the map page to the actual index and chapters- there's no logical connection, very annoying. But the overall content is great, recommend this one!



3. Overall, this book is definitly worth buying. I wish it had better maps. Perhaps an area map next to each campsite listing. That would help with planning.



4. This book was just "okay." Only 50 sites were reviewed, and really, for Northern California, that's not even a drop in the bucket. Still, the layout is easy to read.



5. Pros:
   (1) Clean presentation and well organized information for each campground
   (2) Reliable recommendations
   
   Cons:
   (1) This is pointed out by other reviewers too: the cross reference of map, index page and the actually location of the campground information is cumbersome. Simply reverse the order of index page vs map, and prefix the campground index to each campground name in the description pages will help a lot with navigation.
   (2) My main complaint: dividing the Sierra Nevada by CA 108 seems quite arbitrary. I hope it is not done to making buying the Southern California Tent Camping book necessary. Note to author and publisher: why not combining the two books? The combined book can still be very handy field guide if the fonts and
   layouts are made more compact. This also makes perfect business sense: every reader pays a bit more to get the benefit of a combined book.

2 comments about Fly Fishing Montana: A No Nonsense Guide to Top Waters (No Nonsense Fly Fishing Guidebooks).

1. I purchased this book about six months ago. I've traveled to Montana in the past to fish, and was planning another trip this summer. While we planned to fish some old, familiar rivers such as the Yellowstone, the Madison and the Gallatin, we also wanted to try some new waters that we hadn't fished before. My wife and I spent time reading the information on the various rivers discussed in the book, and decided to also spend time in the Missoula area. We used the book not only as a tool to decide where we wanted to fish, but we also used the maps to get us where we needed to go. The end result was a successful fishing trip to Rock Creek and the Bitterroot,which was certainly aided by this exceptional book. By the way, the authors are incredible photographers; their photos in the book are great. I recommend that anyone contemplating a fly fishing trip to Montana purchase this book prior to their trip.



2. By far one of the best written and easiest guides to excellent fishing on some of the best waters in Montana! The photography is spectacular.

No comments about Miami & the Keys (City Guide).

5 comments about The Trad Guide to Joshua Tree: 60 Favorite Climbs from 5.5 to 5.9.

1. This book is the best non comprehensive climbing guide book I have ever seen. The highlights are:
   
   - Full color photos of the routes
   - Both approach photos as well as close up route photos, making it easy to find the rock and specific route
   - Full park map with relative camping and route locations listed
   - Very good beta on each and every route (includes sun/shade, rack suggestions, etc), usually about a page per route not including another page for photos.
   
   So basically if you're interested in the 5.5 to 5.9 trad routes in Joshua Tree you'll love this book, simple as that.



2. Sometimes, as the saying goes, less is more. This book is a classic example of producing a user friendly rock climbing guide to one of the premier cragging areas, by limiting the scope to climbs that most people who go to Joshua Tree actually enjoy. As the title stipulates there are no 5.12 sphincter squeesers here, just interesting traditional climbs (no bolts for the sport freaks).
   
   Each climb is photographed in color with a graphic overlay clearly showing the route. Most of these routes are short, single pitch climbs that encompass a wide variety of problems with the emphasis on classic crack climbs. Approach info and the maximum protection requirement is noted along with a very abreviated strategy for the climb. Information on lodging and camping along with dining options are covered pretty well, though the surrounding areas offer a lot more variety than the book indicates.
   
   If you're a beginner/intermediate climber and aspire to climb in JT, this is the guide to get.



3. First of all, this book is written by some really nice people. This book is void of the elitism that usally comes with a guide book to an area like this. My wife and I have been to J-tree many times but this was our first year with this book. It truely enhanced our time there. The full color pictures are great, and they took all the pictures from such logical places that if you are following a road or trail and find yourself needing direction, you look up and see exactly what is in the picture for the climb you are looking for. My wife and I found ourself laughing on one climb when we were looking off in the distance for a rock formation and spotted the tree 6' in front of us that was also about 6' in front of the camera lense in the picture! And there are climbs that real people can do! I notice in other guide books the only highly rated climbs are 5.12 and up! Get this book, you won't be dissapointed. I only wish I could meet the authers and tell them of my appreciation.



4. This is a well written and well illustrated guide for someone new to visiting Joshua Tree National Park. The dozen or so routes we did in this book were all challenging and enjoyable. There are thousands of routes in the Park, but this is a swell introduction for the traditional climber. At this price I don't see why any climber visiting the park wouldn't have a copy. The photographs and maps are the best I have seen in any book.



5. I used this book in conjunction with the Vogel Guides: Rock Climbing Joshua Tree & Rock Climbing Joshua Tree West. The interesting thing about this book is many of the routes don't have any stars in the Vogel guides but are stellar. Funny Bone comes to mind as the best route we did with Vogel giving it no stars. Coincidentally we ran into Charlie and Diane Winger coming off Funny Bone as we were walking up to it.
   
   The approaches are described in great deal of detail. This is good considering the size and number of routes at J-Tree.
   
   This is a great guide to get you on routes that perhaps you'd skip based on Randy's guides. This is no dig on Randy's Guides. They are great and a necessity. This guide allows you to find some really good moderate climbs with alternates nearby. We were generally pleased with the routes we climbed that are listed in this guide.
   
   Climb Safe!

5 comments about Frommer's San Francisco with Kids (Frommer's With Kids).

1. We used this book like a San Francisco bible. It had great recomendations that were also enjoyable for the adults. We will keep this one for future trips!



2. We used only parts of this book for two full days in SF, and found those parts very helpful. We liked the suggested itineraries and the neighborhood walking tours. Would have liked to see more, and larger scaled, maps of the neighborhoods. Highly recommended.



3. We've taken two recent trips to San Francisco with our kids (15, 11 and 2). This book proved to be invaluable! I carried it in my purse whenever we left the hotel.
   
   The restaurant recommendations are fantastic! We were not disappointed with a single one we tried. We ventured into neighborhoods we might not otherwise have due to the detailed information in this book.
   
   This resource is a must have for those travelling to San Francisco with kids!



4. Thank you, thank you, thank you Frommers! We scheduled our 4-day trip based on this book. Some of the favorite book-recommended activities were the Farmers' Market, Alcatraz, and the walking tour of Chinatown. The restuarants did not disappoint, either. We did find that one of the italian places is suggested as "very family friendly" would have been too stressful with our toddler (it was an intimate, crowded, lovely place, but we would've surely disturbed other diners) but we flexed and placed an order "to go".
   
   When we vacation other places, I will look for other Frommers with Kids books!



5. We hadn't been to SF in years, and not with kids. So although I knew the city a little, I can't tell you how great it was to have all the information in this book for traveling with kids. I also bought the Fodor's book--"50 things to do with kids in SF" but it wasn't nearly as helpful--just a (very good) 50 item list. The Frommer's book by contrast is a complete travel book with great restaurant choices, itineraries, how to find bathrooms (hard to do with the homeless problem), etc.

No comments about Journey Through Hallowed Ground: Birthplace of the American Ideal.

5 comments about Guide To Northern California Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails.

1. I have had the opportunity to drive trails I know with Chuck Wells, and his books are well written and easy to follow. The trail rating he uses is juged on the roughest section of the trail, if a trail is moderate and has a difficult section that cannot be avoided it will receive a difficult rating. All the trails in his books have been driven by him and not judged by someone else.



2. I'm a newbie off-roader, and have only driven one of the "easy" trails in my stock wrangler. It was a lot of fun, and the scenery was awesome, but I think I realized we weren't really off roading when we crossed paths with a brand new mustang convertible going in the other direction. At that point I figured I should take it out of 4wd-low.
   
   So I think there's definitely something for everyone in this book. However, deciding on the right trail and actually driving to it are two different things. Some of my off roading plans fizzled out when I realized I had to drive 4 hours in each direction just to get to the trail I wanted! Living in the SF bay area, I was hoping to have more options within a reasonable day drive...but that's probably just naive of me.



3. There's lots of off road variety in this book. You can four wheel on easy dirt roads to rock hoppin heaven. This book is well laid out and the descriptions of the trails are accurate.



4. I purchased this book just to get an idea of trails at the places we often camp. Full of information! Now my husband is even reading it.



5. I have several of the books from this series and I regard them as the best off road books available.

5 comments about Alaska For Dummies (Dummies Travel).

1. I loved this book. I had ordered three different books on Alaska Vacations, this one was the best hands down. It gave me all my options, sample vacations, told me the best and worst of Alaska. I really feel I can now book my vacation and feel very comfortable. Going to Alaska is a very expensive vacation, I have waited a lifetime for a trip like this so I wanted to make sure of all my options. This book gave you the pros and cons of cruising, driving, renting an RV, railroads. Once I got through I knew exactly what was the best option for myself.



2. A great book for a planned trip with limited time. If you are off for adventure or off the beaten path make sure you get the Milepost and if you are visiting the Denali area, get Discovering Denali.



3. I run a tour business for Alaska travelers and purchased this book as a reference book. I was horrified at the inaccurate information and lack of details. For expample the author talks about Southeast Alaska and only mentions 3 towns! leaving out some of the most interesting and best places. No mention of Ketchikan, Haines, Wrangell, Petersburg, Gustavus. It is hard to believe the author has ever been to this part of Alaska. And as for his information for cruise ship passengers and day trips - his information and pricing is way out of date and for the most part very inaccurate. If you are planning to visit Alaska by cruise ship - this is NOT the information you will need for going through the Inside Passage.



4. This book is great. It gives lots of PRACTICAL information, without giving too much information about every single hotel and restaurant in town. It has tips and advice on how to enjoy your trip and not be taken advantage of. It has "heads up" sections that warn you of tourist traps, and gives ways to save money while visiting an expensive state. It highlights the "must-see's", and is a great aid in planning the trip of a lifetime.



5. I enjoyed reading about Alaska. i have several "Dummies" books and find them humorously informative!

5 comments about Big Sky Cooking.

1. The authors experienced a frantic Manhattan lifestyle tempered by visits to Montana until they bought a ranch and become involved in the food traditions of the area. When passionate cook Ellen Wright discovered the area's blend of fresh game and ingredients, she joined them and BIG SKY COOKING WITH REFLECTIONS features a fine blend of full-page color photos, recipes, and dishes steeped in Montana ingredients. Sesame-Soy Venison Chops, Elk Pepper Steaks, and Bison Osso Busco aren't dishes you'll find many other places, either.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



2. Interesting book to read as well as some really good recipes



3. This book is filled with excellent recipes that are different from your every day common recipes. An excellent addition to my wife's cook book collection.
   One recipe in the book "McCleod's Hot Mustard" is worth the price of the book.
   Carl Robinson



4. Beautifully done. Pictures magnificent. Recipes unique. I gave this book as a gift to a friend who grew up in Montana... she was thrilled!!!!



5. I love cookbooks that live...Big Sky does just that...it lives in all families. The recipes take you to a family dinner or a friendly get together. Big Sky brings wonderful recipes together with family and friends. What else is there.