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EnCompass®
The AAA Companion
July | August 2005
Volume 79 Issue 4
Volume 79 Issue 4
What a surprise to see Charlie on the cover of the May/June EnCompass. He is the First Sergeant of the First Colorado Independent Battery, based in Colorado — not New Mexico, as your magazine stated.
The Battery would love to get proper attribution, as we are always trying to recruit new members.
-Deborah Byrd, Denver
Editor's Note: We're sorry for the error. We received the information for the photo caption from personnel at Fort Garland. Several groups stage historical reenactments at the fort; the First Colorado Independent Battery is there in August. For information on the Battery, or if you're interested in joining the group, contact Captain Richard Merrell at 303-674-3792.
Capitalization key to this website address
On page 14 of your May/June issue, in your article about travel documentation for minors, you listed a website address as all lower case. However, to reach the website you need to have two words in the address capitalized. The correct address is: www.singlepar enttravel.net/Writing/Documentation/. It's always a good idea to check website addresses before publishing.
-Carolyn Buck-Gengler, email
Editor's Note: No excuses, we made a mistake. Thanks for the correction.
Canal "mules" don't pull ships
I agree with Jeff Miller that the Panama Canal is "awe inspiring" ("Lifting up giants," March/April issue). However, I would like to correct one misconception in this article. I worked in the Special Projects Branch of the Panama Canal Company for 15 years and one of the projects I was assigned was the Locomotive Replacement Project. Jeff states that these small locomotives (known as 'mules') "would pull us into and out of each lock."
This misconception is common and even some canal employees will make this statement. In reality, the mules are used to keep the ship centered in the lock chamber and stop it from riding up on its own wake and damaging the miter gates. The ship uses its own power (dead slow) to enter and leave the lock chamber. The mules can assist in starting the ship's forward motion but this is rarely used.
-Ken Matros, Thornton
Leaving the crowds behind
It was a delight to see the article on the Avebury Stone Circles in England (May/June issue). I traveled there in September 2004 and found the stones intriguing and Avebury quaint. It was a joy to leave the crowds of Stonehenge behind. Thanks, and I hope we see more articles about far away places.
-S. McCarey, Mancos (Summit Ridge)
Young dancer thrilled by photo
It was exciting to see myself in your magazine! In the May/June issue, in the Colorado Explorer section, you ran a photo of a group of Cinco de Mayo dancers. The group is from Fiesta Colorado and is led by the lady in light blue, Jeanette. I'm sitting down by the girl in the yellow. We are one of the middle classes that Jeanette teaches. The dancers range in age from five up to adults. Thank you for running the photo!
-Kelsey Casias, Golden
Article jumping
We have lived in Colorado for five years and have been AAA members for about 20.EnCompass has made wonderful changes over the years. We now read it from cover to cover. Our favorite articles are the ones on Colorado. We now plan our weekend or long weekend trips around the articles. I do have a suggestion for EnCompass, however. I hate it when I'm reading an article and get to the end of the page and it says, "continued on page 46." This is especially annoying when there is a map on one page and the "continued" page has information referring to the map. I see no reason why those articles cannot be in consecutive order. It wouldn't mess up the ads.
-Beverly J. Kerns
Editor's Note: Thank you for the kind words about the magazine. As to the issue of articles "jumping" to non-consecutive pages, this is done so that there is the largest possible grouping of attractive and appealing article pages uninterrupted by advertising. If we ran the jump pages after each article, it would mean ads running throughout the articles-something many readers find equally distracting.
Mini Tour corrections
In the May/June Mini Tour, "Ancient Roads Less Traveled," on page 21, the National Wildlife Refuge listed should be Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, not "Arapahoe National Wildlife Refuge" (the correct spelling is "Arapaho"). Additionally, on page 20, the refuge is referred to as the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge — I think the author is referring to the Monte Vista Refuge once again. I'm not being critical — just corrective.
-John Mikus, Lakewood
I enjoyed your May/June Mini Tour on the San Luis Valley. I do have a couple points of clarification that the author and your readers might not be aware of. The whooping cranes that used to show up in San Luis Valley were part of the experimental population that generally spent the summer in Idaho, northwest Wyoming and southwest Montana. This particular flock never bred and many of them were lost in collisions with power lines and fences. The last known whooping crane from this flock disappeared in 2002 and so the flock has unfortunately now been determined to be extinct.
-Wayne Wathen, Highlands Ranch
Lake Powell, tourism and AAA
In the May/June issue, I take exception to the member letter regarding Lake Powell and how "unconscious millions flock there annually to pollute further." As to the member's comments about the ancient Pueblo people — ancient people and cultures become modern people and cultures in a matter of a couple of generations, it seems. They learn that preservation, use and tourism equal prosperity. As to the comment that AAA functions within the travel and tourism industry, I find no fault in that. AAA contributes to setting a high standard of stewardship of this beautiful country. After reading EnCompass, who would seriously disagree?
The more that people see and experience places of beauty, the more they will value them and seek to preserve their beauty. We protect and cherish that which we have come to love, and AAA helps reveal these places.
-Jacob A. Rathman, email
Let us hear from you
Letters under 200 words are considered first. Letters published in EnCompass do not necessarily reflect the opinion of AAA Colorado and, due to space limitations, we reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. Send letters to the editor, EnCompass, 4100 E. Arkansas Ave., Denver, CO 80222. Fax to: 303-300-7710. Email: editor@colorado.aaa.com. Letters become property of AAA Colorado and are not returned.