Canyon Facts Are Grand, Indeed

The Grand Canyon is one magnificent gap. And here are some colorful facts about the color-filled canyon:

The average distance across, if one could go directly, is 10 miles. But you can’t go directly, so the drive around is more than 200 miles.

When the canyon became a national park in 1919, there were 44,173 visitors. Now there are about 5 million a year.

There are 400 miles of trails in the park, and 287 species of birds.

Forty percent of the visitors are from other countries.

Some 500,000 hikers go into the canyon annually.

An average of one or two people die each year after falling from the rim.

There are some 80,000 flights over the canyon annually.

Walk on the cyber side: Sidewalk, a new city guide by the software giant Microsoft, is a knowledgeable and suave electronic escort. Sidewalk is available through MSN, the on-line Microsoft Network available by monthly subscription. But since Sidewalk, like much else on MSN, is also on the World Wide Web, nonmembers can reach it at http://www.microsoft.com/sidewalk.

The first and, at this writing, the only city to get the full Sidewalk treatment is Seattle, not far from Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash. Coming up will be Boston, Denver, Houston, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Sydney, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Washington.

There are detailed sections on movies, restaurants, events, arts and music, places to go, sports and recreation, traffic, and with a little searching, hotels.

People planning a trip may also find information on the Microsoft travel service, http://www.expedia.com.

Snuff-out on airlines: More airlines are banning smoking on all their flights.

United Airlines and American Airlines said they would prohibit smoking on July 1, joining airlines such as Continental and Delta that have already instituted such a policy.

Their decision continues a trend that began in 1989, when Congress banned smoking on all domestic flights. Since then, airlines have been instituting the policy on more and more international flights in response to consumer demand.

International toll-free: Vacation planners can expect to get a new tool soon - international toll-free dialing. Under the umbrella of the International Telecommuncations Union, the big long-distance companies are launching services that will allow callers to dial an international code, which is 011 in the United States, plus 800, plus an eight-digit number to reach a business in another country.

More than 20,000 businesses have applied for such numbers, and the ITU, a United Nations agency, is expected to assign them beginning in June.

Take dogs along: Don’t let your dog swim at Gulf Islands National Seashore in Mississippi - alligators await in Davis Bayou.

Nor should you let your pooch go nosing around freely at Devil’s Tower National Monument in Wyoming - porcupines abound.

Don’t let Fido meander in Big Bend National Park, Texas - the coyotes, bears and javelina there have a taste for canines.

So advises DogGone, a newsletter about places to go with your dog. The March/April issue has a good article on National Park Service properties where dogs do or don’t fit in.

The busiest properties, such as Yellowstone, Yosemite and Great Smoky Mountains national parks, aren’t very dog-friendly. Many locations are less restrictive during the off-season.

A one-year, six-issue subscription to DogGone costs $24; call (561) 569-8434 or write DogGone, Box 651155, Vero Beach, FL 32965.

Executive travel costs: The 10 most expensive cities per day for an executive traveler (tourists can get by cheaper) of 75 surveyed by Business Traveler International magazine are, in descending order:

Moscow, $534.20; Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, $467.18; Tokyo, $443.12; Paris, $416.98; Geneva, $415.17; Zurich, $409.17; Hong Kong, $388.66; Copenhagen, $382.30; Oslo, $374.95; and Brussels, $366.57.