The peak season has arrived for those interested in traveling the Upper Peninsula of Michigan this weekend. So it will not get better than this for the UP. If you are not planning on watching football this weekend and cheering on the Wolverines or the Spartans, load up the car and head on off the UP for the leaf season.

AAA’s survey of state parks and regional visitor bureaus shows 90-100 percent color development in many areas of the Upper Peninsula, with red, orange and yellow hues found at Brimley State Park (Sault Ste. Marie), Straits State Park (St. Ignace) and J.W. Wells State Park (Cedar River).

In the Lower Peninsula, peak color season is still a week or two away — slightly behind schedule — with color development reported in 45-50 percent of the trees around Cadillac, Frankfort, Gaylord, Mackinaw City, Manistee, Rogers City and Roscommon. Color intensity is rated as “fair” to “good” in most areas.

Are you planning on traveling in Hawaii before the end of the year? Well, there is a a inter island fare war going on between Aloha Airways and Hawaiian Airlines.

From KESQ:

To get the cheap fares on Aloha and Hawaiian, travelers must book the first flight in the morning out and the last flight of the day to return. The first flight typically leaves around 5 a-m.

Hawaiian’s fare of 39-dollars-and-50 cents is good for the first flight each day from Honolulu to Kahului, Lihue, Kona and Hilo. The return on the last flight of the day costs the same, but if travelers want to take other flights they must pay full price.

Aloha says it will match Hawaiian’s offer.

Aloha started the latest fare competition yesterday when it announced that passengers who book the first flight of the day to Neighbor Islands could return free on the last flight of the day.

Both fare offers are good until December 31st.

During the winter months, Vail is the place for the glitterati, where Kate Moss and Tom Cruise rub shoulders, as Donald Trump and Martha Stewart make deals in the chalets. However, there are many things to do in this mountain side city, beyond pounding down the slopes dodging snowboarders.

The Los Angeles Times has 5 things to do in Vail in the off season:

1 Shop. The village teems with galleries, jewelry shops and specialty stores such as the Swedish Clog Cabin and Scotch of the Rockies, which features dog-themed gifts and jewelry. On the final weekend in October, the Vail Ski and Snowboard Club holds its annual Ski Swap sale of new and used equipment from individuals and vendors looking to pare down last year’s inventory.

2 Park it. No cars are allowed in the center of quaint Bavarian-style Vail, but there’s free parking in a massive garage. Detractors call the village more a theme park than a civic center, but hey, parking at Disneyland costs $10.

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