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Day trips

Cruising into fall

For lovely views of the hues, try a float on a boat.

As wooded shorelines erupt in fall colors, narrated river cruises become especially popular. That's easy to understand — why not kick back and let the scenery come to you?

On the most scenic part of the Mississippi, a steam-powered paddlewheeler cruises past 500-foot bluffs and river towns filled with history, and pontoons glide into backwaters. In the northwoods, a pontoon explores a wild part of the Wisconsin River. And sandstone formations on the Dalles and in the Dells give passengers on paddlewheelers, launches and Ducks plenty to look at.

Here are some of the best tours.

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Great fall festivals

Here are the best of the fests in 2008.

Fall is made for festivals. It's harvest time, and the fields and orchards are overflowing. Trees turn red and gold. And it's the last time we'll enjoy warm weather until spring.

The many people who heed the urge to get out and about on crisp autumn weekends make it the busiest tourist season of the year. Any town that can hold a fall festival does, and well-established ones, such as Bayfield's Apple Festival (see Big apples), become almost too popular.

"Apple Fest is an anomaly; it's not what Bayfield is like the other 364 days of the year," says Mary Motiff of Bayfield's Chamber of Commerce. "There are two kinds of people: those who love Apple Fest and those who want to avoid it at all costs. "

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Great fall drives

It's time to chase the colors through glorious autumn landscapes.

Sure, winters can be rough here in wind-chill country. But why do we tough it out? For the big payoff of autumn, of course, with its crisp, sunny days and the luminous orange of the sugar maple, the scarlet of sumac, the golden popple and bronzed oak.

They don't have that in Florida and Arizona. But here, we've got it all: a bright palette of colors, harvest festivals and nifty little towns to explore.

Fall is the time to be out and about. In Minnesota, the state scenic byways are a good bet, as are Wisconsin's Rustic Roads. Here are seven other routes that will put you in the middle of the scenery. And if fall color doesn't materialize when you expect it to, don't worry: These drives are pretty great any time.

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Curiosity camp

With fun day trips, the University of Minnesota finds a cure for "vacation-deficit disorder."

If you want to play hooky from work this summer, just tell your boss that the University of Minnesota thinks you should.

Americans are putting in more work hours than at any time since the 1920s, it says, but as many as 30 percent of us don't take a vacation. Yet, research also shows the brain needs time away from the job so it can stretch.

It turns out that all work and no play really does make Jack a dull boy. That's why the College of Continuing Education offers summer Curiosity Camps, with nearly two dozen chances for people to take a day off.

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Swedish smorgasbord

Prowling shops around Lindstrom, a visitor finds mementos of past.

Walking around Lindström, it's not hard to guess where the area's first settlers came from.

If the multitude of umlauts don't give it away, the herds of Dala horses and straw goats will. Factor in the giant white coffee pot in the sky, and you can be pretty sure this is Swedish country.

In the 1850s, poor Swedes came pouring into the lakes country west of Taylors Falls. It wasn't the best farmland, but it was cheap, and it looked like Sweden — lots of water, lots of trees and, unfortunately, lots of rocks. Still, it seemed like heaven to the peasants, and the letters they sent home brought more Swedes.

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Day forays

Want to save on gas? Go on a mini-vacation not far from the Twin Cities.

Gas is expensive and vacation is in short supply. But you're not ready to give up on fun. Below are eight little vacations that only take a day.

Grantsburg | Wildlife-watching

Not far from the St. Croix River in northwest Wisconsin, native plants and animals have reclaimed wetlands and brush prairie once drained and used by settlers.

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