MidwestWeekends.com - Dorms & hostelshttp://www.midwestweekends.comen-us2008-10-20T17:31:20-05:00Itasca in winterhttp://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/outdoors_recreations/cross_country_skiing/itasca_skiing.html

In winter, only the most dedicated pilgrims make the trip to Itasca, Minnesota's most revered state park.

Yet the park is beautiful without its forest canopy. It's easy to see its bones, the lumpy quilt of knobs and kettles laid down by retreating glaciers. It's easy to see the 300-year-old pines that escaped loggers. And it's easier to listen — to the sassy chatter of a squirrel, the prehistoric croak of a crow, the rat-a-tat of a woodpecker.

]]>Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600Cheap stayshttp://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/stay/dorms/dorm_lodgings_midwest.htmlUntil recently, my memories of college dorms mostly involved sloppy drunks, sloppier roommates and a bathroom shared by the whole floor.

Then my husband and I stayed at Marquette University in Milwaukee. It was as quiet as a cathedral, and we had a private bath and a panoramic view of the city from our 17th-floor picture windows.

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