Keep Your Dog's Tail Wagging

By midsummer, companies selling outdoor gear and clothing are already looking to the next season, unloading warm-weather inventory at steep discounts. You can get backpacks, hiking boots, tents, sleeping bags, binoculars, and more for as much as 75 percent off. REI created a special URL just for discounted merchandise, rei-outlet.com. To find deals online at Eastern Mountain Sports (ems.com), look for Outlet Store on the left-hand navigation bar. You can access Campmor's Web Bargains section via a link at the top of campmor.com. There are also sites whose sole mission is to sell discounted gear. SierraTradingPost.com has a full range of equipment for folks who love the outdoors, including tons of brand-name clothing and footwear (Patagonia, Teva, Carhartt) and items as varied as fishing waders, ATV cargo bags, bike helmets and cranksets, and a Gerber Mantis Clamp LED Lamp like the one above (we got it for $18, $10 off retail). The site's Bargain Barn, on the left-hand nav bar, features discounts of at least 60 percent. The specialty of CheaperThanDirt.com is hunting gear, but that includes knives, compasses, canteens, cooking accessories, and other stuff that'll interest folks who've never wanted to pick up a rifle.

For years, traveling within Mexico has meant choosing between long bus rides on awful roads, navigating those same roads on your own in a rental car, and expensive and often inconvenient flights. No mas. A discount airline boom is underway south of the border. Five new carriers are either already flying or in the works, and all have business models that mimic global trendsetters Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and EasyJet. Fares connecting major cities, like Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey, and beach resorts, such as Cancun, Zihuatanejo, and Acapulco, have plunged in a few instances. During one airfare promotion, a round trip from Mexico City to Veracruz on Click, launched last summer by former national carrier Mexicana Airlines, cost $180. Click's parent company was charging $350 for the same trip. The growth of Mexico's low-fare airlines comes on the heels of the government's decision to privatize Mexicana; it's expected that private investors will buy Aeromexico, the other state-run airline, by the end of the year. The more-open marketplace has attracted some of the biggest names in Mexican business. Carlos Slim Helu, one of the wealthiest men in the world, and Grupo Televisa, Mexico's largest media company, are jointly bankrolling Volaris, whose name comes from the verb volar, meaning "to fly" in Spanish. Volaris took to the skies in March of this year. Another carrier, Interjet, was launched in December by the grandson of a former Mexican president. It was an Irishman, however, who made the biggest news splash. Tony Ryan, whose Ryanair helped change the airline business in Europe with occasional $2 flights, announced that his new venture, tentatively named Viva AeroBus, will connect Mexican airports to a handful of U.S. cities starting in September. Of the airlines flying already, Click serves the most cities (19 in Mexico, plus Havana, Cuba, and soon, Miami), followed by Avolar (17), Interjet (7), and Volaris (5). For the most part, passengers are expected to be Mexican nationals attracted by cheaper fares and better connections than those offered on the older carriers. Many routes make sense for American travelers as well, especially people interested in hopping around or tacking on an extra city or beach to their getaway. As with low-cost carriers elsewhere, Mexican airline fares aren't always rock-bottom cheap. We found a round-trip Avolar flight from Oaxaca to Zihuatanejo for $290, which seemed mediocre considering the flight's only about an hour each way, as well as a $220 Cancun-Guadalajara Volaris round-trip (via Toluca) that's arguably a much better deal because it's a journey of 1,000 miles. Thus far, booking can be a challenge. Most websites are in Spanish only. You may have trouble figuring out which routes are offered, whether they have nonstop or connecting flights, and how many times a week a route is flown (daily is rare). It's harder than it should be to locate airline phone numbers and sometimes difficult to find an English-speaking agent. Also, prices are generally given only in pesos. Travelers accustomed to getting around on bumpy, crowded Mexican buses, however, may prefer the new headaches to the old ones. Mexico's new airlines Avolar 866/370-4065, avolar.com.mx Click 011-52/55-5322-6262, clickmx.com Interjet 011-52/55-1102-5555, interjet.com.mx Viva AeroBus vivaaerobus.com Volaris 011-52/55-1102-8000, volaris.com.mx

1. It's hard to believe now, but there was a time when L.A. wasn't all concrete jungle. A small museum at the La Brea Tar Pits explains how the area's historic tar pits preserved fossils of saber-toothed tigers and other creatures from the Ice Age. The surrounding park makes for a perfect picnic spot. 5801 Wilshire Blvd., 323/934-7243, tarpits.org, $7 2. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, on a stretch of Wilshire Boulevard known as Miracle Mile, has the largest permanent collection west of Chicago. There are over 100,000 pieces of art, from the ancient (a 7,000-year-old Mesopo-tamian cylinder seal) to the modern (a 2005 steel-and-silk sculpture by Do-Ho Suh). On Friday evenings April through December, free jazz concerts are held in the Central Court. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., 323/857-6000, lacma.org, $9 3. Very little in L.A. qualifies as understated. But the upscale Italian restaurant Locanda Veneta blessedly doesn't make too much of itself. Close-quarter seating allows for literal elbow-rubbing with the celebrity clientele. The daily specials (grilled langoustine or spinach-and-ricotta gnocchi, for example) are the way to go. And anything made with the sage butter sauce is a must. 8638 W. 3rd St., 310/274-1893, locandaveneta.com 4. The ultranice employees at Farmer's Daughter Hotel take pride in their work, and it shows. Country charm fuses with a playful decor that gives a nod to the neighborhood farmer's market. Murals of waving wheat line the walls, and vintage lattice furniture is upholstered in gingham and denim. The hotel used to be a cheap spot for Hollywood hopefuls to get their footing (including Charlize Theron when she first moved to L.A.). 115 S. Fairfax Ave., 323/937-3930, farmersdaughterhotel.com, from $159 5. Flora Kitchen at Rita Flora, a flower shop-meets-organic restaurant, is a favorite of the health-conscious, gourmets, and gardeners alike. Hearty sandwiches and salads are the main draw. It's best to start with the Flora Italia (mozzarella on a baguette or olive bread slathered with olive tapenade), and then finish things off with an utterly health-unconscious, decadent chocolate chip cookie. 468 S. La Brea Ave., 323/931-9900, florakitchen.com 6. In L.A., shopping and tanning are equally important--hence The Grove, a grand outdoor mall that doubles as a people-watching promenade. There's also a movie theater, a handful of restaurants, and a 1950s trolley that goes approximately a quarter mile from one end to the other before turning around. 189 The Grove Dr., 323/900-8080, thegrovela.com 7. Hipsters and fashion mavens agree that The Way We Wore has the best vintage collection in L.A. The couture shop upstairs is the place to pick up a red carpet--appropriate ensemble: shoes, antique costume jewelry, and all. 334 S. La Brea Ave., 323/937-0878, thewaywewore.com 8. At Mäni's Bakery Café, a casual spot with outdoor seating, the fresh breads and homemade desserts are all baked with organic whole grains, tofu can be substituted for meat in most dishes, and there are vegan and sugar-free desserts. 519 S. Fairfax Ave., 323/938-8800, manisbakery.com 9. The decor-challenged can learn how to incorporate a touch of cool at Room Service, a housewares dreamland. Large paintings of pop figures adorn the walls, and the groovy cups and plates are perfect for parties. The staff stays out of the way and lets customers test the repro-Eames furniture. 5901 W. 3rd St., 323/692-9221, roomservice-la.com 10. A 1936 art deco performance space, the El Rey Theatre is one of the most interesting places around town to catch a favorite musical act or learn about a new one. The lobby alone deserves center stage, with grand staircases and velvet decor. 5515 Wilshire Blvd., 323/936-6400, theelrey.com, from $10

Pixar and Disney have teamed up for Cars, a new adventure comedy about Lightning McQueen, an eager young race car (Owen Wilson) who gets sidetracked in a sleepy town off Route 66 while traveling cross country to a big championship in California. Colorful local characters include Doc Hudson, a 1951 Hudson Hornet (Paul Newman), and Sally, a plucky 2002 Porsche (Bonnie Hunt). Director John Lasseter began work on the movie just after wrapping Toy Story 2, and had promised his wife and five sons a break. He watched Divided Highways, a documentary about the interstate highway system, before taking the summer off. "I started thinking about this whole idea of the modern highways versus the old highways. So my family took a two-month trip in a motor home. We put our feet in the Pacific, turned, and we had two months to get to the Atlantic, put our feet in the Atlantic, anywhere, and then come back. And we became so close as a family. And I came back, and I realized that I knew what this movie needed to be about. It was what I discovered on this trip, that the journey in life is the reward. It's great to have goals, it's great to achieve things, but when you achieve great things you want to have your family and friends around you to help celebrate. If you don't, it's meaningless. The journey in life is the reward." pixar.com/featurefilms/cars/ Related Articles: Our Favorite Road Trips 59 Roadside Attractions by Region Downloadable kids' games for the car Gas Watch: Tips and resources for saving on gas costs Hundreds of state-by-state deals for drivers A Guide to Renting RVs 10 Budget Drives The Lowdown on Car Rentals