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Midwest offers
vacation fun
on a budget
By Julie Sobczyk
Senior Editor
Many UNL students dream of
leaving cold, gray Nebraska dur
ing spring break for a week of care
free fun.
But who has the money to af
ford an expensive trip when stu
dents are still paying off Christmas
gifts and the semester’s book bill?
Some travel agents say students
on a budget can get away and still
have some money left in their wal
lets for souvenirs.
Vicki Grieser, an office man
ager with Travel and Transport,
said some destinations near the
Midwest make for an inexpensive,
yet fun, spring break.
“Some kids like to drive to the
Ozarks, or Bransen, Mo.,” Grieser
said. “It’s not warm like it is in the
summertime, but it’s still fun.”
A trip to the Ozarks could cost
about $200, she said.
Estes Park, Colo., Denver, Min
neapolis, Chicago and Kansas City,
Mo., are other popular vacation
sites for the student on a budget,
Grieser said. Most trips could be
made for less than $200, she said.
Joe Dierks, a freshman business
major, said he planned on heading
to Kansas City with his mother, 15
year-old sister and 17-year-old
brother for a few days during break.
“My brother and sister live in
Columbus, and I don’t see them
very often,” Dierks said. “My mom
lives in Washington state, so I’m
lucky if I see her twice a year.”
Corning to college has made it
hard to save money, he said, so tak
ing a trip with his family was an
easy way to get out of Nebraska.
many oi ms menus are plan
ning trips to warmer, more expen
sive places like Florida and
Mexico, Dierks said, but he’d
rather go to Kansas City.
“My family comes first,” he
said.
Kristin Wittmann, a sophomore
horticulture major, said she is sav
ing money by traveling with friends
to St. Louis. Once in St. Louis,
Wittmann plans to avoid hotel costs
by staying with a friend who at
tends Washington University.
But St. Louis wasn’t her first
choice for a spring break getaway.
“I had really wanted to goon a
cruise, but I just can’t afford it,”
Wittmann said. “Going to St. Louis
will be fairly inexpensive.”
She plans to spend a few days
there, she said, and the rest of her
break will be spent having her wis
dom teeth pulled (Hit.
Andrea Wuethrick, a travel
agent with Four Seasons, said stu
dents could spend as little as $200
to more than $1,000 on spring
break trips.
“Students can basically spend as
much as they want to on spring
break,” she said.
But the amount spent on the trip
isn’t as important as taking a break,
Wuethrick said.
“The important thing is that
they get away and have fun.”
_!■■■■■■■
Photo illustration by Matthew Waitk/DN
Staying safe
Responsibilities linger at home I
By Tasha E. Kelter
Staff Reporter
Whether you’re planning to spend
your spring break in South Padre Is
land, Texas, the South Pacific, or Can
ton, South Dakota, there are a few
things you should do to ensure your
home stays secure and structurally
sound while you’re away.
Vacationers should try to get a
Mend to pick up their newspapers and
mail. This makes homes less inviting
to burglars by eliminating the tell-tale
stack of week-old newspapers.
Anyone coming to pick up your
newspapers and mail can also take
care of some other things, like occa
sionally turning the lights on and off,
watering your plants, turning each
faucet on and off and checking to make
sure that the home stays a reasonable
temperature—within five degrees of
the temperature your home is kept at
night.
Leaving your home tor vacation
can provide time for the chores to do
themselves. For instance, put bleach
in your toilet bowls (make sure there
are no pets loose) or turn your oven
on the automatic clean setting.
However, if nobody is available to
take care of the house or apartment,
there are ways to keep your home se
cure.
Preserving print
To suspend newspaper delivery,
customers may call their newspaper
and request a hold on their service.
The Lincoln Journal Star offers three
options for vacationing customers.
They may have the delivery stopped
for the duration of the absence and
receive credit toward future Journal
Star services; have the newspapers
donated to the Lincoln City Mission
or the Lancaster Manor; or the office
can hold the papers and they may be
picked up when the customer returns.
Karina Greenlee, Journal Star cus
tomer service representative, said cus
tomers should call at least one day
before they want the deliveries
stopped.
Tb hold mail delivery for a period
longer than a day, vacationers may go
to any Lincoln post office and fill out
a “hold mail” card, said Kim
McKinney, post office customer ser
vice representative.
The hold mail cards are yellow and
located on the service counters.
Although the cards can be filled
out and processed at any Lincoln post
office, McKinney said when custom
ers return, they need to pick up their
mail from their post office.
.
Water woes
To ensure that pipes don't freeze
during cold weather, vacationers
should leave their furnaces on and
their thermostats no lower than 60
degrees, said Sarah Siefkes, property
manager of Claremont Park apart
ments.
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advises vacationers who live in houses
not to turn their water control off with
out leaving the water heater on the
pilot setting if they have a gas water
heater. The water control should be
located next to the water meter.
If the water heater is electric, it can
just be shut off, he said.
Conradt said all the faucets in the
house should be opened slightly,
which won’t cause a drip if the water
control is off.
“If you take the pressure off the
water pipes, they won’t burst,” he said.
Conradt also advises keeping the
thermostat around its usual setting to
prevent freezing pipes. If the house is
warm, there will be enough heat go
ing through the walls to keep the pipes
from freezing.
Another method to prevent freez
ing pipes is to wrap (nitride faucets
with styrofoam can holders if freez
ing temperatures are expected.
Flora follies
For vacationers with plants, there
are several measures that can be taken
to ensure the plants stay alive and
healthy.
Some plant owners put plants in
an inch of water in the bathtub, but
this is only advisable if the bathroom
has a window.
Beth Vanecek, salesperson with
Gaga's Greenery and Flowers, sug
gests watering the plants heavily be
fore you leave, so that the plants are
left sitting in one-half inch of water
in the saucer. To keep plants from
freezing, she suggests leaving the
heater set to at least 60 degrees.
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Vacationers who will be gone for
more than two days and own dogs,
cats, birds or rodents should either
take the pet to a kennel, someone’s
house, or have a friend feed, water
and visit with the animal once a day.
Cookie Wittier, co-owner of Pam
pered Pets, suggests having someone
visit a dog twice a day because dogs
are used to that schedule of being fed,
watered and let out or exercised.
Whether to leave a dog in the back
yard during the day depends on the
weather, she said.
Wittier said cats will generally be •
OK with one visit a day.
Heather Zimmerman, Pet Ark su
pervisor, said birds and rodents also
need to be fed and watered once a day,
and have their cages cleaned every
couple ofdays or as often as the owner •
usually cleans it.
“If (animals) get neglected, it could
result in health problems for them,”
die said.
If finding a sitter for pets is a prob
lem, some pet stores offer boarding at
reasonable rates.
Fish owners can leave their fish for
up to seven days with a seven-day fish
feeder, which is a block of food that
disperses food into the water on an
even schedule for a week. These can
be purchased for about $3 in pet stores.
Kyle Haeffner, owner of The Fish
Store, suggests leaving the light off in
the aquarium, but leaving the rest of
the equipment, such as the heater, on.