A buddy of mine introduced me to Trip Base which is a different kind of search.  Trip Base allows you to select your origin, the number of travelers and the dates to travel but then you use five slider controls to adjust the levels of Nightlife, Dining, Shopping, Nature and Attractions for which you’d like to travel.

The interface is clean and the results are the same.  It doesn’t overload you with possibilities, but the results can be viewed as a list or a map.  Once you’ve obtained your results you can adjust the attributes on the side search and automatically get updated results.

The results are very helpful once you drill down as well.  They have a photo of each location followed by tabs with additional information including an overview, hotels, flights, deals, photo gallery, map, things to do and any articles written on that location.  It’s an interesting site and travel search tool and I’d recommend checking it out.

Having just written a post about the Yurt and Solitude Mountain Resort in Utah I thought it would be interesting to put together a post on tents, tent house suites and yurts.   Now the first thing you might think about when you hear tent is propping up the old Coleman canvas tent in the dirt somewhere hoping that bugs and critters can’t get inside.

I’m here to tell you, these tent house suites I’ve been to are nothing like the rugged, “roughing it” tents but rather all the amenities of a 4 star hotel.  I’ve stayed at very nice hotels, including the Grand America this past year and if I had my druthers I’d pick the tent house suite in at the Secret Cover Resort in Canada every time.  I know, it’s probably not a fair comparison as one is in the middle of the city and the other is in the middle of nowhere.  My point is that I’d trade the elevator rides and marbled floors for a wooden walkway and my canvas tent.

These canvas tents and yurts have a full range from grungy to spectacular, don’t get me wrong.  However some of the tent house suites have heated slate floors, wooden doors and your own cozy fireplace.  Jetted tubs like I’ve never felt before and even an iHome for my iPhone to charge.  How’s that for roughing it?  I just found another great tub at Mary Janes Farm in northern Idaho that I’m dying to try as well.  Out in the middle of no where with a flower and vine privacy panel and a large porcelain, old fashioned tub waiting for me to soak in up to my ears now that’s what I call relaxing.

Privacy is at the highest degree in your tent house suite.  These places go to great lengths to make sure you get privacy and at times you can feel like you’re the only ones at the hotel or on the face of the planet.

Another benefit of these tents is that they are water proof.  It rained most of one night an into the day and we never felt a drop of water come from outside.  Instead we sat nice and warm in our tent house suite, enjoyed the breathtaking view out our windows and read the day away.

Speaking of views, many times in a city hotel you have descent views, but many times your looking past parking lots or through skyscrapers to see anything of interest.

Tent houses on the other hand usually have magnificent views of the mountains and forests to your back and oceans and lakes to your front.  The Wilderness Outpost on the Bidwell River is a great example of this.

If this is your kind of thing let me know of your favorite one.

I just found an update for this post.  I stumbled upon the Colorado  Yurt Company today, which is a company that makes all these fabulous yurts, tent houses and tipis. Check out the complete details on their site via my post at http://www.halfnutdevelopment.com/nutlog/2010/04/15/explore-the-colorado-yurt-company/.

Yet another update is found today, check out the Mushroom Dome Cabin.

I may have found a rival for the Rockwater Secret Cove Resort much closer to me.  It’s located in the heart of Western Montana, just a short drive from Missoula and Butte.  It’s near the historic minig town of Philipsburg and it’s called the Ranch at Rock Creek. Checkout my post on it.

While it’s nearly freezing outside my house right now I’m dreaming of warmer days.  I came across Mary Janes Farm in Moscow Idaho and I was transported to a warmer climate and as a simpler time.

This humble abode may not have all the amenities of a five star hotel but it has all the necessities in a pure, unspoiled manner. One look through the photo gallery will have you dreaming of soaking neck deep in an old fashioned tub and roasting marshmallow miles away from it all.

Mary Janes Farm comes from the organic efforts of MaryJane Buttars who started Mary Janes Farm.

MaryJane says, “I spent hours just sitting on our front porch looking up at the majestic peaks of the Wasatch Range. I wondered how I could go up there. I didn’t know anything about backpacking or camping alone,” MaryJane explained “I just knew I wanted to do it.”

“That summer I read everything Henry David Thoreau ever wrote. I got real dreamy, with a desire to live simply, with a love of living in just the silence of the forest. I never wanted to leave.” All this led to her opening Mary Janes Farm.

While their web site is a little dated, they’ve gone through great efforts to reach people through modern community methods like blogging. They have a blog for City, Rural, Suburban and Ranch farm girls.

The price for staying at the farm is well worth the expense.  Rates run $139.00 Mon-Thur and $179.00 Friday-Sunday. They have a great honeymoon package for about $440.

While the snowflakes may be falling in your part of the world and on the Mary Janes Farm, this is definitely one to mark down on your calendar to enjoy a few lazy summer days.  I think I know just where I want to spend the day too.