Many things in this country are slowed by the heat of summer. If you don’t believe me, try sitting on a front porch during a July afternoon with an ice-cold glass of lemonade and see how long it takes you to drink it. I’ll bet it takes longer than you think.

Because sitting on a porch, in the shade, or lounging on picnic blanket with a ham sandwich is what summer is all about. Whatever you do, don’t rush it. It’s true of everything this time of year, and politics is no exception.

Here we are in this last day of June, our nation’s birthday right around the corner, and, at long last, the political scene is about to get boring. Sweet, sweet respite.

Before the week is out, we will officially be in the “same as it ever was” stage of presidential races. It’s an integral part of the process, and no Republican “maverick” or Democratic “candidate for change” can stop it. It’s halftime. Take a breather.

And here’s why. From now until the end of August, Sens. McCain and Obama will be pandering in a very familiar vein, doing their best to check and re-check every political cliché on the list without mercy.

Now is the time when campaign speeches become surgical, specifically crafted to deal with unique demographics. Or, simply stated, McCain and Obama have two months to operate on the swing states–like Obama did earlier today.

Obama, the candidate who doesn’t want “politics as usual,” gave a speech today in defense of his own patriotism in Independence, Missouri, Harry Truman’s old stomping grounds, four days before Independence day.

On a scale of one to ten, I’d give that move a political cliché rating of 8, and the only reason it isn’t a 9 is because he didn’t kiss a baby.

McCain on the other hand is campaigning heavily in Pennsylvania, trying to swing them back to the right for the first time in 20 years. McCain’s speeches are sure to be tailor made for each stop and contain a requisite number of buzzwords, making his “maverick” approach to politics a stretch.

And that’s o.k. For now, anyway.

At this point in the season, effective campaigning isn’t as much about gaining ground as it is losing it. Both of these politicians (no matter what they say, that’s what they are) have to do everything they can to maintain the status quo of their campaigns if they hope to change the status quo in the White House next year.

You have to play the game if you want to change the game, and this summer, it’s a game we’ve all seen before.

So aside from finding out who will win the veepstakes, all you have to do now is mark three dates on your calendar. The first is August 28, the final day of the Democratic convention. The second is September 4, the last day of the Republican convention.

After that, it’s an all out sprint for the 56th quadrennial Unites States presidential election.

And that third date? August 8, the opening ceremony of the Olympic games. Be sure to watch, folks. We can’t have anyone questioning our patriotism in an election year.

Now, where’d I put that lemonade?

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff.

Unless you are severely hydrophobic or spent most of 2004 hiding in a Pakistani cave, you have heard of Michael Phelps.

Heck, if we weren’t tuned in to one of his races, we were listening to Bob Costas and the rest of the NBC crew drool over his pterodactyl-like wingspan or sitting through a myriad of commercials featuring Baltimore’s gangly hero.

Be prepared for more of the same this year as Phelps tries to become the most decorated athlete in Olympic history.

But what interests me about the 2008 Games is the phenomenal U.S. team surrounding Phelps.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Phelps finds his toughest competition staying at the same Omaha hotel at this week’s Olympic Trials.

One up-and-comer is Ryan Lochte. He does not have the outward intensity of Phelps. For instance, at the FINA World Championships in 2007, the former Florida Gator wore a diamond- crusted, Ocho-Cinco style grill on the podium.

Other than Phelps, Lochte may be the world’s most versatile swimmer. Talk about bad timing.

Lochte is entered in 6 events this week. Unfortunately for him, Phelps is in every one of them.

I am not saying Phelps has it locked up. Recently, Lochte has been giving swimming’s wonder boy a run for his money.

In what I think will be the most exciting race of the Trials, the 200 meter backstroke, Lochte and Phelps, as well as the defending Olympic champion Aaron Piersol, will square off to decide which two competitors will swim the event in Beijing.

Piersol had a seven year winning streak in the event until Lochte claimed the title at the World Championships earlier this year.

Another event which should garner some publicity is the 50 meter freestyle.

Swimming’s “bad boy,” Gary Hall Jr. looks to repeat his gold medal performance of 2004 and represent America (possibly wearing his trademark American flag boxing robe) against a field of young guns, namely Cullen Jones and Ben Wildman-Tobriner.

If all goes well, Jones will surely be a hot topic at the Olympic Games as he is the first black swimmer to ever hold an American long-course swimming record.

On the women’s side, 41-year-old Dara Torres competes against girls literally half her age to become the first athlete to participate in five Olympic Games. Try to tell me she’s not going to be tested for the juice.

Inevitably, much of the talk of the Trials will be Michael Phelps (and rightfully so), but this week also provides viewers with great insight into how the battle for the gold medal will unfold come August.

–Gordy Jenkins, RED Editorial Staff.

–Now that Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain is starting to show the dominance that’s expected of him, talking head Hank Steinbrenner is going to have to find something else to complain about. That should be a welcome 30 seconds of silence.

–Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. has taken responsibility for a positive drug test on another horse he trains named Salute the Count. Dutrow told reporters that it was “a mistake in the barn” that led to the results. So far, people believe him. Hey, Roger Clemens, fire your lawyer and hire this guy!

–Olympic sports authorities are claiming that some athletes are turning to a new drug to boost performance: Viagra. The magical pill contains nitric oxide, which increases blood flow. Olympic officials won’t bother blood testing for the drug since most athletes wear spandex.

–Retired New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan has a new job anchoring Fox’s NFL Pregame show this season, but no word yet on whether he plans to hold out for a better contract.

–Two Green Bay men have been arrested and charged with burglarizing the home of Green Bay Packers running back Noah Herron. One of the men, Yeshua Tate, was injured in the attempt when Herron hit him twice with a bedpost in self-defense. Good thing these guys didn’t break into Tank Johnson’s place.

–NFL Commissioner Roger Goodel told the media that it’s “ridiculous” how much the NFL’s untested rookies make these days. For example, rookie Jake Long has a five-year, $57.75 million contract with $30 million guaranteed. Commissioner Goodell’s salary is $11.2 million. If I were him, I’d be mad too.

–Famous Indy Car driver Dania Patrick might have plenty of fans, but some of her colleagues aren’t among them. Driver Scott Dixon called her “a menace.” “I don’t really know where those comments came from,” Patrick said to reporters Thursday. I wonder if it’s because she ran over a 63-year old man with a race car?

–Shaquille O’Neal’s honorary badges in Miami and Tempe, Arizona for his volunteer work with law enforcement will be stripped away after his recent freestyle rap in which he mocks Kobe Bryant. Badges? Shaq don’t need no stinking badges.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff.

The deadline for contract negotiations between the Screen Actor’s Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is only three days away, and even though a work stoppage looks eminent, Hollywood still isn’t short on drama.

We are only several months removed from the writers’ strike, but this one is far more interesting, which is odd. Usually Hollywood doesn’t do well with sequels. And if you consider the AMPTP to be the bad guys, then the bad guys are winning.

What’s going on in Hollywood right now is a lesson in military strategy. The AMPTP would never admit it, so what follows is strictly conjecture, but the Hollywood producers have employed the ancient Machiavellian method of divide and conquer.

Sure, that makes the AMPTP look malicious, but since they’re the closest thing there is to “the man” in Tinseltown, you have to assume they’re doing everything they can to keep the actors down.

Here’s how the AMPTP is playing the table.

SAG has roughly 120,000 members according to its Website, but around 44,000 of those members also belong to a second, lesser-known union, the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFRTA).

Ok, we’re about to throw around a bunch of initialisms here so just holler if you get confused.

When the WGA went on strike months ago, they had a huge advantage. That’s because the WGA understood the importance of togetherness when achieving a common goal.

But SAG and AFRTA don’t have that luxury, or at least that knowledge. Perhaps it’s close-minded and stereotypical of me to think that an army of actors have slightly more ravenous egos than an army of writers, but then again, actors have two separate yet redundant unions to represent them.

Anyway, instead of working cohesively with SAG, AFRTA negotiated a separate contract with the AMPTP, even though 44,000 AFRTA members are also SAG members and SAG still isn’t happy with how the AMPTP is treating them.

Still with me? Goody.

So even though SAG and AFRTA are sister unions, now the members of SAG are mad the members of AFRTA for making nice with the enemy, except for the 44,000 people who belong to both unions. They’re just mad at themselves, I guess.

We won’t know until July 8 if AFTRA will officially accept their new agreement with the AMPTP, but if they do, it’s going to make SAG look like a bunch of whiners that just need to get on with it.

But if AFTRA rejects the offer, then SAG still has ground to fight on.

Because of this, SAG has to fight a war on two fronts. Not only to they have to keep turning the screws into the producers, but they also have to lobby AFTRA not to accept their offer.

In the meantime, production in Hollywood is already screeching to a halt.

Basically, the actors are more fractured than the Democratic Party right now, and someone should really give them a hand by scripting their next move.

Hey, why not give the WGA a call? I doubt they’re busy.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff.

In a year in which Tiger Woods is down for the count, 2008 probably will not be the year of golf. People are already more interested in what Tiger did before his surgery (partied) than they are about Corey Pavin’s hot start at the Buick (if you know whether this weekend is the Buick Open or the Buick Invitational, then you are probably the kind of golf fan that will follow PGA regardless if Tiger Woods is playing or not).

2008 in golf will be known as the year Tiger wasn’t there.

2008 in the world will be remembered for something much grander: the Beijing Olympics.

But aside from its three-day overlap with the PGA Championship, as it has been since 1904, the Olympics will be a golf-free zone.

Here is a sampling of some sports that will crown champions at the Olympics, though: archery, canoeing, shooting, ping-pong, trampolining, synchronized swimming, sailing, and badminton.

So, you know, all of the free world’s most adored activities.

Popular or not, these niche sports, played in the nooks, crannies and outposts of the world, get to crown their best on the world’s biggest stage.

Meanwhile, golf, one of the world’s worldliest sports, is on the outside looking in when it comes to the earth’s grandest sports spectacle.

Why?

Golf is beautiful, challenging and hugely rewarding (just ask the, at minimum, 10 people you know who spend thousands of dollars a year on it). It is also one of the world’s most played sports. Like tennis, track and soccer, it is a truly international interest.

Golf also embodies nearly all of the principles and attributes that make a sport a compelling Olympic one.

Few sports require such a demanding mix of mental toughness, extraordinary athletic ability and a willingness to take risks.

Perhaps most compelling of all the reasons to add golf, however, is its wide-ranging and ever-growing international appeal and reach.

Disparate and distant countries from Fiji (Vijay Singh) to South Korea (K.J. Choi) to Argentina (Angel Cabrera) to South Africa (Retief Goosen, amongst others) all have world-class athletes capable of taking home a gold medal. Golf at the Olympics would not just be a victory lap for the United States and Europe.

The benefits it would supply to the game of golf would be even greater. Aside from the inevitable popularity boost it would give, it would provide a de-facto world championship for a sport that’s lacking one.

It would also finally be a major event to look forward to besides the four major tournaments and the Ryder Cup.

Few sports have as few big time events as golf, and none have fewer on an international stage. Any new one would surely be a boon.

Further still, PGA commissioner Tim Finchem is fully on board (at least he blogged as much earlier this year), as are the LPGA and European Tour (according to Finchem).

Finchem even went as far as to say the PGA would be willing to change “fully developed and longstanding schedules.”

Now the Olympic powers that be are meeting next year to officially consider adding golf for 2016.

I’ll give the IOC one piece of advice: don’t make Tiger angry. It hasn’t worked for anyone else.

–Patrick Daugherty, RED Editorial Staff.

The act of getting stuffed into a cab is in no way a new concept. But when the cab in question is lined with metal fencing and the driver is separated from the passengers by a metal gate and stares at you and your traveling band of merrymakers like psychotically hopping monkeys flinging poo at some zoo, it tends to make you self conscious.

And that was exactly how we all felt as we bounced along in the mobile animal cage that was bringing us back towards Miraflores.

We had decided to splurge on a cheap (meaning free) flight down to Lima, the capital of Peru, for a 3-day vacation crammed into a 12-hour period. The plane lurched off the ground at 4:50 pm and droned along for the next 6 hours, gently banking and pitching around the furious packs of storms that dotted the Atlantic on our route of flight.

With a muffled arrival announcement, gentle thud of tires on pavement and a jolt of locking brakes at the gate, we arrived. We were looking forward to stuffing our faces with all the local delights and wanted to waste no time.

After hustling through check in and violating every principle of the Spanish language with my feverish attempts to find the closest bar, we settled on the hotel lounge, a brightly lit affair vaguely reminiscent of Bill Murray’s “Lost in Translation” bar, complete with a view of the demolished buildings across the street, trendy 70’s leather furniture and a dusty old piano so badly out of tune it made William Hung from “American Idol” sound like Pavarotti.

But no matter. The Pisco Sours, a local drink, made it all go away. Made with pisco, a distilled brandy that jackhammers your sobriety into submission, it is mixed with a frothed egg white, lemon juice, sugar and a hit of bitters for an ever pleasing mind bender of a drink.

A few of those and it was off to bed. We had sleep to catch up on and 12 hours to frantically cover Miraflores the next day.

Our excursion began under soggy skies with a ride out to the Blue Market, a large mall dedicated to putting the crimp on anti piracy efforts. DVD’s, cd’s, electronics. You name, they have it. And damned if they don’t all look like the real thing.

It is only upon closer inspection that you notice the little details that whisper “pirated” in their own subtle way. When was the last time Rolex slapped together a watch that spelled “oyster” as “oister”? Or a Celine Dion cd with its song titles and odd mix of Spanish and phonetically spelled English? Shady little buggers.

It was from the Blue Market that we were treated to the zoo-on-wheels ride. The driver blasted us around the city, wild eyed and intent, jerking the steering wheel back and forth around traffic as if he fancied himself driving the Indy 500. Death was only a stop light away.

Finally, he slowed long enough for us to hastily throw ourselves from his cab and land upright for a snack at a small, smoky skewer restaurant where seasoned beef heart and other odd cuts of meat were rammed onto a skewer and grilled.

They were surprisingly tender, and while I was not able to identify exactly what or they were from, they were indeed tasty. The locals call them anticuchos.

Next on our compressed tour was a ceviche, an intriguing preparation of raw fish and some form of acid, usually lime or lemon juice, that “cooks” the fish. More on ceviche in the next column.

Finally, a hasty stroll over to the cliffs that overlooked the Pacific Ocean and the black sand beaches. In the water, surfers casually paddled around aimlessly. Paragliders dove off the cliffs with wild abandon only to emerge a few seconds later on the top of a wind gust. Lovers, fully clothed, groped like flailing octopi in a small park dedicated to, of all things, lovers.

By then, it was time to head to the airport and call it a day on Lima. The drinks, the food and the people made this zip file of a vacation worth the achy legs and the feeling that a small sandy beach had gathered in your eyes as you flew home at 2 in the morning.

Maybe next time, we can get it all done in 10 hours somewhere else.

–Tim Connors, RED Editorial Staff.

For the better part of the last 20 years the Kansas City Royals have, well…sucked.

The team hasn’t even had a legitimate All-Star since Jermaine Dye in 2002; I guess you could argue Mike MacDougal in 2003 but it would be a tough sell. And let’s not even mention Mike Sweeney.

But this year there is a different feeling inside Kauffman Stadium, and it’s not the ongoing construction for the stadium’s much needed renovation. It’s a feeling of hope.

Okay, so the boys in blue are just a half game out of last place in their division, and they did go on a 12-game skid earlier this season, but still, the feeling remains.

And if you ask me why I’ll show you Joakim Soria: The Mexecutioner.

The 24-year-old Royals closer has been on an absolute tear this year, recording 21 saves in 22 opportunities. He has a miniscule ERA of 1.29 with 37 K’s to his 9 walks. He throws his fastball in the mid-90 with devastating accuracy and has a curve ball that buckles the knees of the best hitters. He is the complete package and the Royals bullpen ace.

But even more important than all this is his role as a sparkplug for both his mates and the fans.

When he trots out to the mound the energy in Kauffman becomes palpable, the hope electrifies with each step he takes toward the mound. Fans stand and cheer, toasting each other with lukewarm ninth inning beer in plastic cups. They can just feel the certainty of a win.

Soria feeds off this energy; it fuels his fast ball and breaks his curve. As he mows down batter after batter the fans regale him with Wayne’s World “I’m not worthy” bows.

With yet another save under his belt he strolls off the mound with a sly grin and some swagger to his step. And the Royals have responded too, going 12-3 in interleague play and sweeping the Rockies and cross-state rivals the Cardinals along the way.

He is exactly what a team like the recently surging Royals need—a young, dominating arm in the bullpen that lights up the speed gun and lights out opposing batters while energizing his teammates and the fans. GM Dayton Moore knows this and signed him to a three-year, $8.75 million contract extension on May 17.

What’s more, he is the first legitimate candidate for the upcoming All-Star Game that the Royals have had in six years. And since the mid-summer classic “counts” now, if the AL team finds itself in a save situation Soria might just be their best bet to clinch home field advantage in the World Series.

For years now the fans of the Royals have been fed tall-tales of rebuilding and the future and every time they turned up squat.

Until now…maybe.

–By Aaron Whitebread

For a country with such a rich locomotive history, our modern train system is pretty crummy. Long gone is the glamour of the transcontinental railroad, and if you asked today’s youngest generation about the Golden Spike, they’d probably say they haven’t heard the album.

But current environmental conditions and gas prices are forcing us-in typical human fashion-to pay attention to a problem we should have addressed long ago. After 20 years of hibernating on the back burner, a new mass transit system is starting to get some long-overdue attention.

American Magline Group, an organization working on a magnetic levitating train capable of traveling at a maximum speed of 310 mph, has just received a $45 million dollar kick in the pants from the federal government to get their project rolling.

The levitating train system, also called a “maglev,” is the next big idea in alternative transportation, and compared to air travel it’s fairly appealing. At least it looks like a great idea on paper.

The only question is: is anyone going to care about a mode of travel that hasn’t been popular since Gene Wilder and Richard Prior starred in “Silver Streak”?

I guess we’ll never really know unless we try, but just giving this a shot is going to cost boatloads of money.

According to MSNBC, the $45 million from the federal government won’t get the project very far; it will only pay for environmental testing and other pre-construction obligations.

The projected cost of the entire project would float around $12 billion. That’s a lot of lettuce, and it’s safe to assume that number will rise with time. $12 billion just doesn’t go as far as it used to, you know.

The maglev’s proposed route between Disneyland and Las Vegas also cheapens the idea for some. Maglev’s early critics have nicknamed the line as “the gambler’s express,” which makes some sense.

I can’t imagine the kind of person that would need to get from the Magical Kingdom to Sin City in roughly 86 minutes, but I wouldn’t trust him.

The maglev has a huge environmental advantage over automotive and air travel (no fuel and no emissions) but it obviously can’t run on our existing railways. It must be constructed from scratch, and for this to be a nationally viable alternative, we’re going to need a lot more than one.

Which brings us to the biggest reason why a maglev might not be as groovy or as popular as it sounds.

This country is too big.

Proponents of train travel usually cite Europe as an example of how useful it can be, and they’re right. I’ve been to Europe, I’ve used the train system, and yes, it’s terribly effective.

The train system in France, for example, is excellent. You can get just about anywhere, but there’s a reason for that.

France is smaller than Texas, so building a stellar rail system in France is a comparative drop in the bucket next to building one here.

Then again, maybe the maglev is the wave of the future. Maybe it’s going to save us all from road rage and carbon emissions and rush hour and crazy soccer moms in minivans and airport delays at the hands of the TSA. So I say go ahead, let’s give it a shot. Hell, we’ve spent $12 billion on a lot worse.

We shipped that much in cash to Iraq last year, and we still can’t find it.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff.

It’s pretty easy to see whom the media is rooting for at Wimbledon, and it isn’t the world No. 1 men’s tennis player. I doubt they’re fully aware of it–and if they are they’d never admit it–but they’re hoping world No. 2 Rafael Nadal beats the tar out of Federer in the finals.

Why? Because it’s a bigger story than Federer winning his sixth straight at Wimbledon. Sure, it’s been 122 years since anyone claimed Wimbledon six times in a row, but look at it another way. Which of the following has more historical significance: the Roman Colosseum, or the fall of Rome itself?

That’s the sort of weight Federer has on his shoulders while running around Wimbledon’s grass. He’s actually reached a point in his career where losing is a bigger story than winning.

Some of the precursory Wimbledon commentary from this past weekend almost has an anarchistic fire and brimstone quality to it. As if, directly following Federer’s defeat, four horsemen will appear from a sudden gaping fissure in the grass of Centre Court.

ESPN ran a story claiming that a “Federer loss would disrupt tennis’ world order” and that, in reference to Federer, “Mortality is universal. At some point, we must all face the abyss.”

Yikes. Is this tennis or a Cure concert?

I think that might be a little heavy. Sure, it’s a major tennis event, but if he loses it’s not going to disrupt the world order of tennis. It will change the rankings and we’ll have a new No. 1, but an entire world order? That sounds too catastrophic for sports.

If Federer loses Wimbledon (he won’t) then I’m sure he’ll be crushed. The world, however, in tennis or in general, will be just fine.

But since I’ve gone so far as to predict Federer winning this thing, I suppose it’s only fair I tell you why.

Nadal beat Federer like a rug at the French Open; so it’s true that more and more players see Federer as human. But Federer has never been good on clay, so technically his loss wasn’t a surprise. The manner in which he lost was shocking, but not the result.

Even so, that is no reason at all to assume Federer is washed up, let alone that he’s going to lose Wimbledon.

Nadal might be the most dominant player on clay in the history off the game, but Federer is the most dominant on grass. Period. His last five Wimbledon’s prove that.

Also, let’s not forget that Federer is the most dominant overall force in tennis since Pete Sampras. And until he loses (not before) there is no reason to think otherwise.

That said, I do think Federer’s dominance in tennis is waning. He’s 27 years old, which is plenty young if you’re dating, but in tennis years that’s getting up there. There will certainly come a day when Federer loses the crown, and it may even be sooner than we think, but that day isn’t coming in July.

Federer might have stumbled, but you don’t get to be the kind of player he is by letting a stumble get you to. He is simply moving on to the next phase of his already stellar career. The part where he has to silence the doubters and remind everyone that he’s still the best, no matter what the circumstances.

Plus, there are plenty of people he can call for support. Didn’t a good friend of his just win the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on a torn knee and a broken leg?

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff.

Just when we’ve gotten the hang of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA’s) guidelines for packing liquids in our carry-on bags, the airlines are making things difficult again by charging for bags.

With luggage space and weight at a premium, it seemed a good time to check out the new travel-wipe kits by La Fresh.

La Fresh’s TSA-approved travel kits are packaged in zip-top pouches that contain wipes for either one-day stays or longer trips. The women’s One Day Stay packet includes towelettes with hydrating lotion, deodorant, anti-bacterial cleanser and make-up remover, plus a dental finger mitt (think Oral B Brush-Ups).

The men’s packet includes deodorant, shaving gel, lens cleaner, anti-bacterial cleanser and shoeshine wipes, plus the dental finger mitt. The extended-stay kits contain larger quantities of most of the same products.

Before I even tried a kit, I knew what its main drawback would be ― it’d contain different cosmetic and cleansing products that, most likely, wouldn’t be of the same quality as those I normally use.

But if they worked adequately, the payback could be worth it ― no worries about remembering to pack my toiletries in small quantities in a specific-sized, zip-top bag; no worries about my toiletries exploding out of their bottles or tubes (a pet peeve of mine); and lighter luggage.

I tried the La Fresh for Her kit ($4.99) on a recent trip and returned with mixed feelings about its usefulness. On the plus side, the wipes’ cleansers and lotions were of higher quality than those I’ve found in budget motels or received as trials, and the wipes were thicker and softer, too.

I was pleased to learn they’re also biodegradable. On the negative side, they just weren’t my favored products, plus the variety of wipes didn’t cover all of my toiletry needs. I still had to pack items like hair gel, contact lens solution and toothpaste in the required one-quart, zip-top bags.

Nevertheless, I plan to purchase several kits to stash in my carry-on and in my car’s glove compartment. Why? They’re cheap insurance.

If I forget to pack a particular toiletry item or have the wrong size and have to ditch it at the security line, I’ll at least have the basics to keep myself clean until I’m home again or can stop at a drugstore. For $4.99, it’s worth it.

La Fresh kits are available online at www.LaFreshGroup.com and will soon be in airport kiosks nationwide. Additional kits contain items like sunscreen and bug repellant.

–Melanie Radzicki McManus, RED Travel Writer