Winter has been easy on Yosemite National Park so far, easy enough that Santa might actually be able to drive the Tioga Road on his deliveries.

It could, perhaps, be viewed as the wildlife equivalent of "Beach Party," the 1960s-era series of beach-based movies featuring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Only in this case, the beach at Point Reyes National Seashore is covered by elephant seals, not hormone-crazed twenty-somethings.

Among the interesting exhibits at Ellis Island National Monument is one called "Peopling of America" that traces the paths taken by immigrants to the United States, both before and after the island's immigration center opened for business.