With gas prices so high, everyone's buzzing about summer weekend trips rather than all-out treks across the country.

Two online resources could be helpful when you're looking for close destinations.

The first is a blog by a woman who calls herself Henny Penny. Central Illinois Life is chock full of suggestions of places to go and see. She's got plenty of suggestions for people with kids, if you're brining the munchkins.

She's very detail-oriented, and her blog was featured in a panel hosted by Illinois' tourism board.

And for a more official, less personal look at local travel, head to tourism bureau's official Web site. You can search by the kinds of activities you'd like to do, or by place you'd like to visit. I'm thinking about a trip to Starved Rock this summer, and it sounds like Nauvoo is really good for people with kids.

Where are you heading this summer, and what Web sites (or other methods) have you relied on?

EDIT: Henny Penny is actually Rayne DeVivo, who gained her knowledge of Central Illinois while living 10 years in Decatur, working four in Springfield, attending law school at the University of Illinois and now living near Bloomington-Normal. She's a "brand new attorney."

"Central Illinois Life is my hobby so I just make sure to be on the look out for new experiences wherever I go," DeVivo said in an e-mail.

Now that she's done with the bar exam, she doesn't have as much time to dedicate to the local travel blog, so she seeks fodder during her lunch hours and during the weekends. Maybe that's why her blog works - so many people I know are fitting travel into the same kinds of time slots.

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