Law enforcement history can be an interesting subject for senior travelers, and the LAPD Museum is an excellent destination. The city first had a paid police force in 1869 of six officers when there were 100,000 residents.

Today, for LA’s population of nearly 4 million, there are about 10,000 officers on the force, supported by 3,000 civilian employees. In your visit to LA, consider three places to explore the history of LAPD and learn about it's current operations:

If you have your own car or rent one in the city, you can do many of the colorful day trips from Las Vegas on your own. Some of the most attractive and their distances from the Vegas Strip include:

Red Rock Recreation Area - 20 miles
Lake Mead - 30 miles
Hoover Dam - 30 miles
Valley of Fire State Park - 60 miles
Laughlin - 60 miles
Death Valley - 121 miles
Zion National Park - 160 miles
Grand Canyon - 180 miles

Most destinations require driving through dry, uninhabited desert areas. Cars with air conditioning are recommended. Drivers should be prepared with adequate gas tank fill-up, as well as a cold box with one or two day's supply of food and drink per person. Well-charged smartphones, with emergency numbers and detailed cyber maps are a must.

Guest Senior Writer PMM, San Diego CA: We recently took a two-week senior tour with Road Scholar. The first week was spent aboard the 80-year-old, original Queen Mary luxury liner now permanently docked in the harbor at Long Beach, California. The schedule included tours of the ship's wheelhouse and engines, as well as lectures, fine dining, entertainment and pictorial history. In her cruising days, the Queen served as both a celebrity luxury liner since the 1930s, and World War II troop ship in the 1940s.

It’s a charming town in the heart of Provence, offering a bounty of delicious, ethnic foods and fine, locally produced wine. It makes a great focus for a trip to the quiet region, away from Paris and other busy French cities.

Getting to Carpentras: It’s about 40 minutes drive from Avignon, the largest city in the area. France's high-speed TGV train offers an easy three-hour ride from Paris. The area is also a picturesque drive on France's easy-to-navigate highway system.