From San Diego thru Los Angeles, you’ll see them scooting day and night on highways, city streets and sidewalks. Because they’re rented and controlled by computer and smartphone, they’re easily picked up and dropped off virtually everywhere.

If your travels include those areas and elsewhere the growing number of scooters roam, be sure whether driving or walking to be aware of potential dangers. Be extra careful, especially if you have age-related physical limits.

As the travel4seniors.com editor’s photo indicates, scooter riders are subject to the same traffic laws as all other drivers. However, that may not protect you when one suddenly disobeys a red light, crowds you off a sidewalk or collides with you as you try to cross a street.

The just-announced claim is that when it goes into regular service in about a dozen years, the Boeing airliner will fly non-stop between New York and London in two hours, and Los Angeles and Tokyo in three hours.

Of course, that won’t speed up the extra hours passengers must spend on the ground before flights. They include weather delays, driving to the airport, parking, long waiting lines and surviving touchie-feelie security body checks.

You rush off the flight to get to the pick-up area quickly. Then, too often, as that big merry-go-round circles endlessly, all other travelers get their bags. And it could be even worse than the long wait. Your bag doesn’t arrive at all.

You find out later from luggage claim that it was mistakenly loaded aboard another flight. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to pick it up at the airport in only two or three days. How do you avoid the problem? Simply do your flying without checking bags. Stuff everything possible into a carry-on bag and backpack, and if necessary, all else into a coat with many inside and outside pockets.

Take some time from gambling away your grandkids’ inheritances to visit this beautiful creation by Mother Nature. Just an hour’s drive northeast of Las Vegas in the Mojave Desert, the Valley of Fire features brilliant red-sandstone spires, arches and other eons-old rock formations.

The Anasazi Native American people flourished there more than 3,000 years ago, and their petroglyphs and other rock art are still visible. Follow the riding and hiking trails through the rock formations with camera and smartphone lens clicking away. Before returning to Las Vegas, spend an hour or two in the beautiful land. And if you’ll be picnicking in a shady spot, be sure to bring plenty of water to drink and cool off.