Seniors deserve to enjoy summers at least as much as their grandkids. But they can’t spend hours and hours baking on the beach, bareheaded while climbing mountains or sunning in the back yard. Older people are more vulnerable than younger people to many summer problems, including sunburn, skin cancer, heat stroke, dehydration, infections and summer colds.

Here are some suggestions that will help older vacationers stay healthy:

1. Keep your exposure to the direct sun to just 15 minutes at a time, and no more than three or four times during each day. Protect your eyes with dark sun glasses and your skin with effective lotions.

It seems so simple. Just fill up the tank, kick the tires, toss all your gear into the trunk and hit the road. Hey, its a lot easier than standing in long airport lines, dragging suitcases onto moving belts, taking off your shoes, being felt up by security geeks and then squeezed for hours inside a flying sardine can.

So, how do you make driving more comfy than flying? Let me count the ways.

1. Before you hit the road, do a complete car check-up. If an oil change is due within a couple of months, get it before your trip. Make sure the tires are shape for a long drive, aligned and with good treads. Check the brakes, belts, hoses and filters. Unless you enjoy summer sweating, make sure the air conditioning is in top shape. Keep an emergency kit in the trunk and make sure each passenger is trained in its use.

Flight attendant to passengers: "Sorry for the rough tarmac landing. It wasn't the airline's fault. It wasn't the flight attendant's fault. The pilot’s hemorrhoid cushion suddenly deflated. It was the asphalt!"

Try it: Stewardesses is the longest word that can be typed using only the left hand.

Groaner: At Le Mans race track, a snail drove a car with a big S on it. When he won, all the French fans yelled, "Look at that S-car go!"

I was just trying to be funny after the flight attendant charged me five bucks for use of a pillow for a couple of hours. My joke was, “Next you’ll install pay toilets up here.” She wasn’t joking when she replied, “They’re discussing that right now at corporate headquarters.”

Using the heavy increases in oil prices of 2007 and 2008 as reasons, almost all airlines have tried to offset them by nickel and diming passengers with extra costs. Some are so subtle, you’d hardly notice them, while others are in-your-face reality.

“Check your bags, folks? That’ll be $25 each.”
“No, ma’am, we don’t serve free meals anymore. But if you want a sandwich and soda, it’ll cost you $10”
“You want an aisle seat, sir? That’ll cost be another $25.”
“You want to switch to an earlier flight? It’ll cost you an extra $50.”