Searching "To The Boot" is somewhat of a chore and I expect that many people never bother to do a search before posting a question that has been asked and answered previously. So be it. I am researching several topics for potential trips and I find that To The Boot is a valuable resource; but, to do a search I have to do all these steps: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/39868/bget-answers-to-your-questionssearching-ricks-archivesb.html The Webmaster acknowledges this weakness: "Webmaster note: We apologize that for technical reasons at this time, search bars are not allowed to be embedded in the Helpline. Many thanks to Kent for initiating this page and Bee of Des Moines for teaching Kent these methods." That was posted in 2009. In "internet years" that is ..... well, it's a long time ago. Obviously, To The Boot is free for me, but certainly not free for Rick – the costs of server space, webmaster maintenance and proctoring all come out of his pocket. Some of us use To The Boot as leads into Rick's online information (which is a great resource for me and it makes clicks for Rick) and to his books (I bought them for my first trips: Rick, thank you). I suppose that you have a business model that takes all that into account and which justifies giving To The Boot away "for free". Perhaps now, in 2011, it might be possible from a business model perspective to make searching a bit more user friendly. If not, qualunque sarà sarà. I still will love the site.
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