I remember hiking to something that had the word window view in it there. The sunset was quite spectacular. But make sure to take along some form of lighting because it gets very dark. No light pollution of any kind. Great for stargazing.

The service we used had many planes of varying sizes. We were on a plane that sat eight.

The cool thing about Denali is that you use their bus system. You can get dropped off anywhere along the road, do whatever hiking you want to where ever you want, and then pick up the bus again. It is a huge park so wildlife sightings are not guaranteed.
If he is going to Brooks Lodge/Katmai National Park as you indicate, he should see plenty of bear action. There were 15 bears there at the same time when we went. We also took a one day boat trip out of Seward and saw humpbacks, orcas, eagles, sea lions,
and sea otters. Do as much research as possible before going and tailor the trip to personal tastes.

You don't say where you are taking the pictures from. I have found that if you find the site director ahead of the game and offer to share your pictures they quite often will let you shoot while standing on the sideline. Or speak to the head coach a few days before the game with the same results. You just have to learn to stay out of the way and be aware of action heading in your direction.

As far as focus goes, I find that I have far better control when I use Back Button Focus (bbf).

I really like dealing with Photo Connection in Colchester CT. It is run by a couple that have a passion for photography and love to share their knowledge. Prices are fair and they have answered any question I have ever thrown at them.

If you are putting it on a disc you may want to considerr purchasing a Blu Ray disc burner. The pictures come out sharper on these discs. You may also want to consider putting the slideshow on a flash drive. I use Pro Show and the pictures are quite sharp, no matter the display size.

In southeast CT there is Photo Connection. I drive 45 minutes each way just to deal with them. Very knowledgeable, friendly and patient. http://photoconnectionoc.com/

I am 6'2" and use the Feisol CT-3471. With the camera and a battery pack I have never had to stoop and there is some extra height left over. There is no column and the unit is extremely strong and durable. Check out what Gene51 has had to say about leg thickness and size in previous posts. Good Luck.

We did Chicago to Oklahoma City this year and plan to pick up from there next year. There are different eras of Rte 66, so you really should do some research online. There are multiple books available that will give you turn by turn directions also. There still exists some 85 - 90% of the original road from some era. You may find yourself on the designated route from 1926-1930 and then other roads were built for 1930-1950 and so on. It really depends on what interests you. There are abandoned businesses, refurbished businesses, and all types of touristy things to see. There were turkey tracks from 1926 still visible in the cement in southern Illinois, 1920's style gas stations, museums and unique buildings. The people along this route were wonderful and extremely helpful. Research as much as you can to get the best trip that suits your style and tastes.

It certainly depends on personal preference. I didn't buy my camera because it had this feature, but I found that we can have some fun with it. We have made a few videos of ourselves to send to our young grandchildren. I have started using the feature to make short (1 to 4 minute) videos to share of my travels with my high school students that don't have many opportunities to travel. Always looking for reasons to inspire them in different ways. I bought a wireless mic and that was all i needed to turn out good quality material. It can be fun if you are willing to step outside of your safe zone and try something different.

You might want to check out Meat Cove on the northern tip. Great views. We even watched humpback whales feeding from the cliff tops.

I use Proshow and I create a folder with the photos and the music for a particular slideshow only. It is then available to find when a new show is created. When you create the show you simply open the folder that holds your photos and they are all sitting right there. You then simply pull them down into your show.

Sorry to tell you that we shut down our land line three years ago but still get these calls on our mobile phones.

I have the Feisol 3472 and I love it. You may want to do a site search for Gene51, he does a great job of researching and explaining what you want for a tripod and why.