Ever take a trip around the state or country by sitting in front of a computer within the comforts of your home? I have. And it's quite amazing.

For the last couple of weeks, I've been adding a few webcams to The Daily News' Web site. It's been really fun scouring the Internet for cameras that take live pictures of real-time locations.

So it's a great pleasure for me to announce that without the headaches of a road trip or airport, readers of www.thedailynews.cc can now participate in world adventures with a few clicks of a computer mouse.

So sit back, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy some of the scenic landscapes that these cameras provide.

A snowman and goose pose for the world in Gaylord

A live picture of a northern Michigan yard has exploded into a heavily viewed Internet sensation.

The "Snowman Cam" has been receiving a steady trumpeted fanfare for the last few years, topping the charts as one of the best webcams on the Internet. Credit for this creation can be given to webcam proprietor Ken Borton, who uses a camera mounted onto his house to broadcast the latest weather and snowfall information from Gaylord, Mich.

Borton said he's been running his webcam for a few years, mainly so his friends can look at the snowfall from downstate. He also rents cabins to snowmobilers during the winter and uses his webcam to inform them about the amount of snow around the area.

The signature shot that the camera takes include a snowman cutout, ceramic goose, snow gage and thermometer in a wooded environment. Depending on the time and moment, viewers may observe black bears, whitetail deer, coyotes and other critters in front of the camera.

Borton said that within the last couple of years, black bears have been frequenting the area more and more. When he or his wife departs their house, they scan the area to ensure any bears aren't around.

Besides the wildlife and weather, the webcam also captures the personalities of both the snowman and goose props. Each figure can be spotted wearing everything from a rain jacket to a Detroit Lions jersey.

"The goose has a fan club," Borton said. "If the goose doesn't have a different outfit on for four to five days, I get e-mails that the goose hasn't changed."

The camera is on 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

But the vast majority of viewers tune in during the winter months. When the snow starts falling, Borton said, the Web site goes from 1,000 to more than 5,000 unique viewers.

"I get a lot of people from all over in offices in cubicles that say this is their window to the world," he said.

For more information on the "Snowman Cam," visit www.snowmancam.com on the World Wide Web.

A Rocky Mountains community uses the web to display its snowfall

A small Rocky Mountains community is using the power of the Web to assist with publicizing and informing its tourism base.

There probably isn't a location on the main drag through Cooke City, Mont., that isn't caught on camera. Located just outside of Yellowstone National Park and surrounded by national forest, several local businesses have banded together to display to the world real-time weather conditions through video supplied by webcams.

Around 85 year-round residents populate this small town that only has three bars, a couple churches and a post office.

Summer months bring in tourism traffic from those frequenting Yellowstone. But during the winter months, snowmobilers trek to Cooke City from all around the country to take advantage of the trails and abundant snowfall.

Higher elevations accumulate close to 400 inches of snow per winter, and many visitors take advantage of the free-style snowmobiling that these conditions create. Sixteen miles of groomed trails are also available for regular riding.

Cooke City Exxon, one of maybe two gas stations in the town, is a hybrid gas station and snowmobile rental and repair shop that sponsors several of the webcams. Attendant Elizabeth Key, who moved to the community a few years ago, said the cameras help inform tourists about the conditions of the town.

"The main reason we have (webcams) is because our winter businesses are so dependent on the snow," Key said. "Instead of fielding hundreds of calls about the snow, they can go to the webcams."

Next door to the Exxon station is the Soda Butte Lodge, a hotel and restaurant that's open all-year-round.

The Lodge has a camera pointed down Highway 212, displaying the scenic mountainous terrain of the Rocky Mountains and enabling viewers to observe the hustle and bustle of the town area.

Lodge Manager Lorraine Kokkeler said the webcam receives more than 1,000 views a day since it was installed last winter.

Tourists who visit the Soda Butte Lodge tend to stay from four to five days. And those who visit always go back to the webcams to see what's going on in town after they have left.

"It's been really nice having them," she said. "It does help with phone calls - people can see what the snow conditions are. It keeps us advertised all the time."

For more information about Cooke City , Mont. , visit www.cookecitychamber.org on the World Wide Web.

Recommendations

Know of a cool webcam that should be shared on The Daily News' Web site? E-mail Ron Leix at rleix@staffordgroup.com and send a hyperlink of the webcam. Feedback of all types is more than welcome.