Contests feature trips to San Antonio, Oregon or back to college

During the dog days of summer, sometimes it’s too hot to even think. That’s the ideal time to pick up your laptop, head to an air-conditioned coffee shop and do something more mindless than people-watching: Enter a few travel contests.

My e-mail box has been flooded lately with contests that promise to treat you to San Antonio or Oregon -- provided you win. Here are some that seem easy to enter. Good luck!

--Group trip to Texas: The city of San Antonio is giving away a trip for eight (as in you plus seven others) in its “Remember San Antonio” (the city with the Alamo and River Walk). To enter, go to Visit San Antonio’s Facebook page, “like” the page, enter your name, email address and ZIP Code and you’re done. Top prize is a $5,000 gift card, two nights at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort & Spa, rounds of golf, Camp Hyatt (for kids) and passes to SeaWorld and Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Deadline: Enter by 9:59 p.m. Pacific time Aug. 6.

--Say cheese, really: Snap a picture of your favorite picnic and you could win a trip for four to the Oregon coast. That’s the come-on from Tillamook Cheese (yes, you get a tour of the factory and a picnic too). Take a photo (best to include a hunk of cheese somewhere) and email it, post it on their Facebook wall, tweet it or pin it. Trip for four includes round-trip airefare, two nights in a hotel, a rental car and the promised picnic. Deadline: July 31.

--Back to college for free: Southwest Airlines and Bob Hope Airport are sponsoring a Fly Back to School contest good for those 18 years and older. You have to be enrolled in college or university and list Bob Hope Airport in Burbank as the airport you will fly in or out of. There’s a free round-trip ticket on the line. Enter on the airport’s Facebook page by 5 p.m. Pacific time Aug. 6.