Annie - I also was going to suggest New Mexico, as it didn't appear on your list. That looks to me like a very good tour by Taucks - it covers exactly the places i would suggest, Taos, Bandelier, Georgia O'Keeffe's homestead, the pueblos... It would also be nice to have the lectures and special visits that come with the trip. However, NM is a state very oriented towards visitors, and is easy to navigate by yourselves, especially if you explore it on the internet and do some reading in advance. Santa Fe, e.g., has some gorgeous inns and hotels, and excellent restaurants with varied cuisines, not to mention a stunning collection of art galleries (do not go to this city without a credit card). Several years ago DH and I made a special trip to NM to spend a week in Los Alamos, as DH is beyond fascinated by the story of Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project. We had a great time, searched out his house, visited the fascinating museum, explored the unique bookstores, drove along the perimeter of the National Laboratories - a huge area, and drove to various pueblos and Bandelier while there. That could be a good overnight for someone interested in the story of the Project. But the tour also looks fine. I also second the suggestion of Israel (where I lived for several years), a tiny country, the size of New Jersey, with an incredibly diverse population, and an excellent sense of preservation of historic sites, ranging from 5,000+ years ago up to the present, and very friendly people who like Americans.

awm03, actually I'm using a free online tracker -- "sparkpeople." A friend emailed the link to me and it works well. I'm pretty scrupulous when I track & if I don't want to read it on my chart I won't put it in my mouth. It's painless to use the tracker, & I learn so much. I've always known my fruits were low from previous tracking (I much prefer vegies) but I'm surprised by a few things I've never tracked before. And I'll be changing a few habits. For one thing, I'm going back to making my own broth again (for recipes, to sub for fats). The fat-free organic broth in a box I've been buying isn't good for my sodium column, though it does eliminate fats from recipes. I'm definitely back to taking a vitamin/mineral supplement. I thought that was just a "remodeling" supplement (all those odd take-outs & goofy meals), but lowering my calories overall lowers my vit/min intake. Another surprise is that I thought I drank more water than I do, haven't tracked it in a long time. This is hard for me to track so I might get a big premeasured bottle & use that for greater accuracy. I'm not as regular at the gym as I want to be (and as I was, and as I surely will be again!) but I'm sure clocking some hours in the garden. Not the same, but quite relaxing and satisfying.

If you really want to experience the Grand Canyon you could do what a coworker did. He started on one side, ran down, then ran up the other side. Once there, the group thought maybe doing the reverse as they intended might not be a great idea since one of the guys had a cold. They found someone willing to give them a ride back to the other side but then discovered it would be a four hour drive. So they decided they might as well run back. So they did. They had started the trip at about 1 AM (lighting their way with head lamps) and figured on 13 hours. Took more like 16. Actually, I do not recommend this at all! lol Among other reasons - the park rangers, apparently, really frown on this running down and up and down and up adventure.

David, I’ve been looking at my pics from last fall, and I can’t tell what’s tamarisk in the pics and what’s not! I wasn’t actually paying attention to “what” was growing there when I was there, was just looking for “pretty” pictures, but from what I remember, there were no “wide dead patches” as shown it the pic you posted. Here are a couple of the pics along the Colorado River just west of Rt 191 at Moab. Can you tell what’s what? There IS a row of something that looks like it’s “in distress” just above the vegetation that’s closest to the river. [You can magnify by clicking on the magnifying glass, and then clicking the "+" in the top left of the picture] https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/eHU3L5M6VbXSS1PqiwRNPWVY7bTWTqbxp-YJkmJRdpU?feat=directlink This one is from behind Jug handle Arch—which is right by the river! That looks kind of like tamarisk to me—possibly half dead??? https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/0BUL5Tu2bH6KDD6W_7nbf2VY7bTWTqbxp-YJkmJRdpU?feat=directlink This looks like half-dead tamarisk that I was shooting thru—trying to get a pic of the blue water, but it didn’t turn out anywhere near as good as in Real Life! https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4_S_wbcbskbAWRhkI0Q_Z2VY7bTWTqbxp-YJkmJRdpU?feat=directlink And across the river in this one you can see two different kinds of vegetation, and one of them looks half-dead, and maybe that’s tamarisk—on its way out! https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/k6hlfx4mI-p0fKh_V8PtmWVY7bTWTqbxp-YJkmJRdpU?feat=directlink If the beetles do actually work, that would be really good news! [But, then, I always worry that “introducing” ANOTHER species just could have some other far-reaching ramifications that nobody will know about till far, far down the road!] Zach, I’m insanely busy trying to get ready for my “spring trip,” so I won’t have time to do any extensive research or posts here till I come home from that trip, but I would very much appreciate any info you may have access to about mitigation/eradication of the tamarisk, and especially if you have anything about the effectiveness of the beetles. Just bring anything you might have to the swap—that’ll be an easy way for you to get it to me! “The Mancos” at Towaoc/Cortez is where I’m heading again when I go, and I’ll be doing another tour on the Tribal Park—the road into the Park runs right along the Mancos, and if we have time going in or out, I’ll ask if we can stop and walk down to the “river,”—it might even actually have water in it in spring!—and I’ll get some pics and try to check out the “state of the tamarisk!” I know (from something I found last fall when I started the research) that they have released beetles in that area, but from what I remember seeing last fall, it sure didn’t look to me like they had done any damage. It’ll be interesting to see what I find when I’m paying more attention! When I’m doing the tours it’s not usually the tamarisk I’m thinking about! But thanks again for doing what you can to help! I really appreciate it! Skybird P.S. If you’re wondering where I’m talking about, this is it! The road follows the Mancos River into the Park most of the way up to the “campground,” and then it goes UP! https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/h_P6iXucSPtCimQfNKIKMAPPcO__tq0XI6jlKd1A8Lg?feat=directlink