Shelley, you painted the grinder? It's absolutely stunning! Can you tell us about the pepper mix? My husband is a big fan of spices. The pizza kit is great! I especially love the sturdy rolling pin, my favorite kind. And an EZ read thermometer? sigh. It might be time... Wonderful job! And my swap sister Diana55/Sophia Loren sent me that issue of Canadian living...I haven't been able to bring it home yet because everyone at work has been pawing at it! Lots of great stuff in there. Enjoy! Nina

For one week: 1. Do a photo tour. Make a list of all the great scenes you like to see and photograph, and then select a set that can be included in a week tour, then go for it. This assumes tht you'll be doing your own driving. That's the best way because you can spend as much time as you want at each location, and you have tghe freedom to explore roads off the beaten path. 2. If you are a Civil War buff, there are a number of historical locations to view. 3. Make contact with a long "lost" relative or close friend that you have not seen in a very long time and plan to visit her/him. Self tours that e have enjoyed the most: a. Fall color tour of New England b. Fall tour of the Smokys, including the Blue Ridge Parkway. c. Grand Canyon including Arches, Mesa Verde, and Moument Valley. d. Yellow Stone National Park. e. In Canada, the drive from Banff to Japser in British Columbia. At Jasper, be sure to take side trips to local lakes.

Have a wonderful trip. It sounds like you will be busy the whole time. I know your GS will have a blast.

Yes, I know exactly what you're referring to. I seem to recall first hearing about the cannibalism theory at one of the visitor's centers for a national park/monument - cannot for the life of me recall which one though. The evidence of trade with Mexico fascinates me, as does the network of ancient roads that have been mapped out. How cool is this: When the Spanish first arrived in the southwest in the 16th century, they recorded feather trade and the keeping of macaws among Pueblo peoples (Hodge and Lewis 1907:106; Schroeder 1968:98-99). As evidenced by Lyndon Hargrove (1970), macaw skeletal remains make their appearance in the American Southwest by 1000 AD. Most significant are the remains of the scarlet macaw (Ara macao) whose native habitat only extends from the jungles of South America into lowland Mexico. The presence of scarlet macaws in the desert southwest illustrates the importance of trade in exotica between the cultures of the southwest and Mexico. The earliest macaw feathers that have been recovered in this region date back to 750 A.D. These feathers indicate the start of a large trade network between the southwestern cultures and Central Mexico. Turquoise from New Mexico and Arizona have been found in Mexico, while marine shells from the Sea of Cortez, copper bells, and cacao from Central Mexico have been recovered in the southwest. Of course, my dad liked to remind me that as some of these civilizations flourished, cathedrals were being built in Europe, but that makes the mud-bricked ruins no less amazing in my mind. ;-)