I'm not mentioning this to be snarky so please don't take offense. Sometimes people look for "landmarks" when in unfamiliar territory... It's the Washington Times bldg. clearly visible and abutting the arboretum on New York Ave., in the NE section of DC. The Post is on 15th. St. in the NW section. :-) If the NA is something you put on your agenda, have a good DC street map and visit the arboretum when you have plenty of daylight. The arboretum is large and serene and peaceful (and you can drive around from collection to collection if acres of walking isn't your forte), but outside the gates is an area you do not want to get lost in when the sun starts going down. It's not the postcard land of the White House, the Mall and the Smithsonian, and the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials.

Only familiar with Portland-area nurseries, but I am pretty loyal to O'Donal's in Gorham. Short trip from exit 45 or 46 off 95. Great selection, knowledgable and helpful staff. Link below. Here is a link that might be useful: O'Donal's Nursery

Little late re roses, a week ago we had a hard freeze and they're toast. Silverton got 3 feet of snow last week, by the way. I assume you are staying in Flagstaff one night, then Durango (5-6 hr drive) the next. Are you are riding the Silverton train out of Durango, or the one out of Georgetown? Durango to Leadville is about an 8 hr drive over some spectacular country, particularly this time of year when the aspen are changing. In Denver, the Botanical Gardens might be doing ok, but someone there should know better.

Terri, I haven't forgotten you -- just haven't had phone or email for a week. We lost coverage when we got to the Oregon Coast. From there we drove up to Olympic National Park and still were without coverage (I have Verizon phone and Verizon mobile broadband). The Verizon map showed coverage for all of those areas, as well as Victoria, but we didn't have it. Anyway, we are now in Parksville, BC and plan to stay in BC until Monday. I'll give you a call as soon as we have coverage again, but I'll keep updating you here in the meantime.