10 places to see before you die

Since the 1990s, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and above all South Miami Beach have developed no shortage of swank restaurants catering to the "beautiful people" (physically or financially-some of America's highest household incomes are found on Miami's residential islands). Overall, though, Miami is America's poorest large city, so there's also a dizzying variety of more affordable dining options. It's a little tougher to find good quality for rock-bottom prices in Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale, but plenty of regular folks-including immigrants and students-live there, too. And they manage to scrape by on considerably less than Gloria Estefan, Rosie O'Donnell, and Ricky Martin. The immigrants in particular have set a-bubbling a culinary melting pot whose strongest dishes hail from Latin America and the Caribbean. Especially in the Miami area, you'll find heaping helpings from Argentina to Trinidad, with an obvious emphasis on Cuba. Even Fort Lauderdale, infamous for its spring-break madness, has managed to shed some of its white bread, surf-and-turf reputation. Miami/Miami Beach Since 2001, this cavernous space has seen a steady stream of diners round-the-clock (as well as folks crowding the counter up front for fancy pastries and Argentine sweets, and surfers at the Internet terminals in back). It really gets hopping in the wee hours, when club-goers most appreciate the Latin fare turned out to a pop-music beat. The menu is dominated by specialties of Cuba, owner Mairely Rodr'guez's homeland, and dishes are similar in quality to those at Puerto Sagua, the longtime landmark just below South Beach. But the setting here is spiffier (green-tile palms on cool white walls, exposed ceiling ducts, mod light fixtures) and the location is central-two blocks west of Ocean Drive, three blocks south of the chichi pedestrian mall known as Lincoln Road, and three blocks north of the distinguished Wolfsonian Museum. The frita cubana (Cuban-style hamburger, $3.70) and Cuban sandwich (cold cuts and pickles on French bread, run through a sandwich press, $5.55) are top picks from the sandwich menu. But the best deals are at the steam tables, with lech-n asado (succulent roast pork) and about a dozen other items for $5.55, including two sides (rice, beans, potatoes, plantains, cassava, or sweet potatoes). E la carte platters, most of which cost $9, include the same sides along with the likes of chicken and steak. Tropical calls itself La Casa del Churrasco (House of Steak), and for good reason. The vaca frita (fried flank steak with onions, $9) is less crisp than at other Cuban restaurants, instead playing up tenderness and flavors of lemon and garlic; the picadillo a la criolla (ground beef sautZed with olives and raisins, $5) is hearty and rich; and the joint's former Argentine influence shows in the high quality of its 12-ounce steak platters ($14.95). Tap Tap 819 5th St., South Beach, 305/672-2898; 4 p.m.-11 p.m. Mon.-Wed., 4 p.m.-midnight Thurs.-Sat., 4-11 p.m. Sun. Haitians are another major Caribbean ingredient in Miami's cultural stew. But most of the Haitian restaurants are in dicey neighborhoods. So, Katharin Kean founded Tap Tap eight years ago, both to introduce the general public to kizin krey~l and to give middle-class Haitian-Americans a nice place to enjoy it. The result is a mini-maze of five dining spaces, painted in cheerful primary colors and named after local artists and various Haitian voodoo gods. Tap Tap's funky, friendly vibe couldn't be further from the attitude of the rest of South Beach-especially on Thursday and Saturday evenings, when live bands do their thing. And the food? It's not unlike Jamaican, with subtle twists and sometimes different spicing. The stewed beef ($8.95) and chicken ($5.95) are delicious, but you'll also find tender goat (grilled, $12.95, and in a more elaborate creole-style stew, $8.95) and conch (same preparations, for about a dollar more). All main courses come with at least two of the following: rice, beans, fried plantains, or cassava fries. Soups, salads, and sides involving other Caribbean staples like okra and pumpkin are also reasonably priced. For dessert, try the blancmange ($3), a coconut pudding with an almost cake-like consistency. Scotty's Landing Chart House Dr., off South Bayshore Dr., Grove Key Marina, Coconut Grove, 305/854-2626; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. weekends. Coconut Grove, once a charming 1920s harborfront town of wood cottages and cobblestone lanes, has finished its long, strange trip from boho hippie hangout in the '60s and '70s to a land of Starbucks, Armani, and the mansions of Madonna and Stallone. Enough of the charm lingers to make the Grove something of a party magnet-especially on weekends-but there's also the lure of a historic mansion (Miami's oldest) called the Barnacle, the Coconut Grove Playhouse, the Vizcaya Mansion, the Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium, and Key Biscayne, with its Seaquarium. Fortunately, there are a handful of refuges from high prices and plastic atmosphere-Scotty's Landing foremost among them. For 12 years, Scotty Wessel has run a weathered bait shack and an open-air dining area that's basically a dock under a green-and-white canopy, flanked by banana trees and coconut palms (you can even pull up in your boat). The clientele is made up of weekend boaters, grizzled old salts (especially around the bar), and slick, young investment bankers who all sit under overhead fans and watch the yachts slipping in and out of the marina; unspoiled Grove Key is in the background, Miami Beach is across the bay. Friday through Sunday, bands set up under a nearby banyan tree and serenade everybody with island rhythms. It's a great spot for knocking back a cold one at sunset (drafts from $2.35). This is some of the area's freshest, most unfancy seafood. The cracked conch is nice and moist ($6.95 with fries), and the 10-ounce grilled blackened mahi steak with fries and salad ($10.95) is another favorite. There are plenty of other mahi and conch options (including conch fritters jazzed up with a touch of Scotch bonnet, $4.75), as well as shrimp, clams, oysters, and calamari. Scotty's can be a little stingy with drinks (no refills at meals, no happy-hour discounts), but there's no better place to soak up the flavor of old Coconut Grove. Versailles Restaurant 3555 SW 8th St., at SW 36th Ave., Little Havana, 305/444-0240; 8 a.m.-2 a.m. Sun.-Thurs., 8 a.m.-4:30 a.m. Fri. and Sat. First things first: It's pronounced "vehr-sigh-yes," in the Spanish manner. This vast, must-visit landmark has reigned famously over the western end of Little Havana's Calle Ocho, the heart of Miami's Cuban exile community, since 1971. The ambience is heavily Latin, with glass chandeliers and etched, backlit mirrors that mean to suggest the original Versailles but wouldn't have kept the Sun King up nights. You get 'em all here: gray-hairs, blue-rinses, families, sleek young Yucas (young, upwardly mobile Cuban-Americans). It's not the finest Cuban food in town, but it's the best mix of good solid fare and an entertaining local scene. Start with the smoky black-bean soup ($2.55) or a plateful of crunchy/velvety croquettes (ham, chicken, or cod, $4.95), followed by a house specialty, lech-n asado (juicy roast pork, $8.75) or a more acquired taste such as lengua asada (ox tongue in wine sauce, $8.95). Daily specials start at $5.25, and most entreZs include sweet plantains and white or yellow rice. On a larger scale, the two surtidos cubanos (Cuban samplers, $10.95) come with two entrZes apiece, accompanied by a croquette and the standard sides. Whatever your pleasure, wash it all down with sweet, herbal Materva soda ($1.10) or an Hatuey beer ($3.25). After your feast, stroll around the galleries and shops of Calle Ocho-old guys in starched guayabera shirts will be playing dominos in (where else?) Domino Park, cigar rollers will be making stogies the old-fashioned way at La Gloria Cubana. Nearby, the Latin American Art Museum is also well worth a look.

Gayle Forman traveled around the world for a year with her husband, Nick, and wrote about the trip in You Can't Get There From Here, which comes out next month. But she saved her best tips for us. Take time off from your companion(s) It's better to go to separate corners before a fight happens. Even if you simply adore the person you're traveling with--be it your spouse, lover, or auntie Mame--give yourselves some breaks. Long breaks, if necessary. After a quarrelsome period in East Africa, Nick and I parted ways for a month while he explored Zambia and Botswana and I wandered through South Africa. When we reunited, we no longer wanted to strangle each other. Trust Third World doctors Your first visit to a local clinic can be nerve-racking, what with your mysterious malady and the doctor's oldfangled equipment. But local medics know a lot about native diseases (the majority of U.S. practitioners, after all, don't have much experience treating malaria, dengue fever, and other exotic ailments). When a worm took up residence in his big toe, Nick visited a doctor in rural Malawi who gave him medication that killed and dissolved the interloper. The visit and drugs cost all of a buck. Skip the taxis Hiring a cab is fine for jaunts around town, but employing a driver for long-distance trips often results in disaster. In the mountains of Yunnan Province, China, our driver crashed into a horse cart and we wound up in the local police station for the day. En route to Almaty, Kazakhstan, our crazy hack, Murat, almost ran out of gas--twice--and took several hours-long breaks, turning a 12-hour drive into a 22-hour ordeal. For long hauls, stick to public transport. Don't stress over a quarter In India, I would often get completely inflamed when negotiating with rickshaw drivers because I knew those rascals were overcharging. Just as I was about to pop, Nick would remind me that I was freaking out over a quarter. Bargaining is a fact of life in much of the world, and, as a foreigner, you will be a rip-off target. Haggle smart, but keep your perspective. Give money, not cigarettes Marlboros cost less on the streets of Beijing and Moscow than at the duty-free, so attempts to grease palms with smokes will not be well received. When a border guard in Kazakhstan solicited a "gift" from Nick and me, I offered up a pack of Reds, and we wound up detained for a few hours. Had I ponied up the cash he was looking for, we would've saved ourselves so much trouble. Just eat it When Doctor Bi, the Chinese pediatrician who enlisted my help in writing a book about curing cancer through learning English (don't ask), invited us to lunch, I was thrilled. Nothing beats an invitation to dine with a local. I was less thrilled when Bi presented Nick and me with a plate of fluorescent-green eggs, what looked like long strands of leather, and some shiny, fatty, truffley stuff. I made it through the meal by not asking what anything was and eating with an open mind. It would have been harder to do so had I known, as I was later informed, that I'd been lunching on animal fat and skin, pig's ears, and tripe. Leave the drugstore at home Why waste space and money by toting value packs of Tylenol or Cipro or doxycycline, when in big cities you can usually find cheap generic versions of common meds? Heck, in Bangkok you can readily stock up on everything from Valium to Viagra. A good rule of thumb: If a disease is endemic, you can usually find a medication to prevent or treat it (at a fraction of what you'd pay here, and usually sold over the counter). One big exception, ladies, is tampons. Although I found sanitary pads to be ubiquitous, tampons were another matter altogether. By packing a year's supply of those tiny O.B.'s--they didn't even fill a large Ziploc--I saved myself from many an emergency. Build vacations into the vacation Being the constant stranger in a strange land--navigating foreign geography, culture, language, and money on a daily basis--is wonderful but also grueling. You absolutely need time off from your traveling routine. If you're camping a lot, splurge now and again on a hotel. If you're racing through cities, as Nick and I did, hit the coast. We took quarterly lazy beach vacations, tanning ourselves in New Zealand, Thailand, and Tanzania. Bring U.S. dollars Though most travel guides warn against carrying them, sometimes only greenbacks will do. On the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, dollars are the currency of choice, not the Tanzanian shilling. Traveler's checks aren't widely accepted there, so we had to exchange U.S. traveler's checks for Tanzanian shillings and then turn around and exchange the shillings for dollars, losing about 15 percent of the value in the process. Take advantage of opportunities to stock up on cash (like in hard-currency-starved Cambodia, where banks will exchange traveler's checks denominated in dollars for their face value in American bills). Know when to be brave Sure, the world can be dangerous, and, yes, prudence is a good thing, but sometimes the State Department goes over the top with its travel warnings. Kenya and Nepal are both on the current no-go list, even though plenty of tourists happily visit these places. Of course, terrorism is always a consideration, but if that's the main criterion for warnings, New York City is as dangerous as New Delhi. We skipped a stop in Yemen as was advised, but ignored the warning about India, where we had a grand time and got great deals because other tourists were staying away. Embrace local beauty rituals Here's my big admission. I'm a fake redhead. I wanted to stay red on the road, but accidents happened, like in India when a hotel beauty salon left me with dark-brown hair that looked hideous. (And I didn't want to strip out the color and totally wreck my weary locks.) Eventually I flagged down an old pilgrim woman who had the perfect shade; she told me to use henna with coffee grounds. Not only did I manage to restore my hair to its rightful red, but I learned a great tidbit about local life. Of course, this strategy has risks: An elderly barber in Saigon gave Nick the classic GI buzz. Try being nice to touts "Psst, you wanna buy a rug? You need a good hotel? You want a tour?" In the developing world, touts are omnipresent and pesky. But bear in mind that they're poor, and, relatively speaking, you're rich, so of course they want to take advantage of your presence. Refusing is fine (and necessary, unless you're looking to purchase 200 carpets), but remember your humanity. I had a rough time with the onslaught of neediness in Cambodia: dozens of people begging, offering me rides or shoeshines or newspapers or tours. Ignoring them made me feel terrible, and they still hounded me. Once I started talking to them, I felt less harassed and often met the human behind the sales pitch.

The three-mile, mostly level trail to Lower Calf Creek Falls in southern Utah's magnificent Canyon Country is not difficult. But I was getting plenty hot from the sun's burning glare, which radiated ovenlike off the red rock cliffs overhead. So when I reached the slender falls, which spill 126 feet into a large, deep pool at the trail's end, I didn't hesitate. Off came my shirt and hiking boots, and I plunged into the clear, frigid water. Brrrrr! Later, fully refreshed, I dried out on a large, flat rock, eating the picnic lunch I'd packed and listening to the cheery serenade of the splashing stream. A terrific day, I remember thinking at the time. And the fun had hardly cost me anything. Etched by deep, sinuous slick-rock canyons and shadowed by forested mountain peaks, southern Utah ranks as one of America's great outdoor playgrounds - a surprisingly inexpensive vacation destination that is as awesomely beautiful as it is geologically chaotic. From this compact region of multicolored rock formations - graceful arches, towering spires, soaring cliffs - five national parks, three national monuments, a sprawling national recreation area, and several state parks have been carved. Many people come to Canyon Country simply as sightseers to gaze in awe at the natural spectacles. For others, the parks mean exciting wilderness adventures, a place where they can hike, bike, kayak, raft, or rock climb beneath a dazzling blue sky. On Calf Creek Trail, a popular hike in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, study the ancient pictographs of humanlike figures painted in red on a smooth cliff side. At Capitol Reef National Park, venture into a deep red rock canyon so narrow you can almost touch both sides with your extended arms. On a high, pinon-shaded plateau at Escalante State Park, examine fine deposits of petrified wood, including brightly hued tree trunks polished by the ages to the shiny gleam of giant marbles. At Bryce Canyon National Park, descend the steep switchback path called the Navajo Trail that leads into a fantastical wonderland of eerie pink rock pillars and pinnacles called "hoodoos." At Arches National Park, climb the scary cliff's-edge trail to snap a photo of Delicate Arch, the park's majestic emblem. There is a frontier look to this rugged, unspoiled land, as well as easy-on-the-wallet prices that hark back to an earlier era. If you plan ahead, you can easily find good economical lodges and motels - often in a scenic setting. Expect to pay $7.50 for a hearty chicken-fried steak dinner, less than $8 for a burger-and-beer combo (big enough to satisfy a hungry ranch hand). Like my Calf Creek hike, most of what you will want to see or do costs little or nothing. Indeed, Canyon Country - or "Color Country," as it often is promoted - could just as appropriately be dubbed "Budget Country." Trivia pause: On this trip, it's useful to know the difference between a natural bridge and a natural arch - which look exactly alike. Both are formed by erosion. A bridge is carved by a rushing stream or waterfall; the weather-wind, rain, snow, heat, cold-shapes an arch. Getting there To get you on your way, I've plotted a budget traveler's itinerary to what I consider the highlights of Canyon Country. In a hurry, you could cover the route in a week (as I describe it), but two weeks are better. If time is short, plan to visit only one or two of the parks described here. On my last trip, I spent four memorable days hiking and sightseeing just at Grand Staircase-Escalante. Summer is the busy season; spring and fall are quieter and cheaper. In winter, the parks remain open but many budget-priced tourist facilities close. You can begin and end this circle route at either Salt Lake City to the north or Las Vegas to the south. Or begin in one city and end in the other. Both are served by budget airlines. A search of the Internet suggests summer car rentals are cheaper out of Las Vegas. Dollar recently quoted a weekly rate for mid-August 2001 of $108 for a four-door compact with unlimited mileage. From Salt Lake, the lowest rate I could find for the same car/same week was $167 at Payless. No matter which city you pick, your vacation begins with a five-to-six-hour drive to Kanab, the inexpensive gateway to Utah's canyon parks. But this is not as tiring a slog as you might imagine, because the scenery is eye-catching almost every mile of the way. At the first park you visit, buy a $50 National Parks Pass. It covers entrance fees for you and everyone in your car at all national parks and monuments for a year. Seniors 62 and older can purchase a lifetime Golden Age Passport (good for a carload) for $10. Room rates below are for two people per night during summer high season. Zion National Park About 40 miles west of Kanab, Zion National Park (435/772-3256) makes a dazzling introduction to Canyon Country. Carved by the rippling Virgin River, Zion Canyon is a deep, narrow gorge of vividly colored sandstone walls rising 3,000 feet. The approach from Kanab on Utah Route 9 provides a panoramic view before the road takes you on a heartstopping, zigzag descent into its depths. Only recently, park officials have banned most vehicular traffic on the seven-mile Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, which threads the canyon past Zion Lodge to the road's end at the Narrows. Now you must board a free shuttle at the Visitor Center or you can walk all or part of the way beneath willows and cottonwoods lining the Virgin River. A number of side trails from easy to strenuous ascend the canyon walls. The short but steep climb to the Emerald Pools (two miles round-trip) is a favorite of mine because it rewards with more lovely pools and cascading falls. Unless you're an avid hiker, plan to spend no more than a half day in the park, and then move on. Details: Within the park, Zion Lodge (303/297-2757) is lovely but somewhat pricey. Instead, stay in Kanab, once favored by Hollywood as a dramatic setting for westerns. I like the rambling old Parry Lodge (435/644-2601), an 89-room motel with an outdoor pool that has decorated its rooms with photos of the movie stars who came to town. Rates begin at $50 per double room. Dine at the inviting Parry Lodge Restaurant, where the prime rib plate costs $14, the chicken-fried steak just $7.50. Alternative digs, if Parry Lodge is full, are found just down the street at the 31-room Aiken's Lodge (435/644-2625) at $47 per double. A bit pricier, the 119-room Shiloh Inn (435/644-3562) charges $85, which includes continental breakfast for two. And you'll find more choices in Springdale at the western entrance to Zion. Consider the 41-room Pioneer Lodge (435/772-3233), $59 per double room. From Kanab, convenient day trips are possible south to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and east to Wahweap Marina (on the Utah/Arizona state line) for an escorted boat trip on Lake Powell to Rainbow Bridge National Monument, the world's largest natural bridge. Bryce Canyon National Park One of America's oddest national parks, Bryce Canyon National Park (435/834-5322) looks like something out of a fairy tale. Formed by erosion, pink stone pillars in fanciful or bizarre shapes - the hoodoos - soar like the towers of a castle or ancient cathedral. Here and there, a natural tunnel pierces the rock or an arch leaps overhead. From the canyon's rim, you can peer into this chaotic jumble. But better yet, don sturdy boots and descend into its maze of narrow passageways. The 1.5-mile (round-trip) Navajo Loop Trail is my favorite. Starting from Sunset Point, it drops rapidly into the canyon in a series of 29 switchbacks and then squeezes through a narrow, high-walled passage dubbed "Wall Street." Climbing out, it skirts the Pope, Thor's Hammer, and other aptly named rock formations. Plan on a half day in the park. Details: Bryce is about 85 miles northeast of Zion. Here, too, is Bryce Canyon Lodge (303/297-2757), beautifully located but expensive. I recently stayed just outside the park at Bryce Canyon Pines (800/892-7923), a pleasant 52-room motel where the rate is $75. Prices are cheaper about 15 miles west in the town of Panguitch. There, the 55-room Best Western New Western (800/528-1234) charges $65 with continental breakfast. At the 13-room Hiett Lamplighter Inn (800/322-6966), $55; at the 16-room Horizon Motel (800/776-2651), $49. Or try one of the motels in the town of Tropic, seven miles east of Bryce. The rate at the 65-room Bryce Valley Inn (435/679-8811) is $55 per double. And a minor note: a T-bone steak at Bryce Canyon Pines costs a too-high $16.50. But the dinner special (just $9.95) features thoroughly acceptable baked chicken or porkchops. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument The immense emptiness of Grand Staircase-Escalante (435/826-5499) is intimidating. Indeed, rangers regularly warn inexperienced hikers of the potentially fatal danger of getting lost in this harsh, unforgiving wilderness. But don't let those daunting words keep you away. Much of the huge monument can be viewed - and enjoyed - easily by almost any traveler. And see it you should. Utah Route 12, one of America's most scenic highways, traces its northern edge, and a handful of roads paved and unpaved provide limited access to the interior. If the name - a real mouthful - puzzles you, join the crowd. In fact, Grand Staircase-Escalante recognizes two very distinct geological features. To the west, the Grand Staircase is a series of cliff-edged plateaus that climb like giant stair steps from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon. To the east, the Escalante is the incredibly rumpled landscape drained by the many slender feeder canyons of the Escalante River. Calf Creek, where I took my cooling dip, flows through one such canyon to the river. Both areas are gorgeous, but Escalante is where you're going to want to spend most of your time. Because of its size, allow for a two-day stay. If one vista in the monument might thrill more than any other - the kind of view where one literally gasps in awe - it comes suddenly at the summit of a low pass about ten miles east of the little town of Escalante on Route 12. Spread out before you for miles around is an eerie landscape of polished yellow rock-as if a hard, shiny pottery glaze had been sunbaked atop the scrambled gorges, domes, ridges, and cliffs. Tour guides call it "an ocean of rock." In a series of steep switchbacks, Route 12 plunges deep into this sandstone sea. Hike along Calf Creek, marvel at the petrified stumps at Escalante State Park, and then take a detour drive on the 67-mile Burr Trail, which begins in the town of Boulder. At the outset, huge petrified sand dunes, created millions of years ago, soar like giant cones of soft ice cream, right down to the swirls on top. And then the road drops quickly into a landscape turned a dark, rich red. This is Long Canyon, a narrow, seven-mile-long winding valley cut between majestic cliffs. In Utah's realm of many spectacles, the canyon is a glory. And on a recent day in June, my wife and I had it to ourselves. Details: On two trips in recent years, I made my headquarters in Boulder, about 85 miles east of Bryce Canyon. The 20-room Boulder Mountain Lodge (800/556-3446), perched on the edge of a bird sanctuary and pond, is perhaps the finest lodging in Canyon Country. Rates begin at $69. A block up the road, the 13-room, family-run Pole's Place Motel (800/730-7422) is basic but spotlessly clean, and cheaper at $49. Dine five minutes away at Boulder Mesa Cafe, featuring a $14.95 New York steak dinner or a $9.95 roast beef plate. You can also find good, inexpensive lodging and dining in nearby Escalante, another Route 12 gateway to the park. A newly refurbished room at the 12-room Padre Motel (435/826-4276) begins at $40, while the same at the 50-room Prospector Inn (435/826-4653) is $57. Just down the street, the Circle D Restaurant serves up a full grilled chicken dinner for $7.95. Capitol Reef National Park Capitol Reef (435/425-3791) is the national park almost nobody knows. And maybe we should keep it our secret. Traffic jams can clog Zion and Bryce in summer, but it's not a problem here. Stretching in a slender, 100-mile, north-to-south strip, the park preserves a rare and mighty fold in the earth's crust known to geologists as the Waterpocket Fold. The name comes from the numerous pockets and potholes in the rocks that capture rainwater. To the uninitiated, the fold most resembles an oddly tilted ridge or reef thrusting into the air, its broad face tinted in reds and oranges and wrinkled with the weathering of ages. The "Capitol" pays tribute to many rounded grayish-white domes. A nine-mile scenic drive links several of the major rock formations. But to really see the park, plan on a hike or two. As a starter, go for a two-mile journey into the Grand Wash, a rock-filled gully that winds beneath towering red cliffs. It's an easy trek that gets more intriguing as the high, water-polished canyon walls narrow into a winding tunnel barely the width of outstretched arms. Details: Stay in Torrey, just outside the park's west entrance. At the lovely ten-room Capitol Reef Inn & Cafe (435/425-3271), the room decor and the menu reflect the local southwestern style. A room is $44, a nine-ounce ribeye steak $12.95. Other less romantic options: the Torrey/Capitol Reef Super 8 Motel (435/425-3688), $58; and the 39-room Days Inn (435/425-3111), $79. You could also stay in Boulder and make a day trip to Capitol Reef. The 32-mile drive via Route 12 climbs the shoulder of 11,000-foot Boulder Mountain, offering spectacular views. Arches/Canyonlands National Parks The 1.5-mile trail that climbs to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park - one of nature's most graceful rock sculptures - is steep, tough, hot, and just a little scary as it edges a sheer drop-off. But the payoff, as the narrow path swings abruptly around a soaring red bluff, is a spectacular vista. The massive arch, which leaps into the sky with the muscular agility of a ballet dancer, frames majestic cliffs, canyons, mesas, and mountains. At first sight, I gasped both to catch my breath from the ascent and from wonderment at the panorama spread for miles before me. Arches (435/719-2299) and Canyonlands (435/259-7164) are neighboring parks outside the Old West town of Moab. By far the larger of the two, Canyonlands is a rugged wilderness most suited to the hardy, experienced, and well-prepared - although the 12-mile drive to Grand View Point shouldn't be missed. For the rest of us, however, little Arches actually offers more in the way of interesting rock sculptures, scenic drives, and easy-to-moderate hikes. Arches boasts more than 1,500 catalogued arches, the greatest density of them in the world. Many can be seen from the park's 28-mile scenic road. But short trails lead to many more. Overwhelmed by their numbers, I almost missed Delicate Arch. But a ranger I met in the visitor center on my final day there all but ordered me to make the climb or regret missing one of Canyon Country's greatest views. So I obeyed and was bedazzled. What a grand, spirit-boosting way to end my trip. Details: Give yourself at least two days in Moab to see both parks. Moab is about 150 miles east of Capitol Reef via Utah Routes 24 east and 95 south and U.S. 191 north. En route, stop for two or three hours at Natural Bridges National Monument. Moab's lodging rates tend to be a little higher than elsewhere on this tour. Stay at the 50-room Red Stone Inn (800/772-1972), $59.95; the 40-room Bowen Motel (800/874-5439), $70; or the 50-room Best Inn (435/259-8848), both $75. All three have pools. On a tighter budget, try the Lazy Lizard International Hostel (435/259-6057), $8.72 in a bunk room for four (women) or eight (men). About 50 miles north in Green River, the 105-room Motel 6 (435/564-3436) charges $56. In Moab, dine at Smitty's Golden Steak, the town's bustling favorite. Full dinners-hamburger steak, ham steak, liver and onions - cost just $6.95. To complete your Canyon Country tour, return to Salt Lake City or Las Vegas via I-70 and I-15 - perhaps with a detour to Cedar Breaks National Monument - another red rock spectacular.