A tornado has devastated a great blue heron rookery at Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, killing nearly 200 of the graceful birds.

It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, an honor to have your face portrayed in the bottom of a chamber pot. But that was the fate of British Naval Capt. Basil Hall, and you can find the proof at Fort Stanwix National Monument in New York.

Having left most of the cold and snow behind in Bryce Canyon National Park, lodging guidebook writers David and Kay Scott have moved on to Zion National Park and a stay at Zion Lodge.

Having fled the snowy North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, our intrepid lodging experts, touring the West to update their book, "The Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges," find themselves...at snowy Bryce Canyon National Park.