By Amy Anderson, Sunset editorial intern

Hotels are making it easy to travel and take in the West's celebrations on April 22, Earth Day, without going overboard on the budget. Check out these lodging deals, local festivals, and eco-friendly tips for Earth Week.

Photo courtesy of visitlakequinault.com

Lake Quinault Lodge: Stay in Washington's Olympic National Forest for $109 on Friday, April 24, then spend Saturday from 9 am- 4 pm volunteering to preserve the Quinault Rainforest.

• Procession of the Species: April 25, Olympia
• King County Earth Day Expo: April 22, Seattle
• Earth Day with Citizens for a Healthy Bay: April 25, Tacoma

Kimpton Hotels: Help cut back on carbon emissions by taking your vacation by train. Then show your ticket at a Kimpton hotel (try the San Francisco, Portland, or Seattle spots), and receive 20 percent off your stay.

• Berkeley Earth Day: April 25, Berkeley 
• Cal Parks Earth Day Restoration: April 25, California
• Oregon Zoo "Party for the Planet": April 26, Portland

Photo courtesy of whotels.com

W Hotel Scottsdale: Until May 22, your stay at the W will get you a donation of 100 Trees for the Future on your behalf through Trees for the Future’s Plant-a-Tree program, in-room breakfast for two, and two spring cocktails starting at $229.

• Earth Day Phoenix: April 22, Phoenix
• Arizona Earth Day: April 25, Phoenix
• Scottsdale Community College Earth Week: April 20-24, Scottsdale

Hotel Terra Jackson Hole: From May 7 to September 30, you can book the Eco Adventures package in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and get a biologist-led wildlife tour, Flip Ultra video camera and a daily breakfast starting at $174 per night, per person.

• Earth Day in Laramie: April 22, Laramie
• Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance Earth Week: April 21-25, Jackson Hole

And finally...

• If you're still feeling guilty about all the greenhouse gas that's emitted from traveling, Carbonfund.org can help your conscience. Just use the calculator to find out how much CO₂ came from your trip--by car, train, bus, or air--then donate the amount of money that will offset.

• Find more ways to green your home and lifestyle with Sunset's Real-world Earth Day tips.

Take time this week to think of other ways you can lower your environmental impact!

By Amy Wolf, Sunset travel editor

While up to a million people are predicted to swarm into Chicago’s Grant Park tonight to celebrate election night and Barack Obama, plans for the Republican party at the Arizona Biltmore seem a little more subdued, formal, and—dare I say it—over the top, given these economic times.

But like I said yesterday, I’m not going to get all politicky on you. Instead, I thought I would share a couple fun facts about the Arizona Biltmore, a hotel that is, like Sunset, a western icon.

The Arizona Biltmore was the first luxury resort built in the dusty desert, in 1929.

It makes a good stop when you're exploring Scottsdale's canals.

The chef does salsa demos and tastings at the swim-up bar in the pool. (I wonder if tonight’s party will feature any salsa in the pool...)

The oldest of the Biltmore’s pools was Marilyn Monroe’s favorite swimming pool. Will it be Sarah Palin’s favorite too?

The hotel’s bar used to serve (and maybe still serves) banana martinis, which taste worlds better than they sound. (Though I sort of doubt they’ll be drinking those tonight.)

Wherever you choose to celebrate, or mourn, happy election day to all: blue, red, and everyone in between.

by Anna Nordberg, Sunset special projects editor

This is shaping up to be a season of staycations. Dismal headlines, expensive gas, and a general uncertainty about everything mean that people are putting their holiday plans on ice (bad news unless you've had your fill of politics and turkey with the in-laws). So in the spirit of frugal chic—but still squeezing in that weekend getaway—here are some vacation deals that have come across my desk.

Photo credit: The Camelback Mountain Spa and Resort, courtesy of the Scottsdale Convention & VIsitors Bureau

Scottsdale: The Scottsdale CVB website offers dozens of deals. Look for the special overnights section on the  vacation packages  page for deals at Scottsdale hotels (think Camelback Mountain Spa and Resort, W Scottsdale , Phoenician,  Boulders resort and Golden Door Spa, and more.)

Tucson: This deal is a roll of the dice, but you have until November 30 to register to win a free getaway  (travel not included) at Tucson hotels such as the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort , Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa , and Westward Look Resort  (plus six more.)

Photo credit: The Westin La Paloma Resort

While I imagine the odds of winning are about as slim as the Dow clawing its way past 10,000, I thought I'd put it out there.

Sedona: Several hotels here are offering packages. Enchantment Resort lets you stay the fourth night for free if you book a three night stay by 12/18 (I think this qualifies as the only steal versus deal.)

Photo credit: Enchantment Resort

The El Portal Sedona gives discounts if you book now over the internet or if you are willing to switch rooms during your stay.

The Sedona Rouge has a couples package which includes a $100 credit at Reds Bistro and free spa treatment for two (not to discriminate against singles, it also offers a $50 credit for dining or spa treatments if you book before 12/31).

Full disclosure: Before you send me grumpy emails about the fine print, please know that I haven't vetted these deals, but they come from sites I trust. When you're booking, read the terms and conditions with a skeptic's eye and be very clear about which package you are calling about.

Happy bargain hunting!

by Matthew Jaffe, Sunset senior writer

Around my backyard, they’re known simply  as “the guys.” The guys are hummingbirds, three species to be exact—Allen’s, Rufous, and Anna’s—and ever since putting up a feeder a few years back, I have become somewhat obsessed with them.

Hummingbirds get a bad rap. That is to say their main habitats tend to be doilies, Seals & Crofts songs, and needlepoint pillows, where they are portrayed as delicate, ethereal creatures.  In reality they’re gram-for-gram the toughest and meanest little gangstas ever to hit a garden. Watch a feeder or a particular flower, and it’s a constant battle for turf and food: if humans ate as much as hummingbirds, we’d consume 155,000 calories a day.

Like I said, I’m obsessed.

Last week, my wife Becky and I headed to southeast Arizona, which in August is to hummingbirds and birders alike what the upcoming Bumbershoot is to music fans.  There’s even a festival down here this week: the 17th annual Southwest Wings Birding & Nature Festival.

So what’s all the fuss about? The canyons of the Huachuca Mountains are the best places in the country to see hummingbirds. Thanks to monsoon rains and migratory patterns, with a bit of luck and lots (and lots) of patience, you have the theoretical chance of seeing 15 different species here come August.

This has been a particularly good year for the monsoons—sometimes called Arizona’s fifth season—and nearly 15 inches of rain had fallen where we were staying at the Ramsey Canyon Inn. Ramsey Creek ran high and even areas outside the canyon were remarkably green and dotted with wildflowers.

We didn’t catch any monsoon rains but temperatures stayed in the 80s, a huge contrast with Phoenix, which cooled off all the way to a frigid low of 96 one night while we were there.

That wasn’t the only surprise. Now I don’t pretend to be a hummingbird expert but I figured I could make a quick study of the different species here. First things first: it helps to have binoculars. And I forgot mine. (We won't even talk about the inadequacy of my photo equipment.) Then as I began to meet more serious birders, who were making identifications not only between individual species but also within various categories including juveniles and individuals that were molting, I realized that my hummingbird knowledge, such as it is, doesn’t extend much past my patio.

Fortunately we had arranged to go out with a guide on our second day and naturalist Mark Pretti helped save us from a potential summer hummer bummer. Within our first half hour with Mark, we identified seven different species, and by the end of the day picked up an eighth, with a quick glimpse of a Lucifer Sheartail, the second smallest hummingbird found in the United States.

As it turned out, the hummingbirds were only part of our discovery. We learned how the Huachuca range is a meeting ground of Rocky Mountain environments and the sub-tropical habitats of Mexico’s Sierra Madre, and how two different deserts, the Sonoran and the Chihuahuan, converge in this part of Arizona too.

For that matter, Arizona has 1,000 native bee species and one of the birds we spotted, the Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, spends a portion of its year in the western Amazon.

Amazing what a big (and small) world there is beyond my backyard.

(HUMMINGBIRD PHOTOS BY ALAN & ELAINE WILSON AT www.naturespicsonline.com)

By Christine Richard, Sunset senior editor

Is it a desert mirage or is it real?

Decide for yourself. Go east on Cave Creek Road from Scottsdale Road (which turns into Tom Darlington), then turn on Bartlett Dam Road (about four miles). You’ll enter the Tonto National Forest. Follow the signs to Rattlesnake Cove (don't mind the name--all the best places are labeled unappetizingly to keep the crowds away), where there is public access to the beach.  The entire drive is less than an hour drive north from downtown Phoenix. 

You'll pass Arizona Territory in Carefree on the way to the lake. Hodgepodge of fun indoors and outdoors this and that: i.e., mosaic planters, wood doors from India, wire birdcages, art, life-sized statues. This storefront is deceptive; there are hundreds of items.