Thnaks a bunch, Peter. This is very helpful. So, if I go with the 18-55 and 55-200 VRs, with the D2Xs body, will that give me a lot more depth of field etc. than my P&S? And the ability to do night shots of the Milky Way, etc.?

It doesn't sound like you have found the ultra wide angle lenses to be all that useful?

BTW, I think last year I bought Clair and Damien's Big Adventure, and my 14 y.o. daughter has it in her room. She and I went on her California Adventure this past August, spending 5 days in Yose backcountry, and several days in the Bishop Pass area, and I intend to make a similar book using blurb.com to memorialize her adventure. I have 6 kids so i'm doing a similar adventure with each in the summer before they start high school.

If you haven't been there, I recently went to the North Cascades and they are fabulous. Kind of a narrow weather window--best shot is late July to mid-August.