Stephanie, you want lots and lots of zoom at a reasonable price you may want to consider one of the compact zoom cameras. There are a number of brands that now have a 12x optical zoom - that works out to about 420mm. A number of them include built in image stabilization. They range in price from around $350 and up. You can get them in 5MP and higher resolutions. Panasonic, Kodak, Nikon are some that make these cameras.
I have had a Nikon D-70 for almost two years and love it. Great pictures and not that hard to use. However, my "back up" is a Panasonic FZ-1 with a 12x zoom. This camera is about 3 years old and only a 2.1MP one (though it produces a very acceptable 8x10). They are up to 5 or 6 MP now.
The way you travel, a "one piece" camera that is compact in size may produce excellent results. It will give you the reach you desire without having to spend the $$ buying expensive glass for a SLR. I'm not trying to downplay the SLR choice, but I am a big believer in getting what works for what you want. The current crop of the compact digital cameras (sometimes referred to as EVF cameras - Electronic View Finder) are most excellent.
Here are some web sites you might visit to help confuse you to no end with all the cameras that are available!
www.steves-digicams.com/default.htm www.dpreview.com www.photographyreview.com
