Central Oregon Video Compilation

Here's a video showing assorted scenes throughout Central Oregon:

Driving Journey: Day 3: Crater Lake

Visiting Crater Lake was definitely the highlight of my trip. I had seen incredible photos of it before but just assumed that they had been tweaked with photo software.


But when my eyes first saw the magnificent blue color of the water it was hard to believe that it was really "that" blue!



No one is allowed to climb down except employees.








You can stay overnight at this lodge.
Is it just me, or do you see a face here too?



Once you get to the rim then you can drive around it, stopping at any vistas you wish. This is a typical section of the Rim Road.
Mt. Mazama, adjacent to Crater Lake is but one of many mountains that run up & down Washington, Oregon, & California.

Vancouver Today

Two Views of the Stanley Theatre

Rejoice, a Sunny Day in Vancouver!

1st Presbyterian Church

I accepted the invitation of my friend, Rose, to attend her church. After picking me up at my hotel we drove up the Pali Highway and through the tunnel as if we were going to Kailua. But at the first traffic light we turned left and headed Northwest on Highway 83. She soon turned left again, onto the grounds of the Ko'olau Golf Club.


To my astonishment, the 1st Presbyterian Church of Honolulu co-exists with a functioning golf resort. This clearly wasn't like any Catholic Church I had ever attended! Rose gave me a brief tour, introduced me to several friends of hers and then we sat down for the service. It didn't have the formality of masses I was familiar with but everyone seemed full of great joy, which I admired

The highlight of the service was hearing a 21 year old woman from the Philippines talk about her life growing up in poverty and how an organization called Compassion International dramatically helped her and her family. It was a pretty powerful and emotional talk she gave. She never played the victim though but just matter of factly related her upbringing, which I dare say was probably much more severe than anyone who has a computer to read these very words.

Afterwards we were invited to view info packets about kids around the world who need sponsoring. I recorded the information about 4 of them, all in Latin America. I absolutely plan on sponsoring one and perhaps even two children once I get back home. For just $384 per year you can dramatically change the path of another's life; someone who is truly in need. Apologies if this sounds like an infomercial but the whole experience had a very profound effect on me. This agency reportedly has a solid track record on transparency and not wasting money on bureaucracy, two factors which are absolutely critical to me.
The church & golf course reside directly below some pretty amazing mountains. Next time I come back to Oahu I plan to hike up one of these!

A Day of Beautiful Vistas

It was cloudy again in Honolulu so I drove up the Pali Highway to Kailua and then down Hwy 72 around the eastern corner of Oahu.

There are no special effects here. The clouds had descended to create a fluffy frosting on top of the mountain.
Most of these photos were taken in Waimanalo Bay, right down on the rocks. I kept shooting photos & videos until it started raining cats & dogs!

A Day of Exploration

I went out for a morning walk down to Waikiki Beach. Along the way I spotted this cool storefront advertisement for Apple's iPhone.

A few people were already out enjoying themselves.



I went out for breakfast with my mom and our friend, Toni. Then I dropped off my mom at the airport for her return flight back home. Rather than drive back to Waikiki, I decided to drive up the West side of Oahu, an area I had never explored before. I took Hwy 93 up to Waianae and then all the way north to the very end of the paved road. The scenery around here was spectacular!



Is it just my imagination are do you also see two faces in this rock formation? Click on the thumbnail to see the larger version.
I don't think this was a house but rather a futuristic looking government building.

This panorama is stitched together from several individual photos. I took them by hand and didn't do a perfect job on the left side but it does capture the majestic beauty of this incredible valley!

I *believe* this is a power plant that burns used oil to generate electricity.
Back at Waikiki in the evening I captured several photos with my camera & tripod, including this one.