In northeast Portland, there is a nice viewpoint at Rocky Butte Natural Area. The park covers the remains of an extinct volcano and gives you — on clear days — a nice view of several more volcanoes, both extinct (e.g., Mount Tabor, Pilot Butte, etc.) and active (e.g., Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens).

Walking along the multicolored sandstone cliffs above crashing waves never gets old..

Any trip to the Oregon coast should include a stop by the little village of Oceanside. Such beauty…

A few snapshots of the piazza at sunset I found on an old roll recently, taken from in front of the basilica and from its balcony…

In April 2018, Elaine and I walked the trails of Canemah Bluff Nature Park just south of downtown Oregon City. The sun was setting on a lovely spring day turning everything, even the newly bloomed camas fields, golden…

Any list of the must-see spots of northeastern Turkey in my mind has to include the ruins of the city of Ani, which you will find in the Kars region, right along the border with Armenia. There are two parts actually, the former city overlooking a river valley, and a countless cave dwellings below along the river...

I was sitting on my balcony with my kids as the sky grew darker with the setting of the sun, and a ruffly smattering of clouds rolled over our heads like a blanket. I glanced up and thought the day was finished and night was upon us. Instead, the last rays of the sun from beyond the horizon suddenly began bouncing off the clouds (causing me to grab my camera) and what followed was my favorite sunset ever in Portland. Breathtaking, with all the colors of the rainbow dancing overhead like our own Oregon aurora... 

On day three of my Iceland adventures, we begged/demanded Siggi, our Travel Buddy / van driver, stop the van beside a field of Icelandic horses. The sun was setting and everything was bathed in a golden brown glow. Heavenly...