Trip Highlights

Some interesting places, people and things Michael has seen include:

Nepal's 'Mt. Everest' at sunrise from Nargagot-the 'village at the end of the world';

Killer whales (and puffins) at the Westmann Islands, Iceland;

'Dune de Pila', France, the largest sand dunes in Europe;

Six Japanese businessmen, in suit and tie, being serenaded in one gondola in the canals of Venice, Italy;

Over ten different 'tribes' of ant lines all in a two foot square area on his porch in Bali;

Llamas scurrying at sunrise all over Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru;

A dozen surfboards that had been snapped in half filling the beach trash cans at 'Pipeline', Oahu;

A Bengal tiger from a few yards away in the wilds of northern India and sunrise over the Taj Mahal in Agra;

Five hundred and something anniversary party of Munich, Germany, with almost as many um-pah bands and beer gardens;

Michael, with his trusted Mamiya RB67, before he wore it out from so many trips around the world. (And before he turned gray from trying to figure out how to afford a Hasselblad to replace it!).
Photo @ Lynda Marrokal, Santee, California.
(Also a sponsor)

The 'Great Wall of China', the Tierra Cotta warriors in Xian and the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City;

An un-obscured Mt. McKinley (Denali), in Denali National Park, Alaska;

His wife Valerie kissing the 'Blarney Stone' in Ireland;

Kangaroos in his new friends giant backyard in Australia;

Michelangelo's 'Sistine Chapel' and 'St. Peter's Cathedral' in Rome;

Sunrise at the 'Eiffel Tower' in Paris;

'1,000 clock shop' in the Black Forest of Germany;

Peak 'fall colors' at Bar Harbor, Maine;

Snow falling at night in St. Petersburg, Russia;

The 'Wailing (Western) Wall' at dusk in Israel;

Europe's largest waterfall, 'Godafoss' -in central Iceland -with full double rainbows;

A moonlit Parthenon in Athens, Greece;

'Herds of turkeys' and 'snake charmers' in Morocco;

'Million gallon' wine casks at Sandman wineries in Porto, Portugal;

Flowing lava from the largest volcano in the world, 'Mauna Loa', through cracks under his feet on the 'Big Island' of Hawaii;

Buddhist monks offering 'sex shows' for cash in Katmandu, Nepal;

Artist's from around the world sharing portfolios with him in the streets at midnight at the Edinburgh Art Festival, Scotland;

Michelangelo's 'David' in Florence, Italy;

The 'Grand Canyon', 'Monument Valley' and the 'Mesa Verde' Indian ruins;

'Beware of penguins crossing road' signs in New Zealand;

'Kalaupapa's leper colony' and the largest sea-cliffs in the world on Molokai, Hawaii;

Monkeys stealing unwatched lunches from sunbathers in Costa Rica as giant iguanas looked on;

'Zillion' dollar yachts at Monte Carlo;

Full moon over the 'Blue Mosque' while drinking mint tea and listening to the call to prayer in downtown Istanbul, Turkey;

Solar panels on huts in a jungle village of the Amazon/ kids wearing live monkeys for hats;

'Twin cathedrals' in Salamanca, Spain;

'Aurora borealis' dancing in the skies of the Yukon at midnight;

The 'golden pagoda' temple in Kyoto, Japan;

A pod of beluga whales basking slowly in the sun at Turnagain Arm bay near Anchorage, Alaska;

The twin towers in New York City;

'Harry's Bar' off San Marcos square in Venice, Italy;

Three thousand year old mummies inside the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia;

'Big Ben' and Ten Downing Street in London, England;

Cindy Crawford at a dinner table next to ours at 'Henry Clay's Rotisserie' restaurant on Lanai, Hawaii;

A lion chase a cheetah off from a fresh kill while hyenas waited in Kenya, Africa.

Hundreds of people, mostly elderly ladies, selling there wares at the 'floating market' in Thailand, south of Bangkok.

Underground city, 18 stories deep, near Cappadocia in central Turkey;

And last but not least, the cave (that's where they kept animals penned, and still do) where Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem and the (possible) actual empty tomb in Jerusalem, where he lay for three days before rising again from the dead!