Richard Maurer

Joan, thanks although your comments are far too generous.  Genius, that is a laugh.  I cannot even walk from one room to another and remember what I was planning on doing.  I will plan on posting some more travel videos.

Nancy, I am sure that you remember that the Pacific NW can have seemingly endless cloudy, rainy days in the fall, winter and even the spring. But it can be glorius when it drys out.

Linda Wonn (Carpenter)

I agree with Joan and Nancy, You are, indeed, still a genius! :)

Greg Cook

Like our generation, sometimes the classics are the best. Here's a classic for your Sunday morning enjoyment.

Pegi Spence (Sadler)

Greg, that routine never gets old.  I laugh as hard today as I did some 50 years ago.  So clever.

Richard, I am amazed at what cameras can do today.  How hard is it to learn?  Technology used to be my job but now it's gone wayyyyy over my head.  

Love your posts Greg and Rich, especially the wonderful 360 pictures.  Look forward to more.

Greg Cook

At our ages, 10 commandments aren't enough. Enjoy!

Bobbie Bechtold (Ryan)

Thank, Jerry Labuda, for reminding everyone that the Class of '65 Breakfast Group meets on the last Tuesday of every month at Keno's Sports Bar and Restaurant at 9:30 AM. It's located in Anaheim at 2661 West La Palma Avenue. One of these days I plan to make that breakfast when visiting family in the area. Thanks for keeping the group going!

Bobbie Bechtold (Ryan)

And thank you, Richard Maurer, for the stunning and very professional video and narration of Cape Disappointment in Oregon. You've sold me on traveling there next summer when it's over 110 degrees here in Arizona. I have wanted to return to Oregon as I haven't been there in years and have never explored the coastline. I've shared your video with friends who are as excited as I am to travel there.

Please continue to share your adventures with us all. Your videos are truly magnificent!

Bobbie Bechtold (Ryan)

And to Greg Cook, thank you for keeping this website alive and keeping us laughing along with you as we reach ages we never thought of in high school!

Richard Maurer

Pegi, yes I am also amazed at new camera technology and I can certainly be intimidated at the thought of learning how to use a new camera.  But when I saw what could be done with a 360 camera, I knew that I really wanted to be able to use one.  In actual use, the camera is rather easy to use to capture images.  But I am still learning about what to film, what things are better left to a conventional camera and coping with all of the possiblities available when editing a 360 image.  It certainly keeps the mental gears grinding away.

Richard Maurer

Bobbie, the Oregon coast is a great place to visit during the summer with very mild weather.  As high temperatures at the coast during the summer are usually in the 60s with lows in the 50s, many would consider the weather to be cold.  Not surprisingly, many people seek refuge from inland heat at the coast.  So it is a good idea to plan ahead.  When there is a heat wave in the  Willamette Valley, a lot of people go the coast and very little if any lodging or camping is available.  Most of the popular locations are booked well ahead.

Greg Cook

We’re coming up on the holiday travel season, so let’s skip the usual humor or trivia and put out some advice from a retired flight attendant who flew for 35 years. Just because delays and computer glitches haven’t been in the news lately doesn’t mean they won’t happen again. 

1. If your destination is less than 7 hours, drive.

2. Download and use the app of the airline you are flying. You can do everything on it - get your boarding pass, track your bags, see your incoming plane, and change flights. It sure beats waiting in the long line to talk to an agent! Trust me, usually these apps will tell you a flight is cancelled before the crew even knows!

3. Fly much earlier than you need to. A whole day early if it’s important!! People miss important things like weddings, funerals, cruises, international connections, and graduations. The tears were very real, for very real reasons, and there was nothing I could do! If you must be somewhere, spend the extra money, go a day early. Have a glass of wine and stay in a hotel, enjoy your night not being stressed while everyone else misses their events.

Jerry Labuda

Good advice

Linda Marks (Bird)

Linda Marks (Bird)

Greg Cook

I wonder how many of us would admit this:

Greg Cook

I read that if you really want to cut down the size of your Christmas gift list, start by talking politics at Thanksgiving. Here's a calmer solution.  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Greg Cook

This generation has Dancing with the Stars and The Masked Singer. We were fortunate enough to have Bob Hope. 

Joan Elliott (Euans)

Thanks for the Bob Hope story Greg! That was a sweet memory, so touching.

Michael Elliott

Brilliant, touching, timely post Greg. We take so much for granted.  A blessed holiday season to you and to our Savanna 65 brothers and sisters.

Greg Cook

Attention: Important information for all 65 Rebels! The last one could save your life

Jerry Labuda

Now you tell us!!

Richard Maurer

Here is my latest Pacific Northwest travel video.  Oregon is not just rugged coastlines and verdant valleys.  Much of central and some of eastern Oregon is very arid, high desert.  This video is from my visit to Smith Rock state park in central Oregon.  The sparse landscape and towering cliffs of this area have a stark beauty much different than the Oregon coast or the Willamette Valley. 

Linda Wonn (Carpenter)

Thank you so much Richard. I havebeen to Benmd several times but never knew this park  rxisted.  What a wonderful video!  How do you do all the filming when you are waling and riding your bike? Very impressive.

Joan Elliott (Euans)

Hi Rich! Another beautiful video of some unimaginable place I haven't yet seen. The high flat rock formations remind me of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, because of the rock climbers there, too. What makes your videos unique for me is your calm and descriptive voice, and the patient pace you take on your trails. I am sure it is a lot of work though when you go to pack up the camper, right? I also enjoy the background music. That wouldn't be some of your own fingerstyle guitar playing, would it? I hope you continue to do what you love and love what you do!

Richard Maurer

Linda, thanks for the nice comments.  There are a lot of interesting things in the area around Bend, Oregon.  I had a couple of other trips planned for that area last summer, but the trip in June was cancelled because of heavy snow that lasted later than usual and another trip in August was cancelled because of wildfire smoke.  I hope to get to at least one of those places this summer.  Yes, there are challenges to filming activities as a solo traveler.  In part it involves being willing to take some time to set up a video camera on a tripod and capture your own participation in a scene.  It does take extra time and effort.  Technology can also provide part of the answer with video cameras that allow you to capture "selfies" that appear to be taken by a drone or other remote camera.