Central Oregon roamings, the end - buildings of past and present

Throughout my 5 days driving around mostly in solitude on backroads throughout Central Oregon I mixed in my travel time with hunting for a favorite subject of mine: abandoned buildings or historic buildings being preserved. It made the journey time between other photographic attractions a joy!

The first thing that jumped out at me was a stunning abandoned Locust Grove Church, built and opened in 1895.

(above: Wheeler County/Fossil; Crook County/Prineville; Sherman County/Moro)Then as the week progressed I continued by hitting many county courthouses - I love the rich historic old buildings that shine in the smaller population counties east of the Cascades! I wish more of "the big cities" would have their old original courthouses still like you see so much more in the Inland NW.

Toss in a number of abandoned homesteads here and there, and I had a nice collection of buildings to bring home with me! Thanks for letting me share all aspects of my Central Oregon trip, as this marks the end of my talking about that trip. A much more enjoyable way for me to share how much I enjoyed the trip than to just toss out a few locations and photos that I visited! Now I need to get on with "all of the other places I've been since June" - stay tuned!

A special day...for man and the moon

Today stands out to me. Since as early as I can remember, I have always been in awe of the earth's moon. I remember cold camping trips as a child on the Oregon Coast with a clear night and a lunar eclipse while camping near Florence, OR. I couldn't have been more than 7 years old but it is as clear of a memory as if it were yesterday! I was thrilled to enjoy all lunar eclipses that I could since (including the one in October 2004 shown in a few photographs here).

Why is today worth standing out in my mind? Of course it is because today marks the 40th year anniversary of that magical day on July 20, 1969 when man first stepped foot on the moon. Hearing the broadcast of that day today just brought chills to my skin as it did when I was a little kid! Today I raise a high-five congratulations still to Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins for their brave feat, and to all people involved in taking them to the moon.

I hope we again see this feat taken in the coming 20 years...we are long overdue.