Inuvik, NWT - 1984

In June 2004 I had the opportunity to spend a weekend in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. After graduating from University in 1983, I was hired as a project manager for a federal job creation program and was responsible for hiring professional and technical staff for the National Hydrology Research Institute. In additional to managing human resources, I was also responsible for the operating budget. Some of the hired staff worked in Inuvik doing research in the Mackenzie Delta, more specifically studying the spring ice breakup.

I made a site visit in late June and the weather was great. Maximum temperature was 24 degrees Celsius and coincided with the annual 2 weeks of 24 hour daylight hours. In contrast, the previous weekend Inuvik experienced a snow storm and temperatures below freezing. It was during this field trip that I realized how big Canada truly is, considering it took 9 hours to fly to Inuvik.

The pictures were taken with an inexpensive film camera and scanned. I was able to enhance the image somewhat using Photoshop. I am including both colour and black & white versions.

Chicago - July 2003

In July 2003, I attended a Youth and Family Conference

held at the Navy Pier in Chicago.

5,000 people attended and one of the highlights

of the conference was a surprise visit from Mel Gibson

who talked to us about the making of his most recent film "The Passion".

Mexico - 2003 and 2005

In November 2003, I was invited to Mexico to act as an interpreter and assisting 4 men who were visiting various religious sites and organizing a future pilgrimage for various catholic boys clubs in the US and Canada. In November 2005, I returned to Mexico to help chaperon and act as an interpreter for a group of 140 American and Canadian youth aged 10 to 16 years old. Below are some of the photos taken during both trips.

View of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, the site of the two basilicas of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Mexico's holiest shrine, its importance derived from a miracle here on December 12, 1531: an Aztec named Juan Diego received from the Virgin a cloak permanently imprinted with her image so he could prove to the priests that he had had a holy vision.

The Antigua Basílica (old basilica), which dates from 1536. The structure has weakened over the years and a new Basilica was built between 1974 and 1976. Each year, millions make the pilgriage to the Basilica of Guadalupe, some crawling on their knees for miles, to pray to the Virgin of Guadalupe. Pilgrims arrive year-round, but millions flock to the shrine on
December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The Tilma, the original cloak containing the image of the Virgin hangs behind a bullet-proof glass above the altar in the new basilica. Juan Diego's tilma, a thin cloth made of cactus fibres, normally decays in 30 to 40 years. But Juan Diego's tilma is still miraculously intactas he wore it in 1531.

This photo was taken on my way to the top of Cerro del Cubilete (literally "Tumbler Hill"), a mountain at elevation 8,460 ft above sea level, in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Atop the hill is a temple and a 75 ft tall statue of Christ. The statue was built by the Cristeros as a rebuke to the repressors of religious freedom who sought to quash the Church during the persecution of Christians in Mexico in the first half of the 20th century. One of Mexico's most important religious monuments, it marks the country's geographical center.

View of Cotija de la Paz, the birthplace of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement. Located approximately 130 kilometres south of Guadalajara, Cotija is a quiet, sleepy town and birth place of many religious figures including Saint Rafael Guízar Valencia.

Some of the local children in Cotija wanting their picture taken.

Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihucán, a few kilometres east of Mexico City. View of the Avenue of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Sun, taken from the Pyramid of the Moon. This archaeological site contains some of the largest pyramidal structures built in pre-Columbian Americas and was, at its zenith in the first half of the first millennium, the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas and one of the largest cities in the world in this period.

Keystone, Colorado - July 2006

Keystone is the home of the Keystone Resort,

originally constructed in the 1970s by the Ralston Purina Company.

The resort has several summer and winter outdoor activities.

Quebec City - September 2008

Founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain,

Quebec City is one of the oldest cities in North America.

Its 400th anniversary was celebrated in 2008.

Las Vegas - July 2008

As seen from space, the Las Vegas metropolitan area is the brightest on Earth.

Grand Canyon - July 2008

In July 2008, Alex and I drove from
Las Vegas, Nevada to Tucson, Arizona
and stopped at the Grand Canyon
to spend an afternoon in awe and admiring
one of the great Wonders of the World.