4th of July Weekend

This 4th of July turned out to be a good time. I spent it doing some of the things I like to do best.
Diving, clogging, and playing board games.
Friday Connie, Sylvia, Phil and I went diving at Old Marine Land. It turned out to be a fabulous dive. They have the resort built, but divers have access down this nice paved path so we could put the gear in the cart and roll it down. There were a number of reasons this was such a great dive,
1. No waves
2. A nice young man helped me get my BC on.
3. Two nice you men helped me over the rocks to get in the water.
4. We saw lots and lots of good stuff.
5. I was weighted just right.
6. Phil came back in and got my BC for me.
If this is not a lazy womens way to dive.
The only thing about it was that Sly was light with her weight and had to fight to stay down because it was a shallow dive.
Saturday I messed around here until about 4:00 when I went over to Connie and Roger's to play games. We played four games and I won one and would have another except for a really stupid error.
Sunday, Connie and I went to San Diego to the Del Mar Fair. The San Diego Cloggers have a day at the fair and it is a four hour non-stop dance. It's always fun to see friends you don't always see. Afterward we had to go "do" the fair. Connie is fun to go to a fair with because she always wants the newest gadget out there. This year she got off pretty easy, we couldn't find anything to spend her money on. All in all a great weekend without having to deal with much traffic.

Reef Check/Little Corona/Broomtail Reef

July 27/28 was a Reef Check weekend. On Sat we went to Little Corona and I tried to get in past the waves, (thank you Craig for your help) but I just couldn't make it. So I sat this one out. Reef Check's main motto is, safety first and I didn't feel good, so I didn't do it.

Sunday was another story. We went to San Diego aboard the Marissa and did a survey on Broomtail Reef. It was so cool, I want to dive it just for fun. Lots of kelp and fun stuff on the bottom. The water temp was 51 degrees, and that is just plain cold. Connie and Donna got real cold on the second dive. Connie is so good at this stuff. She pasted her seaweed test and did her first full survey with Donna on the second dive. I will get there, it will just take me longer. Sylvia reminded me that I cannot compare myself to Connie, I'll never be as good, but I have learned to use her abilities to my advantage. Again I couldn't do the second dive, there was a mixed swell and even with the wrist bands, I got sea sick. I was one of three that didn't make it. Next time I am going to get the patch along with the wrist bands because sitting on the boat sucks.

Reef Check Boat Dive

Picture from Reef Check Web site

I got on the Sun Diver in Long Beach on Friday night, since neither Connie or I are great morning people. I took the two tests I failed last weekend and passed them. Connie and I got ourselves ready for the morning and went to bed, to wake up just before we got to Catalina. This trip was all about learning how to count fish and seaweed and then pass the test. I did better than I thought I would and passed three of the four, fish being the one I missed. Connie of course, passed them all. We did three dives each day and I wonder how it can be so hard and tiring in CA when it was easy to do three dives a day in Bonaire. The Sun Diver crew was great and they are really good at feeding the divers. Delicious. We met some nice people and are very excited about Reef Check and what it stands for. Now we have to get out there and help with the surveys.

Reef Check CA

I spent the weekend with Connie studying to be able to identify fish. Six months ago I convinced Connie that we should attend this class and she agreed to go along with me. Reef Check is a volunteer organization that does fish surveys along the CA coast. It sounded like a good idea when I started this project. When I came back from PA I tried to back out of it, but Connie wouldn't let me. In her words, "Suck it up Buttercup, we are doing this". Of course it is a lot of work and it will take me forever to master it, (Connie already passed her test) but I'm glad I did it and when we go on the dives next weekend I'm sure it will be overwhelming, but eventually I'll get it done. We are going to be on an overnight boat dive to Catalina next weekend to try to actually do the stuff we tried to learn last weekend. I'll let you know.

Bonaire

Girls Gone Diving to Bonaire
Connie, Edie, Sylvia

Don and Syl

Connie and Roger

Connie, Edie, David

Spring Break, April 4-13, 2009 and a great dive trip to Bonaire. It was a wonderful trip and I am grateful to Connie for arranging it. Without her it would never have happened. We did two or three dives every day and never got enough. It was so easy. Walk in, drop down and look at fish. We had a great crew with us. Connie and Roger, Don and Sylvia, David, and me. Joby and Denise came over and stayed at Buddies Resort. We were able to dive with them a number of times. Sylvia was our cook and what a job she did. She had a great time shopping for all manner of weird stuff, which she used and amazed us with her creations. We are already planning the trip for next year.

York PA

Jim, Edie, Craig, Lynn, Paul, Chuck

What a great trip!

Twenty- five years ago I had a great friend when I was living in Baltimore. I moved and we lost touch. I couldn’t find her because I could not remember her last name and she couldn’t find me because she lost my address. Thanks to her friends and the inter-net we are now reconnected. I just got back from a three day weekend in York PA. It was so much fun to get reacquainted. She is so good for my ego, since she still thinks I am wonderful and I am always amazed by her abilities and talents. It is so obvious that we are truly connected with each other that I wonder how we ever were missing from each other’s lives. We have scratched the surface of our catching up, but we both had our “Oh My God” moments. I think that is what reconnecting is all about. She will never again be out of my life.
Lynn and Craig have wonderful friends and they were generous enough to spend time with us over the weekend so we could get to know each other. In three days we went to the Casino (I lost), had a picnic at the lake, went out in the canoes, hung out at their pool, stayed up and talked all night and in general enjoyed great friends. Thanks you guys for a great time. I am honored that you choose to spend time to get to know me.

Ron's Certification Dive

Connie gave Ron dive classes for Xmas last year and today was his boat dive. Connie, Phil and I went on the boat with him just so we could be on his first open water dive as an official newbie.