I’ve never felt like I’m missing out when Dave goes diving.  I’ve either tagged along and snorkeled, or chilled out at the beach.

Fast forward to today.  The place we stayed on St. Thomas had a dive shop that offered a free “Discover Scuba” course.  I’m not sure why I decided to take the class, but I did.  Maybe because it was free.  Or maybe because it was in a swimming pool instead of the ocean like the time in Australia.  Or maybe because I was a little tired of hearing Dave say things like, “I really think you’d be fine with diving if you tried again and learned in a pool.”  Or maybe because I wanted to push myself.  Probably a combination of all of these things.  Anyway, Dave was off doing the morning dive out on the ocean, so I took the opportunity to take the class.   

I had a mild freak out at the beginning of the pool session, but my instructor, Jessica, was amazing (there was another instructor that worked with the other people taking the class, who were decidedly not freaking out).  Jessica basically gave me a private Scuba lesson.  After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was probably 5 minutes, I finally got comfortable sitting on the bottom of the pool just breathing through the regulator (Jessica was sitting right across from me, very patiently waiting until her zen-like calm permeated through the water and reached me).  And after that, I practiced skills that I thought I would find difficult, like clearing my mask, equalizing my ears, and taking the regulator out and putting it back in under water.  They were actually pretty easy.  Then I put on my fins and went down to the deep end and swam around under water.

That afternoon, the dive boat went out to a spot that was good for divers and snorkelers.  I originally thought I would snorkel, but I decided to try diving.  The other people who took the morning class went too, so they had extra instructors there.  My new best friend Jessica stuck with me, and Dave documented the event that I’m sure he thought he’d never witness by following us around with his camera.  At first, it took a while for me to get down to the bottom because I didn’t have enough weights in my weight belt (I’m sure I looked hilarious – my legs kept floating upward no matter how much I tried to move downward).  But then Jessica put some more weights on my belt and I was in business.  Then, we started swimming around at depths between 15 and 40 feet.  I found it a little challenging, but overall, I was pleasantly surprised I was actually diving!  Here’s proof:

Taking the plunge.

It might be difficult to see in this picture but Jessica is holding my hand.

Comfortable enough for Jessica to swim a short distance away from me.

We did two dives that afternoon – the second one was a lot easier.  I don’t know if I’ll ever get certified, because it seems like a lot of hassle (there’s a lot to remember, there’s a lot of equipment, and I’m sure I won’t have someone as patient/attentive as Jessica next time).  But I’d like to try it again sometime.  It was very cool.

Here’s a picture neither of us ever thought would happen.

- Meredith

On Wednesday night, the beach bar near our hotel was hosting a carnival night.  The food was a West Indian buffet, and we enjoyed the entertainment – a steel drum band made up of local school children, a stilt walker and some music.  We downshifted quickly to “island time” while waiting about an hour for our table.  Don’t feel bad for us – we were drinking piña coladas.

A Moko Jumbie (stilt walker) dances with children at the beach bar

On Thursday, we rented a car and drove around the island.  Everyone says St. Thomas is really crowded.  We didn’t think it was that bad – maybe it was because our expectations were set in advance, or maybe it was because there were only 2 cruise ships docked on the island that day.  We got acclimated to driving on the left side of the road, and off we went on a tour of the island, complete with wrong turns and a little bit of getting lost.  During the day, we went to Magen’s Bay beach, which really is a beautiful beach:

View of Magen’s Bay from the hills above

We also stopped for lunch at a place in Red Hook on the eastern end of the island.  Lunch was good, but my favorite part was the iguanas that hung out near the restaurant:

This guy was huge! Including the tail, he was probably 4 feet long.

Driving around the island was a beautiful and relaxing way to spend the day, and a good way for us to get oriented.

- Meredith

- Meredith

- Meredith

Sharon and Charla moved from Boston to Alameda (an island in the east Bay) about a year and a half ago, and bought a beautiful old house which needed some TLC.  So far, they’ve completed renovation of the kitchen, where Charla whupped us up a mess of vittles every day (she is a great cook!).  Anyway, had we taken the picture, you would have seen their back yard, which features a lemon tree, an orange tree and an apple tree, as well as tomatoes.

We really chilled out while we were there (4 nights!), but we did manage to do a few things:

• Visited Sharon’s horse Red Hot at her stable in Walnut Creek to put metal flashing on the wooden fence so she would stop eating it.
• Went to a wine tasting at Rosenblum Cellars, a winemaker on Alameda that sources grapes from growers throughout California.
• Spent an afternoon in Monterey walking around Cannery Row and eating seafood.
• Visited the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose.  The woman who lived here believed that she needed to perpetually build her home to appease angry spirits (it’s hard to describe this place.  It is a Victorian mansion with 160 rooms, and it’s completely wacky).  The woman who built it was the widow of the Winchester gun guy, and was crazy.  Also, the guy who gave us our tour was like a cross between Barney Frank and Paul Lynde, which made the experience all the more interesting.
• Cleaned and dried out our tent!
• Watched the Pats-Colts game (wah wah wah waah).
• Had a yummy dinner with my high school friend Jenn and watched election night coverage at a party with her friends (Yay Obama, boo California Prop. 8.)

Here are a couple of pictures:

Charla (left) and Sharon sated on Monterey seafood

The four of us doing one of the things we do best

- Meredith

Sam is a bit different from Yosemite’s other famous men.  Let’s compare:

Exhibit A: Yosemite Sam

Exhibit B: Conservationist John Muir 

Exhibit C: Photographer Ansel Adams

Exhibit D: Grizzly Adams (no relation to aforementioned Ansel)

The first thing we should look at is facial hair.  At first glance, it seems that Yosemite Sam fits in with this crew of famous Yosemite men.  However, upon closer examination, we see that Yosemite Sam simply has a giant mustache, while the others have beards.

But the differences run even deeper than that.  They all wear different types of hats, for starters. 

Now let’s look closer.  We’ll start with John Muir, one of the most influential environmentalists and conservationists in American history.  The only thing Yosemite Sam was interested in protecting was his pride, and he repeatedly failed at that.  How about Ansel Adams, an avid nature lover and an American photography icon?  Yosemite Sam is an American icon too, although mostly on the mud flaps of semi-trucks.

It is Grizzly Adams that Yosemite Sam most closely resembles.  Grizzly Adams spent most of his life in the mountains of California, capturing animals for zoos and circuses.  His claim to fame was making "pets" out of grizzly bears and wrestling them.  Idiot.  I never saw Yosemite Sam wrestle a bear, but he did go after Bugs Bunny quite often, and there was that one episode with the shark ("Down! Ya shark-livered varmint!").

Maybe he fits his name after all.

- Meredith

We camped at the Upper Pines campground in Yosemite Valley near Curry Village.  It was a beautiful site, despite all the rain.  We didn’t see any bears in our campground, though the rangers say that they are spotted there almost every night.  We put all our food and other items with a scent in our sturdy bear locker, so no issues.  We never once used the $2 bear whistles I bought before the trip. 

- Meredith

We left Lake Tahoe later than we planned, but it turns out our timing was perfect!  As soon as we had reached the floor of Yosemite Valley, just around dusk, we spotted…a bear!  Actually two.  We saw the first bear right by the side of the road.  We stopped the car a short distance away and signaled to the oncoming driver to stop.  We all proceeded to watch the bear cross the road.  We thought it was over after that, but then the bear came back across the road with a cub following her!  The mama and cub hung out at the side of the road together for a minute, and then they ran off into the woods.  What a welcome to Yosemite!

Sorry, no pictures of the bears.  Dave was driving, and it happened so quickly, we couldn’t get the camera out in time.  They were black bears (no more grizzlies left in California, sadly).  We didn’t see other wildlife while at the park (other than birds and squirrels).  Perhaps they were trying to hide under rocks to stay dry. 

I suppose now is a good time to mention that it rained while we were in Yosemite.  A lot.  There were a few moments of light showers when we were able to do a little touring of the park, but most of the time, we experienced steady, heavy rain.  In fact, it was fairly difficult to see the features of Yosemite because the main valley was often filled with clouds.  This did have one positive side-effect: waterfalls.  By fall each year, most of Yosemite’s waterfalls are dry.  However, because of the rain, those falls that had been dry before we arrived were running nicely by the time we left, and those that were at a trickle when we arrived were rushing torrents by the time we left.

So, the photographic opportunities were a bit scant for us in Yosemite.  That’s okay.  It’s not a very photogenic park anyway.  No one ever got famous by taking pictures of this place.*  Here are some shots Dave got when the clouds were somewhat cooperative:

Yosemite Valley including El Capitan (left), Briadalveil Falls (right) and a very faint Half Dome in the distance

Half Dome towers above Mirror Lake and Yosemite Valley

 Half Dome shot from Glacier Point; while it rained on us, it snowed on the peaks in the distance

- Meredith

* With the possible exception of Ansel Adams.

Amy and Eddie were our guides on our trip to Mongolia this summer.  Our visit was too short, but we had a great time catching up and meeting their dog, Chafu (Swahili for dirty).  We didn’t stay long enough to spend time at the lake, but Dave snapped off a quickie from the road:

- Meredith