My kind of fun...

any U2 fans out there?

My friend Lee and I went to the Rose Bowl a few Sundays ago and watched U2 play all of their latest and then some. Great show, and as you can see, we got pretty freakin' close to the front!

How to describe my current relationship with Fantasy Football:

AAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!



YEAHHHHH!!



AAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!



You son of a...



YEAHHHHH!!



If he just get's one more...



NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Ugh

So. It's been nearly three months since my last entry. Why, say you? Well, me busy, says I.

Here's part of the reason:

I'd really like to get a Masters Degree. Someday. It's not that it'll help with salary, although it might. It's that when times are tough and company's are looking to dump people, people with Masters Degrees usually get dumped last. And... they usually get hired first, am I right? Not to mention that getting a Masters would seriously deepen my knowledge base. By a lot. Like, really... ALOT. In any case, I signed up for a distance learning class through the University of Idaho, since the program at UAA allows you to transfer up to three classes. I signed up for Finite Element Analysis, which to sum up, is Applied Advanced Calculus. Now, silly me procrastinated and signed up late. So, I got my materials late. So, I started late. Strike one. AND - I haven't done one calculus problem in well over 10 years. Strike two? I spent probably 60 to 70 hours last week not only trying to catch up in the class, but trying to do it while digging out the cobwebs that have formed in the Calculus Caverns of my brain. Needless to say, as of yesterday, I intend on dropping the class. Ugh. A waste of an R&R? Eh... probably not. I think in the long run, this was a good lesson for me. I haven't taken a college class in many moons, so getting this kind of a slap was good for me if I really want to pursue a Masters at some point. however, with my schedule, and my desire to take classes that I can look the teacher in the eye, it might be a while.

Is this in our future?

Homeschooling is taking a hit in Germany and the UK. The "progressive" movement continues to erode parental rights and puts government in their place. Using "The Nanny State" as a descriptor seems more and more appropriate.

Some might say I use the word "marxism" too much, but The Communist Manifesto does talk about public education. Gee, I wonder why...

Mass of humanity

So Wachter and I went up Flat Top yesterday. We saw more people up there than I've ever seen. Not cool, but can you blame them?

Clarification

As is turns out, I have to clarify the context of a quote from the President.

I said that he called the Constitution "deeply flawed". That's not exactly what he said, but it was close. Even so, to simply say that without the context of the entire interview is not doing him justice, and therefore, not doing me justice.

So, what exactly did he say?

From Newsmax.

His "deep flaws" comment was directed at the Framers and the colonial attitudes at the time. It's pretty clear he's referring to racist colonial attitudes towards Africans. Now, I don't have the Constitution memorized, but I know that the Civil War Amendments were intended to bring African-Americans under the umbrella of citizen status, and as such, protected by the Constitution (but by no means ended racism). So my problem with his statements here are when he used the words, "the Constitution reflected an enormous blind spot in this culture that carries on until this day". The blind spot being racism, I think I can safely assume. To me, his comments here reflect his wish that the Constitution should somehow set right the issue of race relations. What he apparently believes is that morality can be legislated.

Here's an interview he did in 2001, which is a bit more revealing. He refers to the Warren Court and their inability to "break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution" when it came to the issue of "redistribution of wealth". What??!!?? He's saying here that the Warren Court "wasn't that radical" because it failed to clarify what the government should "do on your behalf", or redistribute wealth (in other words... Marxism?).

Here's one last quote from Obama and his views of the Constitution. From The Audacity of Hope: "I have to side with Justice Breyer’s view of the Constitution—that it is not a static but rather a living document, and must be read in the context of an ever-changing world." Granted, the Constitution is amendable, and in the case of most Amendments, it has been justified (Prohibition excluded). But to say that it should be read in the context of an "ever-changing world" is appalling to me. The Constitution is the basis of everything that makes the United States the greatest country on the planet. To say that it can be read differently in 1950 as you would today is absolutely rediculous. You might as well throw it out.

So, to sum up... although he did not exactly say the Constitution was "deeply flawed", in my opinion that's exactly what he thinks.

Peace.

Hypocracy?

"I would hope that a wise white male, with the richness of his experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a Latina woman who has not lived that life."

Racist? Sexist?

Would that depend on who you ask?

Hmmm...

How about this?

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Pretty arrogant either way, isn't it?

The first quote wasn't really a quote, if you haven't figured that out, but the second one was. The Honorable Sonia Sotomayor seems to think that justice actually knows color and gender. Granted, I'm sure that being raised in the Bronx is a vastly different experience than being raised in Alaska, but shouldn't the law be interpreted the same for ALL Americans? Is the Constitution a dynamic document? Are my legal rights and freedoms under that document less than that of someone who has had what might be considered a "harder" upbringing? I'd like to see someone from the Bronx actually survive a Valdez winter, by the way. (sarcasm alert!) What about that, Sonia? Ever had to shovel your way out of your house?

Judge Sotomayor also said, "a court of appeals is where policy is made". Sooooo, Your Honor... what exactly is Congress for then? Did you NOT read the Constitution when you went through law school?

She'll be confirmed, no doubt, so my hope is that she doesn't end up being yet another judge who thinks it's their responsibility to MAKE law, not simply INTERPRET it as the Constitution requires. I've seen just a glimpse of her rulings, and some sustain that hope. Yet when she says things like I've quoted here, that hope weakens. But that isn't surprising considering the guy who nominated her called the Constitution a "deeply flawed" document.

Three yards and a cloud of dust

I figure it's about time I explain the name of my blog.

Sports can so often be analogous to life. "Three yards and a cloud of dust" was how people described the offense Woody Hayes ran while coaching the Ohio State Buckeye football team. He won five national titles in his 28 years at OSU, and he did it mainly on the ground. You need ten yards to get a first down, and you have 4 plays to get there, so theoretically you can run the ball every play if you get three yards. You may have a few fourth down moments where you turn the ball over if you don't get the yardage, but three more yards and you're back in business. Back in the 60's football games weren't played on artificial turf or synthetic "grass", and when real grass on a football field doesn't get a chance to grow because it's being used so often, you get dirt. Mud. Dust. Hence, three yards and a cloud of dust. It could be quite painful for players, and is a difficult, grinding way to move the ball. You may have setbacks. One or two yards instead of three. Maybe a sack. Maybe even a fumble. But the players who played well knew that over the course of an entire game, if you learned from the setbacks, didn’t get discouraged, and kept your eyes on the goal, success would soon follow.

Life can be just this way at times, can it not? Grind it out. Three yards and a cloud of dust. Life isn't always easy, and sometimes day in, day out drudgery can get to even the best of us. Sometimes we're fortunate enough to get to play in the grass, but sometimes we have to get in the mud and the dust. If we keep our eyes on the goal line and keep battling for those three yards, we'll get there. We may have a few fumbles... but the game isn't over yet. We may have a few fourth down moments... but if we get up, dust off, and get three more yards, the goal line will soon meet with us and we can celebrate success.

Work, work, work

I'm putting some serious thought into a Masters Degree. UAA offers a MS in Civil Engineering or a Masters of Civil Engineering. The MS would require a thesis, while the MCE would be an extra class with a graduate project. Probably the same work load, so I'd lean towards the MS, since you can't get a PhD without thesis work. I talked with one of my old professors last week, and he said I had the personality for teaching at the college level. High praise, but then I'd have to go on to a PhD for that. More work? Maybe I'll give it time between the two? The more I think about it, the more appealing the idea of being a professor becomes.

What I did on Monday

I went for a hike today. Just Flattop, but a hike none-the-less. Actually, it was pretty challenging at the top since the snow isn't all gone up there yet. I was surprised how many people I saw up there for a weekday afternoon. It's a great way to work out and get out at the same time. And the good news is that my calf and lower back didn't give me any trouble at all, so I should be able to get back into running soon.

I thought this picture was cool with the way the ash from Redoubt ripples its way down the side of the mountain.

I'm sorry, what was that?

I've been hopping around between ChangePoint and Faith Community Church lately. I went to ChangePoint this morning, and I'm glad I did. Dan gave a very good reminder about something I rarely do, which is pray for the leadership of this country. It's easy to pray for a leader you're ideologically in tune with, isn't it? But what about when you're not? I've spent quite a lot of time over the last 9 to 12 months examining Barack Obama's record and how much he agrees with Marxist tenets outlined in The Communist Manifesto (feel free to read my blogs from last fall if you're so inclined). I am personally about as opposite of Mr. Obama as one could possible get. But do I pray for him? Should I pray for him? 1 Timothy 2:2 says that I should. In fact, when Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, the king of the land was none other than Nero, a deranged sadist who was the first Roman emperor to openly persecute Christians after the Great Fire of AD 64.

This, from roman-empire.net: "Nero, always a man desparate to be popular, therefore looked for scapegoats on whom the fire could be blamed. He found it in an obscure new religious sect, the Christians. And so many Christians were arrested and thrown to the wild beasts in the circus, or they were crucified. Many of them were also burned to death at night, serving as 'lighting' in Nero's gardens, while Nero mingled among the watching crowds. It is this brutal persecution which immortalized Nero as the first Antichrist in the eyes of the Christian church."

And Paul instructed Timothy to pray for "kings and all of those in authority"??

Which brings me to ME. Barack Obama stands for very little of what I believe in. His first 100 days have been, in my opinion, an unmitigated disaster. He is pushing our country so far towards totalitarianism that it could take a generation to undo what he's done, if we can at all. But I am instructed to obey my leaders and submit to their authority (Hebrews 13:17). I am instructed to love my neighbor (Luke 10:27). And yes, I am instructed to pray for him.


And so I shall.

If it's not one thing, it's another

So I started running the last time I was up here on the slope. I was jogging 3 times a week, and I actually worked my way up to a 4 mile run. I'd like to get to a point where I could take a serious stab at a marathon. It'd be a nice thing to cross of the "Bucket List", yes? Well, as luck would have it, I pulled a muscle in my lower leg the day before I went home, so I was out of commission. I tried to run on it after a week... no go. Waited until I came back up here, and tried again. Got just past a mile when it tweaked on me again. Waited another week... almost made it two mile before it strained yet again. Dammit! Well, I was feeling confident yesterday about trying another run, when guess what? I pulled a muscle in my lower back. $%#&*!

Needless to say, I'm not running today.

And speaking of Hawaii

Three weeks?

So I'm in the midst of a three week hitch up here in God's Country. I did one in late February/early March so I could go to Hawaii without taking any vacation time, and now I'm doing another to get back on my schedule (even though I don't really HAVE to). I probably shouldn't have, in hindsight, because three weeks up here sucks big time. By the time the last 3 or 4 days came around last time I was up here, I was just in zombie mode. Adjusting back to life when I got home took about 3 days longer than usual, too. Typically, I get home on Wednesday, and it pretty much takes a day or two to feel normal again. After my last three weeker, it took a good 5 days before my head came back from the Crab Nebula.

The only thing positive I can think of about this is that when I go back to two week hitches, it's going to go by REALLY quick.

I can't believe there's folks up here that do hitches that are four, six, or even eight weeks long. I couldn't do it, man. Put me in a straight-jacket.

Quote of the YEAR

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

~~~ Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931-2005

I hate to burst your bubble, but...

I thought about the title of this blog for a second after I wrote it, when it dawned on me that it could be taken one of two ways:

I hate to burst your bubble, but...

Or

I hate to burst your bubble butt.

Considering the subject matter of what I wanted to mention today, either one is applicable. I've been doing some research into a little project I'm working on, an article about how drinks can effect your diet. Since coffee is so prevalent in our society today and in my life in particular, I started with the Grande Mocha.

Check this out. According to caloriecounter.net, a 16 oz. Starbucks mocha has 360 calories. To my surprise, one using skim milk still has 320 calories. Five Skinny Mochas a week equates to 1600 calories. Do the math – that’s 83,200 calories in a year! Since one pound is somewhere around 3500 calories, this equates to nearly a pound of body weight every two weeks, or almost 24 pounds over 52 weeks (and that’s with skim milk). That’s extra calories I have to either burn just to maintain weight, or slowly watch it turn into fat around my... parts.

Did you also know that straight black coffee has little to no calories at all?

Quote of the month

"Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you. I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, and tapestry. "- John Adams (1735-1826)

Sleeping Hamsters

Back to work? I have had the fortunate ability to take two full weeks off over the course of the last ten. Basically, that means I've worked two of the last ten weeks. Rough life, isn't it? Well, now that little wheel inside my brain needs to get rolling, and those hamsters in charge of said wheel have gotten pretty plump. Must. Get. Moving.

Ecuador, El Fin

Most of the 12 divers on our trip got off the plane in Guayaquil, to return to the States immediately, or to hang out on their own for a few more days. Scott and Karen, Marty and Erin, and I flew on to Quito. Scott and Karen were leaving for home the very next morning, so we went out for one last dinner, back up to El Panecillo where there's a higher class restaurant called Pims. The five of us dined on Prime Rib, with apps and drinks, for less than $130. Nice.

Marty and Erin were hanging out for one more day, so we hired Bernardo to take us out for the day. Papallacta is a remote hot springs in the upper Amazon about two hours outside of Quito. We drove up to a 14,000-foot mountain pass and back down the eastern side of the Andes where this hot springs, spa, and hotel were nestled in this gorgeous valley. It was a bit cloudy, so we missed a great view of Antisana, one of Ecuador's many volcanos. Bernardo led us on a 90 minute hike through some... jungle? It looked like jungle, but I would probably just call it jungle with a lowercase "J", if you know what I mean. We didn't exactly expect any 6 inch tarantulas to jump out at us. Bernardo confirmed that technically it was the Amazon, but my feeling was that it was more like Amazon-light, the zone between Andes and Amazon where it's a little of both? In any case, it was a cool little hike.

We then splurged on spa treatments. Now... this was the RIGHT way to end this trip, let me tell you. We jumped in the hot springs for a good 30 minutes, then went in for our separate individual appointments. I had what I can only describe as a "Fire Hose Massage". This lady put me in what was basically a large shower stall, then proceeded to spray me down with a high pressure hose, and I loved every minute of it! After a nice fruit smoothie, she then took me in for a very, very nice massage. Needless to say, I was hoping for more, but that was it. We drove back to Quito, and had another marvelous dinner at Red Hot Chili Peppers. The next morning, the Marty and Erin headed home.

On my last day, Bernardo took me on a personal tour of Old Town Quito. Lots of old architecture, with a very obvious Spanish influence. I felt waaay out of place, though. After walking about for two hours, I hadn't seen one other white person. Not one. I was glad I was with Bernardo!

Just thought I would mention one little oddity I saw at the start of this day. A lady selling goats milk on the side of a street. With the goats in tow!! Straight from the udder, man. As fresh as fresh can get. I passed.

We followed Old Town with a trip up the Teleferico, a gondola people can take up the eastern slopes of Pichincha. You'd think it'd be disconcerting having a volcano in your backyard, but Quito's been here for hundreds of years, so I think they're used to it. The top of the Teleferico is at around 13,000 feet. We hiked for a bit, but I was in my flip-flops, so we didn't go far. Maybe a mile.

We ended the day going back to Mitad Del Mundo. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had gone there when we first arrived, but I didn't take part in the interactive tour, so I wanted to go back and take my shot at it. There were some pretty interesting phenomenon at the equator. For starters, as most people know, when you drain a tub of water (i.e. a toilet?) in the northern hemisphere, the water drains clockwise. In the south, counterclockwise. Well, when you're standing on the equator, it goes straight down. Here's a pretty good explanation. For the same reason, you can balance an egg on the head of a nail at the equator. I would challenge you to try it anywhere else! They didn't have any scales there, but apparently you're 6 pounds lighter on the equator than you are everywhere else. Couldn't prove that one. There were also a few strength and balance tests that we did away from the equator line, then on the equator line. Sure enough, being on the equator effects your balance and your strength. I haven't done any research into why that is, or if it was just my mind playing tricks on me, but I experienced it firsthand so that's what I'm going with. For now.

So that was pretty much it. I headed back to Folklore for one more night, then hopped on a flight back to the States the next day. Overall it was quite a trip. Trip of a lifetime, although I'd love to have a few more of those "trips of a lifetime". We've been throwing around the idea of diving the Red Sea in 2010, so maybe I can have a trip of a lifetime every two years or so!!

Thanks for reading, and again, thanks for all your compliments!!

Galapagos, the final days

OK, so it's been a hectic few days, what with coming home from the slope and being sick since, but I need to finish this up. I appreciate all of your compliments on my blog entries!

After cruising from Wolf Island back down to the main cluster of islands overnight, we arrived at Isla Santiago. Off the eastern side of the island is a small islet called Cousins Rock, which is where we'd dive twice, in search of micro-life. The water temperatures here were at least 5 degrees less than those up north, so wearing a hood was a good idea. We saw literally thousands of these little fish schooled up under outcroppings. I think they were Goby's, but don't quote me on it. There was a pretty playful Sea Lion here, as well as a few stingrays, and a school of Needlefish. We saw a couple of Scorpionfish, which are not fish to be trifled with. They have poisonous barbs on their backs that will kill pretty quickly. Marty, or as we all now know him as, Galapagos Superman, saw two Frogfish, which is apparently pretty rare. Galapagos Superman has some kind of sonar for that kind of thing.

After lunch, we went down to Isla Bartolomé, just a few miles to the south, and went on a shore excursion. We hiked up this preordained path to the top of the island and got a pretty astounding view. This was by far the best views we had of the islands all week. In fact, the movie Master and Commander used a clip from the top of Bartolomé, which is the picture at the top of this page.

Bartolomé is where we saw the only Penguins on the entire trip. Just a couple little ones hanging out on the rocks, not a care in the world. A couple more Blue Footed Boobys were perched up on a cliff, and Sally Lightfoot Crabs were everywhere, as usual. Not to many Sea Lions here, but again, as usual, there were some there.

The next day, we did one dive at Gordon Rocks, just off Santa Cruz Island. Our last dive. Didn't seem real. After all the build up, all the excitement, all the training, the week flew right on by, and I wasn't happy about it.

The Gordon Rocks dive was pretty uneventful for me, but Marty and Erin saw a Manta Ray. I was jealous, but glad that someone on the trip got to see one. Later that morning, we did another shore excursion at South Plaza Island. Lots of Sea Lions, more fat Iguanas, and lots of birds. The south side of the island was basically a cliff, and the birds took full advantage.

We spent the afternoon in Puerto Ayora, a small community on Santa Cruz Island. The Darwin Research Station is located there, and there is where we would see the very famous Giant Tortoises. Lonesome George, who is believed to be the last survivor of his subspecies, has his own setup here, as well as at least a dozen other tortoises. They even have a breeding program, so we saw some little ones.

We walked down through Puerto Ayora, doing the tourist thing. It was our last stop before heading back to San Cristobal. It was the perfect way to wrap up such an amazing week, but one thing was for sure... I knew that I'd try to come back someday. On Thursday the 18th, we packed all of our gear, did one more walk through San Cristobal, and boarded our plane back to the mainland.

Tomorrow, my last days in Quito.

Galapagos. Ecuador, part 4

Dive Day 3: Darwin Island

Feeling much better, I was looking forward to all four dives this day. This was where we would have the greatest chance of seeing Mr. Big, the elusive Whale Shark. The dives at Darwin all take place around Darwin's Arch, a rock formation that basically just eroded over the years into an arch. Simple as that. Heavy currents around the Arch, just like at Wolf. And the same drill as Wolf, too. Drop in, kick like mad till you find a rock, hold on. The currents weren't quite as strong as Wolf, so we could move around if we wanted to. But with the sealife all over the place, there really wasn't the need.

Solon and the other dive masters would dive with these little stick that they'd bang on their tanks if they wanted to get your attention. At Darwin, they told us before we went in that the only reason they'd bang the tanks on these dives was if they saw a Whale Shark. So there I was with my dive buddy Mark, perched on a rock watching more Hammerheads, turtles, and tons of fish, but hoping to hear that stick. Sure enough, not much more than a few minutes in, we heard it. But where was it? We weren't all together, so Mark and I looked around, but didn't see anything. If memory serves me correctly, only 4 people saw the first sighting... just enough to get a serious Whale Shark buzz going!


We didn't see any Whale Sharks on the next dive, but a Hammerhead got within about 10 feet of me. Raised the adrenaline a bit, but not too bad. They've never had any issues with shark/diver confrontations, so I wasn't too worried. A massive school of Jackfish came by and briefly blocked out the sun. There had to be thousands of these things. They look a bit like a tuna, but much smaller. Very cool!

Dive 3. Dive 3, day 3. Mark and I went down to our perch, with Teresa and Lew not too far away. Solon was with us just perched up on a rock with his camera, keeping an eye out. Not 10 minutes in, Solon makes a break for the open ocean pounding his tank with his stick. We bolted after him, and just like that, right before my very eyes, was the biggest creature I've ever seen. This thing was 40 feet long if it was an inch. Tiburon Ballena. A Whale Shark.









Oh my God!









I was kicking as hard as I could, and Mark was just to my left. I remembered Solon telling us earlier not to touch the animals, so I resisted the tempation to grab the dorsal fin. It was moving pretty fast, so row after row of this majestic creature's spots moved past me as I tried to keep up.









Oh, my God!









I checked my computer and saw that we were at 88 feet, pretty close to our 100 foot max depth. I was so excited I didn't know what else to do, so I pulled up to watch the rest of it roll on past, then looked at Solon and did the only thing I could think of to do at that moment. Pump my fists! I turned around with Mark, Lew, and Teresa, and we headed back to the rocks. I think in hindsight we could've swam with it for a little longer, but not much. Even Solon with his super-long free-diving fins couldn't keep up for much longer than we did. Even though it only lasted for a minute at best, I did what very few people on this planet can say they've done. I swam right next to a whale shark, and it's a moment I will never forget! But now I have a glimpse of what a Super Bowl Champion thinks after he's won his first Super Bowl. "I want another one!"

Mark sat out the last dive of the day, so I dove with Sheri. We didn't see much until we started up. As we were waiting at one of our deco stops, we rode the current past a school of Hammerheads. They were juuuust within visiblity, so I'd say maybe 40 feet away. But even at that distance, 50 or so Hammerhead Sharks look mighty impressive!

What a day.



Day 4 was split between Darwin and Wolf. Didn't see much on the two Darwin dives. Now, let me just say... there were neat little fish on every dive, and I didn't put down in my notes every time I saw a turtle, so I may very well have seen some cool critters, but I just didn't write it down. On the second dive, I did see another Whale Shark, but I was about 40-50 feet above it with only about 900psi left in my tank. My dive buddy (not Mark or Sheri) pulled me back as I was trying to get to it. Nope, we're not going, says he. I ended the dive with 500psi left in my tank, so I know we could've done a bounce down and back. It would've been quite unsafe, yes, but we could've done it. It's a frickin' Whale Shark, man! Of course I'd push it!



The dive at Wolf that day was more of the same that we had seen there before. Hammerheads, Galapagos Sharks, turtles, and fish. We saw another school of Jackfish, but this time as we watched it, a Bottle-Nosed Dolphin went screaming right through the middle of it. Needless to say, it parted like the Red Sea pretty quickly. I forgot to mention in my last entry that we saw tons of dolphins on our first stop at Wolf Island. They rode our wake for quite a while, and at one point were so thick right in front of the boat it looked like you could walk on water.






Tomorrow - the last three dives and Lonesome George

Galapagos. Ecuador, part 3

My goals for the Ecuador before I left Anchorage were 1) see a Whale Shark, 2) see Hammerheads, 3) see a Manta Ray and 4) don't get mugged. Once I left Quito for the first time, I knew what it would take to make sure I met goal #4 when I went back there after Galapagos. It was goals 1 thru 3 that were the big question marks. Everyone was saying before we left, "No. This isn't the right season for whale sharks. Don't get your hopes up." Well, the Captain's Log on the Aggressor website said that the group they had in November saw whale sharks, so my hopes were up.

When we arrived in San Cristobal, we were met by our Aggressor crew, led by Solon Intriago. They took our gear away on the back of a tiny pickup truck, then piled all of us onto a bus. Solon spoke the best English on the crew, so I knew right away he was pretty much going to be the main man. After getting out and seeing our boat, getting our gear organized, etc., we were shuffled back to shore for our first shore excursion. We were supposed to do our check out dive that day, but due to... something (coast guard documentation? dead battery? I don't know.) kept us from getting out of the harbor. No problem. There's a sea lion colony right in the harbor, and they let us get very close to get our pictures. Noisy, smelly, but very cute. Especially the pups! We followed that with a guided trip through a still unfinished tourism center. Not much to see here. Let's go diving!!

Dive Day 1: Mosquera Island

A tiny little sliver of land, Mosquera Island is located in the passage between Baltra Island and Seymour Island. Our checkout dive was on the leeward side of the island, away from the current. Checkout dives are used basically to make sure you're properly weighted and the rest of your gear is copacetic. 25 feet for 22 minutes - piece of cake. Saw some garden eels, stingrays, and some very playfull sea lions. A very nice intro to Galapagos diving. Dives 2 and 3 were on the opposite side of Mosquera. Nothing to see here but loads of tropical fish!

As part of our week, we had land excursions as well as dives. After diving as Mosquera, we went up to Seymour Island and went for a hike. The wildlife on land, over the course of the week, would be almost as rewarding as what we saw underwater. Almost. Seymour gave us an up close look at dozens of nesting Frigates, a few Blue Footed Boobys, the biggest iguanas I've ever seen, marine iguanas, and lots more sea lions. As the week went on, it was obvious to all that the shops in the Galapagos were more than happy to take full advantage of the Blue Footed Booby's name. Tee shirts with every Booby joke you could imagine were proudly on display for every jokester out there who was to come along and fork over 20 bucks for a shirt that said "I love Boobys" on it. I figure if I wore a shirt like that to a party, it'd be funny once. For a few seconds. Then I'd have to explain what a Blue Footed Booby is and why they call it a Booby at LEAST a dozen times. Not worth the 5 second laugh.

Dive Day 2: Wolf Island

Here's where things get REALLY interesting! After boating all night from Mosquera, we arrived at Wolf Island, one of the two northernmost islands in the Archipelago. We'd be spending the next three days here and at Darwin Island - 11 dives in all. The currents at Wolf were the strongest I've ever dove in. We'd have to drop down, kicking the whole way, then grab onto a rock. Pretty much felt like I was in a wind tunnel with my legs flapping in the wind behind me. But because of the current, we didn't have to look for the sealife. The current brought the sealife to us!

The waters were pretty rough and as we were coming back from our second dive, I started to feel it. It came on quick and when I got back onto the Aggressor, I went straight to the toilet and hurled. I hadn't been seasick to the point of puking since a swim team trip to Cordova my freshman year of high school. Waters so rough in Prince William Sound that pretty much everyone on the ferry was taking turns in the stalls. I distinctly remember Todd Rosen running in right after I had deposited, yelling "get outta the way!!". But I digress. I wasn't happy, needless to say. I went ahead and gave the third dive of the day a shot, and felt great through the whole thing. Right up until I got to the surface. Once they got me onto the skiff, I was over the side. Damn. Oh, well. It is what it is. Teresa was kind enough to give me one of her seasickness patches, but that takes a few hours to kick in. I had to take some Dramamine and skip the last dive of the day. Well, the day wasn't a total loss. During our first day at Wolf, we saw Hammerhead Sharks (goal #2 taken care of), Galapagos Sharks (similar to a Mako), schooling Spotted Eagle Rays, Moray Eels, lots of fish I'd never seen before, and some very curious fish with a huge underbite and a yellow vertical stripe on it's back. Whatever it was, it came right up to me without a lick of fear. Nice.

Tomorrow, Darwins Island and the search for the Tiburon Ballena... Señor Grandé... the coveted Whale Shark.

And for the record, I can't take credit for any of the underwater photos.