Phishie Blog

Took my yearly ski trip to Tahoe over the past President’s Day weekend.  This makes 11 years now that we have had the trip, and I have only missed a single one (last year due to Snowpocalypse shutting down the airports).  As usual I didn’t bother taking any pictures and just enjoyed my time there skiing Kirkwood.  An amazing 8 feet of snow dropped while we were there making it a “fun” 13 hour drive to get to the house.   Much fun was had with a great bunch of people.  I think this may be the first year where we didn’t have a “one.”  Clem’s blog will have much more detail and pictures at http://gamerabaenre.com/?p=1472

Afterwards, we made a trip to Monteray, one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Clem and I went to Point Lobos and dove off of Whaler’s Cove.  The water was a frigid 52 degree F but we would not be stopped!  It reinforces however my desire to take a “dry suit” class.

Below are the pictures I took with my cheap $120 Intova IC10 underwater camera.  The camera has some issues, but for the price I can’t complain when it gives me some of these beautiful shots.  More pictures on Clem’s blog of the dive trip.

While I’m still waiting for the pictures from my wedding photographer I guess I’ll post about this weekend instead. During my wedding, I got PADI Certified for Open Water Scuba. Well, not DURING the wedding but shortly afterwards. That means I could now buy scuba gear and go down to about 66 feet underwater. This weekend I got my Advanced Open Water PADI Certification. That means I can go down another 10 meters (99 feet). Not that this means much since once I’m in the water there’s nothing stopping me from going as far down as I want other than the risk of death or getting “the bends.”
Lake Rawlings is an old quarry in Virginia. They used to mine granite there until they hit an aquifier and it became a lake. Oops. Since it’s all granite though, there’s no silt so it has some of the best visibility you’ll see on the east coast between Maine and Florida. They even have fresh water clams to help keep it clear which somehow got there naturally from the aquafier. The place is really cool to dive at.