Hi LJ!

[revid]

It's nice to be home. I just got up a little while ago after a wonderful 12 hour crash. Vacations are fun, but so is being home too.




I had a great time up diving in Quadra Island, British Columbia. (We were at Quathiaski Cove --- I just like to say it. :-)) Water temps were between 45º - 49º F, air temps were about the same with overcast and drizzle. We had a small group this year, only six of us. There should have been 7, but my good friend and long time dive buddy Wendy got stuck in Denver for two days -- there was fog and 1/8 mile viz, and since she was on FF miles, any time a flight did get out, she got bumped to the bottom of the list. Then her luggage got lost and she realized that if she did get on a flight out of the US that her luggage could also end up anywhere out of the US as well. So at that point she was able to catch a flight back home to Grand Junction, Colorado. A huge bummer.

I took a bunch of underwater pics, the vast majority of which are crap, but I got a few that I'll make prints of. People always ask why in the world I would want to work so hard to dive in a place like BC in the winter (or California, for that matter) when it's cold, and the gear is heavy and it's hard hauling it around in cold and wet conditions, but as pretty as tropical fish and reefs are, there is a beauty in cold water diving that is unsurpassed by anything else.



The other bonus of the trip was that I got to meet the fantabulous, amazingful and_ed!! She graciously made the drive to where I was, and we had dinner (and I had margaritas :-) ) at a pub in Campbell River. We sat there and gabbed and gossiped for four hours about all kinds of fun and exciting topics. I got to see her wonderfully creative scrapbook that she put together documenting her trip to California and Nevada with thelackey to see Green Day and The Network in October 2005, which looked like way more fun than anyone should be allowed to have, and made me oh-so-sad (not for the first time, of course) that we all didn't know each other back in fall of 2005. The missed opportunities make me want to weep.

It will come as no surprise to anyone on the flist that she was also thoughtful enough to bring me a present of a gift bag of genuine British Columbian goodies! Yum, let's see : A box of Raincoast Crisps, a delicious rosemary, raisin, pecan cracker from Vancouver which tastes even better than it sounds, especially with Aunt Penny's Antipasto, a yummy tomato/vegatable mix from Nanaimo. There was a also a bottle of pale ale, peach cider, and maple ale, all from the province. In the airport, I was forced to eat the scrumptious maple fudge bar for sustenance. The most decadent treat was this amazing concoction called a Traditional Nanaimo Bar, which is good enough to be illegal. It consists of a chocolate/coconut base, with a creamy pudding layer, covered by a chocolate fudge layer. OMG. (And I did manage to transport it home BTW!) And last but not least, I have my very own box of Longview Beef Jerky! Score!

And if that weren't enough, she brought me one of the precious Green Day postcards she recently aquired.

So for those of you that missed the memo: Barb rocks! Hard! Thanks Darling! I'm so glad I got to meet you!



I apologize for being so behind on everyone's LJ. I'll do my best to catch up ASAP, at least with reading, if not commenting.

Comments

[stumphed.livejournal.com]

FISHIES! I sure hope you told them I said HI! ♥

Friends meeting friends always makes me so happy. And it makes me long for a time when I am rich and can fly all over to see the people I love.

And also. *drops voice and makes shifty eyes to make sure no one is watching* Those things I maybe possibly linked you to? Did you read any? *grins and flees*

[revid.livejournal.com]

I did! I told them all that Joey said Hi!

I love meeting my flist! What a joy.

And um, yeah, I did some reading. ;-)

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to introduce and convert addictedkitten to the wonder that is Green Day, because that woman needs to write in our fandom. That's all I have to say.