I think we're gonna need a bigger boat...

Well, just when we were starting to think about getting out into the Gulf for some spearfishing, Gibby sends me this picture. It is from an article on TBO about a guy who caught a Great White shark while out grouper fishing. Oh great, go out for grouper and end up with an 8 foot shark. I dont think I would want to run into this guy while I was at 80 feet with a couple dead grouper tied to my waist. Maybe its time to invest in one of those 44 caliber bang sticks ;)

Last hike in VT before going home

We squeezed in two short hours of hiking again today, we leave for home tomorrow morning. Went over to Grafton Village Cheese Co and started hiking from the lodge at Windham Ponds up the mountain bike trails. This seemed like a better idea today since we are limited on time and dont want a repeat of the other day when we wandered around for hours trying to get out of the woods. The trails were a tough walk and would absolutely kick your ass on a bike. This photo was taken at a fallen tree we found wedged in between 5 or 6 other trees. We also came across a cool little miniature log cabin with a wood stove inside. In the winter the trails are used for cross country skiing and snowshoeing, and you can stop off in the cabin and warm up to a fire if its really cold.

Went by the cheese company on the way out and picked up several varieties of their cheddar to bring home for our 'wine and cheese' parties. Between that and the import varieties I got at the co-op I feel bad for whomever sits near me on the flight home.

Went hiking in Vermont today

Well its our first full day in Vermont so Melanie and I went for a hike up a big hill on the opposite side of the Saxton's River from Granny and Pops' house. We started out just following a footpath, which led us to a dirt road. After following the dirt road for a while we found another road with a gate across it and went that way. We ended up way around the other side of the hill on someones hunting property. We found a little camp shack, and some beaver dams along the trail. I would have to say that if it wasnt for the GPS unit we might have been out there longer than we wanted to. As it was we ended walking home about 2 miles on the side of the road from where we finally emerged from the woods.

Classy Diving II

Diving King's Spring with Open Water students again... Went to Crystal River with Gibby again, he had a half class of new students and brought his nephew along too. We took off on our own so I could show him through the cavern while Gibby and Capt. John did compass exercises with the students. Had a nice time, but it's definitely time to start getting into the Gulf and out of the rivers for the summer.

Classy Diving

I went diving for the first time in 10 or 11 years this weekend. My friend Gibby has been assisting with PADI open water certification classes in Crystal River. He got me to go along for a refresher course. I was pretty surprised how I remembered everything once we actually started doing it. On Sunday we dove King's Spring and I passed through the small cavern there at about 45 feet with no apprehension or worries at all. Still trying to get better control over my bouyancy, but hey, what diver isnt? Hopefully this will lead to a summer full of diving and spearfishing.