Paul and I took a weekend away to go back home to Texas. Our first stop was Austin: we took a red eye plane after my class on Thursday night (Paul met me at school with the luggage and we grabbed dinner at Denny's and headed to the airport). The plane flight was a few hours to IAH then we had a small layover and caught a short 30 minute hopper to Austin (this "hopper plane" was still a 737, not all that small). Here is a great picture of a Texas runway... do you like the hay rolls?
I did not get much sleep on the plane despite bringing that cool neck pillow. So when we got to Austin, we both needed a nap. Paul dove into bed to take a nap, we stayed with our good friends Constance and Steve, while Constance and I ran out to pick up snacks. We went to a local market to get Paul some coke and me some microwave popcorn. Then we went to Central Market to pick up deli meat and breads, which I snacked on the whole weekend. I swear I gained a few pounds over the weekend, but all the food was so fantastic!
We thought we might go out to dinner on Friday night with friends, but everyone was unavailable. Our plans turn out to be better- we stayed at "home" and had homemade pot roast and roasted carrots and parsnips. I had never had parsnips before and roasting the veggies in simply olive oil tasted great! I cannot wait to try it myself. We also ran over to Half priced books because I LOVE that place. Paul found a few Sci-fi books, and I picked up some fun little things- a travel book, a business book, and a calligraphy book I had been interested in. The greater Pasadena area is in great need to this kind of store... hummmm... employment ideas for post MBA!
Saturday's plan was to get up and go diving. After no sleep for nearly 48 hours and the two hour time difference, though, we barely got out of the house past 1 PM. Dave had already been up since probably around 5 AM, but he meet us out at the lake with a bunch of gear supplemented by a quick stop to my all time favorite dive shop- Tom's Dive and Ski (not just because I used to work there). We picked up weights, a regulator, fins, booties, and wet suits (I ended up getting a wetsuit sized 11-12 because when the girl asked me what size I wore, I answered 8 thinking in wetsuit sizes; she might have been asking me my pant size). Needless to say, I did not have much trouble getting into my suit. I also picked up some sun block and water at the HEB near the lake. Paul took a picture of me outside of it (does he miss Austin and HEB grocery stores or did he like me in my short shorts and bathing suit?)
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At the lake we finally caught up with everyone. The temperature of the lake was around 82 degrees Fahrenheit, but it was almost 30 feet below full.
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There was pretty much guaranteed to be no thermocline. When the water is all one temperature like that, the silt does not settle into one section of water, it stirs from the bottom to the top (when there is a thermocline, the colder water is denser and silt will not pass between thermocline zones.) There were five of us going diving. Paul had packed the computers and compasses, but thought I had brought along the computers, so he only brought the compasses. I dove the "ole fashion way" with a dive watch (borrowed) and a depth gauge, LOL. We had also brought our own masks, since that is a serious part of being comfortable on a dive: having a mask that fits correctly. We looked like total strokes because we had piece-mealed our gear together with some DIR dive gear, some commercial rental gear, and some borrowed odds n ends.
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For example, I had not a single clip to attach my secondary regulator nor my SPG (submersible pressure gauge) to my BC (buoyancy compensator). I looked like a regular octopus:
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Constance and I decided we only wanted to go to the shelf in the lake (the one that is normally at 90ft with grottos, but is now around 60 ft). I borrowed a light and we headed down the stairs then downt he chain. Steve though the would mainly follow us because he did not want to go as deep as Dave and Paul in only a shortie. As Constance and I hit the shelf, I saw Steve in front of me and a group of descending divers, who were not looking down, descend on him at the same time another group of divers ran into him from the side. It was an amazing cluster of clueless divers; welcome back to Lake Travis! It was as I remembered it, down to the 5-7 feet of visibility. We all had a great dive. I swim a little faster than almost anyone I dive with, partially because the joy of the dive for me is moving through the water (I am a true swimmer), but also because others like to stop and explore more than me. I, like I normally do in teaching, spent some time double checking on the people behind me. Steve even went off to see the visibility down near 100. At the deepest we hit around 80 and saw the Pinto and two boats.
As we hit the 30 minutes mark, we headed up towards 30 ft and swam back towards our entry point. While we were headed back, maybe 15 minutes into it, I adjusted my mask and POP! the strap came off. I asked Steve to look at it, but he gave the "broken" sign (sometimes given as the middle finger over the piece of gear in question). I called the dive. I was able to mainly keep the mask on my face if I didn't turn my head, but what a pain; plus we were already at our safety stop depth, so we headed up.
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Constance thought ahead well and came prepared- she brought beer, crackers, and cheese! What a great dive :-).
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I did not get much sleep on the plane despite bringing that cool neck pillow. So when we got to Austin, we both needed a nap. Paul dove into bed to take a nap, we stayed with our good friends Constance and Steve, while Constance and I ran out to pick up snacks. We went to a local market to get Paul some coke and me some microwave popcorn. Then we went to Central Market to pick up deli meat and breads, which I snacked on the whole weekend. I swear I gained a few pounds over the weekend, but all the food was so fantastic!
We thought we might go out to dinner on Friday night with friends, but everyone was unavailable. Our plans turn out to be better- we stayed at "home" and had homemade pot roast and roasted carrots and parsnips. I had never had parsnips before and roasting the veggies in simply olive oil tasted great! I cannot wait to try it myself. We also ran over to Half priced books because I LOVE that place. Paul found a few Sci-fi books, and I picked up some fun little things- a travel book, a business book, and a calligraphy book I had been interested in. The greater Pasadena area is in great need to this kind of store... hummmm... employment ideas for post MBA!
Saturday's plan was to get up and go diving. After no sleep for nearly 48 hours and the two hour time difference, though, we barely got out of the house past 1 PM. Dave had already been up since probably around 5 AM, but he meet us out at the lake with a bunch of gear supplemented by a quick stop to my all time favorite dive shop- Tom's Dive and Ski (not just because I used to work there). We picked up weights, a regulator, fins, booties, and wet suits (I ended up getting a wetsuit sized 11-12 because when the girl asked me what size I wore, I answered 8 thinking in wetsuit sizes; she might have been asking me my pant size). Needless to say, I did not have much trouble getting into my suit. I also picked up some sun block and water at the HEB near the lake. Paul took a picture of me outside of it (does he miss Austin and HEB grocery stores or did he like me in my short shorts and bathing suit?)
.jpg)
At the lake we finally caught up with everyone. The temperature of the lake was around 82 degrees Fahrenheit, but it was almost 30 feet below full.
.jpg)
.jpg)
There was pretty much guaranteed to be no thermocline. When the water is all one temperature like that, the silt does not settle into one section of water, it stirs from the bottom to the top (when there is a thermocline, the colder water is denser and silt will not pass between thermocline zones.) There were five of us going diving. Paul had packed the computers and compasses, but thought I had brought along the computers, so he only brought the compasses. I dove the "ole fashion way" with a dive watch (borrowed) and a depth gauge, LOL. We had also brought our own masks, since that is a serious part of being comfortable on a dive: having a mask that fits correctly. We looked like total strokes because we had piece-mealed our gear together with some DIR dive gear, some commercial rental gear, and some borrowed odds n ends.
.jpg)
For example, I had not a single clip to attach my secondary regulator nor my SPG (submersible pressure gauge) to my BC (buoyancy compensator). I looked like a regular octopus:
.jpg)
Constance and I decided we only wanted to go to the shelf in the lake (the one that is normally at 90ft with grottos, but is now around 60 ft). I borrowed a light and we headed down the stairs then downt he chain. Steve though the would mainly follow us because he did not want to go as deep as Dave and Paul in only a shortie. As Constance and I hit the shelf, I saw Steve in front of me and a group of descending divers, who were not looking down, descend on him at the same time another group of divers ran into him from the side. It was an amazing cluster of clueless divers; welcome back to Lake Travis! It was as I remembered it, down to the 5-7 feet of visibility. We all had a great dive. I swim a little faster than almost anyone I dive with, partially because the joy of the dive for me is moving through the water (I am a true swimmer), but also because others like to stop and explore more than me. I, like I normally do in teaching, spent some time double checking on the people behind me. Steve even went off to see the visibility down near 100. At the deepest we hit around 80 and saw the Pinto and two boats.
As we hit the 30 minutes mark, we headed up towards 30 ft and swam back towards our entry point. While we were headed back, maybe 15 minutes into it, I adjusted my mask and POP! the strap came off. I asked Steve to look at it, but he gave the "broken" sign (sometimes given as the middle finger over the piece of gear in question). I called the dive. I was able to mainly keep the mask on my face if I didn't turn my head, but what a pain; plus we were already at our safety stop depth, so we headed up.
.jpg)
Constance thought ahead well and came prepared- she brought beer, crackers, and cheese! What a great dive :-).
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