A few weeks ago, I visited New York for the first time. Here’s a quick recap of my trip!
Scuba trip: San Carlos, Mexico (October 2017)
For the third time in 3 months, I went south to San Carlos, Mexico for a long weekend of diving. In August, I did my Advanced Open Water (AOW) certification and in September, I wrapped up my Rescue Diver certification. This time, though, I didn’t have any training to complete. It was a recreational trip in the fullest sense – a couple days of diving just for fun and nothing else!
Scuba trip: San Carlos, Mexico (September 2017)
In my last scuba-related post, I mentioned my goal to become certified as a scuba instructor. During that trip to San Carlos, Mexico, I got the second certification level I need: Advanced Open Water Diver (AOW). A few weeks later, I returned to San Carlos to complete the third certification: Rescue Diver. As I did for my Open Water and AOW certifications, I decided to do the Rescue Diver certification through my local dive shop in Tucson, Planet Scuba. They organize a trip to San Carlos at least once a month, and I love their owners and staff.
Scuba trip: San Carlos, Mexico (August 2017)
I’ve made up my mind that I want to become certified to be a scuba instructor. I’m not in a rush; I just know eventually I’d like to do this. In order to get to instructor status, I’ll need to build up my diving experience and also go through several certification levels. First up: Advanced Open Water Diver (AOW). This is one level up from the basic certification, Open Water Diver. I decided to do the certification through my local dive shop in Tucson, Planet Scuba. If you’re in southern Arizona and considering diving, I strongly recommend them!
San Carlos underwater photos (August 2017)
I took these photos on my recent trip to San Carlos (recap is here). All of these pics were taken while diving in the Sea of Cortez off the coast of San Carlos. Enjoy!
Hiking the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim
About a month ago I got to do something pretty awesome: I hiked the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim. Most people who do a Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike put in months (if not years) of planning and physical preparation. For one thing, the trek is about 24 miles in total, so it’s fairly physically demanding. On top of that, I went in August. This time of year, temperatures at the bottom of the Grand Canyon often exceed 100F (about 38C). So you have to be in pretty good shape.
Belize underwater photos (May 2017)
I took these photos on my recent trip to Belize/Guatemala (recaps are here for the first half of the trip and here for the second half). All of these pics were taken while diving or snorkeling in various areas of the Belize Barrier Reef. Hope you like them!
Birthday Trip: Belize and Guatemala (part 2: scuba!)
Wow – it’s already been more than 2 weeks since I posted part 1 of my Belize/Guatemala trip recap! I’ve been teaching some summer session engineering courses which has kept my days full so time has flown by. I’m glad I finally found some time to finish up part 2 though. It’s been fun to reminisce!
Birthday trip: Belize and Guatemala (part 1)
A few days ago I returned home after a 10-day trip to Belize and Guatemala. I went on the trip as a 30th birthday present to myself. The trip was long enough that I’m going to split my recap into 2 parts; here’s part 1!
What’s in that hole? – Episode 15
Hello everybody and welcome to Episode 15 of What’s in that Hole?, a fun series I’m writing for my blog. In the last episode, we traveled to San Francisco’s Presidio for our holes. This time, we’re on the road again but much closer to home – I found today’s holes on my recent stop at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, which is between Tucson and Phoenix.
Things to do in Arizona: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
On a recent drive between Phoenix and Tucson, I made a snap decision to visit the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. The ruins are off the main route between the two cities, but aren’t too far out of the way. Still, in my dozens of trips back and forth between Tucson and Phoenix, this was the first time I took the time to check out the ruins.
Spring break in San Francisco, CA
Last week was spring break at the University of Arizona. Since I’m just working part time and my only duty is teaching, I took the opportunity to travel to San Francisco to see some friends. Originally, my trip was actually planned for a weekend in February but a storm messed up air travel in the area and my flights were cancelled. In the end, it was for the best because the change gave me more time in SF plus there was much better weather!