July 5: I took an early morning metro train into Washington, DC, getting off at the Smithsonian stop and wandering over to the Washington Memorial. Today I would officially start my hike! But I was slackpacking today. No full-sized pack necessary, and I'd be going into a hotel at the end of the day.
One of the few photos I managed to get before my camera gave the dreaded "out of memory" error.
Amanda didn't go into town with me since she wanted to see some sights outside of the National Mall. I didn't really plan to see or do anything new myself.... today, I'd be walking through just to get photos for Walking 4 Fun. It helped that I was already somewhat familiar with the area and knew my way around. I already had in my head an idea of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to get photos of. At least a rough idea of it.
Upon arriving at the Washington Monument, the weather was beautiful! Mostly clear, blue skies with an occasional puffy white cloud to make the sky interesting. The overhanging rain from the day before was long gone.
The city had a feel like it was getting over a bad hangover from the night before. Most of the security fences from the day before were still up, but they'd been pulled apart and knocked down in places so people could get through without having to find an official entrance. A stage where music had been performed the day before was being disassembled. The Federal City was returning to normal.
I took a few photos of the Washington Monument before I hit my first snag: My camera gave me an "out of memory" error. Crap!
I blamed Blueberry for my problem. I had taken photos of him pretending to jump the White House Fence, and popped out the SD card for my camera to put on my laptop. I had promised to email him the photo as as well build this fake webpage announcing his arrest for jumping the fence. I had forgotten to return the SD card to my camera, though. It was still sitting in my laptap, which was sitting back in the hotel room. My camera had a tiny amount of memory to take maybe about 5 photos without an SD card, and I filled it up in seconds. I needed an SD card!
Where's the closest place to the Washington Monument to get an SD card? Hmm.... I didn't know, but I had a smartphone which I rarely used. I carried it today in case Amanda and I needed to get in touch with each other, but I flipped it on and ran a few searches for stores I thought would likely carry SD cards. I found that there was a CVS a few blocks away and walked over to it where I purchased the smallest, cheapest SD card I could find (it was a 4 GB card). It didn't have to have a large capacity--I just needed it to last the day. At the end of the day, I'd go back to the hotel and put the high-capacity SD card back in my camera.
I took this photo of the CVS where I bought the new SD card. You know, to test that it was working properly before I went too far! =)
With the new SD card in place, I walked back to the Washington Monument to start my hike again. I retraced much of my steps from the day before but in reverse, heading out to the White House first then working my way clockwise around the National Mall, then out around the Tidal Basin and towards the Lincoln Memorial.
I wanted to include some of the interiors of the Smithsonian in a few of my photos so planned my hike to include walking directly through a few of my favorite Smithsonian buildings including the Museum of American History, the Natural History Museum, and the Air and Space Museum. I would have like to have gone through even more, but it was kind of a hassle since I had to go through a security check with every building. It's not as invasive or slow as going through an airport security line, but it's still a hassle.
The Museum of American History caused me more trouble than I had expected! I quickly walked through the whole place, making a circuit around each floor looking for something "iconic" I could get a photo of. There's a lot of interesting stuff, but it's not necessarily iconic or photogenic. The thing I wanted a photo of the most--the American flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner anthem--didn't allow photography. It probably wouldn't have turned out well in any case. The flag is old and in pretty bad shape. It's displayed in a darkened room and quite large--getting a single photo of the entire thing probably wouldn't have worked even if they did allow photography.
I did take a photo of the entrance to see the Star-Spangled Banner, but I spent the better part of an hour going quickly from room to room trying to find something that would make a great photo. Eventually I found Lincoln's top hat--the one he wore to Ford's Theater the night he was assassinated. That's an interesting piece of memorabilia! But as far as photos go, it's pretty drab and because it's behind a protective glass enclosure so people like me can't reach out and grab it, it wasn't particularly photogenic. Stupid glass display cases.... I took a photo of the hat anyhow.
I left that museum frustrated with lack of a great, iconic photo, but the National History Museum gave me the opposite problem--so many iconic photo opportunities that I didn't know where to start! Just walking into the lobby was a wonderful, giant elephant. I dropped by the Hope Diamond for a quick photo, but that photo sucks not the least because it was hidden behind a glass case and crowded with tourists. But what I really wanted was a skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Those are just cool! Even as a kid I thought they were cool, and I still think they were cool! So I wandered around until I found the dinosaur skeletons and took a few more photos. But they weren't, alas, particularly photogenic. Mr. T. Rex had a weird red light over it that gave it a strange glow, and the flash on my camera can fix that problem, but made the rest of the skeleton look washed out and flat. They also were in relatively small rooms--not with the soaring ceiling where the elephant in the lobby was located.
Look at all the crowds! And it's still pretty early in the morning!
I walked passed the FBI Hoover building on my way to Ford's Theater. I remember touring the building with my dad back when I was 10 or something, but apparently they don't give tours of the building to the public anymore. Which is somewhat sad... I remember the tour fondly and thought it infinitely more interesting than the White House tour.
I passed by the National Archives building, but didn't go inside. I knew photography wasn't allowed of the Declaration of Independence or Constitution, but they weren't particularly photogenic anyhow. And there's always a long line of people to get in to see those documents.
As the day progressed, the heat cranked up significantly. Weather forecasts predicted temperatures of around 90 degrees--and the humidity was oppressive at best. By noon, it was pretty awful walking around outside. I tried to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, but even the water in my backpack turned nasty at those temperatures. Hot water is just gross, so I would drink heavily from any water fountain I passed.
Late in the afternoon, I had finally finished my circuit around the National Mall and it was time to link up with the C&O Canal. On a map, it didn't look like it would take more than an hour or so, and it didn't. From the Lincoln Memorial, I looped around the back of it and followed the Potomac River upstream. Past the Kennedy Center, past the Watergate Hotel, over Rock Creek and into Georgetown.
I didn't link up immediately with the end of the C&O Canal, though. I'd never been to Georgetown before and wanted a quick look around while I was there. I followed the waterfront upstream towards Key Bridge, the headed inland to the C&O Canal. But I'd overshot the end of the trail by a mile or so, so I followed the trail back to its start taking photos along the way.
I didn't remember seeing this distinctive-looking building on my previous visits to Washington. And why are there fences all around it block it off? It's the new National Museum of African American History and Culture that wasn't due to open for another few months.
Once I reached the start of the trail, I felt like that was a good time to stop. I was exhausted! I had taken over 40,000 steps for the day, and that's a lot of steps in 90 degree weather with high humidity! But I needed to get back to the hotel. I was familiar with the metro for getting around the DC area, but there weren't any metro stops in Georgetown. I wasn't familiar with the bus system at all, although I'm sure one of them could have gotten me to my necessary destination. The closest metro stop was across the Potomac at Rosslyn, or back the way I came from. Not wanting to retrace my steps, I decided to walk to Rosslyn.
I followed M Street back towards the Key Bridge, then walked over the Key Bridge towards the Rosslyn station. Walking over the bridge was exhilarating. So high! The views! =) I took lots of photos, but knew I wouldn't use any of them on Walking 4 Fun because I had now walked "off-trail." This section wouldn't be on the virtual walk. Maybe I could work the walk down M Street into the trail, but not going across the Key Bridge.
I arrived at the Rosslyn Station at dusk, and took the train to the stop closest to our hotel. About ten minutes before I would get off, I called Amanda to let her know I'd need to be picked up there soon. Our hotel wasn't particularly close to a metro stop so Amanda dropped me off in the morning and picked me up in the evening.
I had finished the day much later than I initially intended, and it was quite dark by the time Amanda picked me up. We stopped at Chick-Fil-A for a quick dinner and called it a day. I was done!
I couldn't get a photo of the actual Star-Spangled Banner, but I did get a photo of this entrance for the exhibit!
In the American History Museum, one of my favorite objects was the hat Lincoln wore to Ford's Theater the night he was assassinated. But as far as photos go, it's kind of a disappointment. Not very photogenic!
The lobby of the Natural History Museum is absolutely awesome!
Ford's Theater, where Lincoln was assassinated.
The building in the back is the National Archives building and houses the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence (among other important documents).
The US Capitol building.
Lobby of the Air and Space Museum. The plane in the foreground is the Spirit of St. Louis that Charles Lindbergh flew non-stop across the Atlantic. The orange bullet-shape plane just under that wing in the background is the Bell X-1--the first plane to fly faster than the speed of sound.
The Castle was the first building that made up the Smithsonian and is now houses the administrative offices and information center for the Smithsonian.
Jefferson Memorial
View of the Washington Monument from the Jefferson Memorial.
I kind of wanted to ride a duck too! =(
MLK Jr. Memorial
WWII Memorial
Vietnam Wall Memorial
View from the Lincoln Memorial overlooking the National Mall.
The Korean War Memorial is wonderfully done, I think, but it has a kind of grim and spooky quality to it that most memorials don't have. If there was a "haunted memorial," I think this would be it.
Behind the Lincoln Memorial, along the Potomac, and now headed to Georgetown!
The Watergate complex, and a reminder that corruption has been a part of politics for many, many years! It's not just a recent thing! =)
Rock Creek
Georgetown waterfront
It's official! We're on the C&O Canal! This would be my first view of the canal, but it's not actually the beginning which I overshot by following the Georgetown waterfront. So now I'll walk backwards on the trail to the beginning maybe a mile or so away.
One of the many, many locks of the C&O Canal.
Another lock of the canal.
The beginning of the C&O Canal is located where the canal empties into Rock Rock.
July 4: I had been looking for a trail to hike in July. I had plans for August and September already, but I was itching to do a relatively short hike to fill in July for a couple of weeks and mentally turned over ideas a couple of months early. I needed something that would take about two weeks, and could be reasonably hiked in July. And something I hadn't done before. I'm not big on repeating trails!
The lobby of the Holocaust Museum
And finally, I had the thought to hike the C&O Canal or known by its formal name the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. I'd first heard about the trail in 2003 during my Appalachian Trail thru-hike which happens to overlap this trail for a couple of miles near Harpers Ferry, WV. Even in 2003, during my AT thru-hike, I remember thinking, "Wow! I could just turn off the AT here and in three or four days, be exploring the jungles of Washington, DC!"
I didn't, though. Katahdin was my goal then, not Washington. I did later make a trip or two to Washington to explore the sights, but never really considered going back to the C&O Canal to walk its length again. Until now.... In July, the temperatures would probably be unpleasantly warm. This was the same time of year I'd gone through Harpers Ferry on my thru-hikes. It's hot! But still... it's doable... No snow or ice to worry about. At least trees would provide plenty of shade. And there would be plenty of water along the route--the entire trail follows the length of the Potomac River.
I still didn't have a specific start date in mind. The actual start date didn't really matter--anywhere from the last week of June to the first half of July would have been fine. Whenever I got my ducks in a row and was ready to go! The main thing I needed to do was to sew a new backpack. I wanted something larger than the one I used on the AT last year. Not so much for this trip, but for future hikes I had in mind that would require a larger backpack.
A date solidified by mid-June when I got into a conversation with Blueberry on Facebook and happened to mention that I decided to hike the C&O Canal from Washington, DC, to Cumberland, MD. You might remember Blueberry from my Appalachian Trail adventures last year: He's quite the character!
He asked if I was going to see the Independence Day fireworks in Washington--a thought that had never even crossed my mind, but now that he mentioned it, that sounded like an awesome idea! I've heard that they're some of the best in the country, which seems reasonable for being the nation's capital. What better place to celebrate the country's birthday than in the capital? (Okay, maybe Philadelphia, but the capital is a good place too!)
So bam! I now had a start date. July 4th. Washington to Cumberland! I'd probably finish in mid-July. I also suggested that Blueberry could hike the trail with me if he had the time or inclination. He had the inclination, but time was short. Although maybe he'd join me for the first few days of the trail.
With my deadline, I quickly started work on my new pack. At a glance, it looked identical to the pack I used last year, except this one had two differences: It was considerably larger. It had close to double the volume of last year's model, and I decided to create unpadded straps for it. Padding, I decided, didn't actually help very much on straps. The width of the straps was more important than padding for comfort. I wanted to spread out the load on my shoulders as much as possible. You can put 50 pounds of feathers on your back or 50 pounds of rocks on your back, but either way, it'll still feel like 50 pounds.
What the heck is Blueberry doing to FDR?!!!!
So I created two packs. The first was a day pack--I needed a new one anyhow--but it allowed me to test the unpadded strap system as a "proof of concept." I loaded up the new day pack with heavy books and filled it to the brim, and walked around for miles wearing it to see how it would feel on my shoulders. At the end of the day, my shoulders were sore from carrying all that heavy weight, but no more sore than it would have been had I walked around with padded straps. The new strap system passed my tests. As an added bonus, unpadded straps were a lot faster and easier to make than padded ones. It would take me an entire day of sewing to create padded straps. I could knock out the unpadded ones in less than a half hour.
With that test out of the way, I quickly put together my new backpack and prepped for my trip to the nation's capital.
Amanda and I flew in late on July 3rd and checked into a nearby hotel.
The morning of the fourth was dreary and overcast and rain was expected on and off throughout the day. It wasn't an auspicious start to the day!
We took the metro into DC, and the first place Amanda and I headed to was the Holocaust Museum. I'd never been there before and the last time we were in town, they had given out all of the day's tickets already. We wanted to get there early enough in time to get tickets. We picked up three of them--Blueberry was also on the metro coming in from a different direction and we'd be meeting him there.
The Holocaust Museum is a sad place to visit as you might imagine, and we found it all the more sad because a lot of the prejudices and intolerance that led to the Holocaust are still things that plague society today. When Jews tried to escape Nazi Germany, the rest of the world--including the United States--often refused to accept the new refugees, who later were sent to concentration camps. Given the refugee crises in Europe today and many of their citizens (the United States as well) wanting to turn their backs on refugees--again--it's hard not to compare this horrible time in history to the world today. The religious intolerance and xenophobia that fueled the Holocaust is still alive and well today, both domestic and abroad.
Blueberry and Amanda get in a breadline at the FDR Memorial.
Hey, is that Blueberry checking out Amanda's butt?! Eyes up! Eyes up!
After that sobering visit, we asked Blueberry if there was anything he really wanted to see while he was there. This, as it turned out, was his first time in Washington, DC. His only request was to see the Lincoln Memorial. Easily done! But I couldn't help but ask him why? After all, he was from Georgia and liked to refer to the Civil War as the "War of Northern Aggression." Wasn't Lincoln the bad guy from that point of view?
"Yes," Blueberry told us. He wanted to "meet the enemy" to better know what he was up against. Said with a completely straight face, I almost believed him. =)
We took the scenic route towards the Lincoln Memorial, walking around the Jefferson Memorial at the Tidal Basin and passing the FDR Memorial before arriving at the Lincoln Memorial. Walking around often times proved to be difficult. Chain-link fences had been set up all over the national mall with narrow holes opened for security checkpoints. We'd have to walk around the fences until we found the opening, then have our bags searched every time we wanted to enter one of them. We quickly made it a policy of trying to limit the number of times we'd have to exit and re-enter the secure areas.
Late in the afternoon, we noticed more and more people setting up camp on the national mall in preparation for the fireworks later that evening and Amanda agreed to save a spot for us on the slope going up to the Washington Monument. There was still some daylight, though, and being Blueberry's first time in Washington, we figured he had to see a bit more before we stopped.
We headed back out of the secure area and towards the Air and Space Museum. We really didn't have time to explore that whole building--you could spend all day just exploring the one building--but we went in to do a quick walk-through. While inside, Amanda had called me on my phone and asked for us to pick up something for her to eat. Upon learning we were at the Air and Space Museum, she said that there was a McDonalds there and she'd be happy with a couple of small hamburgers or something.
The Korean War Memorial
So we wandered over the McDonalds. Blueberry and I got dinner as well--we were both hungry anyhow! But we ran into a problem when we tried to re-enter the museum.... drinks weren't allowed in the museum. We couldn't leave with our drinks! But it turned out that we could leave outside from an emergency exit which is what we proceeded to do. Drinks and a couple of quickly cooling hamburgers still in hand. =)
We continued around the national mall, up towards the Capitol building, then down towards the White House. It's kind of cool to see these iconic buildings in real life if you'd never seen them before, and Blueberry had never seen them before. And anyhow, we didn't want to go across the mall since it would have required going through another security check. Instead, we went around it.
Near the Capitol building, a squirrel dashed across the lawn and up a tree, and I sensed Blueberry wanting to chase it. He'd done this on the Appalachian Trail last year, and even managed to kill a groundhog and cook it for dinner over the campfire later that evening.
"Blueberry!" I shouted. "No! Leave the squirrels alone! There are kids around for God's sake!And lots of policemen! A LOT of policemen! Walk away from the squirrel!"
You could sense a certain degree of sadness, but Blueberry walked away from the squirrel like a chastised puppy.
At the White House, without thinking, I joked to Blueberry about "not jumping the White House fence." As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew it was a mistake. Blueberry's eyes opened wide as he contemplated actually jumping the White House fence. He quickly decided against it, much to my relief, but still wanted to pretend like he was about to jump it. "The keyword," I told him, "is to pretend to jump it. Pretend!"
He put his umbrella in his mouth and gripped the metal bars making up the White House fence, wide-eyed and crazy-looking as you could imagine. "This is a great photo!" I told him, meaning it. It looked hilarious in my camera.
Blueberry wanted to visit the Lincoln Memorial in
order to "meet the enemy."
Darkness was quick approaching now, and we decided it was best to get back to Amanda near the Washington Monument. The line at the security checkpoint was considerably longer now. Earlier in the day, there were no lines at all--it was merely a hassle. Now Blueberry and I had to wait for 10 agonizing minutes to get to the front of the line. Agonizing because both of us had to pee and the porta-potties were on the other side of the security fence.
Once past security, we rushed to the lines of porta-potties and took care of business. The crowds on the national mall were much bigger than when we left Amanda. Once we arrived, she ate her McDonalds burgers and went off to do her own potty break, relieving her of the duty to guard our spot for the evening.
I was amazed at the crowds. I knew Washington, DC, on the Fourth of July--for the fireworks would be crowded, but I had hoped the on-and-off rain storms all day would have discouraged people from coming out. Maybe it did--I had nothing to compare these crowds to--but it certainly didn't discourage many! There were people everywhere!
I semi-joked with Amanda that if we were to be killed in a terrorist attack, this would be the where it would happen this year. We very rarely go to crowded places preferring to avoid hoards of people. Very rarely do we end up at large stadium events or hang around places that would make obvious terrorist targets. Not so much because we're afraid of terrorist attacks, but they just aren't the kind of places we like going to usually. There was certainly a lot of security prowling the area today--considerably more than I'd seen on previous visits to Washington. And I could totally imagine that there are terrorists who would absolutely love to cause a mass panic or casualty event in the heart of Washington on Independence Day. It's so thick with symbolism, how could they not be thinking it?
I knew the likelihood of being killed (or injured) in a terrorist attack was low, but if it were to happen.... this evening really would have been the most likely time. (Spoiler alert: no terrorist attacks!)
At the appointed time, the fireworks shot off over the Reflecting Pool with the Lincoln Memorial far in the distance. Although the rain had stopped, the cloud layer was low and some of the fireworks got lost in the clouds--a disappointment, to be sure. But we saw enough that it was still fun and not a complete waste of time!
After the fireworks ended, I walked up to the base of the Washington Monument and took several photos. Although the C&O Canal officially started a few miles away in Georgetown, I wanted to walk around the National Mall as sort of an "approach trail" to the C&O Canal, and I wanted this hike to begin at the Washington Monument. At night, in the fog and rain, the photos probably wouldn't be great, but I wanted to try anyhow! Because, why not? =)
We parted ways with Blueberry at the metro station. Blueberry didn't have time to join me for a few days on the C&O Canal so I'd be hiking without him. But it was fun catching up with one of the Four Horsemen before the hike!
Blueberry pretends to jump the White House fence. However, I did create this fake press release about him being arrested for jumping the fence. =)
The fireworks were fun... even if some of the higher ones got lost in the clouds.
Washington Monument
Amanda and I take the metro back to the hotel for the night. =)
January 19: Well, I really have nothing more about Europe to post. I spent the night in the Paris airport, then another night in Phoenix after missing the last connection of the day to my mom's house in San Luis Obispo. I visited for a few days before flying back to Seattle where I went home for the first time in seven months. Seven months. What an adventure! So much had happened in those seven months, with thousands of miles of trails under my feet.
I made a spectacle of myself with this dive!
I was surprised to learn in... November, I think it was, that my mom was planning to retire at the end of the year. Earlier than she initially intended, but it meant it was time for me to fulfill a promise I had made her that I'd take her to Disney World after she retired. She'd never been there before. She's been to Disneyland often enough being a native Californian and all, but Disney World is... well, another world! But it's a big place, and requires a whole day just to travel there, and another day to travel back and a quality visit was going to take some time.
So I told her years ago that when she retired, I'd take her to Disney World. Although I had told her if she retired in July or something, we'd wait until winter to go. Who wants to go to Disney World when the weather is hot and miserable and the crowds can make you claustrophobic? Apparently almost everyone.... except us! =) We'd go in the off season and when the weather is better suited to our temperament. She's retired. I have a flexible job. We were going to be flexible.
We worked it around Amanda's schedule so she could join the fun as well, and the stars all aligned for the third week of January. Entirely by coincidence, the trip happened to span my mom's birthday so it then became the "retirement and birthday" trip. =)
And off we flew to sunny Florida. The weather was wonderful, and I set up a busy schedule that would take us to all four Disney Parks. (I'd only been to two of the four in my past visits, so half the trip was entirely new to me as well!)
And I'm not going to bore you with most of our trip. If you've been to Disney World, you know what's there! And, in fact, I've blogged about it before. And again. And again! (Scroll down to February 13th on that last link.)
But this time, I did something that was really cool and many of you experienced Disney World visitors might not even realize was an option.... swimming with sharks! So that's what I'm going to tell you about: The Epcot DiveQuest program.
All of the photos and videos were taken by Amanda or my mom. Obviously, I was unable to take any myself! =) This is everyone in the group splashing down before we submerged. I'm in there somewhere, but I'd be hard pressed to tell you which person is actually me.
You know that giant salt-water aquarium at Epcot? It's officially called the "The Seas with Nemo and Friends Pavilion", a 5.7 million gallon aquarium which includes turtles, fish, manatees, dolphins and--yes--sharks! And for a princely sum of just under $200, you can swim with them! Well, not the manatees or dolphins--they're separated off from the part where they allow you dive. If you're interested in doing this, you need have a scuba certification already--they aren't going to teach you here!--make a reservation early (limited space is available), and the cost of the dive includes the cost of getting into Epcot. (Although if you want to get into Epcot earlier in the day like I did, you need a regular ticket. Friends and family who watch you dive also need their own entrance tickets.)
My dive time was scheduled for January 19th at 4:30 or something in the afternoon, so I left Amanda and my mom who were inside the park and went just outside the front entrance, off to the side where the divers were supposed to meet.
In all, there were probably close to 20 of us who showed up, ready to dive. Check checked us all off on their clipboards and took our cards showing we're certified scuba divers. I really hoped they weren't going to test us on that matter, though, because I had scuba dived exactly once in the past ten years. To say my scuba skills were rusty was something of an understatement....
Then we were led through a side door to the backstage of Epcot. This is the entrance that few people ever get to go through. ;o)
At this point, we were under strict orders to take no photos--which is why you'll see no photos of this stuff. Backstage stuff is secret stuff. They'll kill you or something if you try to take a photo. Or maybe feed you to their sharks. I'm not sure. I didn't want to get kicked out of the park until after the dive was over, at the very least, so I refrained from taking photos.
But our backstage guide pointed out and explained what the various buildings and features we could see, and telling us more information about their aquarium, such as being the second-largest in the United States. (There's a newer one in Atlanta that is slightly larger, which they seemed to imply they did just to beat out Disney for the title of the largest aquarium.)
We could see cranes that they used to put their large animals in and out of the tank, and another smaller tank off to the side that's used to quarantine new animals before they're introduced into the larger tank.
There was also someone onsite, 24/7 every day of the year to make sure the aquarium always functioned properly. Heaven forbid if nobody was around and something important broke in the middle of the night and they arrived the next morning to find all of the animals in the aquarium dead! Needless to say, they also and backup generators to power the place.
And we all submerged, just before the obligatory lap around the pool.
Then we headed indoors, into the building housing the aquarium, although still in the backstage area where regular visitors never get to go. Our guide, Kate from New Jersey, showed us around a bit. We saw the kitchen where they prepare the food for the animals, and the backstage area where a couple of manatees were floating around. There's a small lift there that can pick up the manatees out of the water when it's time for a vet checkup or some surgical procedure. I thought it was interesting that they always feed the manatees at that location to make them habituated to going there on a daily basis. Most of the time they feed and leave, but when it's time for a checkup, the manatee is already positioned by the lift and gets lifted right out of the water. I imagine it must be startling to the giant creatures the first time that happens, but it's probably easier than trying to herd the manatee to the correct location every time they want a closer look at it.
Eventually we were led to a small room where the rules of the dive were explained. I don't know if the room has an official name, but I'm calling it the "briefing room." We weren't to touch any animals. Absolutely forbidden from touching them. It wasn't a big deal if one of them bumped into us, but we were not to touch them. Also, although the coral in the aquarium was entirely fake, we weren't supposed to touch that either. Coral--real corals, that is--are very sensitive and brittle and shouldn't be touched. Although the corals here were fake, not all of the visitors who would see us diving would know that and they wanted us to set a good example, so no touching the fake coral. While we were diving, we would be the attraction for all of the visitors. Not the fish or turtles or sharks. Us. We would be positive superstars underwater as all of the visitors watched. And we had to set a good example.
We were, however, allowed to touch the glass of the aquarium, where friends and family could watch us. And the floor of the aquarium was okay to touch or stand on.
Absolutely nothing metal was allowed in the tank. No watches, no hair thingys on the women if it used a metal clasp, etc. Metal and salt water did not mix. Also, along one section, there were metal bars separating the dolphins from the rest of the tank. We were to keep at least 10 feet away from those bars. The dolphins, they said, were curious creatures and might try checking us out, but they didn't want them getting too familiar with people. We could look--just don't get too close to the bars.
We were also told when we first jumped in, to first hang out at the surface. Once everyone was in the water, the dive leaders would take us on a short, circular swim around the aquarium mostly for the benefit of a cameraman that would be filming us. Once that was done, we were allowed to swim pretty much anywhere we wanted, or look for friends and family who might be watching through the aquarium glass. In all, we'd have something like 40 minutes of dive time.
At the end of our time, one of the dive leaders would knock a couple of rocks together to get our attention. (Underwater, obviously, you can't yell or call out to everyone. You get people's attention by doing things like banging hard objects together.) When we heard that, we were to all swim to the middle of the tank and slowly rise to the surface together. There going to be a few of their employees joining us in the water to make sure we stayed safe and followed the rules. It's not like they were going to let us loose with no supervision at all! =)
I know what some of you are thinking: OMG! Ryan's bald! No, that's me waving from behind the bald guy. =)
With all of the rules done, they eventually led to to some locker rooms where we were all given wet suits to change into. There were only a few women in our group--most of us were men. It was pretty crowded in the men's locker room, but I imagined the women had a lot more space to spread out! Our personal items we could put in a small locker, but we had to give them the key for the lockers before we dived. The key was made of medal and medal is not allowed at all in their tanks. But they'd keep the keys safe until after the dive was done.
When everyone was dressed in our new flashy wet suits, they took us through a door which led to the front of aquarium, and what a sight we must have made to all of the Epcot visitors when we walked out! Being such a large crowd of a people, and all dressed in wet suits, it's not an understatement to say that we stood out. =)
I looked for Amanda and my mom. I weren't sure if they were there yet. They definitely planned to watch my dive, but the actual dive wouldn't take place until over an hour after I had left them. I didn't know if they were there yet, but I didn't see them. I didn't really have a chance to look for them, though. The aquarium covers a couple of floors and leads through a few different rooms, and we were just marching through to another door into another backstage area. There was probably a way to have done that without going through the visitor area, but not as direct! And not as fun. =)
Once again in the backstage area, we went up some stairs that led to the top of the aquarium--a huge, round pool of water. It was surprisingly large. Inside where visitors are, a lot of the size is hidden because the water surrounds you on all sides and divided into what looks like separate rooms. Standing above it, you could see nearly the entire pool as being in a single, giant room. It looked a lot bigger from up here!
My mom seemed quite excited to see me swimming with sharks! You'd think being a mom, she'd be a little more worried about the sharks circling behind me. But then, maybe that's part of the Disney magic. =)
Tanks and regulators and all that were all lined up and ready to go. They listed us off by name in a specific order--the weights and sizes and such were different each of us, so they needed us to line us in the order the gear was sorted.
We put on all the stuff. It had been so long since I had handled any of it, I kind of watched what other people were doing. Put that on first, tighten that strap.... etc, etc. When everything seemed in order, I jumped into the water with a few other people who had already done so. I put the regulator in my mouth and took a couple of gulps of air. It's a weird feeling the first time you do that. It doesn't feel all that natural. But it seemed okay, so then I stuck my face underwater and took a couple of more gulps of air. Okay, that seemed to be going well. Through the googles, I saw my first view of the aquarium from inside the aquarium. There wasn't much to see. The animals weren't swimming near the surface, after all.
I treaded water while everyone else finished getting their gear on and jump into the water, and eventually everyone was ready. We add sank into the water and followed our leader for a promotional circuit around the aquarium.
Once I descended a short ways, WOW! So many fish and stuff! And the giant glass walls of the aquarium was filled with what seemed like hundreds of people. A passing thought rolled through my head. This is what it feels like to be in a zoo. Everyone is watching us--right now!
I looked for my mom and Amanda, eventually spotting them. I wasn't sure if they would recognize me since we were all wearing largely identical wet suits, and although my head was visible, my hair was all wet and moving around in the water. It wouldn't look "normal." But then I saw them pointing at me and waving, so I knew they recognized me. =)
I'm looking for a hidden Mickey that I was told was in the aquarium somewhere. Now where could it be...? Hmm... =)
I waved from a distance and quickly completed the obligatory lap around the aquarium. There were fish and turtles and even sharks. Sharks! I figured they had to be friendly sharks, though. I couldn't imagine that Disney would let us swim with actual man-eating sharks. Imagine the headlines: "Group of 20 people attacked by sharks at Disney World as dozens of children and parents watch. Live at eleven!"
Yeah, there's no way that Disney would allow something like that to happen....
But I didn't linger to get better looks at them. As soon as the obligatory lap was over, I swam over to my mom and Amanda as we tried to communicate through the glass and water. Which mostly just consisted of waving at each other, and touching the glass. Options were limited!
Most of the divers seemed to have found their family members and were doing the same.
Eventually I moved on--I couldn't just stare at them the whole time I was underwater. I would like to see some of the aquatic creatures closer up!
The main, large windows had large crowds of people watching us, but there was another window without the crowds. It was a restaurant, where people were eating dinner. The patrons of the establishment couldn't help but watch us either, even if the windows were less crowded with people. Just to be funny, I pointed to one person's plate of food and gave him a thumbs up. This food was approved by me. I really hoped none of it was seafood, though! That would just be wrong, to be eating seafood in full view of the aquarium. What if the fish was a friend or relative of one of the fish inside?!
I took a look around for awhile, but there's really only so much to see, and I wandered back towards the window with all of the spectators.
The kids seemed absolutely entranced by our being in the tank, and even though I didn't know any of the kids, it seemed like they would all wave excitedly if I got near them. I waved back.
One kid, as I started swimming away, gave me a "come back" wave, so I did, giving him a "what?" shrug. He just looked at me, and I waved goodbye again.
Portals to the air-breathing world were everywhere! But I couldn't get through any of them for obvious reasons.
Another small boy I could see through the window had a "happy birthday" button on his shirt. I recognized the button immediately since my mom had an identical one she'd been wearing the last couple of days, so I tried pointing to his button and pointing to where it would have been on my chest--it was more clear where I was pointing when I pointed at the location on myself--then back at him again. The best I could manage for "Happy birthday!"
He didn't seem to get what I was trying to communicate, but he mom behind him did because I saw her nodding and telling him something. I imagined it was, "He's wishing you a happy birthday!" The boy said something--I couldn't hear what, obviously--but I saw his mom encouraging him to wave. I imagined she was telling him something like, "He can't hear you. You have to wave!"
I was having so much fun playing with the kids, I started doing more silly things. I would flip completely over, a 360 degree spin through the water. Why not?! =)
When Amanda was nearby and I saw a shark coming my way, I tried to communicate to her to get a picture of the shark swimming by me. A lot of pointing at the shark and trying to pantomime taking photos. It worked! Actually, I was kind of surprised at how well I could communicate with others on the other side of the glass.
All-in-all, it was a heck of a lot of fun!
Eventually, I heard a distinct CLINK-CLINK! in the water--our signal that the dive was over. I waved goodbye one last time and everyone moved towards a single large group at the middle of the tank where we slowly rose back to the surface and left the water.
Now that I had much better idea about the layout of the tank and realized we were immediately above the central room in the aquarium. Amanda and my mom might be directly below me, not even 20 feet away. But it was like night and day. Front stage and back stage.
We took off all our gear and headed back to the locker rooms. Again, they took us through the visitor area to get to the locker rooms, so once again we paraded through the front-of-house in our wetsuits, this time dripping wet. We passed another group of people in dry wetsuits, heading out to make their own dives. "Don't do it!" I joked at one of them, "There's sharks in the water! I barely made it out alive!"
Surprisingly, walking around dripping wet didn't actually get us as much attention as you might think. I hoped Amanda and my mom were still there nearby, to get a photo of me in the wet suit without the thick glass or water distortions from when I was actually swimming, but I didn't see them. They might have still been there, but not readily visible on our transit through the front-stage area.
Back at the locker rooms, we could change out of the wet suits and shower off all the salt water. We dried off, put our street clothes back and, and were directed once again to the briefing room.
We had to wait a bit for the video they took of us underwater to be completed, but soon it was done and they played it for us. The video was.... *shrug* I wasn't especially interested in it. I didn't actually see myself in it at all. Maybe a small blip in the background, but somehow I didn't really make it into the video. And most of it was kind of boring with divers waving at loved ones on the other side of the glass. The video cost money for anyone who wanted to buy it--the proceeds of which were donated to some sort of organization for wildlife protection. (As, I might add, was the cost of the dive trip. Apparently, Disney doesn't keep any of the money for itself.) But I just couldn't stomach the idea of buying a video I really didn't want, even if it was for a good cause and was one of the few people not to purchase it.
They did give us a free DiveQuest T-shirt, though, which you might occasionally see me wearing around town. =)
They also wrote down exactly what types of animal species we swam with:
sandtiger shark (2)
brown/sandbar shark (3)
blackhose shark (1)
southern stingray (5)
cownose stingray (9)
spotted eagle ray (4)
guitar fish (2)
loggerhead sea turtle (3)
green sea turtle (1)
Kenny black blotch ray (1)
devil ray (2)
Returning back to the land of air-breathing creatures.
After that was done, we were led back to the front stage area where we could leave and go off to whatever else it was we wanted to do at Epcot. I was about to pull out my phone to call my mom and Amanda and find out where they were located, but they were still there and found me before I even fumbled it back on.
I was surprised when we stepped out of the building and it was completely dark outside. When I entered the building a couple of hours earlier, it was bright daylight. Inside the aquarium, there are no windows or anything else to give you a clue about what's outside. But it wasn't super late or anything--maybe 6:30 or 7:00 or so? And when I stepped outside, I was slightly taken aback at it being completely dark outside. How long was I really in that building for?!
Amanda said I did great--it was as if I were auditioning or something with my flips and interacting with all the children. Apparently, I was much more entertaining to watch than the other divers--who I actually paid very little attention to unless they were directly below me and their bubbles were floating up towards me.
Anyhow.... if you're ever at Epcot, and you have a scuba certification, and you want to try something a little different.... That DiveQuest program is absolutely awesome. Two thumbs up and a heck of a lot of fun! =)
And... I have some sad news for you folks. This was it. I have nothing more to blog about. After over a solid year of non-stop posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, my blog has finally caught up with real life and I have no new material to post. This is it! Come Monday, there will be no new post. Next Wednesday, no new post. Nor Friday. Nor the Monday after that. This is it. The Last Post.
For now.... I already have summer plans in the works and hopefully within a few more months, I'll have more material to post! =)
But before I sign off, enjoy a couple of videos of my dive at Epcot. =)
Proof positive that I really swam with the sharks!
This is just me being silly and showing off for my audience. =)
