We have sun this morning. And a high above 20 to boot.

So today was our last full day here in Mexico. While it would have been nice to just spend the day lounging around the pool at the resort, I couldn't resist getting in one last day of diving. I've simply enjoyed the diving far too much to pass it up. I'm hoping to get back down here sometime next year, but since one never knows what the future may bring, I hit the cenotes again. Sue, my guide diving on Monday and Tuesday, picked me up this morning at about 8:30 and we headed over to her dive shop on the beach a little south of where we've been staying. On the side of their shop they had this painting. Note the shark above the diver's head.


After picking up a couple from Switzerland, we headed out to the cenotes. She picked two new sites for us to dive that I hadn't been to yet. She figured that I had been diving with her every time she hit the cenotes this week and thought it would be nice to hit something new. So today we hit the Chikin Ha and Ponderosa cenotes. Dummy me left my camera in the car for the first dive in Chikin Ha and had to settle for only getting pics from Ponderosa.


Up ahead of me in this photo you can see our guide, Sue. Every guide leading a group through the cenotes dives with a dual-tank setup. You really only need a single tank, but they bring the dual setup and a 2 m long backup reg in case someone has trouble with their air supply. They're also limited to 4 divers per guide. Mom was a little worried after I told her the sort of diving I was doing, but they take safety very seriously here. Even then, the deepest you hit is around 40 ft and you can generally see light and find your way out should something occur.


I truly love the shadows and shafts of light that play about down there. I never tired of looking at it. At one point, I rolled over on my back to watch the bubbles rise from my reg. Nothing special when diving, but when you're down there under a rock overhang, the bubbles get caught in the rock and look like mercury. Think the T-1000 from T2. (Yes, I just injected a bit of sci-fi geekery into a post full of diving geekery.) Sometimes, though, depending on the formation, the bubbles would race along the angled ceiling towards the water's surface. They would stream along and break the surface with each breath. It was almost mesmerizing to watch.

The other fascinating thing to see down there was the halocline. That's the point at which the fresh water above meets the sea water below. I could never catch a clear photo of it. When not churned up, it looked like a layer of oil on water. When you swam through it behind someone, their fins would kick it up, completely blurring your vision with swirling patterns. Not the biggest deal since you could still see the person in front of you and their light, albeit not very clearly. However, since it did freak some people out, we would stagger our line whenever we hit it.

The thing you don't realize until diving down there is the difference in temperature between the fresh water and sea water. The Caribbean down here was around 82 or so. The fresh water in the cenotes, however, was closer to 75. Swimming through the halocline, you'd go from cool to warm and back again every time you passed through. Feeling a little chilled? Well, just drop down a few feet. A little warm? Head up a few.


For those thinking about doing some exploring back into the caverns they have these signs posted whenever you can easily pass from the cenotes into the caves. The signs, while very serious, amused me a bit. Especially the skeletons of divers at the feet of the Grim Reaper. I know, I know, I shouldn't be, but I am.


So, with that our trip down here is largely done. Tomorrow we head back home and reality. At least we have the morning to chill and leisurely pack. No getting up at the crack of dawn to catch our flights. No more having to suffer through my taunting Facebook and blog posts either.

No diving today. Instead, we headed about 40 miles south to the Mayan ruins at Tulum. Years ago, I went to see the ruins at Chichen Itza. I can say that I found Tulum (or Zamma, as the native Mayans call it, per our guide) are far more beautiful. Chichen Itza is about 3 hours inland, as opposed to Tulum being on the coast. Far more pleasant being on the coast, what with the tropical breezes and all. Here I was able to get a good shot of the bulk of the grounds and the three temples there.


The grounds were very well maintained. Surprisingly, Tulum isn't actually a national park here in Mexico. It's a state park controlled by the local state, Quintana Roo. That's actually a point of contention in local politics, according to our guide. See, about 5 years ago the federal government nationalized the site at Chichen Itza, turning it into a national park. When I was there 10 years ago, it was very primitive, with one little souvenir stand away from the main ruins. Apparently now that it's a national park they've built all these shops right by the ruins, destroying much of the mystique. Tulum has the same type of flea market around it, but it's a little over a mile away from the ruins themselves. This preserves the feel of the site. Apparently there's a fight brewing over whether or not the federal government will nationalize the park at Tulum. Granted, this was all being told to us by our guide, who was 1/2 native Mayan (father was Mexican, mother Mayan). He obviously was very proud of his heritage and was deeply opposed to any changes being made at Tulum.


This is prolly my favorite shot of the largest temple on the site, the Temple of the Serpent. Interestingly, our guide claimed that it wasn't the most important temple on the site. That honor goes to the temple of the sun god (whose name I'm spacing right now). According to Jorge (our guide), this was done because the various Mayan states (Tulum, Chichen Itza, etc.) were occasionally hostile towards each other. If Tulum were ever overrun, he said, the first structure to be raised would be the largest one. I'm not entirely certain there's any actual archaeological or historical knowledge to back that up, but it was an interesting claim nonetheless.


Not sure what this structure's purpose was on the site. I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to wander the site and really take in everything there. When looking at it, I can't help but think "Columns! Columns, columns, columns! Turn any hovel into a palace!"


Another neat shot from the north side of the Temple of the Serpent. I literally 100 feet from the Caribbean surf when I took it.


Tomorrow's our last full day here. I'm going to spend a good chunk of it diving the cenotes again and then the rest of the day chilling at the pool bar. Saturday we have half a day here to chill before heading back to reality. 8 days really is the perfect amount of time for this sort of a trip. Most of the time, you're only really starting to relax before heading home. Definitely not the case this time. And next week is a three day week to boot!

...or busceo mas. I don't know. It's been too damn long since high school Spanish for me to remember. Although, amusingly enough, more is coming back to me each day. Not much, mind you. I was never very good with that subject in the first place. But two days of diving with a bunch of Spaniards (yes, Spaniards as opposed to Mexicans) has been sort of a mini-immersion course. I’m kind of tempted to try some of that Rosetta Stone software and polish what knowledge I have. Maybe learn a bit more while I'm at it. Might not be a bad idea since I intend to come back and continue diving these awesome cenotes.

Today's dive was out to Dos Ojos (aka Two Eyes). The route we took through the first part of the cenote was called the Barbie line. It was called that because the line on the map looked like 2 legs and a head connected by a stick-thin body. Yes, high humor we have here. Anyhoo, about halfway through the line we found Barbie. This amused me greatly. Partly because of the blood, partly because I was just giddy from the sheer awesomeness that is diving in the cenotes. Or it could have been the nitrogen in my bloodstream. Who knows?


There are so many views just like this throughout all the dives I've been doing. The shafts of light coming down through the holes in the cavern ceiling are simply breathtaking. I could dive this for weeks on end and never tire of it. My little Olympus and the housing I got for it take fairly good underwater photos. Granted, I've got a TON of blurry photos that are largely useless, but that's a result of the lighting and my lack of a good external flash, not the camera. Besides, for photos like this, I definitely don't want to be using the flash. Even if I had that awesome $400.00 one I've been eyeballing.


The cool thing about Dos Ojos is the accessibility. There's several places where snorkelers can come in and swim. This is one spot where about 6 people were snorkeling as we went underneath. This route is called "Bat Cave". There was a platform in the center of the chamber where people could climb down through a hole in the ceiling and then snorkel around. Yes, I actually surfaced in the Bat Cave and saw some bats. No, I did not hum the cheesy Adam West theme song.


A shot of the entrance where we first came in. I never tire of these views. Dark back within the cavern, with the blue and green ahead of you where some light is coming in.


A normal formation you see on any cave tour. pktaxwench and I have seen dozens of these in caves ranging from Cave of the Winds to Carlsbad Caverns and Mammoth Cave. How awesome is it to "fly" by one underwater. This isn’t the largest I saw, but it was the best picture I got. The largest I swam by would rival the massive one you see in Mammoth Cave.


Finally a good shot of me diving. Not too bad for a photo taken by my guide who had no clue how to use my camera. It's fun trying to communicate underwater. Actually, I think some instructors could benefit from trying it.


Tomorrow, we're heading over to Xcaret to see the park. Should be interesting, and we get to snorkel through some more caverns to boot!

Been diving the cenotes here in Riviera Maya. Some random shots for today:


A shot of the outside world as we're getting ready to finish the first dive. The shafts of light coming down are amazing. I can't describe how awe-inspiring this dive was. Phenomenal, simply phenomenal.


This is one of my faves. A standard shot you'd see from any cave tour I've gone on. The difference with this one is you had to dive in order to get there.

...and counting. I just have to make it through tomorrow.

Campus officially closes at 2pm today. Second time this year. Hell has frozen over.

Well, really first "snow". Nothing sticking, but the flurries are at least falling. So, what else is a sensible guy supposed to do? Well, go running in it, of course!

...by miles. Ski season is officially on!

...and it brought a touch of winter along with it. Going for my run this evening after the game, I noticed a touch of rain falling. Being a little chilly out, the rain had that misting, almost sleet like look to it. 5-10 degrees cooler and we would have had snow flurries. Ah, well.

About to head out. Here's hoping for a good day. Wish me luck!

Bike is in transition. Gear bags as well. Just hanging out, chilling before tomorrow. My race number is 490, for those wanting to follow along tomorrow.

...I'm on the bus from the lot to the terminal. I know the logic of my 6 AM flight. I'm just hating it right about now. Madison, here I come (via a short detour thru Chicago).

Not being of the creative bent, I'm forced to turn to friends and beg. I need to come up with a "slogan" for my company, CNT Solutions. Thoughts, anyone? And yes, it is tech consulting.

Driving in to work this morning, I'm thinking how much I really don't want to go to work. So, listening to XM, I switch over to Cinemagic, their soundtrack channel. (Did you know XM has a channel devoted to nothing but movie tunes? Love it!) Next soundtrack to come on is Blazing Saddles, which immediately brought a smile to my face and got me laughing. Completely forgot about work. Wonderful.

Pop fly right to Todd. Giant on third ready to go home and tie it up. T'was not to be. The look on Todd's face was just "go ahead, I dare ya". He didn't care if the hit got to first. No way in hell was that gonna be a run.

The students, that is. This week is always fun. You can't get anywhere on campus. Traffic in town jumps by a factor of ten. The problem really isn't the students. They may add to the volume, but generally speaking they know what's going on. It's the Freshmen who don't have a clue and, worse yet, mom & dad. At least next week classes are back in session and there's a schedule to the madness.

Go see it.

Slightly longer take on it: good, classic sci-fi. Fairly well done historical analogy without being very preachy and no monologing. Arguably the best movie I've seen in a long while.