The Chuckwalla Dive

  This little dive really turned into an oddly culinarical adventure.  Read on and you will soon understand why.  The fish were all over the place in the shallows and most of my dive was spent in swimming around with them as my brother explored a bit lower, searching the murky depths.  He found a black hills gold ring, 20 dollars and a big fat Chuckwalla that'd apparently fallen from the cliff face just above us, landing right into our dinner pot.  This may sound gruesome but if they were good enough for the natives out here then why not?!  Besides, the lizard was fresh and just about a foot long.  Shortly he was bagged and put on ice in our cooler right next to the sodas.  This gastronomic adventure was quite interesting; boil, slice, gut, peel, fry and finally......eat!  What the Hell were we thinking?!

  Chuck (lizard) softened up quite nicely in the pot and my brother did the cooking.  I watched as he slit the little beast from throat to butt, right down the middle.  It was quite a sight indeed and the entrails were really interesting to look at and poke around.  Inside the stomach, there were tiny yellow flowers.  I've never seen a Chuckwalla from the inside out.  Well, now I have and the air bladders on it's sides were pretty big, stretching all the way down the entire length of his body except of course for the tail.  With the gutting done, my brother peeled back his belly skin and fried him up. 

  The smoke and odor weren't all that pleasant and it definitely smelled like raw, dead meat.  The longer Chuck (the lizard, remember?) fried , the more tolerable the atmosphere became as the smoke and now cooking lizard blended.  Soon we peeled off the tough skin and dug in.  It was sort of weird at first and up until that point, I'd never peeled a lizard before!  The meat was tough and chewy but not all that disagreeable.  It tasted somewhat like fish blended with chicken and you'd have to bag three or four of them to make a substantial meal but it was well worth it!  I've always wondered what Chuckwallas tasted like anyway! 

 

Sturgeon Virgins

  If not for my girl, I would never have gotten this awesome opportunity.  She's got the connection and that's how we got to do this really cool, trying and fun dive!  She wanted me in as a back up and comfort for her in case she needed help.  Although she had some trouble and had to get out for a while, she continued the dive after relaxing and calming herself a little.  I'm so proud of her because it was a somewhat difficult dive even for me.   With all the extra gear and the fact that the both of us were slightly underweight, it was a real workout!  Oh yeah, and a very large Sturgeon!  The big fish bumped me in the face with her snout!  Then as she made another pass, knocked me on the other side of my head with her tail fin!  As weird as this may sound, I thought this was incredibly cool! 

  My girl did very well with the Sturgeon also.  I watched as it swam right by and under her several times.  This fish is bigger then she is so I was thrilled to see her stay in the water!  As I said before, she did great!  Two friends came by to watch us dive and it was great to see them there.  They really helped my girlfriend by talking with her when she was out of the tank for that little while. 

  Towards the dive's end I dropped a five pound weight.  While my girlfriend got out and geared down, I stayed in to find it.  I looked for about ten minutes before my friend finally pointed it out to me right in front of the main window which I'd searched past twice already.  My friends were a big help and I know I already said this before but I was really proud of my hot diver girlfriend (yes they really do exist)!  By the way, the Sturgeon was about six feet long, weighed one hundred thirty pounds and was very curious!  How about that.......No longer Sturgeon Virgins! 

Grapevine Canyon and The Underwear Tree

  Although we'd begun the day hoping to dive telephone cove (Nevada side), we knew this might be very unlikely because of the holiday weekend.  We were ready for that and when it actually happened, we set off for plan B.  Grapevine Canyon is a very fascinating place with hundreds of petroglyphs and surprisingly lush plant life because of it's natural spring.  I hadn't been here for several years and it was really good to get back.  After spending about an hour admiring the petroglyphs at the canyon's mouth, we hiked a little deeper in, to the water.  The grape bushes were incredibly green and offered an amazing contrast to the arid desert surroundings. 

  I noticed a small cave just above us and it was there that we next headed.  Inside, I looked up and observed the smoke covered ceiling!  My girlfriend and brother soon joined me and together, we sat and wondered about the people who'd used this cave hundreds of years before us.  This canyon is a great place and as we headed back out, I thought "Yeah, we'll definitely be back!"  My brother and I decided to drive the rest of Christmas tree pass (where Grapevine Canyon is located) back out to the highway.  This is a fun, interesting and very scenic drive through the high desert.  Although it can be driven by car, I would strongly recommend some type of four wheel drive vehicle just to be on the safe side.  Back to the story; So there the three of us go, bouncing along the trail and what do we see?  There right along the side of the trail, a bra and panties hanging in a Juniper tree!  A light flashed in my brother's eyes and it was then I knew, my jealousy palpable for not having thought of it myself, we had to contribute to this strangely ornamented flora!  And that my friends is how our underwear ended up on the side of the road, hanging scandalously close to the bra and panties in a tree up on Christmas Tree Pass! 

You never know what you will find in the desert, or what you will leave behind...

The Phone Call

  It all started with a simple phone call.  My sister's friend had gotten her interested in scuba diving and before long she found herself in Arkansas, where her friend's family owned a dive shop.  It was through them that she became the first certified scuba diver in my family.  When she told the rest of us about the underwater world and the idea that both she and another family friend were planning a trip to Grand Cayman to experience the diving there, we were hooked.  Thinking back, I always remember the excitement in her voice, which came through so clearly in that simple and short conversation!  She said, "You guys would love it!"  My sister was right, and it wasn't long afterwards that my brother, dad and I all gained open water certification.  My mother would join the ranks just about a year later.  My brother and I would join my sister and our family friend on that Grand Cayman trip, and what a trip it was!

  That's the thing about scuba diving, it's a great reason to explore new places whether local or far off.  The thought behind writing this is the simple idea that these experiences have definitely enriched my life.  Diving has also become for me a reminder that there are great and amazing things to be found not just in our cities, but in nature as well.  And if it has done so much for me, maybe it can affect you the reader in a similar way.  Whether one dives mostly local waters, travels to far off places or simply reads, really doesn't matter.  Once you've done any of these, you become part of the adventure and that adventure must be shared.  Although I've only been diving for a little over ten years as of this writing, what stories, adventures and experiences I have gained! 

Out here, you never know what you'll find......and how do you find it if you never go looking?