Snorkeling in Utah..No, I'm Super Serial! (aka serious for all you non-South Park watching people)

Well today was exhausting but very fun. I woke up with a call from Evan! Yay! But I couldn't really understand him because it was a bad connection. Boo! :(

He could hear me just fine though. We got to talk for almost an hour! YAY! :) So, for all of his family, he's doing great and having a blast! He's staying in a Buddhist monastery and then heading out to another small town in the Yellow Mountains. I'm jealous.

Ok this blog is not about Evan, it's about me ;) sorry love. Besides, you said you wanted to know what I was up to...not have a re-cap of what you've been up to, right? I'm glad you're having tons of fun though! Only one more week of being girlfriend free! ha! ;)

So today I went snorkeling in Utah, really really! There's a place in the MIDDLE of NOWHERE called Bonneville SeaBase. It's near Grantsville, Utah... by the Great Salt Lake. I swam with sharks which was actually really nerve-wracking because you couldn't SEE the sharks, but you knew they were somewhere down below you. dun Dun DUN! The visibility was terrible because they're having an algae problem right now. Basically you couldn't see any of the fish unless they were eating from your hand. I bought an underwater camera so if those pictures turn out I'll put some up here. Really cool though, the water was warm and there is all this coral growing on the sides of the geothermal bed. I'm also assuming it was on the bottom but my ears hurt too bad if I dove too far. So here I was swimming around with a piece of lettuce (that's what we're supposed to be feeding the angel fish..but maybe it's just a garnish for the 'Erinne a Salade' I was about to feed the sharks) when all of a sudden I see something white flash in front of my hand, just barely out of visibility. So I hold really still. Duhhhhh-na, a flash of white again, duhhh-na, duh-na, DUHNADUHNADUHNA! (Jaws theme in print :) and yes, that's how you spell it :) ) Suddenly it's coming at me, swimming really really really fast! The creature opens its jaws.................

and eats the lettuce. Yes, just a really big angel fish..about a foot is size. They eat lettuce right out of your hand! SO COOL!

My mom and I got bored in the warmer water (and quite frankly I was a little nervous swimming around in that pond, not only because of the sharks, but um, they had this plastic roofing ONLY A FOOT over your head to hold in the heat and there were HUGE GYNORMOUS AND VERY HIDEOUS LOOKING spiders..Hundreds of them...spinning webs right above your head. Ew, I still feel all itchy just thinking about it. These things looked like black widows but they were a little larger than a silver dollar. I'm pretty sure if they had been all stretched out they would have been twice that size. YUCK YUCK YUCK YUCK!)...anyway, we were bored so we decided to swim through this tunnel (...ok sorry , another diversion..this tunnel was beyond cool. The water was green because of the algae right? So all you could see in front of you was this big green glowing circle. It was like those movies where people are searching shipwrecks! I felt totally like Indiana Jones underwater or something, so fun!.....) into the next pond which was very cold. There were no fish either. I started getting way too cold (shivering and unable to get warm no matter how hard I swam) so we got out. Well ok, my mom got out and I got distracted by this school of angel fish for about another fifteen minutes in the warmer water, still shivering though. Anyway, after we were out, there was no one else in the pool (pool is not the right word, this looked like a mucky pond) and all of these HUGE fish started swimming up to the surface! I was so disappointed that we didn't see more of them when we were swimming! My mom hadn't even seen any, just me. She did see one of the sharks though and I didn't get to so I guess we're almost even. Anyway, remember the boring pond that was cold through the tunnel? Well it was chock-full of TUNA! HUGE TUNA! Weird, because that part of the pond was completely DEAD when I was swimming in it. We were tempted to get back in but we were both tired and had already showered.

Very fun experience but not really worth the money or the drive more than once. I thought it was really cool though for a first time deal. Now I just need to find a place with clear water, no sharks or spiders, and some kind of something for my ears...and having help getting used to breathing underwater...that was also really weird and I started hyperventilating that the beginning because it was so odd. I finally got sort of used to it but I don't think I'd like scuba diving because if you hold your breath you get the bends...from what I hear. Man I'm a wimp when it comes to water (breathing, ears, choking)...or spiders...or not being able to see. Because if I had been able to see the sharks I probably would have been gutsier...they were only Nurse Sharks, so not too bad. Now a Great White, Bull Shark, Tiger Shark or something and I'd pee my pants and hop right back into the boat and speed away to land...not my cup o' tea. Anyway, I hope these pictures turn out! Oh ya, I got a funny tan line on my forehead from the goggles and didn't notice it until I got in the dressing room at the mall...after my mom and I went to a bead fair for a few hours...talking to lots of people...and the walked around mall... I am awesome ;)
Anyway, love you all, especially you Evan. :)