the_sea

To late. It's already happened. Grizzly bears are only in 2% of their original U.S. range. Their U.S. numbers went from the 100,000 in the early 1900's to only being in the hundreds nowadays.

Yes, about this naked skydiving I keep hearing about... wouldn't that be a bit, um, uncomfortable?

I'm sorry to hear that you've gotten rained out twice, Jewels. Especially when you live in one of the sunniest states in the U.S.! Hopefully next time you'll get that dry, beautiful weather I remember from back when I lived in CO. Okay, Google is telling me that this logbook is something I can buy online, but since I'll be moving in a month, I'm assuming that the next time I jump out of a plane it's probably going to be from some place a little bit bigger than the 20 X 10 ft wooden hut I experienced the first time, so is it something that I can buy at wherever that next DZ ends up being? Ariel pics below of how small SDKW was - it's the little white square surrounded by trees northeast of the 2 Cessnas; was only slightly bigger than the space needed for the t.v. and cash register/desk inside.

Okay, I'm laughing at myself right now for mistaking a dog for a child! Awww, that's so wonderful that he was able to get over his fear and now loves to play in the surf!

I'm not sure the best way to tell you this because I don't want to rain on your parade, but please be careful, especially with your little one. Adult dolphins slap their tails when they are upset and want to tell others to stay away. Especially protective moms with babies. They're 500 pound wild animals that play by biting each other. Bottlenose dolphins ("Flipper") have especially been shown to be aggressive, killing each other, other dolphin species, and even porpoises. Contrary to what those bastard swim-with-wild-dolphins tour operators would want you to believe, dolphins have been documented killing and seriously hurting people who have tried interacting with them in the wild. Which is half of the reason why it's illegal to approach a wild dolphin in the U.S. (You can read all of the government's reasons here: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/education/protectdolphins.htm ) It's kind of like assuming it's safe to play with a pack of wild dogs just because someone's domesticated dog is nice. That being said, I'm so glad you had such positive experiences seeing dolphins! Especially the rare chance to see babies! I agree about how inspiring it is to see one out in the wild. They are such beautiful, fascinating creatures! I know I feel blessed everytime I see a wild one.

So did you do your Level 1 today, Jewels?

Thank-you for the welcome and encouragement everyone!

I experienced skydiving for the first time on May 28th (tandem with SkyDive Key West) and ever since then I've been having a hard time keeping my mind off of it. I honestly did not expect it to feel as addicting as it did. I can't stop telling everyone I know how amazing the experience was! Unfortunately, considering my profession, I don't know when the next time is I'll be able to afford to go again (I actually had to use inheritance $ for that one and only jump), but I am still very interested in the sport. We'll see how long it takes me to save up money towards pursuing it further... So, for now I'll probably lurk during most of my time on this forum, settling for learning whatever little I can for free this way. But I still wanted to at least say "hi" to all. *waves hello*