Bead Beard looks at me. “So is this your first dive?” “No sir, my fourth, but this is my first time going out on the reef into deeper waters.” I reply. He nods and pulls on his wet suit. I follow his example, and soon we load up into the long speedboat. As we leave the dock my little brothers wave and scream across the crystalline water some encouragement.  “Don’t drown, Hannah!” “Yeah!” Ezra yells, “And watch out for sharks!”  You have to love younger siblings!

As we speed across the waves there is much laughter and friendly banter. When we reach the reef I look down into the water and see the reef far below. I’m nervous. I have always been fearful of deep water as well as the open ocean. Although I’ve tried to cure myself I’ve never succeeded. SCUBA diving is just another step towards conquering that fear.

Looking around, I notice it’s very calm. The waves lap gently against our boat, lifting it up and down slightly. The water is as blue as the sky, which is clear and serene. With a smile of satisfaction I realize it’s a perfect day to dive.

My gear fits perfectly. Everyone laughs as the unexpected weight of my SCUBA tank bowls me over. My flippers are clumsy and hard to use, but I know that once in the water they will make me more agile and swift.

With a splash one after another the others tip backwards into the water. I inflate my BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) and tip backwards into the ocean, joining them. A cloud of frothy bubbles surrounds me. For an exhilarating moment I don’t know which direction the surface is. Then up I pop into the salty air. The boat has already moved away. It’s time to go down. With a whoosh I let the air out of my BCD and slowly start to sink beneath the lapping waves of the ocean.

This is my favorite part of the dive. When time seems to stop and wait as you float down, deeper and deeper until you feel the bottom is unreachable. The very blueness of the water is incredible, and through it I can see schools of brightly colored fish far beneath me. This isn’t frightening at all! Rolling over onto my back I watch as the bubbles from our tanks float up, tumbling over each other to erupt at the surface.I look at my depth gauge and realize we are down 30 feet and still sinking. 40… 45… 50… We have reached the bottom. It’s like a totally different world! The fish fly around me, swirling uniformly as they participate in the ballet of the ocean reef. I float as well, weightless and free.

Suddenly I realize we are deeper. 60 feet! I have finally reached the depth limit of my license! I  do a little joy dance underwater. Eric sees me and grins as he claps silently. Giggling into a regulator is hard, but somehow I manage it!

We swim on through the water, enjoying the fish and bright coral. Suddenly Eric begins making excited gestures. I don’t understand his meaning, and shake my head to signify my confusion. Eric frowns and waving wildly, points into the distance.

Suddenly I see a huge shape swimming straight towards me through the water. I look around and see that all of the other divers are at least 10-15 ft away behind me. Even Eric is 12 feet away to my right.  My heart starts to race. I can see it clearer now. What is it? Out of the foggy blue a murky shape appears. Four fins propel it through the water. A sea turtle swims straight towards me! It’s awfully close now. That’s when I see its eyes. The result is electrifying. Suddenly a great peace fills me. It is a calm like I have never experienced before. I slowly reach my hand out. The great turtle comes so close I could touch it. Then it stops. It sits there and looks at me. For what seems like a lifetime we hover there, floating, suspended in space and time. I wish it would never end. Then, with the blink of one great, brown eye, it is over.

The great beast settles down on the bottom. I follow. I come slowly closer. Then I reach out my hand. The skin on his head is leathery and soft. I am amazed he will let me touch him. The other divers soon crowd around in amazement, petting and feeling him. Then, with a push, he is gone.

I feel like I have been honored, as if by a king. A while later we surface. In the boat Bead Beard gravely says “We have seen an old soul. What a great experience.” The others seem excited, but only Bead Beard and I are awed. Boo pipes up. “That turtle was around 150 years old!!! It’s rare to see one that big!” Once we get moving the wind drowns out most conversation. The wind whips my hair back as I look down into the bright blue water. I murmur reverently “Yes. An old soul.”

Hooray!

The Mama Bus is at their half-way point! We are currently in Oregon, visiting friends and family of the Wood Clan. So the day after we reached the coast we went to put our feet in the water. Many of the Wood’s family and a few friends came and it became a party!

The waves were crashing hard onto the sand when we arrived. The wind played a tune of victory in the branches of the trees as Jessy (4), Jillian (11) and I skipped down to the water. Shoes, hats and jackets went flying as all 11 kids and both mamas linked arms and ran, screaming and splashing through the surf of the great Pacific Ocean.

Groups split up, some to run races down the beach and then plunge headfirst into the sea. Others to carefully walk in the surf, searching for the sand dollars that littered the beach. Some went to squish the dead jellyfish. One got stung (I’m not going to mention names) which soon put a stop to that program. A few got wet and then rolled down the sandy beach to become sand monsters. The mama’s sat and talked near the waves.

After a few hours we loaded back into the bus, with salt on our skin, and sand everywhere. Sadly, the two families loaded into different buses, the Millers to head up into British Columbia to visit family, and the Woods to stay in Oregon with friends and family. We will be separated for a week and a half before continuing the Mama Bus adventure.

Happy Trails!

Cool salty wind whips back your hair and seagulls wheel, screaming above you. Small crabs skitter over the rocks and the ocean crashes on the beach. The seashore…a place of wonders both small and large; a place to reflect silently, or to run and play raucously. At some point, everyone desires to see the ocean, to grasp how large it really is, and to play in its surf.

My family and friends recently got a bad case of oceanitis and absolutely had to go relax on the beach for a day. Narragansett beach is where we decided to go. After packing a rather large picnic and boogie boards, as well as an assortment of various beach toys, we finally loaded into the vans and took off on a two hour drive to the coast.

The Surf…

The salty air was the first sign that we had arrived. We loaded out of the car and lugged our pile of beach gear through the sand until we found the spot that Dad proclaimed “perfect.” Then, with a whoop of joy and screams of laughter we ran and threw ourselves headfirst into the cold ocean water, exalting in the glory of the salty feel of it on our skin.

The Sand…

We swam and played in the sand for hours. Then the other girls and I decided to walk out along the pile of rocks that extend way out and around the bay. Near to the rocks we discovered heaping piles of rotting red seaweed that had been washed up by the tide. The smell was horrific and wading through it to get to the rocks was quite the ordeal. I think the beach could have been better without the rotting weeds, but it certainly added an element of adventure.

The Tidepools…

Once onto the rocks, the smell diminished and we began to search for interesting creatures in the tidepools. We found quite a few little fish, a weird kind of seaweed that glows bright electric blue when you touch it, and three starfish that we brought back and played with for the rest of the day.

Evening came around and we had to leave. After one last look at the horizon rising over the ocean, we bid it farewell and drove back home; a tired, happy crowd.

The Perfect Equation

I would recommend Narragansett beach to anyone who, like myself, gets oceanitis and just has to go. It has clean facilities, and the red weeds are only by the rocks. There are lifeguards posted at all times and there is first aid available to all. At present time, there is reconstruction of the snack bar and bathrooms, so the only bathrooms available are porta-potties. Enjoy your day at the ocean!

Belize

Beautiful, tropical, full of culture. Words can’t describe the excitement I felt when my Dad told me I could take a trip with four of my best friends to one of my favorite countries at only 14 years old. I started packing immediately, thrilled to experience this new adventure with a few of my favorite backpacking friends: Ruthie, Phil, David and Mel.

After a cramped collective ride and a border crossing which included a soaking ride across a crystal blue section of the Caribbean, my friends and I discussed our plans. After much debate we decided to first visit the waterfall filled Mountain Pine Ridge Forest and then find a beach (or three) to explore.

Barton Creek Outpost

The next day we set off, beginning our trip with another cramped, smelly chicken bus ride (so called because everything is allowed to come on the bus). Following a quick lunch, multiple questions on our ages, and a furiously haggled car ride, we found ourselves on the way to Barton Creek Outpost, a free place to camp that is completely “off the grid,” is a working WWOOFer site. Every morning they serve free hand squeezed orange juice, from their own trees. The Outpost is located deep in the jungle right next to a deep natural pool complete with underwater caves and rope swings.

It wasn’t until after we were already in the jungle that our driver informed us that he didn’t actually know how to get to the Outpost. “Ah well, live the adventure!” Ruthie cheerfully suggested, and as I had been there before the driver relied on my very vague instructions to get us there. We made it just as the sun started to go down.

After one marvelously sunny day and two rather wet, rainy nights we took our leave of the Outpost in a pickup truck in which we were four out of 17 people stuffed into the seats and back. Two buses later found us sitting in a diner on the Belizian coast town of Punta Gorda, deciding on our route. A beach was next on the menu, but which one? Tobacco Caye, of course!

Tobacco Caye

An idyllic island on a gorgeous reef. It’s cheap, there’s great snorkeling and diving and the people there are friendly and laid back. We spent all of our time there snorkeling with rays, sharks, turtles and a stunning variety of fish.

Sunbathing, eating coconuts and hanging with the locals in the evening to listen to my Belizian friends play on turtle shells are some of the other main entertainment. We girls took the opportunity to sit back and chill in a hammock; we certainly had time!

Sadly, all good things eventually come to an end and after a complete blast of a week we had to go our seperate ways. Some of us went back to the states while others decided to continue traveling. As for myself, I had family waiting to take me back to our temporary home on Lago de Atitlan, Guatemala.

On the way home I realized a few things I had learned from my awesome week:

• First of all, no matter what you do, always bring a tarp or you might be soaked.
• Second of all, I finally fully realized how much money can do for you, and why I needed to get a job (Thank you Teen Travel Talk!) so that I could continue traveling.
• I also began to appreciate the value of friendships with those older than myself and have begun cultivating more of them.

With all this in mind, let the adventure continue!

6. Kemah Boardwalk, TX

Situated near Galveston, Texas, is the Kemah Boardwalk, where the “Fun Never Stops!” It is the nearest entertainment park to the Houston area, and has lots of attractions. The rides range from the “Double-Decker Carousel” for kids to the “Inverter” and “Boardwalk Bullet” for more advanced riders. It is also has a variety of restaurants; one in particular is the “Aquarium: An Underwater Dining Adventure.” It’s unique in that it combines a visit to the aquarium with a visit to a restaurant. Its dining room includes a floor to ceiling tank full of a variety of fish to view while eating.

Inside “The Aquarium Restaurant”

7. Virginia Beach, VA

Virginia Beach is a well-known vacation spot…  and it can get quite crowded in the busy summer months. Luckily, with 35 miles of beach there is plenty of room for everyone. And it’s an awesome place where teens and parents can both have fun. After spending time on the beach, you can jog, bike, rollerblade, or pedal a beach buggy along the boardwalk. And, Atlantic Avenue between 17th & 25th Street is known as “Beach Street USA,” where summer music concerts are held through out the year for various audiences. Also, be sure to check out the 34-foot statue of Neptune at 31st street (it’s in the image below, if you can spot it!). And if it’s raining? Don’t worry — there are plenty of indoor activities worth looking into.

Part of the “100 Miles of Lights” throughout Virginia.

8. Mission Beach — Pacific Boardwalk, CA

Who wouldn’t want to go to the beach in California?? Well, at Mission Beach in San Diego you can go beyond that. Besides taking a dip in the blue waters, Pacific Boardwalk provides the closest thing in California to East Coast boardwalks like Coney Island. And Belmont Amusement Park is only a few miles away. However, I have heard that it can get busy on the weekends and that there aren’t many cheap eating places in the area, so you might want to pack a picnic.

The last three boardwalks can be found in Part 3.

The main attraction is the boardwalk. In contrast to my mother’s warnings and paranoia, the Asbury Park boardwalk is safer (AND CLASSIER) than your average Jersey Shore boardwalk. It’s not your typical boardwalk because there aren’t any rides. (Okay, they have this ride for a quarter…)

But they do have a bunch of places to eat, shop, and look around, mini-golf, a playground, a mini water-park, a psychic, and a FREE life-sized chess board. To my friends’ dismay, my cousin and I spent an hour and a half playing each other. Whoops.

Then, of course, there is the beach. Beach passes are $5, which is actually cheaper than most other NJ beaches. If you wait until 5 o’clock on weekdays and 6 on weekends, you can get on for free. My friends and I spend the afternoon on the boardwalk and in town, and got on the beach for free at 5 o’clock. I recommend it.

Which brings me to the town of Asbury Park. It’s best to stay on the streets closest to the boardwalk. My friend Emily and I spent the afternoon on the main street, Cookman Ave, while we waited for some other friends to meet us by train. (The NJ Transit has a stop in Asbury Park right at the top of Cookman Ave, so it’s an easy way to get there for the car-less). We spent hours in antique shops, clothes stores, record shops, etc.

We even stopped in a dog store because I thought the name was clever – Asbury Bark. Because we didn’t buy anything, we once again had fun for free, other than spending $2 on the old-fashion photobooth in the basement of Antique Emporium. When everyone else arrived, we went to the beach (as previously mentioned) and then went to dinner at Asbury Pie on Cookman Ave. It was a pretty good deal – 2 slices of pizza and a soda for $5. Plus it was good pizza.

And to finish off our wild day trip, we went to a show that nigt at The Stone Pony, an all ages admitted music venue right across the street from the boardwalk enterance. The Stone Pony is where Springsteen used to play his guitar before he became famous.

A day trip to Asbury Park is a cheap, safe, and parent-free trip for teenagers living almost anywhere in New Jersey. Unless you’re doing anything extra wild (i.e. Stone Pony), the only things you’d have to pay for are food and gas/or train fare. It’s an easy way for a group of friends to have a lot of fun without spending too much. There’s only a few weeks left of Summer ’10, so go while you still can : )

The best day spent in Cancun was when we went on an excursion to Royal Garrafon a tourist spot on the Isla Mujeres.  We had to take a boat over to the island where the day started off by swimming with the dolphins! The Dolphin Discovery was right off the boat and they taught you how to grab on a kickboard while the dolphin would push the bottom of your feet. Personally I watched from the viewing deck and took the pictures, but the dolphins were graceful in the water!  Next we went to the other end of the island and grabbed our snorkeling gear and got ready to swim with the fish! It was so hard to walk with our flippers, life jacket and our goggles, but once we jumped in the water we were able to float and follow all the fishes and other water creatures.

Once we were ready to dry off we climbed up the mountain and saw the Vestiges of the Maya Temple to Ixchel Goddess and the Sculpture Garden. Probably the scariest thing we did was the zip line, a cable rope that you slide down, only connected by a thick belt around your waist.  After the worker attached my clamped to the rope he ordered to ‘let go and jump’ it took me a good 30 seconds before I had the courage to free fall like Tarzan or Jane.  I’m so glad I got over my quick fear because it was so much fun, felt like I was flying!

Our busy day ended with a buffet meal and then a nap in hammock heaven, watching the sunset.  Right as I was about to fall asleep it was announced that the boat was coming back to the island and we had to go back to our hotel. On the boat ride the crew workers were more excited than in the morning, reassuring us that we went on the best excursion!

Overall the trip to Cancun took my breath away. I could watch the big waves crash in the ocean all day long, and I spent most of the days doing just that. It was also fun trying out the Spanish I learned in school, though sometimes I only got as far as “Me llamo Carolina.” I had to take a picture on my phone, so when I did come home and went back to staring at all my text messages I can still view the baby blue sky and always remember Cancun.

My uncle is getting married on Friday, so my family is here for a few extra days to enjoy the island, and I am here to blog about it. So far, I wrote a paper for school and haven’t had time to have any fun. Now that the paper is done and I can have fun, it is raining. I believe it is typical Barbados weather. Rain one minute, beautiful the next.

We are staying at a very nice islandy hotel called Turtle Beach.

There are two pools, two restaurants, a jacuzzi, and a very nice beach. I have not yet experienced the pool or ocean yet, but I assure you it will be fun. The ocean seems great for my cousins, brother, and me because it is wavy. Not “rough”, but wavy. On the other hand, my grandmother refuses to swim becaue she thinks it’s too rough and will get her hair wet.

I brought a video camera with me to “vlog”, but I have no idea how I would upload it onto the computer here. If I don’t figure it out here, I will upload any worthwhile videos when I get home.

Oh, I have a funny story! In the one moment of my vacation that I didn’t spend in the hotel room writing, I ate dinner with my cousins and brother at a decently fancy restaurant. Last year when I was on vacation on a really expensive cruise, I got upset because we were spending money on a nice cruise and visiting islands where the people were poor. It distressed me that children are starving in other countries and my cousin Rossman made fun of me for it. Last night at dinner, there was a hungry looking cat. It made him so upset. He asked his dad if he could feed it and his dad said no. So he put chicken in his mouth, pretending to eat it, snuck around the fence to were the cat was, took the chicken out of his mouth and fed the cat. Yet, he makes fun of me!

I have been all over the place this summer, and I can think of no better way to unwind than by spending a week at the beach. My family spent the last week of August in Nags Head, NC, in a beachfront house that we rented with our good friends. Nags Head is located on the barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina called the Outer Banks. The weather down there is perfect, the waves are warm and delightful, and there are countless fun places to go.

The majority of our time there was spent diving into waves, sitting on the beach with a good book, or walking down to pier. That’s what I love about the beach– doing practically nothing is so fulfilling. Other days we worked on a 1500-piece puzzle, watched movies, played poker, made ice cream sundaes, and played Monopoly while eating savory fudge. We could have stayed in the house all week and still had a blast. But in when in Nags Head, there are a few places you MUST visit.

1. Dune Burger. Absolutely the best place to have lunch. Order a burger, milkshake, and some fries, sit back, and listen to the glorious symphony going on in your mouth as you feast.

2. Cahoon’s Market. Right across the street from Dune Burger. It’s the place to pick up basic food needs (“basic food needs” for us consisted of donuts for breakfast) without making a trip to Food Lion, the supermarket. Also nice for touristy trinkets and beach books.

3. Wings! They’ve got shirts, boogie boards, sand tools, hermit crabs, towels, bathing suits, water guns, stuffed animals, beach chairs, water toys, necklaces, and so on and so forth at low prices. I could spend an hour at Wings. And there are several of their stores in Nags Head alone.

4. Mutiny Bay Adventure Golf. The best mini-golf course in Nags Head. A good evening activity, especially when followed by some ice cream at the Dairy Queen right next to it.

5. Elite Nails. Or any nail salon, for that matter. Get a manicure and a pedicure, then go out for lunch. Pamper yourself– it’s vacation!

6. Manteo. A town just south of Nags Head, and the best town for shopping. My favorite store there is the bookstore (again, I could spend an hour in there), but they also have some art stores, a fabulous antique store, several beach boutiques, a pet store, and a great café that serves ice cream. After an afternoon of shopping in Manteo, get some ice cream and go sit on the docks.

The only flaw of a beach vacation in Nags Head is that it ends. Rent a house down there next summer, even if it’s just for a weekend. You’ll come back feeling cheery and refreshed. And that’s what summer is all about.