MajorHavoK
06-13-2009, 04:50 PM
Howdy,
I joined because my wife (seven) joined in an effort to become closer to me and I'm more "outdoorsy" than she is. (how sweet!)
I am currently lusting after re-engaging in my recreational activities after a month of being sidelined with a nasty ankle sprain playing basketball at work. :bore:
Some of my hobbies that I have not enough time for but love anyway:
Scuba Diving
Even though I've been told it's some of the worst in the world for temp and visibility, I try to go diving off the coast here once a month or so. When possible I tag along on boat trips to Catalina island where the visibility can get as much as 50ft. The reefs are also much more interesting and you see alot more critters. (that's what im there for!)
All kinds of camping
In recent years i've decided that a travel trailer isn't really giving up on camping because little kids need to be kept comfortable and entertained easily so that my wife and I can enjoy *our* trip as well. Our trips with them to Yosemite, Pymatuning(Pennsylvania), Sequioa and Lake Mojave have shown us that we will spend all of our time cooking, cleaning and dealing with kids and when they finally are taken care of we are too tired to do anything. We are hoping a travel trailer will allow us to have time to do things WE want to do as well.
For more hardcore camping I have collected some pretty good backpacking gear and consider myself a lazy comfort based hiker/camper. Which loosely translates into wanting to be comfortable, but too lazy to pack and have to carry everything so of course everything gets scaled down or ommited entirely.
I truly get excited by REI/MSR/Outdoor Research/Big Agnes gear... just browsing their websites gets me antsy for a trip to buy their wares.. I will make another gear-based post cause I'm curious about some other peoples setups and what tradeoffs others have made to what result..
Kayaking/Canoeing
I have recently discovered kayaking with ocean fishing(once) and subsequent trip to Lake Powell with my wife. Tons of fun, but I still don't get why a big hunk of injection molded plastic costs $500-$1000 bucks..
When I was a kid i did a lot of Canoeing on Lakes and rivers in Georgia and Florida. The best was Alexander springs with crystal clear warm water forming a large pool and river lined with amazing trees and an occasional aligator.
Spelunking/Caving
I haven't been in a while, but I LOVE exploring large underground tunnel systems. My favorite was actually an old abandoned mine tunnel network in north Georgia that nature had re-opened(picture a GIANT steep funnel tapering down into a crawlspace that opened up into the cave) and connected to an underground river that could be explored by raft for miles..
Anyway.. That's most of my outdoor activities.. I have a mountain bike but mostly just ride around town.. not my favorite outdoor activity or excercise method... I don't think you should have to try so hard to like something.. Plus I'm way to cheap to spend the bazillion dollars needed to get a decent bike and then the bazillion more to start the "needed" upgrades.. Plus walking doesn't tear up nature as badly! (No offense intended to any bikers)
Nice to meet you all!
-Majorhavok
I joined because my wife (seven) joined in an effort to become closer to me and I'm more "outdoorsy" than she is. (how sweet!)
I am currently lusting after re-engaging in my recreational activities after a month of being sidelined with a nasty ankle sprain playing basketball at work. :bore:
Some of my hobbies that I have not enough time for but love anyway:
Scuba Diving
Even though I've been told it's some of the worst in the world for temp and visibility, I try to go diving off the coast here once a month or so. When possible I tag along on boat trips to Catalina island where the visibility can get as much as 50ft. The reefs are also much more interesting and you see alot more critters. (that's what im there for!)
All kinds of camping
In recent years i've decided that a travel trailer isn't really giving up on camping because little kids need to be kept comfortable and entertained easily so that my wife and I can enjoy *our* trip as well. Our trips with them to Yosemite, Pymatuning(Pennsylvania), Sequioa and Lake Mojave have shown us that we will spend all of our time cooking, cleaning and dealing with kids and when they finally are taken care of we are too tired to do anything. We are hoping a travel trailer will allow us to have time to do things WE want to do as well.
For more hardcore camping I have collected some pretty good backpacking gear and consider myself a lazy comfort based hiker/camper. Which loosely translates into wanting to be comfortable, but too lazy to pack and have to carry everything so of course everything gets scaled down or ommited entirely.
I truly get excited by REI/MSR/Outdoor Research/Big Agnes gear... just browsing their websites gets me antsy for a trip to buy their wares.. I will make another gear-based post cause I'm curious about some other peoples setups and what tradeoffs others have made to what result..
Kayaking/Canoeing
I have recently discovered kayaking with ocean fishing(once) and subsequent trip to Lake Powell with my wife. Tons of fun, but I still don't get why a big hunk of injection molded plastic costs $500-$1000 bucks..
When I was a kid i did a lot of Canoeing on Lakes and rivers in Georgia and Florida. The best was Alexander springs with crystal clear warm water forming a large pool and river lined with amazing trees and an occasional aligator.
Spelunking/Caving
I haven't been in a while, but I LOVE exploring large underground tunnel systems. My favorite was actually an old abandoned mine tunnel network in north Georgia that nature had re-opened(picture a GIANT steep funnel tapering down into a crawlspace that opened up into the cave) and connected to an underground river that could be explored by raft for miles..
Anyway.. That's most of my outdoor activities.. I have a mountain bike but mostly just ride around town.. not my favorite outdoor activity or excercise method... I don't think you should have to try so hard to like something.. Plus I'm way to cheap to spend the bazillion dollars needed to get a decent bike and then the bazillion more to start the "needed" upgrades.. Plus walking doesn't tear up nature as badly! (No offense intended to any bikers)
Nice to meet you all!
-Majorhavok