Mr. Creaser asked what is so exciting about an NSS Convention?
I can only tell you what I have personally experienced. I found out about the NSS in 1984. I deeply regret not going to conventions, in the 80's, but I had no mentors to explain that I was missing some fun. And I was attending summer school at A&M and probably didn't have the money to go even if I had wanted to. ( and during the 87 & 88 conventions, I was living in Monterrey, Mexico, taking Spanish classes at TEC. ) But that all changed in 1994, when Texas was preparing for the convention. The 1994 convention in Texas was my first. I had fun caving. I met people that were fun to be with. I saw some cool caving equipment, like a titanium rack ( what ever happened to those? ). This was the first time I had seen so many vendors selling cave related things. Some of them like Charle's Haskett's wood-engravings were special. The Alamo Battle re-creation party was a lot of fun to be at. I struggled to make the next 3 conventions, but had to cancel due to the realities of life. In 1998, I had to choose between the convention or going mountain climbing in the Rockies with Harry Walker. ( Harry had done all but 2 of the 14'ers in Colorado. ) I felt I would never have an opportunity to do that with Harry again, so I skipped the Tennessee convention. My 2nd convention was in West Virginia. I think that was the 2nd most fun, I have ever had in my life. I met some fascinating old-timers - cavers like Dick Blenz. I got to visit Cass Cave which was nothing like a cave in Texas. One of the guys on our trip had a heart attack 2 weeks later and died. That left a lasting impression on me. This was when I learned how "awesome" the Terminal Siphons band was to watch. Again, I was amazed at all the caving vendors, like Inner Mountain Outfitters, and On Rope. http://www.innermountainoutfitters.net/ http://www.onrope1.com/store/index.php?p=home I realized then that the home-made caving gear I had been using for 10 years was not as efficient as what the caver vendors were selling. So I made plans to buy some new vertical gear. My 3rd convention was in Maine. That was more of a vacation than a caving related event. But that was "by far the most fun" I have ever had in my entire life. My 4th convention was in Central California. I spent most of the convention driving around the Sierra Nevadas. I saw Kartchner Caverns on the way out there. Regrettably, I tried to squeeze too much sight-seeing into a very short time frame and ended up missing a lot of convention activities. But I saw what to do the next time I get to go there, which is really "cool" caves. After this convention, I decided I was going to have to take more days off of work for future conventions, so that I could do tourist stuff and also attend the cave related activiites. My 5th convention was in the upper pennisula of Michigan. I would have never been to this region had the convention not been held there. Again that was more of a vacation than a caving related event for me. I went on a fun rafting trip. After this convention, I said that from now on I am taking 2 weeks off of work. My 6th convention was the Alabama convention. This was a family road-trip and we had a new baby. I spent the convention playing with the baby, but this was my first convention to actually spend more time attending the programs than going sight-seeing. I took the baby on a commercial cave tour, which unfortunately to this day was the last time, I ever saw limestone. My 7th convention was in the Cascades of Washington. The views were breath-taking. I walked on a glacier in the summer time and saw a mama bear with 2 cubs. This would have been an extremely fun Convention, but my main concern on that trip were my elderly mother-in-law and our baby. I think this was the first time to see a Sten-light? http://www.innermountainoutfitters.net/img/catalog/ce_70917-1620.jpg So that is why I am excited about the Indiana convention. This year will be my 8th convention. I am going without the family, and taking 12 whole days off of work. I have researched all the things to do and have a good flexible itenarary. I hope to attend as many of the caving programs as possible. My favorite is the International Session, and the auditorium is usually packed for that. My main concern at the moment is funding the trip, as my business has been slow lately. And the other problem I have, is that I can't get anybody to run my business while I am gone. This is going to cause my customers to give my competitors a try. So I have 10 days to resolve that. If all goes well, I will make it to and from the convention without some of the unexpected events that I have had recently. I also hope to buy some new gear, ( maybe a Sten-light) and to buy an old caving book, do some caving, make some new caving friends and do some fun other things that I "won't" be able to tell to you about. David Locklear --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
