Catalina 2009

Watching the plane you are supposed to get on pull away at 6:30 in the morning, for a vacation, is not the way to start a vacation.  At least that is what I thought at 6:31 when Lu and I realized there was no way we would be taking our plane.  I was so pissed!  Why did I have to park at the cheap lot?  Why did we have to have so much luggage?  Why didn’t I tell security we were going to miss our plane?  Why does southwest actually leave on time?  I sat and simmered for about an hour until I realized that missing our plane might actually work out for the best.

Our plan was to take the first flight out on Wed. morning so we could catch the only ferry directly to the remote side of Catalina Island where my cousin was staying.  This ferry left LA at 11:30 so we were already cutting is close.  It was hard enough just figuring out how to get to the island.  So when we missed out plane I was sure we would be screwed and would have to stay in LA for the night.  Probably not a bad thing, but I had one mission on my mind and that was to spend as much time with Lu, and to get the most out of Catalina. In the end, even though we missed our plane this is exactly what happened.

Missing our plane turned out to be a blessing. Lu and I were able to land in LA only wo hours behind schedule and catch a ferry to Avalon, the only city in Catalina.  You can’t really call it a city its more like a town were everyone happens to drive golf carts.  Apparently, you have to be on a 20 year waiting list to own a car in Avalon, and even if you owned a car in the city you would probably hate having to always avoid golf carts.
The town itself reminded me of some kind of italian mediteranian town.  Only with vicotorian architecture rather then stucco housing.  Avalon is a great place to spend a day but, because of its size thats about all I could spend.  To really enjoy catalina you have to find the coves and mountains that surround the island. This I realized when we took a old school bus through the island to two harbors were Jenna was staying.
It was almost a two hour trip through the mountains of Catalina, and minus the family of campers who decided to bring their entire house for two nights of camping the drive was pretty enjoyable.  Saw some buffallo, which were brought to the island during the early days for a movie, and was also able to take a few senic shots. Eventually, we arrived at two harbors and I was faced with the decision to either camp or stay at a hotel.  Initially, I had always planned on camping, but after seeing the hotel I couldn’t resist. And I’m glad I didn’t the hotel was great and I was even able to talk her into a 10% discount.

Lu and I went straight to the beach and just relaxed for the rest of the day until Jenna biked her way on over from the camp she was working at.  Little did I know, two harbors is quite the party spot and we ended up drinking at a beach party with a bunch of totally rad cali kids.  I was way out of my element and it reminded me of my first trip to california when I was in high school.

The next morning Lu an I enjoyed the comlimentary breakfast at the hotel, one of the many benefits not offered camping, and headed to the beach.  There we waited until one of Jenna’s friends picked us up in a small boat to take us to the camp were Jenna worked. The camp was a great place to spend the rest of the trip.  We had access to all the toys, snorkels, kayaks, wet siuts, flippers etc.. And the first thing we did was take a kayak and go snorkling.  It was Lu’s first time snorkeling and took her a bit, but before I knew it she was swimming with the fish.  Later that night we had a cook out with dutch over cobbler and all and called it a night.

The following day was the day I was going to scuba dive.  Given that I am still a novice this was the first time I had ever dove in cold water besides the muddy quarry I was certified in.  So needless to say I was a little nervous especially since as soon as we went down, our dive master decided he had to go up and help two other divers on the trip.  So it was just Jenna and I diving, and before we knew it we were about 100 ft deep.  Oh Shit!  After a brief moment of panic we swam up to a more resonable depth and had a great dive.  Saw a shark, giant lobster and a bunch of kelp.  Diving through the giant Kelp seaweed is alot of fun ana completely different experience compared to warm water dives.

We ended up renting another tank and diving off shore before calling it quits but, that wasn’t the end of my day in the ocean.  Since Lu was unable to dive her and I went snorkeling by the camp and it ended up being the best snorkel yet.  Saw some rays, lots of fish and even a shark.  Lu was fearless, and chased right after the shark I on the other hand was looking for the beach.  After a full day in the ocean we spent the rest of the night at the bar.  Before we knew it we where on our way home.  Lu caught her plane to China and I cried like a baby but can’t wait to write about our next vacation in Asia.