Catalina Island

I've always wanted to visit an island and someday I want to be so far out at sea that I can't see any land. I know those are weird goals, but for some reason I have them. I accomplished the first goal a week or so ago when we went visit Catalina Island off the coast of California.

If you're ever in the Los Angeles area and you have about $60 to spare (the cost of round trip fare to the island) Catalina is a fun little island to visit if only because it is an island. I also wanted to try and walk around the island but because Dan told me that would be a long walk, I thought I'd settle for a hike up to a hill top that would allow us to see both sides of the island. It was a great plan, but it was hotter than I expected and in the interest of everyone involved, I gave it up. Turns out I'm a bit of a slave driver when it comes to hiking. I've just got to make it to the top or to a landmark before I can turn around, but this time I let Dan convince me that we were writing checks our bodies couldn't cash, as he likes to put it. But, for the record, because I had been studying up on Girls' Camp certification, I was quite sure that none of us were suffering from heat exhaustion. We were all just really hot and tired. If I ever visit the island again, I would rent bikes and ride them around to the other side of the island, but we were trying to see the island on a shoestring. Walking is always free, but when we got tired of that, we caught the Avalon trolly for only a buck fifty either way. Part of the charm of that ride is mingling with the locals who live at the Avalon campsite.

After exploring all the quaint shops in the town of Avalon, we finally decided to take a dip in the ocean water. It is decidely the coldest water I have ever been in, colder, I think, than even Bear Lake. But it was a wonderful escape from the heat of the day. And the water was so clear. As I was standing in waist-high water, I'm sure I saw a sting ray swim by along the ocean floor. The water was that clear.

But the highlight of my trip came at the end of the day as we waited to board our ferry back to Long Beach. As another boat was getting ready to leave, a guy in a white shirt and khaki pants came running up. He whistled and then yelled, "Hold the boat. Some guys on that boat stole my cart!" I wasn't really sure what he was talking about, but a fellow in line explained that some guys had stolen (or borrowed, depending on how you look at it) a golf cart (the preferred mode of transportation on the island) and taken it to the dock. According to the guy in line, there were four guys who perpetrated the crime, and they were all drunk and wearing straw hats. Within minutes the LA sheriff arrived and boarded the boat to find the perps, except that there were way more than four guys wearing those stupid straw hats. I'm still wondering how the guy in line knew all these details, but he spoke with authority. After the officers walked around the ship for awhile and conferenced for a few minutes, they finally brought one guy off the boat in handcuffs. A few minutes later the boat was on it's way and everyone on board clapped. I'm not sure what happened to the other three guys if their ever were three more guys, but one guy was staying on the island a little longer than he planned.

At one time Avalon was the hot spot for the LA elite, now it seems to have become an expensive day at the beach, since many of the visitors spent most of the day crowed onto the narrow shoreline. At any rate, I think it's worth a visit just to get out on the ocean and to see the quaint little town of Avalon.