Catalina

As the skies continued to be cloudless and the temperature continued to rise, an unfortunate side effect also showed up today - a nice even layer of brown smog. I think this is, unfortunately, the story of Southern California and their love of cars.

Because it was promising to be even hotter today, we decided that a trip to Catalina would be in order. Betty and Gary were working so off Dawn and I went. Our drive from Gary and Betty's to the Catalina dock in Long Beach was a fairly quick 30 minutes on the infamous 405. Since we had no reservations, the general boarding seats were already full and we were obliged to choose the Commodore level, which came with an early morning glass of champagne. Yeah I know, life is tough!

As we left the harbour, we passed the Queen Mary, which is now a luxury hotel with swanky restaurants.

It was a 90 minute cruise aboard the twin hulled Catalina Express Jet Boat to Catalina, which is the only inhabited channel island along the California coast. During the cruise we sighted both porpoises and the largest and rarest of whales - the blue whale.

Catalina has had a long history of mostly private ownership, with the last notable owner being William Wrigley Jr. of chewing gum fame. Because of him and his philanthropic endeavours, 88% of the island is now part of a conservancy that forbids any development and protects natural flora and fauna. His home sits proudly above Avalon.

Car ownership is discouraged on the island and there is a 15 - 20 year waiting period for anyone wishing to import a car. Each home is limited to one golf cart which is the principle method of transportation.

We arrived on the island at 11:30 and immediately set out to book some kind of tour that would take us into the interior of the island. We were set to return to Long Beach at 3:45, so we needed something that would fit into our time line.

We settled on a two hour and fifteen minute tour called the Skyline, which would take us up into the hills and to the unique airport at its summit, a cool 1600 feet above Avalon. Since it left at 1:00, we had time for a quick sit down lunch. We chose the Bluewater Avalon, a restaurant right on the harbour and had a great lunch of wedge salad for me and fish tacos for Dawn.

Our mode of transportation for this excursion was a 1952 Flxible bus - no typo here. We felt fortunate to get on one of these historic vehicles since they are being decommissioned next month due to the California law regarding excessive mileage. This bus was not neither air conditioned or comfortable, so are we crazy or what?

The trip on the island's rugged roads with their regular and extreme switchbacks took nearly 90 minutes to arrive at the summit. Twice, we encountered buffalo who have lived here since the 1920's when they were brought over to make a movie that was never made. When the producers went to find their buffalo, they were no where to be found and so they got left on the island. Ever since, they have thrived, increasing in numbers from the original 14 to now 150.

We also saw, but I wasn't fast enough with the camera, one of the island's indigenous foxes, of which present day, there are around 2000.

When we arrived at the Airport in the Sky, a short break was in order. That included snapping up one of the best cookies we have ever had - chocolate chip oatmeal peanut butter.

Our return timing to the pier was impeccable, as we arrived just as the boarding began for the Catalina Express. We returned to Long Beach at 5:00 and anticipated that our quick 30 minute trip this morning was going to be a lot longer going back. We didn't bargain for 30 minutes to get out of the parking garage. But we weren't surprised that the return trip had swollen to one hour after that. For dinner this evening, Betty and Gary ordered chicken pot pies from the Daily Grill and along with a wedge salad - the second of the day for me and I ate it all - we had a great meal. Canasta was, once again, a barren land for the boys.