Santa Catalina

My friends and I will use any excuse to go on a trip. Mel is leaving San Diego to attend Grad School. Sounds like a good reason to go to Catalina doesn't it? We know Riverside isn't that far and we may see her on weekends but Mel is rad and she needs a proper farewell. We're going to miss her. So we're going to mourn our loss, if you will, by celebrating with a weekend full of shenanigans and we're going to celebrate it Catalina style, complete with a 6 man golf cart. I mean, why not?!?!

and so it begins...

The 6 of us set out from Dana Point boarding the Catalina Express, suitcases in tow, ready for another adventure. The Catalina Express operates from 4 different ports and offers up to 30 round trips daily. The crew is accommodating and friendly and makes one of the best Bloody Mary's I've ever had.

Catalina Express

On the way to Catalina we are lucky enough to see a school of dolphins porpoising through the water. If you're not familiar with the term, "porpoising" refers to dolphins repeatedly jumping as they rapidly swim forward, swimming at speeds up to 22 mph. As a surfer I feel lucky to see dolphins in the water on a pretty regular basis, but never have I seen this many in the open water. As if that wasn't cool enough, on the way home the crew spotted a few whales and stopped the boat so we could watch them. Although it was no Shamu Show we still were able to watch them logging in the distance. "Logging" is a surfacing behavior that whales exhibit while at rest. It is lying without forward movement at the surface of the water with the dorsal fin or parts of the back exposed. Not much action but still very cool to see.

short video clip of the dolphins (actual clip on my instagram looks a lot better!)

Although Catalina is only 22 miles from the coast of Southern California, the island seems like another country. It is remote and can only be accessed by boat. Travel around the island is mainly done via golf cart and because there are so few cars on the island, there isn't a single traffic light. The golf cart definitely added an element of fun to the Catalina experience. Dude, where's our cart?!?! 

Catalina is one of the Channel Islands, a string of eight semi-submerged mountains off the Southern California coastline. Avalon is Catalina's main town. It is only one square mile in size, but offers many places to eat, drink and shop. It has the feel of a beach town, but because it can be a little touristy we decided to stay in Hamilton Cove. Hamilton Cove is a private cove next to Avalon. It reminds me of Greece. It has a Mediterranean feel with beautiful white villas tucked in the hillside along the edge of the water. I would highly recommend this area to anyone planning a trip to Catalina. 

view from our balcony

Hamilton Cove at dusk

along the scenic drive

having a little fun at Descanso Beach

One of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing and actually interacting with some of the deer on the island. We pulled our golf cart over the first afternoon and the deer actually came right up to us, eating right from my hand. So rad!

This guy actually had his nose right on my iPhone!

The babies were so cute!!

sunset ~ Saturday night

Another trip in the books and I'm again reminded of how blessed I am to have such an amazing group of girlfriends. They are not only my friends, but the nurses who are by my side in the hospital on a daily basis. And if you know nurses, you know we know how to have a good time :) Melblake7 your going to be missed!!