We dropped Punkin off at school and our vacation began. We stopped at a local coffee shop for wonderful scones and my first latte. I didn't really like the latte and traded it for my first iced vanilla Chai. My, but that Chai was tasty.

We parked in remote parking at the airport, and took the tram to the terminal. Our flight was scheduled to depart around 11:45am, and, thanks to Dit's travel connections, we were able to wait it out in the more stylish Red Carpet Club, rather than at the gate with the rest of our fellow travelers.

We flew in one of the newer planes with the tv screens on the back of the seat in front of you. No more complaints of "I can't see the screen", that's for sure. In between watching one of four movies offered I cast long glances out the window. I'm always amazed at the aerial view. There were all sorts of circles and squares and rectangles of crops. It took me a moment to realize the very dark ink blot type shapes on the ground were shadows of the clouds. There were very straight lines, zig zags and lots of curvy switchback roads that just seemed to go on forever. I was amused at the long plumbline-looking roads with nothing else around for miles, save the occasional house plunked down right next to it in the middle of nowhere. Were these houses just waiting for neighbors?

Slowly the landscape changed to bright greens and dark browns with trees that looked like so many poppyseeds just scattered across the terrain. Next came the rust colored land and the blue water of the Grand Canyon. From up in the air it looked as though that hole could be filled and patched. A shmear of paint and it would be as good as new.

I could feel my excitement growing as the plane inched towards LAX. For Pete's sake! Could this plane go ANY slower? (I've discovered I'm an anxious passenger. I'd rather be in one place or the other, not en route.) We finally landed and it was hurry up and wait for our shuttle to the ferry that would take us to Catalina Island.

The shuttle company seemed tremendously disorganized, and didn't have a reservation for us although one was made weeks before we arrived. When our shuttle finally arrived and we piled in, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. There are so many people in here. Is this shuttle really going to the ferry? Will we make it in time? That's me. The Worrier. The older lady in front of us was chatting it up with the trio next to her. The driver was something else all together. She was very animated and almost nervous. Were we her first group on her first day? I quickly discovered that we weren't, but let me tell you about that ride! There are calmer rides at Six Flags Great America! Accelerate. Stop. Accelerate. Stop. Accelerate. Stop. Repeat. The driver was annoyed at the traffic, whoever was back at dispatch and anyone else but us. She did tell us to buckle up, and I'm so very glad I did. When there was finally an open patch of road, she tromped on the gas pedal and we took off. (Can you say "bat out of hell?") I remember praying that we make it to the ferry at all. Apparently, God was listening. We made it to the ferry with 15 minutes to spare.

Dit and I were excited and chatty for the first few minutes of our trip to the island. After that, however, the long day of travel began to mix with the rougher waters and the chips and Cokes that we just finished. We decided to just put our heads down and drift for the remainder of the voyage. Watching the horizon or reading a book was detrimental to our sensitive tummies.

We finally disembarked (debarked?) got off the boat at our destination. Sunny Catalina Island. We had a feeling of "Ok folks, here we are!" although we were still a bit nauseated from the boat ride. Our first order of business was to find and check into our hotel and rest our weary bodies a spell. Our hotel was, as promised, only 14 steps from the beach (although we really didn't count it off. We reasoned that it really couldn't be any more than that, though.) The room was very nice, although lacking a phone. (It kinda made the phone book in the desk drawer in our room a little pointless.) Not a big deal because the pay phone was nearly right outside our hotel room. Tres convenient! (We could also rent movies from the front desk, although there was no VCR in our room.)

After a short nap, we decided a dinner and a drink were in order. We happened upon a lively establishment called Luau Larry's. On the way to Luau Larry's we spotted The Professor and Mary Anne just arriving. Apparently Mary Anne had succumbed to the same queasiness as Dit and I. We all agreed to meet up on Saturday for dinner, and then went our separate ways.

Let me tell you. Luau Larry's has great food and great names for their drinks. Their Maui Mai Tai and the Wiki Wacker are quite tasty indeed. We didn't try any other drinks as we were, um, quite relaxed at that point. A walk around the town was definitely in order.

We strolled the shops along the beach and continued the talk we began during dinner about our Dads, and other fun topics. After walking around for an hour or so, we finally took a seat on the beach as we finished our just purchased ice creams. There were a lot of people around, and I remember feeling a bit disappointed that it wasn't a bit quieter. I would have liked to have been able to concentrate on the shushing sounds of the waves. I made myself a promise that I would take the time to sit on the beach when it wasn't so busy. The next morning, I did just that.

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