Forty Two Years!!

Mike and I recently celebrated 42 years of marriage.  Usually, we would say 42 loooooong years.  But, mostly we have been saying, how did 42 years fly by so quickly??  

Evan went to Camp Kelley Creek again this year and it happened to fall over our anniversary.  Catalina Island seemed like a fun place to go, so that is where we headed.  We had been there six years ago and had fun.  The only problem was the place we stayed.  The hotel was up in a canyon, and our room was dark and felt like a cave.  This time we researched vacation homes.  We found a cute little apartment on VRBO that was right on Avalon Bay, with a balcony that overlooked EVERYTHING!!  

I am an early bird, so I loved to get up and take pictures of the sunrise.

It was fun to sit outside and eat our meals, watch the sunrise, sunset or just people watch!  

View from the side balcony of the town of Avalon. 

On our anniversary we decided to hike the Garden to the Sky trail, with a trail guide from the Catalina Island Conservancy.  We ended up being the only two on the hike and had a great time with Colin, our guide.  He was patient and walked slow, as the hike was steep for me.  We learned a lot about the island and the view when we reached the top was incredible!!  

The start of the trail.

Not looking too bad, when we reached the top!!

Our evening activity was the Sundown Isthumus Cruise to Two Harbors.  This boat, The Blanche W, takes people from Avalon to the other end of the island at Two Harbors.  We had dinner in Two Harbors and hiked again at the isthumus, which is the narrowest part of the island, at half a mile.  The widest part is eight miles.  On the way back to Avalon we watched the sunset and viewed the flying fish!!  It was a fun evening!

You had to walk on the correct dirt road. 

The Pacific Ocean side of Catalina Island, opposite San Pedro Channel

This is the view back towards, San Pedro Channel. 

Two Harbors

Sun setting over the ocean, it was getting a little choppy. 

On Wednesday, we kayaked on the ocean for the first time!  We did this with a guide also.  He took us to Frog Rock, we walked on the rocky beach there and collected seashells.  It was very peaceful out on the ocean.  

It takes good teamwork to row a tandem kayak. 

Frog Rock

Rowing back to Descanso Beach was harder than going to Frog Rock. 

Mike had to take up my slack!  

A different view of Frog Rock looks more like a gorilla!!

We walked around a lot, as there are few cars on the island (not enough parking space).  This was the view from on hill we climbed.

Sunrise on our final morning.  

I am so grateful for my wonderful husband and his unconditional love.  We have survived lots of ups and downs together.  Just like many families.  I can't think of anyone else that I would want to be with for eternity.  Thank you for 42 wonderful years, Mike.