Catalina

Doug and I have never been on the island of Catalina! We have been TO the island fishing, but not on it! We made a family day trip over to the island. Doug and I, my cousins, Darryl & Helen, Rick & Loretta and Aunt Rosie! We were joined by a couple, Jim and Della, friends of the family.

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This was our transportation across from Long Beach, CA.

We had lunch at the Bluewater Avalon Seafood Restaurant! Great choice!

Cousin Helen does not like having her picture taken, so Doug took that as a challenge. 

After lunch, we rented a couple of golf carts to do a tour of the island! We had a blast doing this. Aunt Rosie was on the back of ours. I sure hope she was enjoying Doug's driving! We almost lost her a couple of times! LOL

We did see some wildlife while we were there. This buck and a few does where munching on the grass at a golf course.

I spotted this hawk and was surprised when he flew down to his owner! 

One of the herons we spotted in the bay. 

We even came across a zip line! It looked like a lot of fun! Aunt Rosie wants to go with us when we go back to do this!

I loved all the colors in the bay area. I have included a few pictures we took once we were back from our golf cart adventures!

There was a cruise ship in the bay at the time we were there! It makes for a very busy area! A funny story... We were stopped at one of the overlooks while on the carts when a lady came up and asked if anyone knew how to get the camera turned around on her phone! She didn't want a picture of herself but of the overlook! So I helped her (luckily, it was an Iphone!). After I showed her how to switch it back and forth, she says she will buy me a drink! A few minutes later, another lady from the group came over and asked if we were on the cruises ship, which we weren't. She said that her friend didn't realize this when she offered to buy me a drink. So, this lady gave each of us ladies in our group this very cute angel purse charm she makes!

As a side note, we ran into this same group when we were back in the bay area. I joked to her about owing me a drink and she said she would when we get back to the ship! (They must serve free ones on there!)

We some some people parasailing. It looked like fun too!

And of course, we did some shopping! 

The day ended much too quickly! We had an awesome time!

Until next time!

Oregon Trip - sidebar

One of our splurges was staying in a suite:

Oregon Trip - August 12

If you have been following our Oregon trip, you may remember that I said we were planning on "tenting it" to help save some money?? Nope! But that's okay!

I loved the Oregon Coast and would love to go back. Maybe it won't be foggy next time!

This was a cool lighthouse to go through! Coquille Lighthouse. What was really interesting is the caretakers are geocachers!

The fog made for some very eerie pictures.

We stopped at this one cove, Port Orford, where the Cottoneva was shipwrecked! All that remains is the propeller. You can read more on this wreck: http://www.capeblancoheritagesociety.com/port-orford-lifeboat-station/historical-articles/cottoneva/

This was also the best place for us to play in the ocean! 

The water was a little chilly but once you got used to it...

While we were here, there was a young lady teaching herself how to surf.

We found a short hiking trail not far from this cove that had several geocaches. So off we went. 

The trail wound in and out of the forest and along the shoreline in places.

There were some breathtaking views.

I am going to make a blog on things I missed. There are some other pictures we took with our phones. ;)

Oregon Trip - August 11th

We continue our trip along the coast. However, we were battling fog. There was still plenty of photo opportunities though!  We saw a few of these arch bridges.

The first lighthouse we were able to get up close to was the on in Cape Foulweather. Cape Foulweather was discovered by Captain James Cook.

(Doug standing in front of the lighthouse.)

While we were at the gift shop, someone spotted a whale in the distance. I tried to get a good shot but didn't have my large lens with me and by the time I went to get it, the fog had rolled in and blanketed the area where the whale was spotted.

It was low tide so we were able to go down and look through the pools! It's amazing the colors you find!

Doug standing beside one of the tidepools. (Nevermind the people in the background, they wouldn't get out of my shot! ;) )

There were seagulls just about everywhere we stopped, but I loved this one!

It's almost as if he is reading the sign!

I guess it was too foggy to fly!

There were also a lot of seal shots but I love this one with her pup.

A couple of pictures of the fog we were dealing with:

Oregon Trip - August 10th

We arrive in Astoria, Oregon and stop for lunch. I had to have crab, of course! Doug decided on something else.

This bridge spans the widest part of the Columbia river. We didn't get a chance to go over this bridge as we were headed south and not north.

 Before we got into Astoria, there was a little town we stopped in.  I spotted this old bridge and asked Doug to turn around so we could go back.

 There are tons of beaches we were first turn down the 101 Highway. Each one different. Definitely a photographers dream!

The coastline was beautiful!

The first lighthouse we spotted was called Terrible Tillie. Terrible Tillie has some very interesting history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillamook_Rock_Light

We had a very beautiful first sunset on the Oregon Coast!