Elation Cruise - Part 1

Well, I'm home! In my little 4 day trip I took over 300 pictures. I want to share so many of them that I'm going to have to break my post up in to 2 (or maybe 3) parts! This week - these "parts" will replace the regular Friday Picture Post because I wasn't here to see what was going on and I had the camera - so the pictures all come from me!! So - here is part 1 of my trip!

(click collages to enlarge)

SATURDAY (May 16): Today I got my stuff packed into my little suitcase! Ash and Jake and AA arrived and we headed out the door around 10:30pm. The drive to San Diego is right at 11 hours, according to mapquest - and we were prepared! We stopped at a gas station in Las Vegas around 5am. Feeling a little silly, Ash grabbed some hats and sun glasses and I grabbed my camera! I've only been to Vegas once - I was 12! So I was in awe of the lights and massive hotels. I took what pics I could - but in a moving car, drive by photography isn't always the best! Around 7am we had to make another potty stop and I saw this Hawaiian BBQ place - I thought Mrs. M and Tim would appreciate it! The weather in California was foggy and didn't really burn off until late in the afternoon.

SUNDAY: We arrived in San Diego around 9:00am. It was gray and gloomy but we were so happy to be there! The ship was right up by the street - that was fun to see! Parking was easy and getting to the boat was even easier! Of course we went through the muster drill and laughed at all the newbies who didn't want to wear their life jackets! Then it was time to say bye-bye to San Diego. The sun had finally come out - so sail away was nice! Dinner was wonderful - of course! Ash says that she cruises for the butter - she loves it! I opened my cruise this week with a nice pan seared Talapia and chocolate melting cake! DELICIOUS!!

MONDAY: We arrived in Catalina at 7am! After a scrumptious breakfast, AA and I decided to head onto the island. Catalina is a tender port - so we had to take a small tender to the island! The weather was gray but we were thrilled to be there! The first thing we did was run and put our toes in the sand - it was so cool that I knew the water was going to be freezing - and it was! Welcome to the PACIFIC!! Ash and Jake finally made an appearance around 11am and they had rented a golf cart (the transportation of choice on Catalina). They picked us up and we traveled to the top of the mountain that overlooked the ocean. It was beautiful up there. I saw these cool flowers everywhere - they were almost like aloe plants - but they were flowers. The sun finally started to come out around 1pm - and the sky turned from gray to blue.

MONDAY continued: Ash and Jake headed back to the ship after returning the golf cart and doing a little shopping. AA and I chose to walk around the island some more and continue our explorations of this quaint little place. We just loved the shops and getting off of the beaten path to see things that we hadn't seen before. We found a giant hamburger, saw some birds of paradise, and located Luau Larry's (where you can get your wiki whacked even if you don't have a wiki to whack!). The big round building with the red roof is a casino and a theater. It will celebrate it's 80th birthday on May 30th - it was beautiful - the paintings and architecture there were amazing! We saw a seal - he had a bulb hook stuck in his mouth and animal control was trying to net him to get the bulb out. I was amazed at the beauty of Catalina. It was quaint, clean and quiet. It was easy to forget that you were still in America with all of the Spanish influence around the island. There was a lot to see and I could have easily spent several more hours there. After some shopping and a delicious lunch at Catalina Cantina, AA and I grabbed the last tender back to the ship. We waved good bye to Catalina but I wasn't sad - I'll be back!!