First, Kathleen is doing better. The arm doesn’t hurt as much as it is a giant plaster albatross attached to her arm. We are in Seattle as I write this with two more days to go on the cruise. On Friday we disembark in Vancouver and drive home. Our plan for today is to take a Lyft to Bellevue to sign our escrow papers.
As promised, here’s our report on Catalina. We had booked a tour with Catalina Tours called Bison Expeditions. There are approximately 150 wild bison on Catalina Island if you didn’t know. They were brought over years ago when Hollywood used the island to film many Westerns. They were left behind, and the herd grew. They thinned the pack a few years back and now have 150. But, like a whale watching tour, you aren’t given a 100% guarantee that you will see any bison…and we didn’t. But that was OK because our original intent was just to see the island’s interior and that we got to do in spades.
We got lucky when our jeep (see photo at right) pulled up, and our guide Halvorsen introduced himself. He turned out to be the highlight of the trip. And the tour turned into much more than we had expected. It became a combination of a wild ride (that would match anything at any Disney park), a historical lesson about Catalina, a nature talk about the flora and fauna and a floor show full of impressions of presidents. All that for a very low price; we would recommend this company very highly.
I did take some photos I liked, so they are in the gallery below. Remember, if you click on the first one, it becomes a slide show that you can scroll through.
26 miles across the sea…Santa Catalina is the place to be. —1960’s Los Angeles television advertising jingle used to attract folks to Catalina Island.
Glad to read that Kathleen is more comfortable, and you are continuing on to Vancouver. The cacti look like Prickly Pear Cactus (can be found on Pelee Island and I did have some in our garden, briefly) Hope the rest of your trip is uneventful.
I’ve been to Catalina many times, but never considered this type of tour. Next visit for sure. Kathleen, you are a trouper!
If you go, you have to go with Halvorsen. Make sure you ask for him when you book it. It will be worth it. We saw others who were not laughing their asses off like we were.
Happy Kathleen is doing better, and is able to enjoy the remainder of the cruise and land tour. Love the picture of the boats!!!