Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Gas prices on Catalina Island


I'm sure it's expensive to ship gas to the Island on a barge, and prices reflect that--I filled the golf cart yesterday and regular gas was $3.69 a gallon. But that's much better than the almost $6 it was when gas prices were high. Fortunately, it only takes about 4 gallons to fill the tank, and we only need gas about once a month.

It's a scenic drive to Avalon's one and only gas station. You climb up and up a steep twisting road and then make an equally precipitous drop down to the the gas station, which is hidden away in sort of an industrial area called Pebbly Beach. Here's a shot from along the way - note the ravens soaring on the edge of the picture.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Climbing the hills home on Catalina Island, 209 steps

Everyone living on the Avalon hillsides knows their number. Our number is 209. That's the number of steps from our doorstep into town. Not the number of paces - that's much more - but the number of vertical steps. We walk it every day. It's 52 steps from our house to the road below where we park our golf cart (one for every household is allowed). But we don't use the golf cart much except for a "big" food shopping expedition or to play golf. It's much better exercise to walk up and down those 209 steps. (To be more accurate, Lynn walks up the steps. Arthur slowly drags himself up the steps.)

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Catalina Island's Amazing Avalon Theatre

Last night we went to a movie at the Avalon Theatre in the Casino Building. We don't do this often enough! We had a nice evening stroll along the harbor and got to the Theatre about 6:40pm. The ticket booth outside is adorable and the lobby inside is made of curving rich mahogany wood with the popcorn and candy sales at one end. The theater is huge--over 1100 seats! There are incredible art deco murals on the walls, and twinkling gold stars on the ceiling. (Click on the link below for a picture.) On Friday and Saturday nights there's a Page organ concert at 6:15p before the 7pm show. It's really something to hear. It puts you in a theater mood. And pick a seat - any seat...the movie theater is rarely crowded. It's amazing to see first run movies in such a grand theater. Even if it's not a movie you want to see (in this case it was - The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons), it's a treat to go. The movies change once a week - every Friday. And they're shown every day of the week at 7pm (and usually twice in the evenig on weekends)

For more info on the theater, go to http://www.visitcatalinaisland.com/avalon/acti_casinoTheater.php

Friday, January 23, 2009

A rainy day on Catalina Island


Rain today, and my feeble brain tells me the moisture is a blessing for the Island, but my heart wants sunshine and blue skies. Gray and gloomy all day. I've been humming an old country-western song I learned years ago: "gloom, despair, and agony on me. Deep, dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me."


Light rain, temps in the 60s, things aren't that bad on Catalina Island; you just get spoiled by the good weather.


Thursday, January 22, 2009

Community Bulletin Board--need a dog walker?

Everybody has to go to the Post Office to get mail, so there's a community bulletin board where Islanders put up signs about yard sales, boats for sale, bake sales, and other events. Today I noticed a brightly colored sign done in crayon. Nice drawings of flowers and dogs. $5 an hour for a dog walker. Monday through Saturday, except Tuesday. Something tells me this dog walker is a child who would give your puppy a little exercise and a whole lotta love. I can just see a little boy or girl with 5 dogs on a leash being dragged down the sidewalk and getting licked by dogs every time the group stops.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Miniature Golf

Lynn and I decided to play miniature golf last weekend. In addition to having a real 9 hole golf course, Catalina Island has a great miniature golf course in Avalon. All you do is putt, and the tricky holes make playing mini golf here a combination of putting and playing pool because you have to figure the angles to bounce the ball off the walls and various obstacles into the hole. The course is 2 blocks from the beach in a beautiful grove of eucalyptus trees. Smells great after a rain. There's a tiny stream that meanders through the trees, so it's like you're in an oasis. When we came up to the little booth to pay and get our putters, there were two "watch dogs" guarding the place. They were asleep on the window sill. They weren't pit bulls or rotweillers; you could say they had a mixed pedigree. They're mutts. Nice mutts. They must have decided we weren't a threat, because each dog opened one eye, looked at us for a moment, and went back to sleep.

Lynn's a good golfer, but putting is her weakness. I don't golf at all, but I do have a certain knack for putting. Guess who won at mini golf? We're big-time gamblers, and after Lynn's crushing defeat, she had to buy the ice cream. Hah!!!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Catalina summer in January

The weather here this week on Catalina has been spectacular. I know the mainland (or overtown, as we Islanders call it) has been blowing hot and dry Santa Ana winds and yes, I know there is always a fire threat with the winds and yes, I know we need rain -- but I'll take this weather any day! It's in the 70's during the day and crystal clear with little or no wind. It's summer in January! As Jimmy Buffet says, "the weather is here, wish you were beautiful." From the Avalon harbor you can see the sparkling lights of the cities on the mainland at night and the snow capped mountain peaks during the day. In the distance you can see the freighters and cruise ships from LA and Long Beach go by. Our little harbor in Avalon is full for the holiday weekend. Smart boaters!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Raven envy




We live on a steep hillside--it's about 250 steps to the shoreline--so I kind of envy the ravens when they take off and glide downtown in a matter of moments. When the Santa Anna winds blow and there are red flag warnings for LA, here on Catalina Island you'll see ravens soaring, diving, doing barrel rolls and generally dancing on the wind. They're vocal birds, and when they land nearby like this pair on a power pole, we hear them squawking, quorking, and making all sorts of wild guttural sounds. Sometimes we can see them opening their bills and making quick clicking and clacking calls while they ruff up their feathers. They've got to be talking; it's just a language people don't understand.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Catalina Island Dogs and Golf Carts




There are lots of small towns where people go to the Post Office to pick up their mail, but on Catalina Island, people go to the Post Office on golf carts. Here's the line-up. Dogs love riding around in golf carts. Mr. Biggie has it made in the shade.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Cruise ship day

Catalina Island had lots of visitors today--Carnival Cruise Line's 2000 passenger "Paradise" is here. It's fun watching people amble around Avalon and take things in for the 1st time. They point at an LA County Sheriff patrolling on a Segway. They admire the tile work on store fronts. They peer over the railing on the aptly named Pleasure Pier into crystal clear water and talk about all the "goldfish," which are actually Garibaldi, the state of California's official marine fish. They rent golf carts to tour the town, and as they pull out of the golf cart parking lot, their faces show a mixture of trepedation and pure glee--I can't believe I'm going to drive on golf cart on city streets.

Catalina Island Chronicles, daily life on the CA island