Craving California

Lately I've been wanting summer to come back more than anything now. Probably because this winter is pretty lame. I mean, where's the snow?! I've been reminiscing about one of my favorite trips I've taken. A couple years ago was my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary so we all took a trip to celebrate. These grandparents (my dads parents) live in Newport Beach, California on Balboa Island. Balboa Island is one of the places the Catalina Flyer leaves from. The boat ride is about 80 minutes but so is waiting in line to board the ship and to leave the ship and stops on Catalina Island.

The Catalina Flyer leaving from Newport
Photo Courtesy of: Explore California Pass

Once we got there, we were staying in these cute condos on the Avalon side of the island. Each family got golf carts to get around the island because the walk from our condo to the main part of the city was pretty far. I think the reason I liked going to Catalina o much was because of everything that we did (and that I got to do it all with my cousins, of course!). On our first day, we went down into summaries and took a ride to see all the fish and sea creatures off the island. We also went kayaking and zip lining. My grandma was really looking forward to zip lining through the tress but chickened out before getting on the first part which, in my opinion was definitely the scariest part. We also all went in the water balls a.k.a "human hamster ball". And to top the whole trip off, we ended with a great hike to the best view you can get from Catalina then a dinner to celebrate my grandparents wedding anniversary.

Photo Courtesy of: Trip Advisor

This was my second time staying on Catalina. When I was really little, probably five or so, my grandparents (the same ones) took my cousin, Mckenna and I on trip here. One, and the only, random things I remember about that trip was walking into one of the shops and my grandpa telling us we could pick out any souvenir we wanted. We both ended up by getting one of those plush animal purses you can buy anywhere.

Stay tuned for more about my California experiences and trips!