Catalina Island

Yesterday was definitely Fun Friday.  Our chiropractor/pilot friend flew us to Catalina Island for the day in a little, four-seater, cessna plane.  I was very nervous, as this was my first "little plane" flight, but Mark was an incredible pilot with the smoothest landing & take off skills!  This was also Jarod's first time to land in a little cessna... He had taken off in multiple times in small planes, but had always fallen out mid-flight (aka sky-diving).

Catalina Island is wonderful.  At the airport, I felt like I landed back in Africa - straight desert, complete with cactus, sweltering heat, tile roofs and dirt roads.  As we drove the thirty minute descent into the coastal coves, things got cooler and a bit more modern.  The architecture and aura of the town, Avalon, says 1950's.  This place is unlike anywhere I have been.. tropical, but Spanish with many colored tiles, vintage boardwalks and lines of palms, old fashioned confectionaries and a simple warm vibe.  We spent the day touring and shooting photos.  Enjoy!

If you didn't get enough of our day trip to Catalina Island, go here! (It's our flickr stream of photos)

Flat Colby

My nephew, Colby, is doing a project in his Kindergarten Class. The project is based on a book called "Flat Stanley", it's about a little boy who's bulletin board falls on top of him, making him flat (not hurt). Stanley's parents thought it would now be easy for him to see the world since he is flat; so they folded him up, put him in an envelope and mailed him all over. So, Colby has made a little, "Flat Colby" and mailed himself out here to us. So yesterday, we took Flat Colby for a trip around Los Angeles. We stopped at the Hollywood Sign, Hollywood's Walk of Fame & fed him a Pink's hotdog. Here are some of the highlights:

The Mustache Ride

Last nite, Jarod and I went on the 2nd Annual Mustache Ride around Whittier (very close to where we live). It was a fun night! Everyone (guys and gals) sported the 'stache. Jarod took some great photos of all the bikers. (Check out our photo blog for those) It was a just 12 mile loop, and this ride actually started at 7:30pm! YEAH for me (someone who is NOT a night owl). As usual, it was quite the motley crew. Old guys, mom's pulling little ones in trailers, smokers, BMX bike riders, highschoolers, couples in love, 5th graders pulling stunts on bikes, and of course, Robert, who pulled a trailer with a massive stereo strapped in blaring Jimi Hendrix.

Back at Joshua Tree

We made another trip to the desert today. How my Jarod loves to climb :)

J Tree Pictures

More pictures from J Tree. Enjoy!