Spent the afternoon researching 2023 travel and booking fragments of trips: two hotels, a one-way flight, and a round-trip ferry.
Started collecting stuff for a trip to LA. The TAP transit cards have sufficient value on them for all our Metro rides. The extension cords will be useful in an old hotel on Catalina Island. The remaining items reflect the new normal: we choose to mask-up on flights and transit.
Got on board a westbound 747 (actually an A320-200)/ Didn't think before deciding what to do/ …/ Seems it never rains in southern California/ Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before/ It never rains in California/ But girl, don't they warn ya?/ It pours, man, it pours.
Staying in Avalon on Santa Catalina Island, 30 miles from Long Beach by ferry. Avalon is the southernmost town in Los Angeles County, and a mythical island in the legend of King Arthur.
Hiked up from Avalon until we could see the other side of the island. Walked a ridge trail then retraced our steps. Beer, chips, salsa and fresh guacamole at Luau Larry’s.
Almost back in Avalon after hiking for a few hours in the hills. Easy gradients, ridge views, bison hoof prints. As the photo shows, this is low season, with many vacant mooring buoys: it’s a good time of the year to explore the island.
Hiked up, up, up, then across Catalina Island on ridges. Looked down at clouds and the Pacific. Retraced our steps to Avalon for a 3:00 p.m. ice cream lunch, two scoops each.
After a day hiking the hills, we carefully synchronized refreshments with the wash and dry cycles in a nearby laundromat. It was now time to fold.
Rode three forms of transit today: ferry to Long Beach while dolphins leaped; LRT to downtown Los Angeles while hucksters walked the aisle pushing weed and knockoff tasers; nonstop elevator to the lobby of our hotel on the 70th floor of the tallest building on the West Coast.
Unintended triptych, left to right: Dwight at the Getty Center today (pack in front as required by museum guards); sculpture depicting 17th century femininity; "Joey at the Love Ball," drag, 1991. A few provocative juxtapositions of contemporary and pre-1900 European art are scattered throughout the galleries.