Catalina Island

Just before we headed out to the mall , Maggie, Calv's mom, called Calvin and gave him gifts for me for my birthday. I was pleasantly surprised and touched. I definitely didn't expect anything from her. Let's face it, I only met her two weeks prior.

Birthday presents from Mm-In-Law

Everything's nice and pink too! That definitely brightened up my day! She had mentioned when we met in the hospital that she once said hi to me when I was running Calv's from the car in the rain with no umbrella. I don't recall that day because I always have my umbrella in the handbag with me. It hardly ever rains in LA, when it does, you remember those days. I'd have remembered. One of the gifts was a purple umbrella, Suze Orman's motivational book with thoughts of the day for the entire year. The book is cute and pink inside. I expected more from Suze but she just compiled a bunch of quotes that we all already know and sold them as her own. Not Maggie's fault! There were a few other things in there as well. All things that one can use on a daily basis. I was so touched that Maggie did that for me. I didn't know how to thank her. I told Calvin that I would her her a thank you card and hand write in it and mail it. Mind you, she lives down the road from Calv. Calvin was like, pls don't do that! Otherwise, she will want to get you another gift to thank you for your card and this will never come to an end, just thank her in person. Haha. I still bought her a card and told Calvin to give it to her. Her favorite color is purple, so I got her a card in that color.

Birthday Eve Cakes

After shopping the evening before my birthday, we stopped by at one of Calv's fave cake shop and got these. They were delicious!

April 10th 

It's my birthday, I'll get high if I want to!

It's around 4:30, I get up to use the bathroom and the entire house is lit up. Calvin was awake already waiting for me to wake up. The moment I walked out of the bedroom into the dining room, heading to the bathroom, he played me a birthday song on cue! It's a cool, jazzy version that I had never heard before. He was sliding all over the dining room floor, dancing as if he had rehearsed the choreography. It was quite something. Funny as all get out!  That was the perfect way to wake up on my birthday, for sure! He definitely put a smile on my face. 

We had to be in Long Beach by 07:30. I hadn't even packed yet, but we were only going to be there overnight. No big deal. And I had new clothes to wear for my birthday. I grabbed a suitcase and threw some stuff in. If there's anything I can do with my eyes clothes, it's packing. I can do it in no time flat! Calvin wanted to take fire wood for a campfire. I liked the idea on paper, but I like to travel light. How are we going to carry all that? He covered the wood up in a tarp (sale), wrapped it up in twine and oh gosh, etc! The trunk was packed to the brim: tent,  stove, giant, comfy, sleeping bags, air mattresses, the works! He told me not to worry, he was going to carry everything. I use my spinner suitcase when we go camping, for the convenience of it. I'm not hauling around a backpack and giving myself a backache. What for?

Fortunately, there was no traffic. We sped through the freeway to LBC (Long Beach California) and made it in the nick of time. There we were, running to the counter to check in. Calvin was nice enough to get us VIP tickets for my birthday. Even though, I got to travel free, you have to pay if you want to upgrade. VIP ticket includes free snacks. Just basic stuff, it's not a Mediterranean cruise! 

Some of our snacks

Calvin ordered Champagne, the small bottle on the right.

The view

I was all smiles all the way. It was just so serene and so beautiful out there!

The trail the ferry left behind

It was still early in the morning. I was excited about that because it meant we had the entire day ahead of us.

Getting Closer!

Catalina Island is part of the Los Angeles County. Just like Treasure Island in San Francisco, only, prettier!

This reminds me of somewhere between Mt Edgecombe and Umhlanga Rocks in Natal, South Africa

My pupils were getting dilates, Catalina, here we are! Happy birthday to me!

Birthday Girl

Calvin rented a golf cart to manouvre around town, more especially, to haul all our baggage!

Our golf cart

I thought the golf cart was a great idea plus I had never been on one before.

Yesssssss!

We took the scenery route to the camping site and stopped on the way to enjoy the view.

Some of our luggage

The manager guy told Calvin that fires aren't allowed or we aren't allowed to use our own firewood, something like that. We just brought all this wood for nothing.

Setting up Camp

I'd do blow up the air beds while Calvin was setting up the tent.

All Set! Time to go birthdaying!