Catalina Island Day Trip

It's been a few years since I was over on Catalina. It was my Mom's last trip over before she passed a few years ago. This being the case, I knew lots of good memories from previous visits since I was a kid would come barreling through. My cousin Rosemary was visiting for a few days here in Pedro and made the trip over with me. With plans and reservations made, we got up early and headed down to Catalina Express to catch the 8:00 boat over. We checked out the new boat terminal while waiting to board. They've done a nice upgrade on the terminal with a nice view of the harbor. Boarding preceded and Rosemary and I got under way for our hour trip across the channel. Since I was on vacation, I opted for a spicy Blood Mary that was perfectly made, to start off my day. A prerequisite for any Catalina trip! Drink in hand and a comfortable seat at the window, we made our way across. I was hoping for a view of whales or dolphins in passing and I wasn't disappointed. Halfway across off the starboard side, a pod of porpoises appeared and easily kept up with the boat. They looked joyful just swimming, jumping and cavorting, knowing they were putting on a show for the boat. Awesome! The dolphins disappeared on their way and we arrived a short time later at the island. The sun was out and it looked like a beautiful day ahead. The city of Avalon was still waking up as we walked into town. A cruise ship was just arriving so I knew things would be busy later in the day as visitors came off the ship for a day trip. Rosemary and I walked through the streets exploring, doing a little shopping and grabbing some lunch before our tour into the islands interior later in the afternoon. After lunch, we had a little time to kill so we headed over to the pier to sit in the shade and hang out for awhile.

The water was so clear and inviting. It was fun watching the kids swimming and floating on their rafts. Just like I used to do when I was their age. Come to think of it, I'd still do it now! The view up the hill in the background was great with all these great houses perched on the hillside. I looked for Marylin Monroe and Clark Gable, but they were nowhere to be found. Back in the day when my grand parents lived here, it was common to see John Wayne hanging out having a few drinks on the pier. Usually, at times accompanied by my grandpa and his island cohorts! As Murph used to say, "Can I tell ya!"

I had a good view of the Casino from the pier. It's funny, it's the Casino but no gambling has ever been done there. It was built for a place where the big bands could play and people could dance and party. These days it houses a museum, beautiful movie theater and hall upstairs. It was time to make our way over to the mole to catch our bus for the tour. We grabbed our seats in front and started off by driving through Avalon with our excellent driver giving facts and info about the island. We started to ascend through the hills and quickly gained altitude on what I would consider goat paths. This was no drive for the faint of heart. I loved it!

This was a view I grabbed showing how quickly we were climbing. Such a great shot of the Casino! The cruise ship in the distance continues to get smaller and smaller.

This is our first stop on the way to the summit and Airport in the Sky, which was our destination. It was incredibly beautiful and clear up on the hilltop and the view was spectacular. With this photo opportunity, Rosemary and I had a friendly couple snap our picture. Just for posterity. We left this spot and continued to climb through canyons and vistas listening to the driver tell us of island lore and historical facts. And then we stopped. Why?

That's why! This big, massive, beautiful beast lay on the hillside in the warm sun surveying us like we were his subservient minions. What a stunning sight! I may have pooped myself, I'm not sure. I was surprised at how big these animals are. We were parked on the road maybe 150 feet from this guy. Luckily I had telephoto so I got a clean picture. After we all got our pics, we left up the road and once again came to a sudden stop.

We got a view of this buffalo off to our left standing in the scrub brush, just swishing his tail and minding his own business. At times there are as many as 30 to 50 animals that congregate in a herd with a total on the island now of about 170. In the past, excess animals have been shipped to South Dakota to the Lacota Indian tribe. There is a new contraception program that has been successful on the island where numbers are now controlled and buffalo no longer have to be shipped from the island because of overpopulation. This program is the first of its kind and has worked so well that Yellowstone Park is looking to copy Catalina to control their bison herds in their national parks. Once again we board and reach our furthest and highest destination.

Airport in the Sky! An airport on top of Catalina supporting a 3000 foot runway. At one time LAX had some commercial flights land up there but it wasn't feasible to keep up with just a 15 minute flight. This airport though is a bit tricky. Over the years I've heard of planes coming up short and crashing into the side of the mountain. I would think landing a plane up there would take a set of cajones. While we were there, we were able to get a bite to eat and drink at the restaurant and gift shop that is there. On the patio having a cold bottle of water, I was able to catch some beautiful views.

A breath taking look down the coast towards the west end of the island with the Palos Verdes Peninsula across the San Pedro Channel on thr right. Also, one of my favorite pics, a mountain vista with a patch of aloe vera in the foreground. Beautiful! Concluding our tour, we headed back to the bus and began winding our way back down the mountain towards Avalon. Along the way, our driver told us a story of the islands Ravens that thrive on the hillside. And when we got to a spot just above Avalon, he honked and a couple of beautiful Ravens flew out into the trees near our bus to feast on a large oatmeal cookie that the driver put out for them.

This was how Avalon looked from that vantage point with the birds in the Eucalyptus trees on our left. Such a terrific view and a wonderful excursion. Rosemary and I were thrilled when we got back to the landing. We did a little more gift shopping, stopping at Lloyds for some saltwater taffy and a cold beer at Luau Larry's. What an excellent trip! I hope to make it over to this magical place again, soon. It holds my heart and a bevy of fond memories my whole life through. My family, my Mom and my grandparents. Especially my grandpa, Murph. What a character. Now I know where I get it.

I'll leave you with these few photos. First, Rosemary standing on the dock of the bay on a gorgeous, sunny Catalina afternoon. And second, My grandpa Murph. I think this was taken on one of his many trips to Hawaii. I love that man and choose to remember him in this picture. Kinda says it all. Thanks everyone. I hope you enjoyed this little journey and I sincerely hope you can make it to Catalina Island one day, or come back and visit once again. You won't be disappointed. With love, Caseman

My Personal Lasagna

I made this lasagna recipe this afternoon and am thrilled with the results. I like making the two smaller loaf pans instead of a full tray just for the ease and convenience, plus I don't have a huge amount of lasagna leftovers in the fridge. This recipe was borrowed from a website, www.fromvaleriestable.com/, and translated well when I followed directions. First, I slightly sauteed my squash, onion and mushroom dice for a few minutes and then added some minced garlic and a chiffonade of basil. I gave it another minute then set aside for step two and three.

I transferred the veggies to a seperate plate, wiped out the pan with a paper towel and browned a pound of ground beef that I seasoned with dried oregano, fresh thyme and s&p. At the same time I mixed my ricotta cheese with two eggs and some chopped parsley and basil in a seperate bowl.

That took care of the cooking portion. I grated my mozzarella and parmesan cheeses and started to layer in my pans. A little sauce on the bottom, a no boil noodle next, some of the ricotta mixture, vegetables, meat, cheeses and tomato sauce.

I made three full layers with a final pasta noodle on top covered in sauce and cheese. I put the loaves on a sheet pan and they were ready to go into the oven.

I put them in the oven covered tightly in foil for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. I then removed the foil and let them finish cooking and browning for another 25 to 30 minutes.

Finally, I let them cool for about 15 minutes so they would slice easily and it was time to eat.

Whats nice is you can vary this any way you like. You want it vegetarian, leave out the ground beef. Add other vegetables like spinach, kale or swiss chard. Greens would be excellent in this dish. Make it your own. I used a good commercial tomato basil marinara to make it easy but use the sauce of your choice. I'm not going to publish the ingredient list, you can go to the aforementioned website if you want to check it out. Gloria gave me a big atta boy for dinner so I know it hit the spot. I hope you enjoyed this blog and another cooking adventure with me in my Pedro kitchen. Bye for now, Caseman

Time to catch up.

My, it's been quite a while since I've visited my blogosphere. Facebook doesn't fully capture my thought process or give me the opportunity to fully utilize the written words that continually rattle around in my head. I have a few ideas that I think are better served here where I can be free to roam the universe in any style that I choose. I went back and reread some past posts and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed what I wrote several years ago. I now pick up the fallen standard and march ahead into the unknown, with nothing more then my phaser set on stun and a copy of the prime directive. First off, my plan was to chronicle my lemon bars that I made yesterday and post pictures and ingredients to share with you all. One problem though, the lemon bars came out like crap. Not that they tasted bad, but the consistency was mediocre and soggy. I do occasionally have high hopes for a recipe that ends up falling completely flat. You have to own your mistakes, and my skills are good enough that I'm calling bs on this particular recipe. I know what I have to do to make these lemon bars stellar and I'm going to fix and remake them in the near future. And you know, it's enough with the food already. We have more important things to discuss. Some of you know that during the last couple of years I've been dealing with a treatable form of bladder cancer. I continue to monitor the situation with my next colonoscopy scheduled for January. Since I was diagnosed, Ive taken it upon my self to get off my butt and start walking. The benefits have been tremendous. I'm down around 40 lbs, strong as a bull with unbelievable stamina. Between walking and boogie boarding, I stay in pretty good shape. Not bad for an old man. Moms been gone three plus years now. My brothers and sisters all have a hand in keeping Pop healthy up at the house on Leland St. We all try to get through this life with what Mom taught us but it's just not the same without her here. I ran into my cousin Scott up at Busy Bee last week and he told me his dad, my Uncle Jon, had sent down a couple of pictures of Mom that he wanted me to have. How completely thoughtful. Scott came by a little later and dropped the photos off. I was blown away! This first picture was taken March 16, 1940 which happened to be my Moms birthday. She was 8 years old.

What a cutie patootie! As she got older, she started to lose those freckles and became a stunning looking woman. My sister, Erin favored this picture when she was a little girl. The next photo in progression was taken of my Mom in 1946. She was 14 years old.

I have one final picture that I want to post. This last one I've posted before but I wanted to show the total beauty of my Mom, both inside and out. This pic was taken in 1951. She was 18 years old.



I see this beautiful person no longer with us and it hurts my heart. What was and what could have been.  I tell ya, she was something special.
Well, all... Thanks for letting me ramble tamble for a bit. I was a bit all over the place but I settled down to a nice rythym. I really wanted to show my family these pics and let them know copies can be made. I have the originals.
Oh, and remember... Same bat time, same bat channel. Bye, for now.