Spring Break - last NP in CA and more!

California has nine national parks.  For Spring Break we decided to visit our last one - The Channel Islands.  It's a little more trouble to visit this one because you have to take a ferry ride to get there.  There are actually 5 islands that comprise this park, but we just went to Santa Cruz.  We left on Saturday morning, drove out there, found the church, our motel, the ferry place.  We went to Costco and got Sunday dinner that we could warm up in the microwave and ate at In-and-Out Burger.  Sunday we went to church in a really friendly ward in Ventura.  Afterwards we visited the Channel Island Visitor's Center which is on shore in Ventura.  It was really cool.  The next morning we boarded our ferry to head out there.  It wasn't a really big boat, but it was very full of people.  On the way some whales and dolphins were sighted and I went out on deck to see them.  That was where my trouble began.  I was near the front of the boat where it was bucking up and down a lot!  Pretty soon, the breakfast I didn't eat was still trying to come out.  But, I did see the whales and the dolphins even though they were too fast to get pictures of.  It was worth it! When we arrived at Santa Cruz I was fine and we enjoyed a beautiful day of hiking there seeing lots of what there was to see.  We were lucky to see the Island foxes and bluebird that are only found there.  It was a wonderful day!  It was so green from all of the recent rains.  I got a great tip on where to sit on the ferry on the way back so as to be less likely to barf again...and it worked.  Back of the boat, eyes forward or closed.  It would have been nice to kayak in the ocean at the island, but it would have been so cold, and expensive that we decided against it.  We loved what we saw and did!  Had dinner at Carl's Jr. this night (Monday). We spent 3 nights at a cute little motel in Ventura.  

Tuesday morning we drove on to Long Beach and our next adventure which was a visit to the Queen Mary.  Wow!  What a giant ship!  Now it's been turned into a luxury hotel, tourist attraction, etc.  It was a slice of history/transitioned into today.  We looked around on our own and then went on a tour with a great guide.  We stayed until we had seen it all and then took a pretty long drive to get to the Macaroni Grill for dinner!  Was it ever good!  One thing we found so interesting while driving into the city was all of the port equipment.  Long Beach has a huge port with so much going on.  We walked city and the beach some in the evenings too.  

Wednesday morning we got off early on a ferry to Catalina Island.  We landed at Avalon which is such a different place than the Channel Islands.  It is pure tourist attractions.  It even has a casino.  It is a happening, bustling place.  Our main thing for the day was a little ride on a boat that had windows below the surface so you could look out and see the fish.  There was only one other couple on that time, so it was pretty calm.  I was a little worried that I might get sea sick, so I kind of sat still.  I did well on the ferry ride over because I sat in the middle, in the back and looked forward.  It was a much bigger and less bumpy ride than our ferry to the Channel Islands, thank goodness.  Did fine on both boats this day. Our underwater tour took us out into some ocean reserve area where they then proceeded cause a feeding frenzy and then told you about the fish you were seeing.  It was interesting, but not terribly exciting.  On the way back they let you come up and enjoy the views from the deck.  Nice, but probably not worth the price of the ferry or the tour.  But I'm glad I've seen Catalina, at least the Avalon City part.  We spent the rest of our time there seeing the town sites which was fun. When we got back we had dinner at Panda Express!  Yummy!  

Thursday, the very windy day, we went to the Huntington Library and Museums but not the Gardens.  (They were closed because of the wind unfortunately.)  We did see some of the gardens as we walked by them to different buildings/galleries.  We started by doing a little orientation film where we learned all about how the Huntington came to be.  Then we went to the Library and saw so many historical documents through the ages and LOTS of books.  The most amazing thing there was probably the Gutenberg and Tyndale bibles.  So much work and sacrifice to bring the scriptures to "the people."  After that we went to the Huntington Mansion Gallery and it was beautiful and full of furniture, books, sculptures and European art.  We also saw the Western Art Gallery which was interesting, but not nearly as good the Getty.  They didn't have nearly as much or as beautiful art (my uniquified opinion of course).  Then we took a green break and went to the Botanical Conservatory which was kind of like an indoor garden with all kinds of growing areas:  a rainforest, a bog, a cloudy forest, out door stuff, and all about seeds.  Some was pretty geared to kids since the closed Children's Garden was behind it, but it was a beautiful break from the art overload.  Then we visited a gallery (The Boone) and saw some black artists work.  One of my favorite things of the whole place was seeing Blue Boy!  Unfortunately Pinkie wasn't on display at this  time.  

Friday morning it was time to start home.  We had been driving the Pacific Coast Highway and backroads when we could to see more scenery and get away from the traffic.  We continued doing that on the way home and drove to be able to stop in at Death Valley National Park along the way.  The day turned very cloudy and we could see snow happening in the Sierra Nevada's along the way.  One road we had planned to take ended up being closed, so we had to reroute.  And then another road was closed due to a fatal car accident, so it ended up being a little longer than we planned, but we had a nice, rainy stop in at Death Valley.  We didn't stay too long because it was late and rainy, but it was beautiful in a desert way.  They have a great Visitor's Center that we spent quite a bit of time at too.  Our reroute took us to Pahrump for a delicious dinner at KFC.  We got home about 10 pm.  It was a great trip!!!  Not everything went as planned, but it was still great!  And for the most part, the weather, though cool, was pretty much ideal.