Adventures of the cow-girl kind

The main idea of choosing Catalina Island as our anniversary destination was Scuba Diving. I think thats the only place in the Pacific Coast where one can Scuba Dive. It was an unfulfilled wish for me and DH, from our trip to Hawaii. It was supposed to be more exciting than Snorkelling. So we booked more than a month in advance for scuba diving and snorkelling even before we booked our hotels, and were really looking forward to it.
But unfortunately things didnt quite work out well. Inspite of us being more than well prepared for a day in the sea, the guy called up an hour before the diving was sceduled and said the instructor had called in sick and that some other dive shop would be able to take us in. That was the first bummer. Still we reached the other dive shop, and were given sheets of stuff to read, and a short quiz to take.
We are the most dangerous of animals in the sea apparently. So we didnt have to worry it seems, of going 30 feet under the water. Also apparently the grotesque and dangerous beings of the sea were only seen about 500 feet above the sea level, so we didnt really have to worry about them at 30 feet it seems.
Both of us were pretty excited, until we came to the paragraph bolded. Diving was not recommended if one had common cold!! Since we would be breathing from a tank, and there might be pressure differences, it was not advisable to dive if one had common cold. DH had caught one, owing to the unpredictable SF weather. We asked the guy if it was okay or how dangerous it was to do it with a blocked nose. He asked DH a small question, to plug his nose and blow to see if his ears popped. Something about the pressure equalizing, I didnt really understand. By this time, suddenly going 30 feet under water, as the mercy of some unknown guide, relying totally on a tank of oxygen on the back, and my unsteady swimming, with loads of unknown sea creatures around me, and DH with his common cold, didnt seem exciting at all. The guy said we probably shouldnt do it.
Bummer it was.

So the interesting thing I wanted to write about is not scuba diving, in case you are wondering still.

With a whole day activity cancelled we had a lot of time at hand. I caught the cold too, from DH and from the double scoop of chocolate fudge icecream. We thought of hiking, since the day was lovely, and there a lot of scenic hiking trails. So we got maps for one of the trails from the Conservancy. We hunted a bit to find the trail, and when we did find it, the board read," Hermit Gulch Trail, beware of rattlesnakes" Err..rattlesnakes? DH said it would be okay, we probably wouldnt come across one, and he said probably we would scare the snakes away. But still, Kill Bill 2 flashed in my head, btw, thats why I like to stay away from such movies. We walked a few steps, watched a family with two kids walk the trail, the trail became narrower with bushes and trees crowding the trail, and I just lost it. DH finally gave in, and we backed off, from there. I mean, I cant take 4 miles of hiking with fear of snakes.

So we went to another trail, a shorter one, with no warning boards. It went up to a 1000 feet elavation, with wonderful views of the coast and the sea and inland mountains. It felt like mini-Hawaii, but of course, it cant even come close to Hawaii. DH said, we were not too thrilled about the place, because we had been to Hawaii recently. This trail was a decent one, all my workout paid off, I was able to do the trail without puffing and panting too much.

The next day we went horse back riding. That is one of the most interesting part of the trip I talked about.

I mean we have seen so many many movies with heroes galloping in horses, fighting on horses, singing on horses, running away on horses. I have ridden a horse, with the guy holding the horse's reins and walking by the horse, with me on it, by Marina Beach. But it is so not as easy as they show in movies.

We had to again read and sign a document which said something about horses biting, stomping, and kicking!! Whoa!! What was I going in for? We were given helmets for our heads, and a pouch for the camera. I asked a couple of times if we will be safe, and I think thats why the guy gave me the best horse they had in the stables. :--) I got Cadillac and DH got Mickey. I got on Cadillac, the guy instructed me where to put my legs, how to hold the reins. And he also told us how to make the horse turn left, turn right. It was simple, I just had to hold the reins a bit forward and pull to the right or left. To stop I had to pull the rein towards myself. I literally had to kick or give a pat with my leg on one side of the horse to get it to walk and moving. I practiced for sometime. A little tensed and scared. But Cadillac seemed a pretty obedient horse. A pretty girl was our guide. These was another couple taking the trip with us. So we started off, the guide first, and then the guy, the girl, followed by me and DH at the end. The guide was talking to us, asking questions trying to make a conversation, but me and DH were busy getting used to the horse and making sure we stayed on the trail and our horses didnt wander off. Cadillac stayed right behind the horse in front of me.

We went through some rough bushes, trees, and the trail narrowed quite a bit, just for the horse to go through. We were steadily climbing up the mountain. At one point the guide asked us to kick the horse on both sides with our legs. I did that and Cadillac started galloping! Ohhhhh boy! Although it was scary, it was exciting. It was just for a few seconds, and I stopped immediately, but it pumped a whole lot of blood to my face. :--) We went up a really steep slope, when Cadillac started snorting. Which was like huffing and puffing for us. Poor thing, it was carrying me, and that too uphill. We were asked to lean forward when going uphill to aid the horse a little while climbing up. It was really scary as we climbed upslope. For a minute I thought Cadillac would just skid down slope, and that we would go toppling down the mountain side. Luckily nothing like that happened. We all made safely up the top of the slope. We had a wonderful view at the background from the top, we stopped to take some pictures.

We started going down the slope now, we were advised to lean back to ease it for the horses. Cadillac was very sweet, followed the line faithfully. There were times when I was scared of the path Cadillac was taking, as the trail was too narrow, and Cadillac was walking very close to the edge, it was dense dry bushes down slope. I realized that Cadillac wouldnt want to go down the edge and fall down too, after all it is a living being and not a mechanical man made car. Obviously Cadillac wouldnt force herself to fall down the edge along the slopes. Now that really gave me enough confidence. I did have to pull on the reins once in a while to keep Cadillac off from wandering too far from the trail. Mickey with DH was coming far behind, DH thought Mickey was an old horse and thats why she was slow.
As we neared the end of our trail, back to level ground, back to the stables, I was just beginning to like Cadillac, as my confidence in her had greatly increased by then. But it was time to get off. I petted Cadillac, brushing her mane and patting her back. Thank you Cadillac for bringing me back safely, without biting or stomping or kicking!
When me and DH reunited, DH said he was glad it was over. He said apparently Cadillac had kicked Mickey once, when she was too close to Cadillac's heels! DH thought the two horses would break into a fight. LOL!! Thank god I didnt know about this incident when I was on horse back.
On the whole it was fun ride, to be experienced at least once in a life time.
Later in the day we went to the only 'Airport in the Sky', A tiny airport, which took in only private jets and small jets from the mainland LA area. It was on the top of a mountain at about 2000 feet elevation. A small runway, and a small place for the tiny jets to be parked. No security. We went close to one of the jets and look pictures. It was cool.

Apart from these, we just ate and ate and ate. Amazing local places to eat, amazing food, even a sandwich tasted really yummy, may be were ravenous, dont know.

On the ferry ride back to Long Beach we saw quite a few dolphins, galloping in the sea. We saw ducks and sea gulls flying close to the water, probably hunting for fish. It was amazing. These creatures, their only aim in life, is to hunt for food and eat.

The drive both ways was nice, with Mozhi, Varalaaru, Guru and Shivaji in a loop. I can never get tired of long drives. The frequent stops for gas and food, the songs, the wind... I openned the window and let my hand out, watching it get pushed backwards. I used to do it while travelling in the train in India, speed always thrilled me. The mountains never cease to amaze me. Once in a while it is nice to be with nature, mountains and the sea, to realize how insignificant we are, and how miniscule man's period is on this earth compared to earth itself.