i wonder why i can never put together a trip to go climbing outdoors on my own. for one, i don't have the equipment for rope climbs. all i've got is my shoes, crash pad, harness and belay device. but i could go to bouldering places like stoney point... and perhaps there's some bouldering at malibu! it's a little frightening to go somewhere like that, so wild, though, without knowing where you're going first. every time i think of going to stoney point, malibu or joshua tree (especially malibu and josh, where there's generally a hike to get wherever you're trying to go), i worry about getting lost and never finding my way back. maybe for me, i have to be 100% committed and excited about doing something before i'm ready to make plans for it.
this is why friends like janet are so valuable. she makes plans. great ones =)! janet organized a trip to catalina just a few weeks ago. it was amazing - we took the catalina express to two harbors and kayaked out to parson's landing. there were 14 of us, and we stayed there for 2 nights. everything we brought to camp with us we packed on those kayaks: tents, sleeping bags, grills, food, water, etc. needless to say, the trip out to parson's landing was a little more difficult than the trip back to two harbors... but oh man, were we tired! the water in catalina was beautiful, so clear. kayaking there was wonderful, you could see into the kelp forests and see the garibaldi (beautiful golden fish) and some other schools of fish. some of us went snorkeling and diving in the kelp forests, and on the last day, some of us went kayaking around the caves near two harbors. that's when i lost mayana's snorkeling gear - by poking my head in the water and lying lengthwise on the boat, i could still see into the water without being fully submerged. as i rearranged myself back into sitting position, i lost my balance and tipped the boat over... and ended up getting submerged anyway. dumped mike into the water, too, since we were paddling tandem.
i went on an offsite with my team at work, and we ended up taking a boat ride from marina del rey to santa monica and back. on the way back, we saw dolphins feeding. a whole school of them, jumping and swimming.
lewis sent galen with a 4 or 5 pound bag full of tomatoes from his garden. yum! so, i leave you with some pictures of the lunch we made today, from recipes ronnie sent:
- http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/salad/weeknight-recipe-panzanella-061062
- http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/main-dish/recipe-smoky-scallops-with-fennel-and-tomato-025547
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