Cruise Part Two - Catalina

Our second stop was Catalina Island. I haven't been to Catalina since I was in sixth grade and even then we went straight to the camp/school so I really had no idea what to do on the island. We had planned on snorkeling but the day was very overcast and cold so we didn't want to go. We wandered around for awhile hoping to find a cheap rate on a golf cart but instead settled on a tandem bike, what a mistake. Sam and I got into a huge argument trying to work together on this stupid bike. I was freaked out that we were going to go where bikes weren't allowed and Sam wanted to go much faster and not stop at stop signs so I was yelling at him. Sam was yelling at me that I wasn't peddling and we both got very tired trying to ride to Wrigley's mansion, a slight but constant uphill ride. It didn't help that the first bike we got had a shifter on the handle grip and we didn't know it and Sam didn't know when he was shifting gears so as it got harder to peddle he thought I wasn't peddling. We took that bike back and got another one with a regular shifting mechanism but by then Sam and I were already frustrated. We tried to go to Wrigley's mansion but gave up and decided to try something fun.
We were going to go on a boat ride but the timing didn't work out so we ate lunch and had buffalo burgers. We watched some kids on the pier fish, ate a frozen banana, sat and enjoyed the pier, and walked around. I know my complaining seems a lot longer then not but this part was nice.
We got on the tender at 3pm because the last one was at 4:30pm and we didn't want to get caught when everyone else was coming back. When we got in line there was already a ton of people and it took over and hour waiting for the tender to come, waiting for it to go back to the boat, and waiting in line to get off the tender and back on the boat.
Overall Catalina was okay but boy would we do things differently next time.
Once we were on the boat we went to our room to take a nap. When I started feeling the boat leaving Catalina I went to the back deck (the only place I could get receptions) to call and check up on my kids because the next day was going to be the only day I couldn't call them. As I was standing on the deck watching Catalina get smaller and smaller I looked down in the water and saw a big old shark! Not like a Jaws great white or anything but it had a huge mouth and it was just sitting there probably 5-10 ft below the surface. It totally freaked me out that we were really on a boat in the ocean and if it sank then I would possibly be in that water with a shark. I grew up in CA and have been in the ocean many many times and have swam out pretty far out but I have never thought there were sharks there.
Our third night on the boat was one of the best. My mom had told me that when she was on her cruise she asked for a taste of all the desserts which I assumed was a taster plate. I asked my waiting if I could try all the desserts and after a bit of hesitation he said he could do that for Sam and I. When he brought us five full plates of dessert I was a bit embarrassed but the desserts were all really good. After dinner we found my favorite towel animal, the hanging monkey. Very creative and cute but it was scary walking into a dark room and seeing something right at eye level. That night we watched some people make fool's of themselves singing karaoke, went to a really funny love & marriage show and just enjoyed the activities of the boat.

Next stop: Ensenada, Mexico