Early Day

This day stretched from 4:00 a.m. to just after midnight (which was really Tuesday morning). Just before 4:00 a.m., the two of us woke and took a walk to the bathroom pavilion and then met again outside and strolled through the predawn darkness on the downward slope to the shoreline.

The view across the water highlighted the Palos Verdes Peninsula, where lights were quite visible. In past summers, there have been many times when we did not see any of the mainland while we've been at camp. Seeing across the 26 miles of water is always a pleasure.

With our curiosity satisfied to know what the shoreline looked like, we walked back to our "cabin" which is really a tent, but it is actually bigger than the cabin we had last summer, and we snuggled back into our two-person sleeping bag to get a little more sleep.

However, getting back to sleep was impossible because Mr. Fun is completely a morning person. So he talked for the next hour until his alarm sounded at 5:15. His nickname could be "Chatty Cathy." With the alarm sounded, we both grabbed our stuff and each headed out to wash faces, brush teeth, and get presentable. I told him I'd meet him at the shoreline. Getting ready always takes me longer.

I arrived at the shore, to an awaiting cup of coffee. Mr. Fun had stopped in the dining hall and found the coffee maker and filled a carafe and grabbed two cups. By then it was fully daylight and we decided that tomorrow we'll get up a bit earlier so we can both arrive at the shore in time to watch the dark turn to light. There was still time to see the sunrise, but the cloud coverage prohibited that experience. We stayed at the shoreline until just before the call to breakfast.

The wake-up bell rings every morning at 7:30. At 7:50 the bell rings to announce ten-minutes until breakfast, and at 8:00 when the bell rings, the doors of the dining hall swing open. Like a flashflood, hungry campers pour into the building to find a place to sit. Scrambled eggs, potatoes with sausage, coffee cake, and fruit were waiting on every table and after several morning announcements, the food was consumed in record-breaking time.

The first full day at camp was nothing less than fabulous. The morning activities were good. The afternoon free time mostly spent at the shoreline was relaxing and refreshing and the view across the channel to the mainland entertained us all afternoon. Even though a low layer of clouds blocked the morning sun, we could see across the water all day; it was just spectacular.

That's it for today from Catalina Island.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol