Tourists

Geoff has never been to Wisconsin Dells, and I have never been to Catalina. I can't believe he's never been to the Dells! Alex and I were reading a AAA travel guide and we were sucked right in to the glorious, commercial and fabricated glory of The Dells; the Big Wolf Lodge with all its lodge-like appeal, and the indoor water park, with slides and tubes and cool stuff. I haven't even told Alex about the 'Ducks.' Laura, aunt and travel agent, told me about the amphibious WWII vehicles that take people from water to land and back to water. The boys would LOVE the Ducks. She also told me that The Dells is mostly a tourist trap for people from Illinois. Fine. I'm a tourist. I'll bear the shame. We have to go.

Geoff can't believe I have never been to Catalina. What can I say? It just never happened. 26 miles from Long Beach to Avalon, or something like that. It's an Island; it's not like you can just 'pop over' whenever. People drive to The Dells; convenient. I know you can get T-shirts, sunblock and shot glasses on Catalina, and people ride bicycles and snorkel there too. But it's not as though you can go to the Island and stay in a huge lodge, near a river with rafts and amphibious vehicles, and ride down slides in to big pools of chlorinated water.

Geoff thinks we should go to Catalina some weekend. We can see the Queen Mary; it's a docked hotel. We can visit the Spruce Goose; it's a wooden plane and it's 'docked' too. Then we'll ride the ferry to Catalina, and eat seafood and walk around town and see what they've got. Maybe we'll visit tidepools or The Catalina Island Conservancy. "Catalina, It's Not Just An Island, It's Another World." (I felt a little embarrassed knowing so little about the place; went to a few websites and got info.) I have read "Island of The Blue Dolphins," twice. I just never actually went to The Channel Islands; I guess I figured it's for tourists.