anniversary trip!

and off we go -

I have to into work for a "cannot miss" meeting - then we'll be off the airport and gone for four days. Uncle Larry urbear and Aunty Victor behrndahl will be hanging out with Miss Kate keeping her loved and entertained.

Dave and I fly out for Long Beach at 3pm. We'll be staying with my good friends Bruce and Larry - this will be Dave's first time meeting them. They are such great guys, I'm glad that Dave finally gets to meet them. We'll go to happy hour right from the plane (how better else to start a vacation!) - then dinner with their Friday crew - then back to the house to crash.

Tomorrow? It looks like we'll be giving Dave some options. We could go to Dana Point and go Whale Watching - We could drive north and go to the Getty Villa and take in the amazing art and grounds. We'll play it by ear. Then the four of us are going out for a nice dinner together on Saturday.

Then on Sunday? at 10am we'll helicopter to Catalina. Never have I thought of a cooler way to spend some of my tax return. The weather is supposed to be SPECTACULAR so I'm hoping for some great pictures. I booked us into an ocean view balcony room at the Avalon Hotel. YAY! and then at 3pm on Saturday - we'll do the "Zipline EcoTour" - a two hour hike around the island featuring five different zip lines through the canyons.

(video here if you'd like to check it out: http://www.visitcatalinaisland.com/avalon/video.php?src=zipline&title=Catalina%20Zip%20Line%20Eco%20Tour )

We'll go out for a nice romantic dinner on Sunday evening - and be very lazy about catching our boat back to the coast on Monday. Monday is our actual anniversary (3.14! HA!) - so we'll get back to Long Beach about 1pm - then fly home around 5pm.

This trip feels so romantic and fun - and the best part - is I saved for it - rather than putting any of it on a credit card or breaking into emergency funds. I love spoiling Dave - and I don't get to do it on this level but very rarely. I will of course, post gabillion photos.


image from the Catalina Harbor Webcame this morning at 830am.