Catalina Island for a Belated Valentine's Day

 This Valentine's Day I was bogged down with rigorous testing for my PhD program, and begged J several weeks in advance if we could push our Valentine's date back a bit.  We choose the Saturday of the weekend after Valentine's, and went to Catalina Island, off the shore of Newport, CA.

We drove down to Newport at 7:30 in the morning to catch our ferry, the Catalina Flyer, across the Pacific under the tinges of a morning sunrise.  It was an hour-long trip, and I was only a little sea sick upon arrival.

As we left the ferry, and started our walk down the stretch toward the town, J took my hand, and I realized I was totally and completely in love with him.  It was a beautiful, peaceful, entirely calming feeling that I knew was brief and simple, and I didn't want to lose it in the least.  We had no island agenda, and just walked up and down the streets, ate at a seaside cafe, dipped our toes in the water, and had the most remarkably easy and glorious day.  There are relatively few cars, and the locals drive golf cars with licence plates for transportation.  We opted out of renting a golf cart, and instead just walked. We made friends at lunch and exchanged numbers, and then J acquiesced to my desires to hike to a high point, where we could see the island melt away into the ocean. Neglecting the heat and pursuant sweating, the hike was a nice delight, and a jewel in the afternoon.