sea caves!

Ahoy,

Channel Islands! I made reservations a while ago for Channel Islands National Park and the buildup was mounting. We went with our friend J who would be departing shortly for the other side of the country so this was a sort of last hurrah to trap spend time with her. The day started off incredibly early out to Ventura for our ferry boat ride. On the boat we saw some whales, dolphins and seals. We started preparing for the kayaking to look at sea caves and set off. The caves were really cool. Some were smaller, some bigger and a lot were like tunnels you could go in one side and out another. The day was perfect as far as island weather goes. It was as warm, clear and calm as we could've hoped for.

We munched immediately after because we were starving. And there's the 45 minute rule, but we threw caution to the wind and geared up and went in for snorkeling without waiting. It was definitely one of the highlights for the RRS. I had a lot of fun too, but I had only ever snorkeled in the Bahamas so that was where my expectations were. We saw stingrays, sea slugs, garibaldis and a bunch of other things. The island doesn't allow fires so we just brought our stovetops and dinner happened much faster than usual. We had some time to kill while we waited for nightfall so we could go look at the bioluminescence. It was the RRS's first time. Bioluminescence is amazing every time.

The next day was our hiking day. We woke up to begin the trail to Smuggler's Cove. The RRS started the pace too fast and I got hot and whiny. J saved the day. She soaked this towel that stayed cool and put it on my neck. I was much less whiny after that. There was a pretty steep downhill we enjoyed down to the cove, but we would also have to go back up. What a drag. Smuggler's Cove is on another side the island that receives a lot more wind, resulting in bigger waves and choppier water. It was a nice lunch spot overlooking the ocean. We ate a packed up back up the hill. More folks were on the trail by now and I was glad to knock it out before it would get much hotter/sunnier.

We lingered in the ranch houses and beachside before we boarded our ferry back. This ride back we saw more whales and hundreds of dolphins, seals too. It was amazing! What a lovely farewell to a fun filled excursion. We zipped up to Santa Barbara for dinner and ice cream. In Cheryl Strayed's book Wild, she eats a burger at every rest stop she makes. So I think it's very fitting whenever we get a burger first thing back from camping.

happily munching,
jt