Catalina Glass Bottom Boat and the Buffalo

 To wrap this one up I wanted to go over the last two touristy things I did back on the July 4th weekend. I had never been on a glass bottom boat before. My dad always talked about it. So, I was able to do that this time around. A picture does not really cover the experience so I will link a short video at the bottom of this blog entry that is a few minutes long.

The last thing I did during the afternoon was go on one of the eco-tours they have. I had been on one before, took a lot of video and pictures, but never got around to uploading anything about it. On this tour we were taken to the Catalina Airport which I always find interesting since the runway is very small. We did see some buffalo on the way, but the best pictures I got were on the way back not too far away from the airport.

It is kind of odd seeing bison on Catalina Island. The story is pretty well known though. During the filming of a silent movie in the 1920's about twenty bison were sent to the island as part of the movie. They were kept there and reproduced to as many as five hundred over the years. These days the population is much lower. We were told on the tour they had not reproduced, partly due to birth control, for over a decade. They try to keep the population in check, and in the past have sent extra bison to the Great Plains. However, they were forced to bringing in two new females to keep the genetics and population going. 

This is the same bison from the other picture as we drove by. I was given permission to open up the side part of the eco-tour van to get this picture. One of the young ladies kind of freaked out as I did that. This was during the period that a few attacks had happened in Yellowstone. I am used to dealing with wild animals so I kind of know the distances I need to stay safe, and how quick I would need to close the door. We were completely safe, but from her perspective she probably thought we almost died, and I was reckless. Lol! This bison just moved to the right side of this picture and took off after this picture. 

So, it was a fun trip to Catalina Island. Usually after I go I kind of feel like I do not have to go back, but over time I remember certain things and enjoy one day stops on the island. One thing I should mention is due the drought they were hurting for water. At the restaurant I ate at I asked for water rather than something else, and they asked if I was okay with bottled water. I totally forgot about the situation. Normally, when I ask for water at a restaurant, I do not think much of it, but for people on the island they were suffering due to the drought.

The Glass Bottom Boat Tour (Short Youtube Video)

Inside The Casino at Catalina Island

 So in the last blog entry I showed my drone shots I took last July of The Casino at Catalina. I noted that it is primarily used as a movie theater and has a ballroom upstairs for special events. I am going to travel back ten years in time to show pictures I took inside of The Casino when I took a tour of it. At the time I had all these ideas of showing what I did on the island that day when I went, but I never did show anything on here. That is kind of the way I have been over the past ten years or so. I have taken lots of pictures and videos of things, but unless I am motivated with something I think is worth mentioning I tend to just leave it on an external hard drive, DVD, etc. Something touristy like this is rather well known too, but I am in the mood so let's go back ten years...

Here is what the inside of the theater looks like:

One of the first theaters created when silent movies became "talkies" in the late 1920's and early 1930's. I would not mind seeing a movie here, but typically my trips to Catalina last a day. I leave before the night movie is shown.

Going upstairs to the ballroom:

One thing I knew going into the tour was that an old movie, Murder on a Honeymoon (1935), had been filmed in here. A murder takes place near the end of the movie:

I was listening to what our young lady tour guide was telling us, but meanwhile I was trying to hunt down where they filmed this. 

It has been ten years, but if I remember correctly, I concluded that the murder took place in the background here. You can look at the windows and artistic signs above the windows and doorways. Some of the artistic signs might have been changed around because the area has changed a lot over the years. In the Airwolf tv series episode, Sins of the Past, from 1984 they show the ballroom as well and it looks different too. In any case, even if I am little off here you get the idea of how the ballroom would have been used for the murder in that movie.

Finally, looking up I saw this. 

In the next blog I will show the next thing I did that day at Catalina.

The Casino at Catalina (Drone Shots)

Over the July 4th weekend I was able to revisit Catalina. Over the next few blogs I will describe my adventure there. I have been to Catalina a few times over the decades of my life. Let me start this blog with my latest adventure, and then I will talk some about my past experiences.

So the first thing I did was get off the boat and head to the other side to where The Casino is at Avalon, Catalina. I got my small drone out and took off to get some pictures.

This is a rather common shot I have seen in the past while watching the weather report in Southern California over the years. I assume it was a helicopter flying by, but now people are able to this by just using a drone. 

Maybe a more unique shot of The Casino as I was just flying above it with the drone.

Then I flew it in a more northerly direction and took a picture looking more to the south at Avalon. I just spent enough time getting it up, flying it around for a few pictures, and then got back down. There were other things scheduled for the day, so this was just something meant to be done rather quickly in the morning right as I got on shore. 

The Casino is primarily used as a movie theater and for special events like weddings on the upper floor. On the day I was here they were showing The Batman movie there. In the next blog I will time travel back about ten years as I show some of what was (and I hope still is) inside of the Casino.

My brother mentioned to me that in the Airwolf tv series in the 1980's there was an episode where they blow up The Casino. The episode was called, "Sins of the Past".

Maverick's Mustang (Aka So the Summer Ends)

 So a few weeks ago I visited Planes of Fame in Chino, CA to see this plane:

This was the plane that was used in the recent Top Gun: Maverick movie in the scenes at Ridgecrest, CA that are shown at the beginning and ending of the movie. It is a P-51 variant known as the F-6K, and built near the end of WW2 for photo reconnaissance. Tom Cruise purchased it 1994, is the owner, and loaned it out temporarily for viewing at the museum.  

Another angle.

And another.

I took a few videos of it, but not sure I will upload them since I am sure there is a bunch of stuff already out there about this plane. If I do it will be at a much later time, and I will link it in this specific blog. I will link a few videos I saw of it on a simple Google search below at the end of this blog.

So, this summer was interesting and did some self-reflection on how I want to continue this blog. As I get older, I do not have the same motivations as I did fifteen to twenty years ago. I still enjoy uploading and typing about things I do, but there is a work involved. That is what wears me down in trying to get everything right and to perfection (which I never really achieve). 

The good news is I am starting to think of putting videos together again. I have a few that are close to being done that I should have up in another month or two. The videos that I am little more excited about will probably be done and shown during 2023. I am not saying I will have videos up every week, but there are a few things I was able to get done this summer that I think most people that enjoy what I have done will like.

I kind of left the last blog in a cliffhanger in what I was most concerned about: the weather conditions. Btw, I edited a short section about Mark Twain visiting Virginia Lakes in the last blog if you have an interest in that. Basically, on my main trip to the Eastern Sierra this summer a fire had already been going, but the day I drove past Bishop a new fire had started and smoke was everywhere. I was really discouraged. 

I had already started to modify my thinking on what I wanted to accomplish this summer. Fortunately, within a few days the smoke was not as bad, and it started to have dark cloud conditions every day. Eventually, it started to drizzle and rain most days. The funny thing is when I left to come home at around 2am in the morning, it rained all the way on the HWY 395 all the way home. I have never had that happen before. This was the day that I read Death Valley had a flash floods.

So, I was able to capture some footage and do somethings I wanted to do. I did visit two movie locations. One you would know very well that I revisited, and one that is completely new that I figured out. Some hiking, but not what I had hoped to do. Again, I did some self-reflection on this that I will talk more about as the months go by. As I get older I want to modify how I do things so I keep myself motivated and happy doing these things. 

Thats all for now. Check back soon.

Tom Cruise Terrifies James in 'Top Gun' Fighter Jet!

"Tom's P51 Mustang" Featurette