the channel islands and my expectations....

...were incongruous. i went to Santa Cruz Island, which is a part of the Channel Islands (and they are located off the coast of Ventura, CA) last weekend. it was for an island wedding camping hiking drinking kayaking music/merry-making celebration. the island was very scrubby and dry, with little to no shade cover. there were bluffs (lined with bracken and gorse????) that reminded me very much of England, but it was often WAY too hot to be England. For some reason I had expected them to be lush (not tropical, by any means, but a little semi-lushness is always nice) and full of exciting hiking trails. huh. i was wrong. go figure. the boat ride over (complete with dolphin pods chasing the bow) and the sea-kayaking through caves were both, well, totally awesome. but as an avid hiker, who just happens to be really fucking pale, i take umbrage with the lack of places to take umbrage.

but - harbor seal and sea lion sightings did make it all good.