Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

We Are Off To Face Certain Death! (Catalina Day Two)

Inspecting mirrors is a job I could really see myself doing.

Today was my 5,000th day of being retired!  Thirteen years, six months, and five days I gave up working.  Mary needs to hurry up and catch up with me!

We had our morning coffee, probably the last one I will ever have.  Then breakfast my last meal.  Then off to the zip line adventure.

Bright and early, the casino sees the sun first!

We jumped into our golf cart and headed to Descanso Beach, where the zip line check-in is located.

When we checked in, they asked if high altitudes bothered us; I, of course, said’ “Well, as a matter of fact, yes!”  He replied, “Don’t worry; we will supply oxygen bottles.”   Now I am getting worried.  Then he said we are on the 10:00 AM flight!  FLIGHT?  What does he mean?

We are checking in!

Mary takes good care of me, she brought the Depends again, but this time I put them on the inside of my pants!

One last hug before we go!

The young lady got me all hooked up.  There were more belts and straps and gizmos than Carter had liver pills.  I will be more likely to trip on the belt or hang myself than falling from the zip line.

“Pardon me, sir, but you must weigh in at under 250 pounds!”

Then Mary says, “Paul, look up!”.  I saw that tower 8,000 feet up the side of the 2,000-foot mountain.  It was terrifying, so I volunteered to go back to the hotel and get something, anything.  Nope!  I had to stay.  I was hoping the Depends were the high capacity ones!

High up on the hill are the wires of death!

Now Mary gets all the equipment on.  We are going to be safe because I am going to tie us to a telephone pole.

Tighten her in carefully; she is precious!

They gave us a short class on what to do and what not to do!  Then it was on the bus for the journey to the top!  We careened around the corners looking down into the canyon.  I swear I saw skeletons at the bottom, but I was afraid to say anything.

If our straps get tangled, we may have to sit together forever… M-m-m-m-m, I have an idea!

Here comes Miss Mary…

 

Then we tested the cable strength as my carcass come flying down the line.  It’s going to be OK as the tour guides informed us that one cable is good for 5,000 pounds and the main cable is good for 18,000 pounds.  I did the math, and it has 17,800 pounds of margin!

Fearless Mary sets a new zip line speed record.  The canyon echoed as she went through the sound barrier.

Here comes Mary at 45 miles per hour!

She is caught and now safe!

Caught!

Time to return to the hotel, but dumb old me lost the golf cart.  Well, it seems the cart is dark green, but in the shade, it looked blue, so I walked by it five times and did not recognize it.  Thank goodness, Miss Mary volunteered to assist me in the search, and after ten seconds, she said, “It’s right there!”.  I was more than a bit embarrassed.  From now on, I plan to tie my underwear on the antenna so I can find the car.

Back at the hotel, we had lunch and rested.  Mary informed me she does NOT nap.  Yeah! Right, she went out like a light.  The Z’s were so loud. Three buzzards flew over to check her out. I shooed them away, no snacking on Mary this afternoon!

“I do not take naps!”

We had a glass of wine and talked for a while, awaiting Mary’s friends to call.

A cute couple, if I don’t say so myself!!

We then did a little shopping in town and visited Mary’s friends who live on the island.  I thought they were kidding when they said there are 155 steps to get to their house.  They were NOT kidding.

She looks pretty good after 155 steps!

We sat and visited for almost an hour, but then the sun started to face, the temperature dropped, and we could see snow clouds forming in the distance, so we departed.

Marry brought her little white bikini in case they had a pool?

Going down was easy.  I curled up like a basketball and hurled myself down the stairs, barely missing two elderly people and a tiny chihuahua.

Going down was easier!

It was getting dark as we found our way back to the mansion.  We ordered dinner from the Crab Shack, and Shaun went into town and got it for us.  Talk about service with a smile.

We rode into town to check out the nightlife.

Mary spotted the Christmas Tree on the top of the casino, so we went onto the balcony and sang Christmas Carols.  I did the more traditional ones while Mary sang, at the top of her lungs, “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.”  Suddenly, four pairs of shoes came out of thin air and landed adjacent to us.  Does this mean something?  We decided to stop singing and go inside.

View from our room.

I ordered a boggle of wine and proceeded to reduce its quantity as we watched a little TV.  It was an amazing day!

Finally, rest time!

We crashed and planned for tomorrow’s adventures.

About Paul

Just an old retired guy trying to finish out my last years on this planet. I lost my best friend and wife in early 2020. I was blessed again by reconnecting with Dr. Mary Côté, a long-time friend. Mary and I got married July 28th, 2021, and are enjoying life together and plan to spend the rest of our lives being a blessing to our friends and family.
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