I don't think anyone was able to sleep that night in the hotel room. The thought of going to Catalina was just to much. We were up early getting ready. One look thru the window revealed the haze and fog was even worse than last night. Moma had us all scrubed and cleaned up, ready to travel. It was 6:30am. Us rednecks were early risers. My dad had checked and found that the boat didn't leave for Catalina until 10:45am. Because we didn't know the area my folks decided to check out of the hotel but spend as much time as possible in the hotel coffee shop before going to the boat dock. More appealing than waiting in the Ford.

I guess we must have been a sight to see in our homemade clothes. Of course it was too early for most everyone else so we had the coffee shop to ourselves. I had the first glazed donut ever while sitting there. My mom asked the waitress if it was always this foggy. She laughed and assured us that it would all "burn off" by 8:30am. Not knowing any better, I was shaken by the notion of anything "burning off". Visions of fire and heat came to mind. My mom assured me that was not the case.

Pretty much on schedule the fog did indeed lift as the sun heated the air. My dad told us that he had learned that the boat would began loading about an hour before sailing so we could actually get there earlier and buy our tickets and go a head and board the boat. He was worried about where to park the Ford. We couldn't take it with us on the boat. It would have to be left parked in a safe place until he could make arrangements to move it to the island.

The boat docks were in a place called Willmington which turned out to be just a short drive from where we were.  Our luck held. My dad was able to rent parking space by the month so the Ford would be safe until he got back to retrieve it. The ticket window hadn't opened yet but quite a crowd was forming. Looked like we would have company on our ocean voyage. I worried if the boat would be large enough to carry all of us.

Finally the tickets went on sale and everyone lined up to pay the fare. I think our total ticket cost was about $10.00. One of those places where you buy a ticket, walk a few feet, give it to a guy that tears it in half and gives you the "stub". Once inside your directed to follow the yellow line painted on the floor. Line leads to the boarding ramp.  

My "God", what ship! Big, beautiful and just gleaming in the sun light. The SS Catalina. I don't know the exact measurements but she was huge in the eyes of a nine year old kid. Now the adventure of a lifetime would start!