I don't think I've ever had ready whip that doesn't come out super flat and drippy until this Thanksgiving. Holy shit - that stuff is FLUFFY! And it sprays everywhere! Who knew?!

The Buffalo and Catalina is one of the most interesting stories out there. They brought them over for a movie, didn't use them in the movie, left them there, they started taking over the island and killing everything native, so they birth controlled some, shot some, brought some back to the mainland. The ones they didn't were slowly penned into select areas. As kids, we took hikes over the mountain to see them but it was so weird to see one from the boat. Get this - my brother saw it when we first pulled in and was like "I swear there is a buffalo up on that hill. I look, my mom looks, and it's so perfectly framed with the backlighting that my mom says, "I think it might be a statue...it's too perfect and not moving and there aren't any buffalo over here." We all agree that's a possibility. Some memorial or something. About two seconds later it moves. So naturally, we hightailed it to the beach, ran up the mountain, walked about a mile, and found the beast.

My dad reckons that they may have undone the pens to let them fend for themselves because of the drought. It's dryer than I've ever seen it. Here's a picture of the same mountain as kids - I think this may have been El Nino year but still.

And today...

Whenever you make it to LA, you and the fam-bam have to come on the boat. We still have every size life jacket from when my brother and I were kids, the plastic kiddie guard for the railings / stairs is still in the lazarette, and the boat is so much more fun with little kids around. Plus, if Eve throws a tantrum, you just throw her overboard. That's what my dad did and obviously it totally worked. :P