Whale Watching!!

This past week Thomas and I took the girls and Henry to the San Juan Islands. We thought it would be a neat birthday present for Madelon Rose to see some whales and wildlife. The next day we went to pick up Memom from the airport ( another blog).
So- off we went on a 3.5 hour car trip ( Austin to Dallas type trip) then an hour ferry ride. We walked up hill to the hotel ( STRAIGHT up  a hill for about 1.5 miles). We checked in, got a snack then off we went to watch for whales.

We even found Big Foot on our way to the San Juan Islands!!! He was very kind!
Interjection here---
Ok- to be honest, it wasn't a great trip for Elizabeth. Just too much and too long. Ages 5 and up is great-- anything below that age is not worth it-- so wait a year or so! OH- and if you have an infant, you must stay "inside" the cabin part... ugh! Thomas and I had to switch a lot so we could see more!
Last thing- you need more than 8 hours to truly enjoy the San Juan Islands.... so cute, funky and relaxing!!

                                                                  San Juan Island Port
The boat took us around the NW part of San Juan Islands. The whales had been spotted there earlier in the day and were still feeding. Did you know they have large "PODS" or families. This one had 22 in its family and we saw approximately 10 whales that were stuck together. There is an "alpha" male and the pod stays with its maternal side till death..... boy, this sounds like MY family! LOL!!
These are Orca whales. Orcas are not killer whales. Orcas are actually large porpoise. Yep, a big dolphin! They eat over 200 pounds of fish per day per whale....
So- I know I sound like a Sea World trainer- but it really was interesting. After seeing these great animals in the wild- you really don't want to see them at Sea World. I know , I know-- the great debate on animals in captivity or free.....

Madelon Rose SQUEALED with excitement when she saw them. At first they just rolled to the surface, spouting and you could see the dorsal fin. The baby was even with them...
Towards the end of the visit they just went wacko!!! They came up for "looksies" and then they rolled, jumped and splashed a little boat out in the middle of the ocean. It was quite the show.... even the staff on the boat was amazed! I was amazed.... I squealed when I captured these photos.....( hope they are good- try to enhance if you can)!

Later we went to see other wildlife on other surrounding islands. Some islands are rugged, some are grassy and some look like forest. Amazing. All with different wildlife... some by accident.
We saw Bald Eagles- WOW!! HUGE bird! They are no longer on the extinct list by the way.
We saw a cool looking camp that if you go ( I think its through Boy Scouts) it shows you how the indians lived... the whole camp experience is in the old t-pees....

This picture is the farthest point of the Northwest.... to the left is Canada.... coolio!
At the end of the day we were exhausted from the excitement. We quickly went to dinner and found a WONDERFUL margarita!! First one since we got here-- made with REAL lime juice, no mix....OMG, like heaven!
The next day we left San Juan and headed to the airport to get Memom.... to welcome her home.
It was a GREAT experience- can't wait to take the boys. Highly recommend this trip.
This week we go to Seattle- for a day of shopping for spices, fish and other treasures. We will be taking Jax and Henry. The down side of this moving-- I haven't had much alone time with Thomas! Silly, I know, but I need some one to one "talk" time without being interrupted. HA- we are taking Jax who NEVER shuts up.... oh well, there went that theory of quality time together.... :}

* One last note- I am really having a HARD time getting my pictures to upload to my blog. It is taking 5 minutes a picture???? I had some really nice ones to show-- but this is all I could get.
KW- have you ever had this trouble?? Call me! :}