Thursday

Today is cool, sunny and very windy.   We've had a busy two days ending last night with a lovely happy hour  at Wendy and James' Holiday Rambler and dinner together at Pizza Bella in Old Town.   We're enjoying a lazy day, catching up on some neglected dog time, laundry, paying bills and just taking time to take time.  

I'll tell you about our whale watch cruise yesterday....

The 6:30 alarm woke us both us with a start.   We've only set the clock a few times on this trip, and we don't like hearing that blaring beep!    We booked the morning whale watch because the brochure said it always has less people on it, so we needed to get going.   No morning coffee outside for us.    Well, thats not actually true.   We did have our second cup outside yesterday, but it was on the top deck of a boat motoring out to the open sea in search of whales!

adding a new skill set to his repetitoire

Before we left, Dave tried his hand at grinding coffee beans and making a cup of coffee from Jesse's left over beans.    Now Jesse likes his coffee strong, and Dave doesn't, so he was prepared for a bad (in his estimation) cup of coffee for his first attempt.  He also has never used a coffee grinder, so we were hoping for the best.  Turned out good on all accounts.  Only a small pile of coffee scattered on the counter and a pretty decent (in his estimation) cup of coffee.   Thanks Jess!

sunRISE!!!!! 

The weather was absolutely beautiful when we started out.  As cool as you would expect in the morning, but the mist was burning off quickly and by the time we cleared the harbor, the skies were brilliant blue.

Pt. Loma seen this time from the water
Thats either a Seahawk or a Blackhawk  (or some other kind of "hawk")  helicopter in the air

As the morning wore on, the cloud bank moved back in and we were under cloudy, grey skies.  I'm glad Dave suggesting bringing our winter jackets and gloves along.  When we sat still in the water, scanning for whales spouting, we were quite comfortable.  When we were under way, however, and the wind was blowing, I was very thankful to have my jacket.

We spotted and followed, at a respectful distance, two whales moving lazily through the ocean, heading south.  They would snorkel at the surface for long stretches, regularly  blowing huge sprays of exhaust into the air and arching their backs for us to see.  Once in a while we'd see their tail flukes shoot up above the surface of the water as they dove deeper.  We actually saw them "breach" (leap entirely out of the water, then crash down with an enormous splash) twice, and everyone on the boat cheered!

Two other boats eventually joined us, so we peeled off those whales and went looking for others.   It wasn't long before our captain alerted us to the presence of two widely separated beasts also moving south.  We followed them and were rewarded with more wonderful views into their journey.
The law does not allow boats to move in close to the whales, does not allow us to intrude into their lives and thats a good thing.  It was exciting just to see them at all and I wouldn't have wanted them to be disturbed by our needs.  I spent a good bit of time trying to take pictures of the spouts, the tails, the bodies, but quickly realized I was missing the whole experience by zeroing in on getting a shot.  I put the camera in my pocket and just absorbed it all - the sights, the smells, the sounds, the whole thing.  Much better.

a tiny glimpse of a back - I give up!

the Yacht America....the most famous racing sailing vessel in the world.

The America sailed past us as we headed back to port.  It was taking whale watchers out from the San Diego Maritime Museum.   I wish I had known that it was an option, I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to quietly sail along beside the whales.   Ah well, next time.

We saw hundreds of dolphin on our way back in.  They came racing at us like we were a homing beacon, leaping out of the water, zooming alongside us and fearlessly, even joyously riding our bow wake.  As slow and  calm as the whale watching experience was, the dolphins were fast and exciting.    They raced in, had their fun with us, and disappeared just as quickly.  They left us breathless.

Our dock was right next to Seaport Village, and it WAS lunchtime when we returned, so we walked to the Pier Cafe and ordered that wonderful smoked salmon panini we'd been dreaming about.  It didn't disappoint,  it was just as good the second time around.  We sat at almost the same table as before, and sure enough, we  were joined by this big guy, peering in the window at me, imploring me to share....

"Please sir, can I have some more" part 2

pale, but beautiful sunset back at Beluga

All in all a wonderful, exhausting day.  I'm a lucky girl.