Sunday, May 4, 2014

Wild Orca Whale Watching

So, since we are leaving soon, I splurged and booked us a whale watching day trip
on a seaplane through 
Finally, the day arrived, 5/2/2014, and on this beautiful morning we woke at 5 am and drove into 
Lake Union in Seattle, Wa


We had a nice relaxing breakfast at Starbucks, I have to have my coffee!


then headed right across the road to 


Here's our seaplane!


We surprised Spencer, sometimes he doesn't respond well to that, 
but today he seems ready for our adventure!


every seat is a window seat!


great views on this sunny morning!


the water is like smooth like glass 


we really enjoy our seaplane ride...


we see lots of little islands in the puget sound


and we land in Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands!


We're here for the day!
The seaplane will be back at 6:30 pm to fly us back to Seattle.


The port of Friday Harbor


The Washington Ferries are a huge operation here! 


This ferry goes to Canada too!


We enjoy a few hours to sightsee around Friday Harbor before our whale watching excursion...




capturing Spencer smiling is usually hard, but not today...


we laughed all day long...I'm so enjoying this day with my son!


My sweet husband (personal photographer) followed me around all day and took so many great pictures, he even bought me a very special hand mixed diet pepsi with cherry, ha!
no vanilla coke zero up here...



Spencer is on the trip of a lifetime!
We decided to have brunch at the Rocky Bay Cafe, 
its been featured on the food and travel channels!
and now we are ready to see some whales...


Here's our whale watching boat, The Sea Lion!


Let's see some wildlife!


He gazed off the side of the boat all day!


what a gift this day was for our family!


memories we will treasure forever!


we even saw some bald eagles!


here's the U.S. Coast Guard


gorgeous scenery every where we look...


lots of seals...


just laying on the rocks...


sea lions, too...


God's amazing creatures in the wild...


we could even hear the sea lions barking...


look... there's a  seahawk!




Mt. Baker in the distance.
We also saw Vancouver BC, too!


we weren't alone...there were other whale watching vessels in the area!


and just when we thought we would not see any orcas today...


The captain of our boat got an orca sighting report just off Vancouver.B.C. Canada.


We traveled into Canadian waters looking for the elusive orcas...


found them!!


and the Canadian Coast Guard too!


and there they were...


wild and free...


transient orcas...  


they put on quite an amazing show!
I did take some video clips, but I'm screaming and praying in them,
so I'll just keep them to myself until I can do some editing...


these pictures are taken from about 200 yards away or more...


except this one because at one point a female orca with her 2 babies 
rushed the boat, swimming directly under me!


everyone is just in awe of these magnificent creatures!


these orcas are very smart, working and playing together!


here's a good view of the baby, she's pink!


they travel in their little families!


such a breathtaking moment!


all I can think of is Free Willy!!!!


simply amazing...


Tail Flip!!


She's smiling at me!


but now it's time to head back to Friday harbor as we are about an hour off course!


What a blessing to have seen an abundance of wildlife today! 


we see more sea lions on the ride back to the harbor...


We are so thankful for this day!
 we have no words left to describe what we saw, speechless...


We head over to the Blue Water Bar & Grill 
for a light dinner before we catch our flight!
http://bluewaterbarandgrill.com/
good not great food.




Wow, another blessing as we are leaving...


a complete rainbow to end our amazing day! 


and even a sunset view as we board our flight in the harbor...


So tired and ready to head back to Seattle...


Here's our returning seaplane...a 7 seater! 


We are in tight quarters and Steve is trying to open ear plugs for Spencer!


Old instrumentation, the pilot hand throttles this plane! 


Shotgun!


We are taxiing the harbor and preparing for a loud and bumpy flight!


wonderful takeoff!


This flight is about 40 minutes or so.
Here's the view as we are coming in for a landing...Seattle skyline!


and here we are back safe at 
What a crazy good trip of a lifetime,
I will remember this day forever...

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