Whale Watching!!!!

A few weeks ago we went on a whale watching tour in Resurrection Bay.  All in all it was a pretty good trip.  The drive down there was pretty fast.  We saw eagles flying and a Dahl Sheep eating some grass right on the side of the road!!!!  That was my first time seeing one since we've been here.  It only took us 2.5 hours to get down to Seward.  And we took our time!  I guess it helped that there was NO traffic!  We got there a little early, so we decided to go down to the the water and explore.  We saw two eagles nesting in a tree down a little ways and headed toward them.  Too bad they took off before we could get down there.  But I did get a few shots of them flying. 

But I didn't have my zoom lens on the camera at the time, so the pictures are a little far off.  I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching eagles.  They are so amazing to see fly!

While we were down by the water Nate started teaching the kids how to skip rocks.  Something I think he does every time we are near water.  I'm surprised that he doesn't try to teach them in the bathtub.  I bet it's the lack of rock in the bathroom.

They looked for the perfect rocks

Then Nate taught them how to hold and throw.  See Kayleigh in the back ground?

SHE DID IT!!!  She was so excited!

The kids saw tons of sea shells and sea weed on the beach.

The kids climbed on rocks and driftwood

Composition wise, this is one of my favorite pictures of the morning.  I wish I hadn't overexposed it!

I took a picture of Subie, so she wouldn't feel left out ;)

Then of course I had to take one of the kids

Finally it was time to get on the boat.  This was our boat.

We explored the bow (I think that's what the front of a boat is called)

Nate and Kayleigh had a great conversation.

We were not even out of the harbor and we saw this guy.  A sea otter!

We saw all sorts of wildlife.  A nesting pair of eagles.  This time I had my zoom lens on!  But it was pouring down rain, so the pictures are a smidge fuzzy because the rain falling

We saw Dahl Sheep, which I couldn't get a good picture of because the boat was rocking so much.  And we saw stellar sea lions.

Finally we got out onto the open water. I make that sound like it was a good thing, but it totally wasn't!  The water was rough.  And apparently when you are whale watching you don't just drive around on the boat looking for whales.  You go to a spot where whales are known to feed and wait.  Yep, you sit and wait.  And wait.  And the guy says we'll wait 20 more minutes then move somewhere else.  Twenty minutes later, he says we'll wait 15 more.  UGH.  Then Kayleigh starts puking.  Disaster!  Nate takes care of her for a little bit because we spot the whales and I want pictures!  Before I put up the pictures, let me tell you they are less than spectacular.  There isn't that much space on the bottom deck of the boat for people to be on the rail and shoot.  I CAN NOT go up top because the motion is so much worse up there.  I haven't puked, yet and I don't want to.  Anyway, there are these people with crazy awesome telephoto lenses.  But they are picture hogs.  They sit at the rail and take pictures the whole time.  Which means I had to take pictures over their heads.  So here they are.

It was pretty cool to watch.  But after not too long I started to feel sick too!  I went inside and checked on Kayleigh and sat in the seat behind Kayleigh and held her hand.  Poor girl was so sick!  I had to lay my head down too!  I couldn't handle the rocking and swaying anymore.  Next thing I know, Nate is with Spencer on the back of the boat and he's sick too (Spencer, not Nate.).  Then I'm getting sick.  It was horrible. All during this we are sitting in one spot, waiting for more whales.  There were reports of humpbacks!  So we sit.  I could have cared less about the whales anymore.  I was done.  All I could think is that I would pay any amount of money for a helicopter ride off that boat.  I even contemplated jumping off the boat so the Coast Guard could come and rescue me!!  Apparently I missed a great showing of whales while I was  praying for rescue.  Nate watched from the back, with Spencer sleeping on his chest, and said it was really neat.  I couldn't even lift my head up.  Finally after FOREVER, we started to head back.  Both kids took a long nap and woke up feeling much better.  I still felt like crap.  We got off the boat, bought some souvineirs and headed to get some food back in our bellies.  We ate at:

It was pretty good.  Expensive, but good.  I mean it is Seward, Smalltown, Alaska.  And most everything is closed down for the winter.  We really wanted to go to the Salmon Bake,.  But they don't open until mid-May.  We will definitely hit that place up when Nate's parents are here.  Kayleigh took this crappy picture of me. 

See how rough I look.  It was a long day!  But I took this beautiful picture of her.  She is so beautiful.  Sometimes I look at her and can't believe how pretty she is.  And I wonder where the hell it came from? LOL.

Last, but not least, we got ice cream before leaving town.  It was yummy!

All in all I really like Seward.  It has that small coastal town feel.  The kids decided they want to live there.  I'm not so sure about that.  But it's fun for a visit.  And we'll be back for sure!

P.S. Remind me never to complain about gas prices again!  Seward, Alaska has got us beat!!!   $4.65 a gallon!!!