On Thursday we drove up to Newport to get on a boat and go out to see whales. I was super excited for this. I love being out in the ocean and there is something magical about seeing whales. I had done some research and found out that when we were going was a perfect time to see whales because it was during their migration from the south to Alaska for feeding.

I was worried I would get sea sick because I’ve been getting dizzier easier now that I’m older, LOL. I had also called ahead to see what they do for motion sickness and to my delight they had a natural oil you just rub on the back of your ear. Must of worked because LaRee and I didn’t get sick at all!

We had a great trip! Our captain was from the Coast Guard and was very familiar with the water. He was great, Jaelee even got a chance to steer the boat. Jayse could of also but didn’t want to. It was a nice beautiful day, blue skies with wisps of clouds and sun. It was a bit cold out on the boat with the wind but we were able to stay out there the whole time. I think Jaelee got cold towards the end and went into the cabin and Grandma joined her at the very very end.

We saw so many whales, I think about a dozen. Every time I turned around I swear I saw a spout of water blowing up or a tail. We even had one so close to the boat that they had to shut the engine off to not injure the whale. I couldn’t get a picture because there were so many other people at the railing looking at it but it was pretty cool. I was able to get quit a few pictures of all the other whales we saw. The captain announced that a couple people said they saw some porpoise dolphins but we didn’t see them.

I can’t remember what the girl marine biologist was called on the boat – first mate maybe? Anyway she told us that they don’t tag the whales that they can track them and learn about them just based on their tail. Each whale’s tail is different and they can be identified by them. I thought that was cool. She also said that they can now fly drones through the spout of a whale to learn more information about them. How cool is that, they can get enough DNA off the water they spray up by flying a drone threw it. Sometimes technology amazes me.

On our way out to the ocean in the bay some kids with the help of the first mate threw out some pots for crabs. On our way back some kids got to help pull the pots back in. Jaelee of course was one to help.

When we were almost back the captain also pointed out that the sun had a rainbow circle around it, that was pretty cool as well. He called it sun halo. I got a picture of it with my hand covering the sun. We of course passed a lot of sea lions that I had to snag some pictures of. For some reason those guys just crack me up. I think it’s the way some of them lean back with their heads in the air or the lazy way they just lay there sometimes even on top of each other.

The captain also told us that all the bridges you pass along the coast were designed by the same guy that designed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fran. I thought that was a fascinating piece of information and explained why they all have a similar look. He also told us about a few haunted lighthouses. Gonna have to check those out someday.

After our fun boat trip we headed to Izzy’s for lunch. It was a yummy buffet with a beautiful view of the ocean.

After that we stopped at an ice cream shop and got some yummy cones.

We had to stop at the pull out by the lighthouse to get a picture. When we did we looked down and on the beach were hundreds of sea lions. We stood there and watched as a another group tried to get on the beach but they were chased off by the sea lions already there.

When we got back to town Jaelee and I wanted to do our tradition of viewing the sunset at the lighthouse eating cupcakes. This time she wanted to invite Grandma. I thought that was a very good idea so she came with us. We sat on the back of my car watching the sunset eating our cupcakes. Just love it. It’s a perfect way to end an amazing day.