It’s been a whale of a day!

Oh my gosh today was one of the most awesome days ever! My mom and I left bright and early this morning on a float plane to San Juan Island. It was the first time either one of us have been on a float plane. The plane carrie eight passengers so it was tight quarters! I wore my mask the entire time. The flight to San Juan was only about 35-40 minutes, such a beautiful flight! Got to see a majority of the islands, full of trees hardly hand houses so peaceful looking. Once we landed we taxied up to the dock, the sun was shining brightly! We wondered around on the “main” street looking at different shops, restaurants, real-estate offices, and we even checked out the local farmers market. Was pretty interesting.

At 11:30 my mom treated us to a whale watching excursion. We had to check in at 11:30 and then the boat left at noon. I have tell this funny little story, we were waiting in line to check in and there was a family of 4 in front of us. They thought they had made reservations online for the same whale watching excursion. The lady of the group handed in what she thought was their boarding passes, well the employee wasn’t seeing their names on the list. As she looked further into the family had bought tickets for a whale watching excursion in New England! Needless to say they weren’t happy campers! I know it’s not polite to laugh but once they left the building I about died laughing! Guess it is always good to double check what your buying before you push the purchase button! Anyways after we checked in we boarded the boat called “Odyssey” was a beautiful three story boat. We had about an hour or so boat ride out to where reports of killer whales had been spotted. Along the way we saw several bald eagles, sea lions, herons, stellar sea lions, and lots of seagulls such an incredible experience! The boat ride was ahhhhh refreshing, it was nothing but you, the water and the Cascade Mountain range in the distance. Very rejuvenating, and so relaxing to get out of the city for the day!

Once we arrived on the whale watching grounds, they killer whales were extremely active! The was a pod of killer whales they were called “transit” killer whales, meaning they are not native to this local area. Even though this sounds horrible, but it is the circle of life. There were two killer whales how had a baby whale with them, and they were trying to teach it how to hunt. A commorant bird was their victim. The poor bird was badly injured but the ways kept after it. They were jumping out of the water, hitting it with their tales. Although I felt bad for the bird it was an awesome sight to see! We also had one whale who literally swam 6 inches off the back of the bow, and he couldn’t have been more than 2 inches under the water. The boat had three stories and for those who were on the bottom level of the boat got wet! He was splashing around having a great time. Oh while we were watching the whales, Captain Pete turned off the boat and turned on the hydrophone. Which is an underwater microphone, so we could hear the whales communicating with one another. My oh my was that awesome, all the different sounds they make ahhh it was honestly breathtaking. The whole experience was breath taking! Never ever will I forget this experience! Captain Pete said he has never heard transit whales be that active before either vocally or playfully.

We couldn’t have picked a better day to do, the sun was shinning in fact it was warm! When the boat wasn’t moving we were in jeans and a t-shirt. My arms, neck, and face are red! Oops! Oh well it was totally worth it! I will say the boat ride back to the dock was a windy one! I was bundled up like a marshmallow!

Once we arrived back at the dock our first stop was finding a bathroom! Once we found one did what we needed to do I was sitting on a bench outside waiting for my mom. I just happen to look down and found a small rock with the word “friend” stamped on it. It totally made me think for you Dr. Chakraborty! It was a small token to remind me of this great adventure I experienced today. It was almost like you had placed it on the bench for me to find! Ha ha

We had about an hour to killer before we had to catch our plane back to Lake Union. We discovered this place called Friday’s Crabshack. It was an interesting place, but very good! It over looked the harbor, we sat and watched the ferries come in FULL of people and cars. We even watched a semi truck come off of the ferry and it honestly looked like a pea compared to the ferry. Anyway’s I had gluten free fish tacos and they were super good! Oh man I could have threw down some more! Ha ha

Once we finished dinner it was time for us to start making our way back to the float plane dock. It is quite a trek from town down to the float plane dock. As we were making our way back we watched our sea plane land. Our pilot’s name was Joe and he was chatty cathy! He looked at me and said the co-pilot’s chair is open would you like to sit in it? of course I jumped at the opportunity! Once we left Friday Harbor we had to stop at Deer Island to pick up another passenger. It literally was a hope skip and jump to get there, the final passenger boarded the plane and then we were off again. I got to wear the headset and Joe pointed out every island we passed, along with some nature facts. It was a blast! I’m sure I looked like a kid in a candy store! Ha ha

When we landed on Lake Union, we taxied to the float plane dock again and it was time to disembark. The ride home seemed so much shorter than going to San Juan. Joe took a pretty cool picture of my mom and I with the float plane in the background. Actually today was full of photo opportunities! I have to be getting close to filling the memory card up! Ha ha or well it was totally worth it! I will post several pictures below from today. I took a ton, haven’t a hard time picking just a couple to post. Hope you all enjoy!

This girl is beyond pooped, did a lot of walking today. Which I enjoy! Love challenging my new breathers, such a great feeling! Well I need to fill up my SAMS box, do my nightly routine, and finish up with my last dose of iv medication for the day. My eyes are getting heavy! Happy Friday everyone! Cheers!

Until next time……

~Jen~
“Just Breathe”

Literally the world’s smallest coffee shop. It was called “The World’s Skinniest Latte Shop”

Welcome To Friday Harbor

Lime Klin Lighthouse Friday Harbor, San Juan

Harbor seals which are the one’s in the water and the Stellar Sea Lion’s are the ones sunbathing on the rocks!

Bald Eagle. Simply AMAZING!

Co-Pilot on the way back!

My mom and I and the float plane we rode in!

“Friend” rock I found.