Way Cool Whale Watching!

Sunday was a big, full, fun and exciting day. We woke early to head to Long Beach for a whale watching tour (thanks again Mom and Curt!) We were on a nice big boat, so no icky sickies for any of us! whew! We were out for about 2 1/2 hours and just ready to head back to the dock, resigned to the fact that we weren't to see any whales. We saw lots of dolphins, some very close, and a couple of sea lions though, that was cool! We were all happy with that.....when, suddenly! Ahoy! A whale had been spotted. The captain cranked the boat back to the right and followed the whale's 'footprint' to see if she would resurface again. After a few long minutes, we did see just the tip of her back surface, and then her big tale come up as she descended again. It was so beautiful! We were all thankful to see it! The day before our tour, a whale was spotted and breeched (jumped out of the water, landing on its side) 22 times in a row. That would have been amazing to witness, but we were grateful for just the tale!

After the tour and a quick stop at Trader Joe's for a few things, including hummus and tortillas, which I am now addicted to, we headed to the beach to get our toes in the sand and surf. We'd been there just a short time, long enough to get everyone's shoes off and pants rolled up when I looked out a bit, probably 200 feet offshore or so, and noticed something bobbing up and down in the water. I pointed it out and asked John what it was and we all realized then we were looking at a mama and baby WHALE!!! We watched it for probably half an hour, just rolling around, seeing fins and backs and bellies and noses and blow spouts of water. A few people approached us, concerned that they were stuck there. They weren't moving out of that space at all, so we thought it might be possible? Long story short, John and 3 or 4 other guys walked out towards them. At one point John was probably 20-30 feet from them and only chest deep in the ocean. They stuck around for a while but then suddenly were gone. It was absolutely incredible and I was giddy watching them. (the boys watched them for a couple minutes, and then took off running some more! but every time a part of them came out of the water, my mom and I just squealed with delight!)

We all returned home to the bus pink cheeked and gleaming after such a fun day of cruising on a boat, seeing astonishing sea life, checking out the great homes around Long Beach (while listening to some authentic Long Beach music) and sharing in good conversation and laughter. It was a good, good day.

And my day just kept getting better! Sue offered me a massage so I dropped everyone off and hit the road to Temecula for a lovely massage at the hands of an even lovelier friend! (thank you again, Sue!) I returned home to an aromatic dinner (prepared by my mama-god love her!). Like I told her, it was a perfect end to a perfect day! Life is so dang Good!