San Juan Island

On Saturday, we took a small ferry from Bellingham Bay over to San Juan Island.  

Waiting to board - ours is the smaller ferry in the middle.  The big ship on the left is an Alaskan cruise ship.  

It was a beautiful sunny day, but once we got going, it got a little chilly.  We spent a lot of time on top of the boat...

...and some down in the cabin.

We got a VERY special, unexpected treat.  There are 3 or 4 resident pods of killer whales that live in the bay and very expensive whale watching tours that we were hoping to go on someday to see them.  Even the actual whale tours don't always see them, and only about once or twice a year do commuter ferries like ours come across them.  And guess who ended up in the middle of not one but TWO orca pods?!  US!  

It was absolutely one of the most amazing experiences of my whole life.  I don't even know how to write about it and do it justice.  I actually got teary-eyed!  We must have seen about 30 of them and any direction we looked, we could see them.  There are very strict rules about not getting too close to them, and the Coast Guard showed up within minutes to make sure no boats got near the whales.  (I was glad to see them being so well-protected) Since we were surrounded on all sides, the driver had to stop for about 30 minutes until they moved away.  Each member of each pod has a name and distinct markings and tail fin shape, and our driver knew who each of them was, including the 89 year-old matriarch of one of the pods.  Everyone on the boat was in awe and quiet, except for Declan, who just kept saying, "Oh my gosh!"  It seriously was almost a sacred experience.  I only wish I would have brought the video camera!  

Aren't they beautiful?

The rest of the trip was fun, too, but that was definitely the highlight!

We reached Friday Harbor before noon and had some lunch, then checked out the island.

Elaine and Flo discovered the marina's local harbor seal, named Popeye, and we spent some time talking to her and feeding her fish.

After some ice cream cones, we separated to see different parts of the island - Garreth and Declan went back to hang out with Popeye, Flo and Elaine went to the shops, and the older kids and I went to the Whale Museum.  

Then it was back on the boat to go home.

Even with a crazy, lollipop-sucking, underage driver, 

we made it back to Bellingham at 7:00, happy and tired after a very fun, memorable day.