A Whale of a Tale - Alaska 2009

For this post about Alaska, I am going to focus on the whale watching tour we went on because it was my absolute favorite thing of all!

Last year Brad and I went with my mom and dad on an Alaskan cruise. People who know me - know that I Loooooooooooove to cruise. Alaska was awesome...although I still love Hawaii best.

I've decided that even though it is a year late, I'll post about the Alaskan cruise. I'll definitely post about Hawaii later, too. Here are some videos from Alaska. Sorry for the jumpiness (ok, so it is severe at times and may make you sick), but it was a new camera and my arm was getting tired and I was excited at the sites and ok...so I'm bad at it.

There are some videos of the whales that we saw and the glacier. The whale watching experience was one that I'll never forget. It was a serene and humbling experience. I absolutely LOVE the whales. I wish I could have captured them coming up out of the water, but I couldn't. We got a rare experience with them.

At breakfast, my mom was telling us about how the other day she saw this thing on discovery channel about how these whales do this thing called bubble net feeding (at this point I'm not real interested because it is early in the morning and I'm thinking "ok, mom. we're not going to see that). She continues to explain all about it and I only half listened. Well...later that day we go on our excursion and they tell us what to watch for, so we can help them find the whales. As I am heading back up to go outside, I think I see a spray (which means there is a whale), but I'm afraid to say anything because I don't really want to be embarrassed if it's not. But wait -- I thought saw another and another. Well now I wasn't going to say anything because I'm sure they'll see it and I needed to get up on deck to get a good spot.

Sure enough they announce on the boat that there seems to be a large group of about 4 whales. Wait scratch that -- there were actually 8 of them. WOW!!! They were so shocked (because that rarely happens) that they shut the galley down on the boat and even the people who worked on the boat came to watch too. They said they only see that about once a year and never that early.

Come to find out -- they were bubble net feeding. Grreeeaaaaattttt. Who wasn't listening at breakfast? That would be me! Don't worry - the nice man on the boat explained it all to us.

This is when they feed in large groups. One whale is in charge and talks to the other whales. They go under water and circle around the fish blowing bubbles. The fish (bless their hearts) thinks that the bubbles are a net and think they can't get out, so they stay there. At once, the whales go under them and jump up out of the water with their mouths open catching the fish. It is AMAZING and so powerful to watch them. Imagine 8 whales (the size of a school bus) jumping out of the water at once with their mouths open. Oh - My - Gosh!!!!!!! And you can see the fish going in their mouth. It is incredible. So, why did I not get it on video? Because you never know where they are going to pop out of the water. Once they go under, they can travel different distances in different directions and you can't see them until they jump. But here's a picture of it for you...

This picture shows a few of their heads. This is just after they have come up. Imagine them coming half way out of the water. They are incredibly huge, so it is just amazing.


This picture shows more of how it looks. However, this is still more of what they look like once they have come up out of the water and are on their way back down. I so wish I could have captured them right as they came out of the water.



What I do have in video is them talking to each other. I was literally "ooing" and "aaaing" over this. It was incredible to listen to. I think I actually had tears in my eyes at one point. Sappy - I know.



Couple of things that I learned that I thought I was pass along:

1. When you see the whales tails come all the way out of the water, that means they are going on a deep dive. You won't see them for a while.

2. Their tails are what they are identified by. There is a registry that you can go to and add pictures of different whale tails and that is how they track them. Haven't checked into this but should.

3. Their talking and communicating sounds like a cross between a horn and a cow mooing. It is incredible.

Enjoy the videos.




Later, I'll post about the Glaciers & other beautiful things in Alaska!

Vacation 2010

This year our vacation was a little different, but it turned out to be great!!!! After a cruise to Hawaii two years ago for our honeymoon and a cruise to Alaska last year with my parents, we've become a little spoiled. As much as we loved both of those trips, big trips are exhausting - luggage, flights, running across airports to catch the next flight, packing in as many excursions as you can to see all that you can because you may never get back there, etc... (P.S. That last statement could possibly only apply to Alaska because I WILL go back to Hawaii and probably - and I'm being as serious as it gets - stay there to live) This year, due to some other things we have going on, we had to stay close to home in case we had to drive back home a few times (which we did).

My parents have some friends that have a lake house on Lake Toxaway in North Carolina. It is between Cashiers and Brevard. We decided to stay there this summer for vacation since it isn't that far away and it would be more low key that we've been doing for vacation.

It was PERFECT. The weather was PERFECT. The location was PERFECT. The activities were PERFECT. The water was PERFECT.

The temperature was warm enough that you could get outside and enjoy stuff, but not so hot that you were miserable (like it would have been at the beach). The water was chilly but usually not unbearable as long as the sun was out. It was so relaxing to get out in the water and just float around. It was quiet and serene. There were a few occasional boats, but not many because it is a private lake and the only people that can put a boat in are the landowners. The water was so clean. One of the pictures shows the bottom of the lake. You could go out a long way and still see the bottom. You didn't even feel like you had to take a shower when you got out. LOVED IT.

One night my mom and I actually went back out after supper and took a cup of coffee, got in the floats, and stayed for a long time. Awesome.

Before we left home to go on vacation, I told Brad that I missed going to the beach and I really wanted to go to the beach next year. WRONG. I was taking that back the first day of this vacation. Who needs the crowded, hot, miserable beach that requires an army of planning and lugging stuff to get down to the beach???? Not me. I realized that there is a part of me that has to convince myself that I'm enjoying myself while at the beach. Don't get me wrong. I thought I loved it, but now I realize that there is a place that I can go to have my cake and eat it to. Water, relaxation, and COOL weather. PERFECT.

This spot provided exactly what Brad and I need right now. RELAXATION. I really do need to relieve stress; I know that it would help all that I'm going through. BUT...that is easier said than done. This place was perfect for this. Have I mentioned that it was perfect?

We also found a new, awesome State Park called Gorges State Park. They have some trails in the park and the roads are finished, but that is all they have right now. Brad and I have started walking every morning and needed a place to walk. This was PERFECT (yes, again). There was a 3 mile loop that we could walk on the roads. It was great. We also hiked some of the trails to a few water falls.

It was one of the best vacations!

Spring Turns to Summer

Summer is officially here. In our area - that means that hot, humid weather with little rain is here too. We had a great, rainy spring though that I am very thankful for. In an attempt to not get started on a soapbox, I will just quickly say that it irks me when people complain about the rain. Seriously??? Have you been in a hole the last few years when we were so low on water that you could walk across the lakes? and people were wondering where we were going to get water from? You won' t hear me complain about rain. ANYWAY-- enough of that.

Because of the great rains that we had this spring, my flowers have done a lot better this year. My Nana gave me some day lilies of hers a few years ago. The stellas are planted on a terrible bank that we have that is mostly rock. I started with those and the green part has done great, but the blooms rarely bloom. (So I guess that means they aren't blooms...oh well). A few years ago she gave me some other day lillies that I planted in another place in the yard, and they are beautiful this year after all the rain.

I am becoming more of my Nana everyday. I am in love with flowers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!