[trip] Whale Watching @ San Juan Islands
Got home late last night from the whale watching/kayaking trip. And oh, throw camping in the rain on top of that. What a weekend! XDD
My co-worker came up with this idea a few months ago, we (5 of us) signed up for the class through a community college, so we didn't have to pay for it LOL When I first registered for this class, I didn't even know it was an overnight trip XD Next thing I realized, oh, we had to sleep in a tent? oh well. And when I got the itinerary in the mail, I was like.. hmmm they didn't tell us to bring a towel? Does it mean no shower? OH NO T__T
I know I know. I sound like a whiner, which of course, I am LOL But come on! For a girl who takes a shower twice everyday, no shower is almost equal to a death penalty!! -"-
Seattle weather was so nice and bright and hot during the past several weeks. Until right before my trip, it's all rainy and cold again, bummer!~
So, we carpooled up north, took a ferry to San Juan Islands on Saturday. Very gloomy weather as you can see T__T
An hour and a half later, we arrived at Friday Harbor. After walking around like good lost tourists, while waiting for our van, here's what I saw....
A guy with a broken leg being carried out of that bed thing... very encouraging, indeed +___+"
About 30 minutes later, the van took us to San Juan County Park where we'd be spending our adventurous weekend! ^^" There were 10 students with 1 instructor, 1 co-instructor and 1 co-instructor's husband all together for our group. We haven't got to set up our camp because the previous campers asked for late check-out (man, was this a hotel or what?! LOL), so we went out on the water around noon after a brief instructions on how to survive on the kayak. May I add that those gears made us look at least 20lbs fatter/heavier? LOL
We first went south as our instructor heard it on the radio that the whales were spotted that way. Kayaking was fun for the first hour, we practiced a lot of useful things. But then we got bored. My friends and I kept saying that if we didn't see any whales, we should ask for money back LOL (yes yes, even when we didn't pay for this trip LOL here we go, finance people! XDD) We took a short break at Deadman Bay(?), then went out on the water again!
We finally saw the first whale on our way back to the camp, after paddling for more than 2.5 hours! ooooohhhhh ahhhhhh! kyaaaaa!! LOL I did try taking pictures but you know how it works. These whales are not those in SeaWorld where they come up to show themselves to the crowd. They were fast! LOL So after several failed attempts, I switched to a video mode instead ^^
One of my friends cracked me up, she kept saying... Jump! Jump! XDD These whales were no Free Willy yo!! LOL
A crazy thing about whale watching is that you'd have to raft up whenever you've come closed to the whale, or the whale came close to you, whichever happened first. So, basically, when the instructor said 'Raft up!!', we had to paddle to stick together as a pack, and stay there until the whale changed it's direction or went passed us. That's the drill.
The first few raft-ups were fun, everyone excitedly paddled to the front kayak, and stayed together while oooohhhh-ing ahhhhhhh-ing about the whales. BUT, whenever you stayed still like that, the current took you back where you came from which was not the direction you wanted to go!! >__<"
And we rafted up for 8-9 times! At one point, some of us started whining that we'd never get back to our camp, so I told them that, this is a twilight zone! xD We would paddle up till we saw the lighthouse, then rafted-up!, then the current took us, then paddled more to get closer to the lighthouse, then rafted-up, then back to the previous spot, more paddling, rafted up, this time not even see the lighthouse T___T see, all these painful moments took away the fun of whale watching!! XDD ok ok, I'm kidding, it's still fun!
We saw 15-16 whales, according to our instructor. Though I was curious, how could she know if they're not the same ones? Like, weren't these whales circling around? And maybe there are only 5-6 of them? LOL I hope not, though~ ^___^
Anyhow, we managed to paddle back to our starting point. It turned out that we went kayaking for almost six hours!! By the time we reached the shore, I no longer felt my arms, where were they?! LOL
Setting up tents when your arms were not really moving was a PAIN! ouch! ouch! I haven't done this in the past .. what.. so many years! *girl scout moments* XDDD
Supposedly, the guide should prepare dinner for us. Reality, my friend and I were the one cooking! These people were sooooooo slow, looking at them cutting ingredients, we'd probably get to eat dinner around midnight! Plus, they didn't really know what or how to cook the dish. My friend and I were starving to death by that point. Thank goodness for Goldfish®.
So, we took over the stove and threw everything into the pan (after asking repeatedly for instructions but got no reply). Salmon fettucini alfredo my @$$! There was no cream sauce -___- I basically made something up. It's so funny when people went O_O seeing I poured sugar and squeezed some lime juice into the pan XDD Sorry guys, it's Thai style yo!
And we washed dishes too. Oiii +__+ I really have to say, it's an Asian thing! (And we didn't understand why didn't we used paper plates and plastic utensils so we didn't have to wash these stuff? bleh.) I think we should send our instructor an invoice for our labor hours!)
After dinner, we literally passed out. (oh after brushing my teeth and washing my face! and wiping my butt with Charmin® Fresh Mates. I swear, this thing saved my life! LOL what? TMI? *giggles* My friend said that she rolled over me in that tent during the night, but I didn't recall anything xD ZzzZZZZzzzzzZzzz
We were thinking about bailing out the next day but finally went out on the water again. WRONG IDEA!!!
I got seasick, not a terribly bad one, but still gave me a bad headache, and goofy feeling in my tummy (T___T)v Luckily, one of my friends had Dramamine with her, so I downed one while we're still on the kayak, which resulted in me being a sleepy head for the rest of the day =__=
The taxi lady came to pick us up around 3pm, dropped us off at the same spot she found us on Saturday. We had a quick dinner (discounted waiting time), followed by some ice cream (yes it's cold and windy and raining, but who could say no to ice cream? not me! LOL). Waiting in line for a while to finally get back on the ferry and pass out for the second time in two days~
So, that's pretty much it for this trip!
ja ne~
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Click to viewMy co-worker came up with this idea a few months ago, we (5 of us) signed up for the class through a community college, so we didn't have to pay for it LOL When I first registered for this class, I didn't even know it was an overnight trip XD Next thing I realized, oh, we had to sleep in a tent? oh well. And when I got the itinerary in the mail, I was like.. hmmm they didn't tell us to bring a towel? Does it mean no shower? OH NO T__T
I know I know. I sound like a whiner, which of course, I am LOL But come on! For a girl who takes a shower twice everyday, no shower is almost equal to a death penalty!! -"-
Seattle weather was so nice and bright and hot during the past several weeks. Until right before my trip, it's all rainy and cold again, bummer!~
So, we carpooled up north, took a ferry to San Juan Islands on Saturday. Very gloomy weather as you can see T__T
An hour and a half later, we arrived at Friday Harbor. After walking around like good lost tourists, while waiting for our van, here's what I saw....
A guy with a broken leg being carried out of that bed thing... very encouraging, indeed +___+"
About 30 minutes later, the van took us to San Juan County Park where we'd be spending our adventurous weekend! ^^" There were 10 students with 1 instructor, 1 co-instructor and 1 co-instructor's husband all together for our group. We haven't got to set up our camp because the previous campers asked for late check-out (man, was this a hotel or what?! LOL), so we went out on the water around noon after a brief instructions on how to survive on the kayak. May I add that those gears made us look at least 20lbs fatter/heavier? LOL
We first went south as our instructor heard it on the radio that the whales were spotted that way. Kayaking was fun for the first hour, we practiced a lot of useful things. But then we got bored. My friends and I kept saying that if we didn't see any whales, we should ask for money back LOL (yes yes, even when we didn't pay for this trip LOL here we go, finance people! XDD) We took a short break at Deadman Bay(?), then went out on the water again!
We finally saw the first whale on our way back to the camp, after paddling for more than 2.5 hours! ooooohhhhh ahhhhhh! kyaaaaa!! LOL I did try taking pictures but you know how it works. These whales are not those in SeaWorld where they come up to show themselves to the crowd. They were fast! LOL So after several failed attempts, I switched to a video mode instead ^^
One of my friends cracked me up, she kept saying... Jump! Jump! XDD These whales were no Free Willy yo!! LOL
A crazy thing about whale watching is that you'd have to raft up whenever you've come closed to the whale, or the whale came close to you, whichever happened first. So, basically, when the instructor said 'Raft up!!', we had to paddle to stick together as a pack, and stay there until the whale changed it's direction or went passed us. That's the drill.
The first few raft-ups were fun, everyone excitedly paddled to the front kayak, and stayed together while oooohhhh-ing ahhhhhhh-ing about the whales. BUT, whenever you stayed still like that, the current took you back where you came from which was not the direction you wanted to go!! >__<"
And we rafted up for 8-9 times! At one point, some of us started whining that we'd never get back to our camp, so I told them that, this is a twilight zone! xD We would paddle up till we saw the lighthouse, then rafted-up!, then the current took us, then paddled more to get closer to the lighthouse, then rafted-up, then back to the previous spot, more paddling, rafted up, this time not even see the lighthouse T___T see, all these painful moments took away the fun of whale watching!! XDD ok ok, I'm kidding, it's still fun!
We saw 15-16 whales, according to our instructor. Though I was curious, how could she know if they're not the same ones? Like, weren't these whales circling around? And maybe there are only 5-6 of them? LOL I hope not, though~ ^___^
Anyhow, we managed to paddle back to our starting point. It turned out that we went kayaking for almost six hours!! By the time we reached the shore, I no longer felt my arms, where were they?! LOL
Setting up tents when your arms were not really moving was a PAIN! ouch! ouch! I haven't done this in the past .. what.. so many years! *girl scout moments* XDDD
Supposedly, the guide should prepare dinner for us. Reality, my friend and I were the one cooking! These people were sooooooo slow, looking at them cutting ingredients, we'd probably get to eat dinner around midnight! Plus, they didn't really know what or how to cook the dish. My friend and I were starving to death by that point. Thank goodness for Goldfish®.
So, we took over the stove and threw everything into the pan (after asking repeatedly for instructions but got no reply). Salmon fettucini alfredo my @$$! There was no cream sauce -___- I basically made something up. It's so funny when people went O_O seeing I poured sugar and squeezed some lime juice into the pan XDD Sorry guys, it's Thai style yo!
And we washed dishes too. Oiii +__+ I really have to say, it's an Asian thing! (And we didn't understand why didn't we used paper plates and plastic utensils so we didn't have to wash these stuff? bleh.) I think we should send our instructor an invoice for our labor hours!)
After dinner, we literally passed out. (oh after brushing my teeth and washing my face! and wiping my butt with Charmin® Fresh Mates. I swear, this thing saved my life! LOL what? TMI? *giggles* My friend said that she rolled over me in that tent during the night, but I didn't recall anything xD ZzzZZZZzzzzzZzzz
We were thinking about bailing out the next day but finally went out on the water again. WRONG IDEA!!!
I got seasick, not a terribly bad one, but still gave me a bad headache, and goofy feeling in my tummy (T___T)v Luckily, one of my friends had Dramamine with her, so I downed one while we're still on the kayak, which resulted in me being a sleepy head for the rest of the day =__=
The taxi lady came to pick us up around 3pm, dropped us off at the same spot she found us on Saturday. We had a quick dinner (discounted waiting time), followed by some ice cream (yes it's cold and windy and raining, but who could say no to ice cream? not me! LOL). Waiting in line for a while to finally get back on the ferry and pass out for the second time in two days~
So, that's pretty much it for this trip!
ja ne~
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