#66: See an orca in the wild

This summer I visited San Juan Island with my brother while he was in town. I hoped and hoped we would catch the orcas while we were there and they didn't disappoint! We caught a ferry and headed straight to Lime Kiln Point State Park on the west side of the island, where you're most likely to see passing whales. After waiting a while with no whales in sight, we retreated to the car to eat our lunch away from the bees of the park (BEES! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! Name that movie.)

When we got back out, we overheard someone mention that a park ranger had radioed in and said the whales would be at the park in 10 minutes! This was proven by the line of cars streaming through the parking lot. Good thing we got there early! Richard and I ran back to one of the vantage points right in time to see a group of five whales approaching. They were a little far off but still close enough to catch a good look. Such magnificent creatures! 

I was SO happy we got to see them. There's obviously no guarantee they'll be around when you're around and as I had basically promised Richard some whales, I was really hoping they'd show up. 

Brendan didn't seem as excited about the whales as I was.

Then we drove up to Roche Harbor on the northern part of the island. Super cute little community if you get a chance to go. And good ice cream! This is why I love adventuring with my brother: he's game for anything. We only had a little over an hour to get up to Roche Harbor, look around, and get back to catch the return ferry. The time crunch only left us 15-20 minutes to run around Roche Harbor. Most people would say, eh, not worth it, but Richard said sure, let's do it! I love that attitude.

Roche Harbor

 

On the ferry

The day was so memorable, and all the more special because we could spend it with Richard. We got back around 7pm and had grilled salmon, potatoes and green beans for dinner. A perfect Seattle summer day.

Is this thing on?

According to my account, it has been over a year since I last posted.

Perhaps this has something to do with the day. Today is my one-year anniversary of returning to work after the birth of my son, Brendan. Since I returned to work, I've learned a lot about sacrifice, saying no, and way too much about pumping breast milk.

I want to return here to share some thoughts (and pictures, let's be real). Now that we're all getting more sleep, the idea of getting back to blogging is much more palatable!

Last week, Brendan had a "first" that I wanted to share!

Above: his first big owie. We were at the zoo and he face-planted into the asphalt. I thought for sure we were going to have to head home but he rallied like a champ after about a minute and was good to go for another hour of zoo entertainment!

We were on our way to the Zoomazium, the indoor gymnasium of sorts in the Woodland Park Zoo of Seattle, and a great rainy day option if you're in the area! I got a yearlong membership to the zoo for $39 (regularly $49 but I found a promo code) and it's the best money I ever spent. Living only 15 minutes away from the zoo helps to capitalize on it!

And because I'm weird, I created a spreadsheet that calculates my cost per visit. I'm down to $7.00 per visit, and I can't wait to see that number go down further. I know, it's weird!