Seattle is my favorite city. There is something about the Pacific Northwest that I love. Maybe it's that there is a combination of mountains and ocean so close together. Most places that have the ocean so close don't have the majestic mountains as well. I need both in my life, but the mountains are my non-negotiable. Since we are so in-love with Seattle we go there quite frequently. This time, since we had already done the tourist-y side of it, the space needle, etc., we wanted to explore the San Juan Islands. It was also our wedding trip. We got married in the King County Courthouse. We didn't want a huge wedding so we eloped to Seattle and decided to make a trip out of it.
We took a sea plane to Roche Harbor in the San Juan Islands. I was a little nervous about a sea plane. I knew that since they flew low to the water I would be able to feel more turbulence. This is the one thing I can't stand about flying, like most people. But once we took off, I was hooked! It was amazing. I loved flying low enough to see the details of the world below. Looking at all of the cabins around the islands made me extremely jealous and start to daydream about retiring in one of them.
The reason that spurred this day trip to the San Juan Islands was to go whale watching. Orcas have always been my spirit animal. Maybe it is because I grew up in the 90's and Free Willey was everything. But I am fascinated by how social they are. Everything they do is reliant on each other. They are unique in so many ways. I was doing everything I could to make sure we didn't have any bad karma coming our way so we could see them. We boarded the boat and started to head out. This was the first time I had been on the ocean. It was a little unnerving to be in that small of a boat on a body of water that large. But we stayed close enough to the shore that the waves weren't going to take us out. On the way to the area we saw kayakers and again, I immediately started daydreaming about the next trip and that I will be on a kayak to see the whales. We emerged from the islands and heard a call on the radio that there were whale sightings. I immediately stood-up and heard their blows in the distance, the next thing I knew I was watching two fins cut through the water. I could have starred at them all day. They are so graceful and so much bigger than I imagined.
My dream had to end sometime and we started to turn-back. Tears were streaming from my eyes. I felt so lucky to have watched these beautiful creatures in their natural environment. I will kayak with them one day. I want to feel connected in another way and be on their level. Who knows maybe I will become best friends with one like Jesse in Free Willey.
The flight back was magical the captains knew the whales were still around so we circled around and got to see them from a birds eye view right at sunset. I was married and had seen orcas, I could die a happy woman.
What You Want to Know
Take Me There!
We flew Kenmore Air to Roche Harbor and booked our Whale Viewing Tour with San Juan Safaris. They were super knowledgable and made it a great experience.
What Do I Wear?!
Something waterproof and warm! It is cold out on the ocean. I was so glad I had my rainproof jacket on, while we didn't get rained on the ocean spray from the boat can get you.
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