Movies & Whale Watching

Matt and I went to dinner and a movie last weekend.  It's always fun to take time out from work and school to do this.  We saw Inception and were not let down after all the rave about it.  We loved it!

Yesterday seemed to be our first weekday off together so we had to make the most of it! (Okay- we had ONE other this summer, but it was crappy weather.  No bueno.)  The forecast called for an excellent day, so we booked a tour whale watching.  This is something I have really wanted to do.  I was SO excited! Especially just to have a whole day with just Matt and I.  Those are the very best.

Left: Stellar Sea Lions fighting to keep their spot on the buoy  Middle: A look at the Mendenhall Glacier  Left: Checkin' out the lighthouse and more

The morning was a little chilly at Auke Bay(where we took off).  But, no need to fear because they were serving hot chocolate and donut holes! Mmm.. I just couldn't get enough.  We took off and the day just got better and better by the minute.  We saw tons of whales- some were very close to our boat.  Of course, we just couldn't capture this on camera.  So sad.  I will show you the little we did get though.  I even saw a whale breech, which is rare out here.  It was amazing.  It's hard to imagine just how big these animal really are.  Especially since we mostly only see their back ends. These whales feed up here in the summer and head down to Hawaii in the winter to breed.  This pic below is a small island with a bunch of houses that have to supply their own water/electricity.  Not  to mention they have to take a boat to get anywhere.  You can see the solar panels- they also have windmills.  To me it sounds like a lot of work just to live here!

We then made our trip to Colt island where we had a delicious lunch and played on the beach side.  Matt enjoyed his grilled salmon while I opted for the chicken.  Afterwards, Matt had fun skipping rocks with "the perfect skipping rocks" and I was just still enjoying the perfect day.  The way back was so informative about the lives of these whales and how amazing they really are!

We were so lucky to have a day off together where it didn't pour rain on our plans.  Hopefully this happens again soon!