Santa Cruz Anniversary trip - Day 2

We had to set an alarm - booooo! But the promise of seeing some whales was worth getting up for. AND, it should be noted that the alarm was for 8am. Not so so early now that we have children.

We showered, packed and headed downstairs to see if the "continental breakfast" would be acceptable. Ummm. Not so great. In an effort to save money, they had taken oversize muffins, only lemon poppyseed, and cut them into slices and put the slices out, with some sketchy coffee. I scored us some full size muffins and we passed on the coffee. Our desire was to eat breakfast at this cute little diner we have seen on a number of occasions. Alas, we did not get up and out in enough time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast there. Next time. Off to Subway to get lunch for us while on the whale watching boat. They had a yummy breakfast special that was so super cheap that we ended up getting egg/cheese/bacon 6" subs and a drink for $3 each. Art was able to get some decent coffee and I opted for a morning pick-me-up of Cherry Coke! We had a bit of time to kill so we walked down the "main drag" for a bit. Stopped in a bakery and bought some chocolate chip walnut cookies since I did not get dessert last night. Who could say no to cookies. Never me. And, for a scientific experiment, I also bought a day-old cookie of the same make to see if the freshness really did make a big difference. We also saw THE PLACE to have breakfast - Zachary's. It was super popular; several people waiting outside for a table. A small place, so turnover would take some time, but apparently worth it. Some other time.

Into the car and off to Stagaro offices to sign in for our 4hr whale watching cruise of Monterey Bay. We rented the binoculars - of course we never thought to bring ours!! - and walked down to the harbor, looking for our boat the Velocity. 60 additional passengers and we were on our way. The naturalist on board gave us a little lecture about what we can expect and what to look for. What she did not warn us of was biting cold and wind. I was so so cold. Clearly underdressed with my t-shirt and jacket. A windbreaker would have been better. Some wore gloves and hats. A few hours in, a kind lady with a 6yr old son loaned me her massive heavy wind breaker. Ahhhh, warmth. So comfy I actually dozed off a bit. ORRR, could be from the store-brand dramamine I took, wanting to ensure I did not get seasick. it was labeled the "less drowsy" formula. Glad I did not get the full drowsy! They started the trip out by stopping by the 1-mile marker buoy. Several sea lions were on the buoy sleeping and sunning. Fun to be that close, but sadly, as Art said, sea lions are a dime a dozen here and not worth giving up his coveted seat on the boat to go look at them. We have seen them several times in Santa Cruz, and even more spectacularly in San Francisco. Still, always enjoyable! Then nothing for a long long time. Then word from another boat where one whale was, so we started heading that way. Gray whales swim very slowly, about 3-4 miles per hour, so if we spotted one, theoretically it should be easy to follow. So not a big deal that we took a small detour through a pod of feeding dolphins. Now that WAS worth getting up for. So fun to have dolphins swimming and jumping all around us. The waters teemed with them. They were so fast though it was impossible to take pictures. that, and I was terrified, with the rocking of the boat and the high winds, i would drop my phone while attempting a picture. I loved it though. I could have stayed there for hours. They announced that the dolphins should be feeding there for awhile, and we'd come back, but we'd better pursue the whale. Finally, a spout was spotted. I saw it 3 times. Very cool. But, we never saw the whale. The naturalist said lone whales are often skittish around boats whereas whales traveling in a group don't seem to mind. Their average dive times are 6-7min, but can be as long as 20 if they are evading something - us. We puttered around a bit looking for it or another one. A call on the radio said another boat had spotted 2 whales together not far from us. So off we went in search of our own Moby. We encountered a pod of white sided dolphins which excited our crew. They said they have not seen them in the bay in about 6 months. Their coloring made them very unusual to watch, and again a joy. No more whales were ever spotted. This time of year the whales are headed back north after their winter in Mexico. They are not stopping, just on the highway. We headed along the shore for a bit, hoping to catch a mom and baby whale going the longer, but safer, route north. No luck. We will try again in the summer. That is when the Humpbacks come to feed. They say that as long as there is food, there are Humpbacks. And so many that you can see them from the shore occasionally. So we will wait for summer to get our whale watching on. We saw a few more sea lions, and then, closer to the shore, many sea otters. So cute! I did not realize, even after seeing them in Alaska, that they are born in the water and never leave. They spend their entire lives in the water.

Next adventure is going to be sea kayaks. Next time we get an overnight babysitter (aka the grandparents).

I was so so sleepy after the cruise. We headed home so we could get there before dinner and my dad could exercise before it got dark. I slept the whole way home. Once home, I suspected that the motion sickness meds were messing with me. I still felt drowsy and lethargic, and well, drugged. It was awful. We finally got food at Judy's Kitchen, yummy Chinese near us. I just could not get it together to figure out what to do for food. We got the kids into bed and I went straight to bed as well, feeling woozy and unstable, like I was still on the boat. Uggh.

Despite the terrible drugs, which I will not take again, we had a wonderful time. We are grateful to Poppi for braving sick kids and keeping them overnight!