Day Seven

Today was the day that we all (and by 'we all,' I mean Simon) have been waiting for: Whale Watching Day. I do regret giving Simon so much grief about his exuberance, because it was truly an awesome experience. I thought I understood that whales are very, very large animals until I saw one that was nearly as long as our boat was. Though I obviously cannot consider myself an expert on whale watching behaviors, I observed a definite pattern amongst the onlookers. It went a little something like this:

Everybody huddled together to guard themselves from the cold and wind as they scanned the horizon, anxiously waiting for a sign of movement in the grey, choppy water. Just as they were all becoming deflated and feeling as though the early morning, shoddy weather and amount of cash they'd forked over for a ticket just weren't going to be worth it, a collective gasp would rise among the crowd as a loud exhale was heard in the water, a spout of hot air was shot into the air and a black mass rose up out of the water. Mothers scrambled to grab hold of their children with one hand to prevent them from leaning too far over the railing while simultaneously trying to snap a picture of the whale with the other hand. The whale would remain visible for a few intense moments before diving back down into the depths of the ocean, leaving the crowd to marvel at the animal's sheer gargantuan size and majesty before beginning the whole cycle over again.

So there's whale watching in a nut shell. But seriously. If you are ever in the position to go whale watching, do it. It's worth your time and money and discomfort.

Our day segued cleanly from one boat to another; we spend the rest of the day at an old friends' lakeside home. We went tubing, paddleboating, and rode Sea-Doos. It was certainly an exciting day...I have bruises to prove it! You see, I became the target of our driver after having survived on the tube for a very long time (Mitch and I both did, and attributed it to the Maine Survivor ice cream we ate earlier in the week. Plus, while I never actually pushed Simon off the tube, I did make it a bit more difficult for him to stay on. What can I say? It was self preservation and it's not my fault he didn't have as strong of a grip! Anyway, I was thrown off quite violently and hit the water very hard. I still have marks on my feet and legs. But, it was worth every discomfort!

I did get some pretty decent pictures of the whales (I had to sift through about 100 not so decent pictures to get to them) and some good tubing pictures, but, as we're leaving tomorrow, there is packing to be done and I just don't have time or energy to upload them. I will pay the whales the respect they deserve very soon, however, and will dedicate an entire post to them!

Up Next: Early morning departure and ten-ish hours of driving :(