Five and counting

Do you see that whale out there. Me neither.

We were waiting to see if the weather would cooperate before we committed to a whale watching tour and today was perfect. The tour started off the Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf. This is a really cool place. There are lots of little shops and restaurants. We left on the boat about 10:00 am and rode out to sea. Here is what I was worried about, first - sea sickness, second - pirates, and third - an unworthy sea craft.

First worry - YEA!, YAHOO! That expensive seasick patch I got a prescription for worked! We really rocked and rolled on that boat and I didn't even get nauseous.

Second worry - I have heard a lot about pirates on the high seas taking passengers as hostages in exchange for money. OK, nothing happened but when I saw all the foreigners with their big fancy cameras I thought some bad guy might want to take over the boat and steal their cameras! (Which would have pleased me because people with elaborate cameras think they are better than those of us with the plain point and shoot and they push their way into the best picture taking places and then when I try to get a picture I end up taking one of the back of their head.)

Third worry - I am terrified of the ocean and all its creatures, so I don’t want to end up in it because of some sort of incident, so while deciding which boat to go out on I picked that one that look the sturdiest. It must have been the right choice because I am still here!

We did see at least three gray whales (quite far away actually, which is good because I didn't have to worry about one tipping over the boat) but what I really wanted to see was a dolphin. There was a mother otter with a baby we spotted on our way back. At first the baby was along side of her then it climbed on her for a ride. Wow! So cute, I hope they didn't get eaten by a shark.

After the excursion we decided we would eat somewhere at the wharf but we got ambushed by all the restaurant people trying to coax us into their café. Too much pressure, so we had to leave and eat in our hotel room instead!

Curt and I drove to a lighthouse that was just down the street and then we decided to try out the 17 mile drive. We didn’t know this but the drive is some kind of state park so we had to pay $9.25 to get in. Isn’t that a strange amount? Why not just gouge us for ten bucks?

We have spent so much money in California that I think I deserve a thank you note from Governor Schwarzenegger because we have seriously made a dent in that big deficit they have.