San Juan Island

This summer we planned a mini vacation to visit San Juan Island, WA for some Orca Whale watching. This is a area in North Western Washington right along the border of Canada. There are some resident orca whale pods that live up here and the summer is the time to go see them. We had to take a hour long ferry to the island. This was the first ferry trip for our family together. The boys were super excited for this little trip. The ferry was fun and we saw some seals while on it! The boys loved that we drove our car on to it and then could get out and walk around the large boat. We had a lovely apartment/suite to stay in on the island. Once we got check in and settle we head out to a local market to get some food for our meals since we had a kitchen. Our first day was about Whales! This was really the first time the kids had been on a boat and they were super excited! I must admit I was excited about the whales but super nervous about the boat ride since I have been sea sick before. So everyone got some Dramamine for the ride. There was about 2o people on our tour plus some naturalist to share lots of information on the area and the animals we would see. The boat ride out to where the whales were was smooth and fun. We saw some seals and cool stuff about the surrounding area. We actually ended up in Canadian waters to see the whales! We saw lots of whales too. There are 3 pods in the area and we saw J pod which also had a baby whale with it. It was just amazing to see. We watch them for about a hour. I will admit the boys thought the whales were so cool, but lost interest after a short time. We also saw a small island of seals and some bald eagles feasting near by on a seal carcass. The way back was a bit wet! There is a small cabin on the ship which is were everyone on the tour ended up due to the spray off the boat soaking the back side of the boat. Once back at our suite we all feel asleep due to the Dramamine! We had a fabulous time! I am so glad we got to share this trip as a family!We were packing a life jacket for Noah to wear on the boat and also found some swim caps. Had to snap a photo of his outfit!
waiting in line to get on the ferry. You have to get in line about a hour before you board. Glad we had movies and DSi's in the car!
Dad and the boys on the ferry.
The big boys room of our apartment/suite
Baron, Seth and I slept here. We did have the pack n play for Seth too.
The Kitchen area. Next to this area is a sofa with a pull out bed where Noah slept.
Somebody cute checking out the drawers
This is the boat we went whale watching on
Whales!
Lots of Whales!
More Whales!

hard to see but lots of seals sun bathing here.