We were all up early Saturday morning, except Fernando apparently since he managed to wake up at 7:12 and shower for a 7:15 departure to Santa Cruz to catch our whale watching boat in Monterey Bay. Luckily the motion sickness from the winding roads subsided before we climbed on the boat. Kate was not with us but Greg had purchased her a ticket anyway 😂.
We got cozy at the front of the boat and started watching, and watching, and watching and getting colder and colder and nothing.
At this point Lily had on all the layers she brought plus a few layers belonging to other kids. When suddenly grey whales were spotted. We were able to follow two different groups with probably a total of 10 whales. A few whales were feeling playful and let us see their sides and waved at us. My favorites were when they'd show their tails - then everyone on the boat would cheer. The cold was quickly forgotten and we enjoyed these amazing creatures.
Then we turned back towards shore. We were all watching for more wildlife when I saw something off in the distance. After a minute I was sure that I had seen Orcas. I pointed them out to the kids and we just kept pointing that direction until the captain followed our arms and turned on the speed to follow the largest members of the dolphin family.
We sped along with the orcas as they clipped by at a fast pace. I'd guess we saw around 10-15 in the pod, including a little baby being protected in the middle of the group. While watching these amazing swimmers we also spotted two humpback whales a little ways off. We didn't get very close to them but just enjoyed the occasional views and focused on the orcas. At some point a foul smell filled the air - free smells of orca fish breath 🤢.
This sighting turned our okay boat ride into a fabulous one. One of the ladies on our boat later posted on instagram that some "guy" spotted the orcas- Andrew had not corrected her when she thought he spotted them so the kids teased me about being a "guy" for the rest of the trip.
Andrew had guaranteed Lily a sea otter and the fates allowed it as we spotted several of the cute little guys floating in the bay when we returned. We also got to see a bunch of sea lions filling all the available space on a buoy.
After finishing the boat ride and being thanked by the captain for spotting the orcas (can you tell I'm a little proud of myself ☺️😉) we got back in the car around 2:00 and we were starving.
We located a taco place that sold quesobarrillo tacos. Ric Petersen told us we had to try them and we figured now was a good time. We got our pile of tacos but there was no where to eat them so I laid out my car blanket and we had a little picnic in the parking lot.
The tacos were delicious but MESSY. Most of us had orange hands. We needed a bathroom and since Lily didn't want tacos we found a McDonalds close by. She got her meal and the rest of us took turns in the single bathroom washing hands (what McDonalds only has one bathroom😳?) and eating ice cream cones. We may have created some issues for other customers needing to use the facilities - but that had been a long boat ride.
Greg took the scenic route home down the seashore. It was beautiful and we had to stop a few times to take in the view.
Unfortunately, to get to the beach you had to walk by two of the stinkiest garbage cans of all time. They were beyond foul - we were all breathing through our mouths and running past as quickly as possible. That might have won worst smell of the trip although there was some stiff competition with the orca breath and the stair well by the hotel that smelled strongly of urine.
Back in the city we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge...
and took a little walk. We didn't go all the way a across but enough to get a good feel.
It was getting dark but we managed to find a parking spot and spend a few minutes roaming around Golden Gate Park.
We obnoxiously sang "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" in our best Clarabelle Cow voices while we enjoyed the tulip garden and dutch windmill.
The kids took turns jumping off the benches doing "Siuuuu boosters" and laughing at each other. Our silly was definitely shining 😂.
The boys led the littles on a trip through some bushes but managed to find the soccer fields. Fernando "borrowed"/took a ball from a nearby game and the kids had fun playing around trying to help Nando get a goal in California.
The big kids loved their pasta, I loved having a salad, and Lily had a piece of cheese pizza bigger than her face. It was a perfect end to a great day. I left the teens in their room and Lily fell asleep in about 5 minutes. I climbed into bed while Greg drove to the airport to pick Kate up for her 10:30 arrival.
As the sun set I used my phone to order us some takeout in Little Italy while Greg drove us down Lombard Street to the kids oohs and ahhs. He couldn't find parking so we made several trips around Tony's before Natali and I finally got in with the food.
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