Whales, Dolphins and Sunfish—Oh My!

There were whales that passed by Okinawa, but only seasonally and the best place to see them was off the far side of the Keramas, so you were on the boat for quite a while.  Here, though, we’re lucky enough to be in a spot where there is some variety of whale nearby almost year-round and they’re not far offshore at all.  Since Dana Point Harbor is only ten minutes up the road, that makes this a very fun and easy outing!

          
The gang getting ready for our last big adventure together.  Horrible half-portrait of me there so just go ahead and focus on Naomi’s exuberant grin instead.

     
Wildlife before you even leave the harbor!

You can see them all in this picture—the seagulls, pelicans and sea lions all piled up there.  And yes, frankly, those rocks do smell as bad as you might imagine.  (Those white drips aren’t paint.)
  We saw a whale right off the bat, who sprayed and showed it’s tail nicely for us several times.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a shot of the tail flukes, but this was a gray whale, actually one of the smaller whale varieties.  The blue whales also pass here and occasionally they see orcas as well.

                          
Some of the other scenery on the water that day.  Anyone want to take a guess at how much either the boat or the house costs?

            
Next up were the dolphins.  No lack of them in the area, but it was fantastic to see them all swimming and playing right up next to the boat!

I took an absurd number of dolphin shots; I wasn’t even looking at the camera, I was just pointing it at the water and clicking.  There were literally multiple dolphins in every single shot that I took—sorting through to find the best ones took a while.

 
It was a little chilly on the water that day, but Uncle Erik forfeited his fleece (and his dignity?) to keep the kids happy.

     
This exceptionally strange-looking beast is the sunfish or mola mola, the largest bony fish in the ocean.

We get a quick peek of a sea lion in the water . . .

      
and then we move on to a second, very large pod of dolphins.

  With that, it’s time to head back to shore and home for lunch/naps.  Not bad for a quick morning outing!

Building Memories

I’m just gonna toss these up here; it’s Legoland, you’ve seen it before.  This time Erik and Rach were with us.
                                                                          
                    
                              
     

Capistrano Encore (Encore)

Yikes, if I don’t hurry up with posting Rach and Erik’s visit, I won’t get through it before Henry and Janet are here!

                          
You wouldn’t keep coming back if you were tired of looking at pictures of my favorite people, right?

                       
I’d like to say that it’s a nice, quiet place to contemplate, maybe gain some perspective, but the gang I travel with doesn’t really do “quiet” or “contemplative” all that well.  At least not for long stretches.


On the other hand, maybe they do look a little contemplative here in the chapel.  Or maybe they just look bored.  Hard to tell.

                                                 
The flowers, meanwhile, are glowing in the sunshine . . .


and the architecture is silhouetted against a brilliant blue sky. 

                                                     
Which brings us to the fountain, yes THAT fountain.  No, they weren’t allowed to walk around the edge of it this time.  

    
The boys are looking towards the cemetery, not sure what was so interesting over there just then.  But on either side we have an olive tree and some odd-looking flowers.

     
The first picture, for me, reflects the impressive grandeur of humankind’s creations; whereas the second shows the ultimate splendor of God’s.

Family pic!  Here you go!

        
           
A few more flowers and we’re done here.  Moving on . . .