On the Water for the Day – July 9

Ok, so next time we take a ferry, and plan to sleep in a tent on a solid deck of the boat, we are definitely bringing an air mattress.  Good thing is, that we weren’t cold at all.  Our 0 degree sleeping bags kept us nice and warm (thanks Strongs).  Our backs, that’s another story.  The good thing about waking up every two hours, you get to open your tent window and see some gorgeous views, and they’re always a little bit different. 

We woke up nice and early, 6:30 a.m. We ate breakfast that we had brought along, cereal and bananas.  As we relaxed in the forward deck of the boat, we even got to see some dolphins jumping in and out of the water.  I think Jason was able to get a couple photos.  We also saw a black bear swimming in the water.  I would show the picture, but in the picture it looks like a little black piece of driftwood.  We sat outside on the back of the boat for about 3 hours, playing cards, eating, relaxing, reading, and napping.  It was great.  We now gained another hour, so we are officially 3 hours behind those of you living in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  The days on this boat are a bit long, but when all else fails, there is always the ever-changing beautiful scenery around us.  We actually decided to splurge last night and take a break from our ham and cheese sandwiches to have an INCREDIBLE buffet.  It was delicious!  After dinner we continued to enjoy the scenery even spotted a whale!  I only have pictures of the water spouts, so I hope that is enough proof.  After watching the sunset, we headed to bed. 

This has definitely been quite the experience.  It has truly been an awesome opportunity to see God’s creation, and also to meet so many different people.  Everyone has their own story; some moving to different locations because of military, and others just visiting family or taking a vacation.  One couple from Hawaii are surfers, who actually made a documentary years back, and are doing this as something on their bucket list. Another family of four is moving to Kodiak (a very isolated island) because they got transferred with the Coast Guard (their first choice was Hawaii).  The stories we have heard really remind us of how big this world is, yet so small.  We will never forget this experience!

 Dad, this one's for you.

 This one too, dad!

 Continuous gorgeous landscape!

 Whale spouts!!! Yes, they really are!

Sunset