Road Trip Part Four: PODS OF ORCAS

Our Captain, Jeffrey Smith, heard some chatter on his radio about Orca Whales feeding in the Sound not far from our location.  When the David B arrived at the site we could see several whale-watcher boats there full of passengers.  Soon we heard a "WHOOSH" as a black fin broke the water and an orca came up spouting mist. Before long we saw more coming up for air.  

Jeffrey was careful to keep our boat a good distance away from the whales, but we were still able to watch them and get lots of photos.

My video camera is an old Sony with plenty of problems and I was trying to zoom in on the whales while standing on the deck of a boat so the footage was pretty shaky.  The pods of whales stayed in the area long enough for me to get plenty of shots with my Nikon too.

Christine knew a lot about the orcas.  She said this group was called J Pod and each whale was named according to who its mother was and its birth order.

I was super excited to capture some photos of the new baby, J-49.  

He was playing and popping out of the water near his mom, J-37. 

When he got too bouncy a couple of other whales nudged him back and gathered him in.

The following is a video I put together.  You can hear the chug of the David B and also Christine Smith's voice as she tells us about the whales.

Road Trip part 1-Smoke on the Water Fire in the Sky
Road Trip Part 2-Smelled the Mountain Air Man
Road Trip Part 3-On the Ship David B
Road Trip Part 4-Pods of Orcas
Road Trip Part 5-The Problem is All Inside Your Head
Road Trip Part 6-Looking Down On Fishermen
Road Trip Part 7-The Cure for Anything Is Water
Road Trip Part 8-Lighthouses
Road Trip Part 9-Slow Down and Read the Signs
Road Trip Part 10-Fresh Crabs
Road Trip Part 11-Food
Road Trip Part 12-Giants
Road Trip Part 13-Crossing the Deadly Desert

Road Trip Part Three: ON THE BOAT DAVID B

Both of us love the water, so a few months ago DH and I began searching online for a way to spend some time exploring by boat.  We both agreed time on a giant cruise ship was out.  The crowds, noise, revelry and distance from nature just didn’t appeal to either of us.

So our interest was captured by a web site for Northwest Navigation and their boat, the David B.  She is a sixty-five foot wooden motor vessel owned and operated by Jeffrey and Christine Smith.

The Smiths spent eight years restoring the ship and its Washington Iron Works engine.

 They relaunched it as a tour boat in 2006.

Jeffrey is a skilled captain and Christine is an enthusiastic naturalist and accomplished chef.  It didn’t take much convincing for us to sign up for a five day tour of the San Juan Islands of Puget Sound in the northwest corner of Washington State.

In fact I was almost jumping up and down when we found the David B  at the marina in Bellingham Bay.

The weather was perfect the morning we boarded along with three other passengers.  Christine made sure we were settled into our comfortable rooms and then went to work in the galley.

Christine in the galley with Juliette, passenger and assistant chef.
Jeffrey is at the wheel in the pilothouse.

 Christine has a handsome wood stove in her galley

 where she creates scrumptious food with fresh bread for every meal.

DH and I savored the sunlight sparkling off the water as the David B’s three cylinder engine kept up a soothing chug which sounded to me like a cross between a Harley motorcycle and a fetal heart monitor.

The Sound was filled with plenty of other small craft plus the inter-island ferries that carry passengers to ports in the San Juan Islands.

Every day we stopped to explore something on some island.  This is Jeffrey bringing Jeff and Chris and Christine (yes the similar names were a bit confusing) to the beach where we would go on a hike around Sucia Island.

 Christine pointed out different trees, birds and plants and showed us creatures in the tide pools.

She led us on explorations of forest trails…

…and pointed out fossils

…in the mudstone of Fossil Bay.

We were never far from land and  we could almost always see 10, 700 ft. Mount Baker, a thermally active peak, second only to Mount St. Helens, in the Cascade Range.

Each evening Jeffrey found a quiet cove to drop anchor and each morning

was a relaxing experience of stillness spiced with aromas of breakfast

from Christine's stove.

More about our voyage next post

Christine's book about the restoration 

of the David B

Road Trip part 1-Smoke on the Water Fire in the Sky
Road Trip Part 2-Smelled the Mountain Air Man
Road Trip Part 3-On the Ship David B
Road Trip Part 4-Pods of Orcas
Road Trip Part 5-The Problem is All Inside Your Head
Road Trip Part 6-Looking Down On Fishermen
Road Trip Part 7-The Cure for Anything Is Water
Road Trip Part 8-Lighthouses
Road Trip Part 9-Slow Down and Read the Signs
Road Trip Part 10-Fresh Crabs
Road Trip Part 11-Food
Road Trip Part 12-Giants
Road Trip Part 13-Crossing the Deadly Desert

Road Trip Part Two: SMELLED THE MOUNTAIN AIR, MAN

Ever since I drove through North Cascade National Park in 2009 I’ve wanted to go back.  This time we would be going the recommended way; east to west.  We drove up the North Cascades Scenic Highway 20 in Washington state.

It's considered one of the U.S.’s most spectacular mountain drives. We were rewarded with dramatic views of the jagged mountains called the “North American Alps.”

 We crossed over 5,477 ft. Washington Pass and were still looking ‘way up at rugged peaks all around us.

 Washington Pass overlook is 700 feet above the highway on a natural rock platform. We could gaze back down a road that was not opened until 1972.  This part of the trip is closed each winter due to snowfall.

I think this serrated hunk of rock is called Liberty Bell.

Another mountain along the way--maybe Colonial Peak.

We passed over the bridge which crossed Gorge Creek Falls.  I made DH pull over so I could go back and braved passing trucks and RV’s to get a shot of the water cascading (good bet that’s why the mountains are called the cascades?) down the rocky hillside.  Even there the conditions were much dryer than during my last visit.

More mountains. Probably Pyramid Peak.This time I remembered to put the polarizer filter on my camera to bring out the blue-blues in the sky. 

I wish I could show how massive these hulks of snowy rock really are.  Just mind-boggling.

Another log truck.

Diablo Lake.  Gets its turquoise color from the sediments in the water melting off all those glaciers.

Through a tunnel drilled out of solid rock.

Another picket fence of peaks on the other side.

 We stopped at the North Cascades National Park Visitor Center to check out the exhibits and information plus a very clean and nicely fixtured restroom—always a surprise and plus on a road trip.

Road Trip part 1-Smoke on the Water Fire in the Sky

Road Trip Part 2-Smelled the Mountain Air Man

Road Trip Part 3-On the Ship David B

Road Trip Part 4-Pods of Orcas

Road Trip Part 5-The Problem is All Inside Your Head

Road Trip Part 6-Looking Down On Fishermen

Road Trip Part 7-The Cure for Anything Is Water

Road Trip Part 8-Lighthouses

Road Trip Part 9-Slow Down and Read the Signs

Road Trip Part 10-Fresh Crabs

Road Trip Part 11-Food

Road Trip Part 12-Giants

Road Trip Part 13-Crossing the Deadly Desert