“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away.” Anonymous
I know this is a travel blog, and I am writing about something I did right here in San Diego, where I live. But it was an adventure, and when we do travel we tend to do these kinds of things, but we don't always tend to stop and take adventures in our own area. So I thought I would tell you about my adventure here at home.
For Christmas this year, I told my husband that I didn't want "stuff". I wanted things to do - adventures. He gave me 3 adventures. Yesterday I went out on my first one. It was a sea kayaking experience off the coast to see the gray whales. This time of year they are heading south along our shoreline. They make their way to Baja California where they give birth. In a few months they will be migrating back up to Alaska. Only the females make the trip.
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| Our guide looking for whales |
We left from La Jolla Shores, which is just north of San Diego. We put on our wet suits and helmets and my girlfriend, Kim and I put our kayaks in the water, and with a group of about 10 other kayaks, we paddled 2 miles out to sea. I'm not in the best of shape, and I'm getting old, but we made it. It is hard work paddling a kayak, and with 2 of us trying to stay in sync, well - it was a challenge, but we were laughing and having a good time. On the way out we saw a baby harbor seal, some sea lions, and quite a few dolphins that were coming up out of the water. It was very peaceful out there.
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| Our whale |
Then we had our first whale sighting. We saw the whale as it was diving down and her tail came up. It was just north of us, and our guide, Keith, told us to sit tight and the whale might resurface nearer to us. We waited about 10 minutes and then saw her again, but she was then south of us, and not too close. After that we saw several more that were off in the distance. As we were starting to paddle back to shore, we heard a noise and then saw a whale come up in front of us. She was just gliding along the surface, and she was beautiful. She was about 20 feet in front of us. We all sat there in amazement and watched her. Then she dove down and her tail came up in the air. She was gone. Our guides told us that in all the times they have done this, that was the closest they had come to one, and she was one of the biggest they had seen.
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| Back on shore |
We made our way back to shore. We were definitly tired by the time we got back, but it had been a very good adventure, and a beautiful day on the water. Who could ask for more. Now it was time for a cold beer and a sandwich, we had worked up an appetite.
I took this sea kayaking adventure with OEX Dive & Kayak in La Jolla, CA. There website is:
http://www.diveandkayaklajolla.com/
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