Day Twelve

Up at 6.30am. Breakfast at 7.15am. Ann told me breakfast was included with the room. At the end we got billed for it. Presume she was wrong and it wasn't included.

In the car and underway by 8am. Arrived at Anacortes by 9.10am. Stopped in Subway to get a packed lunch. On the quayside at 9.35am. Boarded ship with this company http://www.island-adventures.com/

Got settled in to some seats and waited for us to cast off. We did just after 10am. Headed out into the San Juan Islands and into the fog. Visibility wasn't great at all but the rumour was that it was going to get better as we headed out. First of all we pulled up near James Island. There were some seals on the rocks although the fog made photography almost impossible.

Some foggy seals

As we pulled around into a bay the fog cleared a little and we also saw two bald eagles sitting near their nest.

Legal eagle

We then headed out to try and get a glimpse of the big tamale, Orcas. We eventually broke through the fog into some clear air. The skipper was in contact with other tour boats trying to get the low down on the location of the Killer Whales or any other type of whales for that matter.

Unfortunately it wasn't to be. We were out for nearly five hours and covered about 100 miles but to no avail. On the plus side there was a child on board who screamed in a tantrum for about half an hour. Ann wouldn't let me go and punch it in the head.

Eventually we headed all the way back to shore, pretty gutted that we didn't see any whales. We had such high hopes for the trip and it was meant to be one of the big highlights of the holiday but they were just not about today.

The skipper said they have been out about 400 times this year and this was only the fifth time they hadn't delivered whales to their customers. They do have a guaranteed sighting policy though which means if you don't see any whales they will keep taking you out until you do. Therefore, we now have a free trip for two when we would like to go again. Unfortunately that won't be this holiday. Apparently the record they have for the time someone took coming back for their free trip is 15 years so we should be ok to wait a couple.

We had a gander around the shop when we got back to shore before heading back to the hotel. The traffic back was really heavy so it took us quite some time to get back. I-5 seems to be busy at any time of day, on any day, at any location. Will be glad to get away from it.

Popped out for dinner to 112th Street Diner. http://112thstreetdiner.com/

It was very quiet, presumably as it is Sunday night. Very clean and food was good. Finished up with a old fashioned chocolate milkshake.

Heading back east tomorrow.

States visited - 6

Whale watch - low

Eagles seen - 2