Day 18: A Whaleless Whalewatch

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The day started MUCH earlier than anyone wanted. We needed to get to Seward, on the Kenai Peninsula, for a whalewatch. The tour company arranged our train tickets ahead of time. We left the hotel at about 5:15 AM to go to the train station. We didn't all fit in one cab, so Sarah and family followed in the second cab. That is when the "fun" began.

As soon as we arrived at the station and got out of the cab, a railroad employee informed us that the train was canceled. Gosh, that's just wonderful news... Apparently, there was a rockslide over the train tracks. I had a secret wish that darn, the whole day would be scrapped, let's go back to the hotel and sleep. I'm sure I wasn't the only one with this thought. As it turned out, the railroad brought in buses to transport everyone to Seward instead. It cut the trip in half, as well. This meant we'd arrive in Seward really early, but it also meant that on the return trip that evening we'd get in much earlier than expected.

After Dad and Steve worked out the ticket problems (apparently the tout people never got Sophie a seat and then the names got messed up), we boarded the bus for a rainy (shocking!) drive to Kenai. The drive was uneventful. At one point we stopped for a rest break - nasty nasty bathrooms, but we made it to Kenai without any issues. We took the shuttle from the depot to the docks to get our tickets. Because we had nearly 2 hours to kill, we went to get breakfast and then just hung around for awhile, wandering about. It was very UNEXCITING.

Grandpa and Sophie watch some Sesame Street on the iPhone

Sophie makes a new friend

Eventually, it was time to go to the boat. I'm not really sure how many people were on the tour, maybe 50 or so? After our safety spiel, we were on our way. The captain stopped the boat when she spotted wildlife and we'd watch for a little while before going on. Because it was so overcast and chilly, we spent most of our time on the lower level. We saw some otters and a lot of birds (the puffins were Sarah's favorite) before spotting a whole group of sea lions lounging about. I very briefly saw a dolphin, but it was gone very quickly. The one thing we did not sea were whales. Hmmm....

A playful sea otter

Sea lions taking in the "sun"

A puffin on the rocks

After 2 weeks of really good behavior, Sophie had had enough. Between teething, lack of a schedule, and over-stimulation, she had a huge meltdown. The poor kid just cried and cried and cried. When the boat stopped at an island for lunch, she really got going. Lesson learned that day: when going on an ALL day trip somewhere that is inaccessible to a store (i.e. you will be on a 5 hour boat trip), bring baby motrin! Sophie cheered up a bit the second half of the boat ride, she sat with us and played a bit, but was still out of sorts. Also, the Sesame Street podcasts on the iPhone saved the day.

Sophie zonked out after a loooong day

It is rather becoming, no?

When the boat finally made it back to the dock, we split into to groups - Sarah and I went to the True-Value store across the street to see if they had any baby medicine (there were no nearby drugstores or grocery stores) and everyone else went to Subway to pick up meals for the ride back to Anchorage. After some searching, I found children's motrin. We waited in the slowest line (it had 2 people in it, there is no reason it should move this slowly) and then met the rest. For some unknown reason, everyone else got 12 inch sandwiches but Dad ordered a 6 inch for me. Still not clear on why...

Finally, we were on our way again, back on the bus. Sophie was doing much better at this point, happy to have her medicine. Once we returned to the hotel, we needed to find out about the morning shuttles to the airport. They were supposed to have already given us this info... It wasn't until very late that they finally told us our shuttle left at the hotel at 4 something in the morning. Eek. Sarah and family had a couple extra hours since their flight was later. The luggage procedure was such that you couldn't bring it down yourself - you needed to have it ready an hour before the shuttle left. There was no way I was waking up that early just so they could get my suitcase, so bell services came and got them all before we went to bed that night.

We said all of our goodbyes since we wouldn't see each other in the morning. Sophie was super cute, running from person to person giving hugs (poor David, she wouldn't give him one). And then it was time to sleep - the end of a very, very long day. Next time, don't plan such a filled day at the very end of an already crazy vacation...

Upon returning home, Dad discovered that most of the days adventures had been refunded by the tour company. No reason was given - perhaps the inconvenience of the bus instead of the train?

Our Journey, Thus Far (Part 3)