How you celebrate when you are about to turn 51

Up bright and early Friday morning because we needed to get to Pass & Id to get my permanent id card (the wait was horrible) But we got it and then went over to tickets and tours and bought our tickets to go whale watching, then to do some shopping i got 2 shirts that retail for over $50 for $13. Then with tickets in hand there was no need to hurry to Miramar so we decided to have lunch at Anita's. We decided after lunch that we would drive up the 101 (i think is the name of the freeway) we went through oceanside, encinatas, Del Mar and Solana Beach and i am sure a few other seaside community's. I did manage to convince tim to stop so we could take a few pictures but i was not able to convince him to do a timer shot so we both could be in the picture! Do you see that one lonely surfer now that is a die hard surfer true to his calling. That water had to be cold not to mention the amount of grey whales that are migrating (although i am sure that they are much further out than he is going to go). Not bad for shots taken from a moving truck huh? Then when we ran out of the freeway we went and got on the 5 freeway to take us into Miramar. Once there we checked in and i started the dismal process of completing my homework. I had an individual paper, a slide presentation (with notes), a group paper and a final due! No fun! But i did some work and then tim and i went out to the commissary to get snacks for saturdays' adventure. I can happily say that i completed all my homework except the final and i will be working on that tonight! I guess no television for me. So saturday we were able to sleep in (yeah no planes). We got up had a quick breakfast and headed down to the harbor. Armed with our tickets and having paid our $10.00 parking fee we were ready! Once on the boat to go whale watching we watched a mock pirate show that was being conducted for another show. (there is a museum just on the other side of the cruise ships the name is eluding me at the moment i am sure that is why there was the pirate show. It was rather a nice way to spend the wait time) Here are some pictures of the scenery as our boat was pulling out of san diego harbor ... This picture is of a sub that is going out to sea (not that you can really see it but in the binoculars it was awesome) This is the Shoreline as seen while we were out at sea!

If you look close enough you can see the machine gun on the back of the naval security boat!

This is point loma. (we are going to take a trip there some day and view the whales from that view and tour the lighthouse and see the history that is abundant on the point) As we were out on the water we had an awesome tour guide. She was very knowledgeable of her subject matter. the shimmery stuff out in the ocean is a kelp forest. Did you know that kelp is used in TOOTHPASTE! I can't say that i got any superb pictures of the whales. Actually they hardly came out of the water. But here are a few shots of the blow. Here is my one shot of their flukes (tails) this was the only time that the whales showed a tail! We did get to see 8 whales but mostly their backs. This is what gray whales use to eat, as they have no teeth they filter their food through this and then squish it with their tongue before swallowing. A few shots of the sites on our way back in from a beautiful day at sea!

The sea lions or seals ( i can't remember what she said) are lying on containers that are used to harvest live bait yes they are on beds of anchovies it was a stinky experience to cruise by these guys. And i shall bid you adieu with an awesome sun set picture.