A Whale of a Tail!

Just over a week ago I took my mom with me when I went to Santa Barbara for business. The trip wasn't very long so we had to pack in as many things as possible. One of the things on my mom's list of "Thing to do before she dies" is to go whale watching. Like any good daughter, I went along with a camera in tow.


Mom looks at a plastic model of a Humpback whale. There were a bunch of sightings for Humpback yesterday so we had our hopes up. The boat had some volunteers to answer questions about the whales and other marine life we were going to see.


On the way out to sea we sea we saw our first aquatic life that wasn't very lively. I did like how the one was using a pillow.


We first came across some dolphins. They explained that these are not the same type of dolphins you see in captivity.


Swimming under the boat getting ready to jump.


I think this is the best shot I got of a dolphin in flight.


I liked the splash on this one.


This is the hump of one of the first Humpback whale that we saw. We did see three Mink whales first, but I did not get a good picture. I think this is the mom. She had a calf with her.


The calf got curious about the boat, so came to take a look.


This is the calf about 5-8 feet from the bow of the boat.


When he was done visiting us he dove and left his "foot print" in the water.


This is a tail from a humpback diving.


This one is my best tail picture. I like the water falling off.


This is a Humpback pocking it's nose out of the water.


This is the middle of a feeding frenzy!

It was a really successful day. We saw about 23 Humpback whales, 3 Mink whales, lots of dolphins and sea lions, a harbour seal, a couple of porpoises and an Ocean Sunfish.

Mom says "Check. Next time we will learn how to surf."

Do you know what this is?

An Evening Walk in Santa Barbara

Yesterday it was a long day, but I did manage to finish work while it was still light out. Before heading for dinner, my mom and I took a walk along the beach here in Santa Barbara. Here are some pictures I took.


Flowers that are in the garden of the hotel next door.


Sunset in the Marina.


Pelicans flying by.


A blue boat.


Some large birds rousting in a tree.

Southern Belles

I have been fortunate enough to get to go to Santa Barbara, CA on an integration trip. The flight was ok and we managed to receive extra attention from security. Our carry on was searched, we were manually patted down and when we arrived we had nice notes in our suitcases saying they has also been searched. Fortunately we allowed some extra time for our extra attention. Our fights arrived on time and we had no trouble with connections.

We arrived in Santa Barbara around 3:30 pm local time and far we have been having a good time. We didn't have any trouble finding our hotel and our room has a full kitchen and two king size beds. After unpacking, which I discovered means different things to my mom and I. To her it means putting away all of her clothes, to me it means checking my email ;)

Next we went for a walk along the beach.


We found a stand that rents kayaks (hopefully mom will do this tomorrow, explored the wharf and headed up the main strip. On our way we passed by some people relaxing and mom suggested we should go in too. It didn't take long to convince me.

Before relaxing we had some choices to make...


Guess who picked orange!


After a half hour soak in massage chairs we have the final product!


rafter going back to the hotel to put on proper flip flops, we heading out to the wharf to find some seafood. Tomorrow I hope to try one oth the Thai restaurants we passed by on the main strip.

This is the wharf at sunset.


Traveling is tough ;)

New Camera!

For my birthday this year, George bought me a new camera. It is an awesome gift, but it serves his own selfish motives...now I won't borrow his. Unfortunately, now I have been monopolizing his lenses. Here are some of my first photos.


Some tulips from our backyard.


A Yellow Shafted-Flicker. I have never seen one before so I though it might have been a rare bird. Turns out they are common.


Jack enjoys our garden by eating it. He has turned himself into an outdoor cat now that he has figured out how to open the screen door.


Jack is discovering rabbits are not scary things to run away from. He helped me chase this one out of the yard.


Clemantis at the side of our house.


The last of the lilacs on one of our trees.