A day of activity

Sorry that I didn't post last night. I am sure you were all on the edge of your seats wondering how our day went.

I came home pretty tired. I managed to take a shower, have a beer (not a fuu-fuu beer) and do a little reading.

Curt and I went out on a Trilogy boat yesterday. When we were in Maui two years ago we also went on a Trilogy activity. Last time was a half day. Yesterday we did a whole day.

We left on the boat about 10 a.m. We got out of the harbor and then they stopped the boat to tell us about our day in Lana'i and some coast guard rules. While we were sitting there a mother and calf whale were so close. They didn't come out of the water too much. But you could see their backs and water spouts. It was so cool. That was the closest I have seen the whales. Owen--one of our captains (we had three captains and 1 crew)--was telling us that the mother and calf are always attended by an unrelated male. No one knows why.

After the days' activities were explained and the safety rules were explained we were off. We couldn't have picked a better day. The ride to Lana'i took about 2 hours. We saw lots of whales.

We got to Lana'i and some of us took a van tour of the island. That was pretty cool. Only about 3,000 people live in Lana'i Town. And if I remember correctly there are only 20 miles of paved road.

After the van tour we were dropped off at the beach. Curt and I got our snorkel gear. This was the first time I was wearing contacts and snorkeling. My friend Alex suggested regular goggles and then the snorkel mask. I kept trying to get the snorkel mask over the goggles and it just wasn't working. Oren (crew guy) came over to help me. He told me that he thought I would be fine with just the snorkel mask. Just to make sure I made a tight seal when I put it on my face. Apparently they also have snorkel masks with prescriptions. But mine is such an odd one I decided to try it with just the regular snorkel mask. Plus I would actually have to take out my contacts--which I had all the supplies for if I needed. 

So I get out in the water semi-terrified of the water and of losing my contacts. :) I had on a floaty thing so I didn't really have to swim too much. Once I was done breathing heavily and freaked out it was absolutely beautiful. I just saw fish. But there were some amazing looking fish down there. And I couldn't believe how close to the coast these fish were. 

Eventually I got out and relaxed on the beach a bit. I heard some people say they saw dolphins while snorkeling. And I could see a bunch of dolphins playing not too far away.

I thought we would have more beach time. But they started packing us up at 3. We headed over to a pavilion and they cooked us an early dinner: chicken, stiry fry and peas, salad and rolls. It was all delicious. They have their recipes online, too.

If you come out here and want to do some kind of excursion via boat I highly recommend Trilogy. We have gone twice and will go with them again. They are great.

We saw many more whales and some dolphins on the way home. And the sunset was pretty nice, too. It was a little bit of a wild ride home. But it was fun. We got off the boat about 6:30 and there was a band outside playing. It was really cool. Some lady said, is that a mariachi band? (I laughed and rolled my eyes.)

And you won't go hungry on this trip: juice, cinnamon rolls, fruit, lunch wraps, then the dinner, then ice cream on the way home. 

Today we will just be lounging. It looks like it rained during the night. It is almost 8 a.m. here. I hope the sun decides to pop out soon.