Monday, Monday...

If you said, "The Mommas and the Papas," you win 50 bonus points.

Seems like most folks dread Mondays.  I like 'em!  This season, we have had regular days off (and a relatively regular work schedule) - it has made it easy to plan our free time.  Our "weekend" is Monday and Tuesday... so we are off when the rest of the world goes back to work.

Our last scheduled day is September 1st... a Monday.  :-)  So, I think we will actually be done next Sunday.

I have groused a bit about working.  It isn't the work so much as being on someone else's schedule.  I may have said something about the "August people."  ;-)  Truth be told, those people would likely be the same in June.  LOL

This particular job isn't something to do for a season, then move on to something else.  It takes most of the first season to "learn the ropes."  Besides learning new boats, there are all the regulations: distances not only from the whales, but from different shorelines.  It takes a while to understand the animal behavior... oh, you can read about it, even see it casually on your own... but to have consistently successful trips, there is constant learning.

When we first saw Orcas years ago, I thought they were "cool"... like BIG versions of our bottlenose dolphins in the Tropical Tip.  Sure, there are similarities, but seeing these animals almost daily means you get to see how certain individuals behave.  You appreciate the distances they cover daily, in the constant search for food.  You learn what effect the toxins in the water have had on them.  But, more than anything else, you see the family relationships, the incredibly strong bond these animals have with each other.

As our time gets short here, that is what I take away this time.

The area is absolutely gorgeous, water and land.  Being immersed in it, in all kinds of weather, is special.  I don't get to say, "It's a crappy day, I think I'll crawl back into the V-berth."

I enjoy being able to share all this with our guests.

Yes, I have said, "This is what Joan wants to do," but is has been a joint decision.  We have cruised these waters on Wild Blue.  It isn't even remotely the same.  Both experiences are special.

And, we have Monday off!  ;-)