Day 8: 7-year-olds, Pinkeye Salmon, and Calving Glaciers

 Day 8 was the "big" day of our trip: 1/5th-of-the-entire-cost-of-the-trip kind of big.  A year ago, I read about this trip where you take a boat out and they let you off into kayaks to explore a glacier up-close.  The pictures were magnificent, and the thought of kayaking through glacier breakaway sent chills up my spine.  Brady said no way initially, but was eventually won over on the idea once we cut down some of the other expenses of the trip.  I knew we were in trouble after Orca Island, though.  After 2 full days of kayaking, this trip would have to be unbelievable to reach our expectations.

I'll save you the suspense and tell you that it was not.

 It was pretty, it was unique, and it certainly had some elements of adventure.  However, I think that none of us are really tour people, especially after 7 days of rugged freedom.

I will tell you what was pretty and what was unique, and leave the disappointment alone for the most part.

 Ah, a pretty view from the boat.

 My favorite picture of the day:

 Proof that I did end up using my sunglasses one time on this trip.

 Oooohhh, puffins!  We saw fellas like this on our Orca Island excursions.

 This was cool: dozens of porpoises.  They are much bigger and faster than the dolphins here in Kauai, but they don't do tricks or spins.  One tour guide asked if we "wanted to act like 7-year-olds" and watch them while laying from our bellies on the ship's bow.  This was a major highlight of the day.

 Brady was fascinated by the way their fins cut through the water.

 Stellar Sea Lions:

 We reached Aialik Glacier and boarded our kayaks.  Within a few minutes, we heard some of the "white thunder"--aka the glacier calving into the ocean.

 We paddled to within 1/4 mile of the glacier and watched icebergs collapse.  It was fairly active while we there.  This breakage was the most substantial, and the sound preceding the crash into the ocean did sound just like loud thunder.

 The best part was kayaking among the ice chunks, dubbed "bergy bits."  This part of the experience lived up to my expectations, and we liked navigating through the icebergs and bergy bits.

 We had lunch on the kayak and watched the glacier calve for a while.  At this point, our tour guide, Buddy, asked if we knew the five types of salmon.  Earlier on the trip, Aaron taught us a memory trick with our fingers representing each major kind.  While brainstorming answers, I exclaimed, "Pinkeye!" instead of "Sockeye."

 In the spirit of the Olympics (Mckayla Maroney), Aaron is not impressed. 

 We were ahead of schedule, so Buddy (our tour guide) took us over to a small arch/cave.  Hmmm...

 Check out the color of the water when the sun hits it:

 Then, we got shepherded back onto the boat for the ride back.  Everyone inside the boat was sound asleep, but I was going absolutely nutso looking for orca whales.  I had already spotted a couple humpback whales (yawn....remember, we have tons of those here every winter), and I fully expected to see some orcas.  The only one I've ever seen was beached up and about to die here in Kauai.  I knew the orcas were out (I was listening to the captain's radio and talking to him for hours on the way back), and that poor captain worked his tail off to find me some.  We literally went all over the place trying to spot them and circled areas they rarely take people on the boat, but we came up short.  I think I was giving the guy a heart attack with my intensity. 

Finally, the tour guides tried to get us (me) excited about some sheep on a hill.  Sheep?  Double yawn.

Don't worry: the captain ended up staying the night at the lodge where we were also staying, and I got the chance to thank him for his extra efforts.

 A picture toward the end of the trip, after our discussion determining this was most definitely not worth the money.  (I should note that if we had seen orcas, I bet we'd be singing a little different tune.)

 That night, we went to a stream with tons of salmon, feeling a little melancholy.  Here we are, "watching Olympics" for the first time on the trip.  We did get over our moody moment, discussing the highlights of our trip and all the things that exceeded our expectations (Orca Island, Denali, Harding Icefield, etc.).  If we had the chance to do Day 8 over again, we would still go to Aialik Glacier, but instead in a bigger (read: cheaper) tour boat. 

Day 8 Totals:
Kayaked: 6 miles
Wildlife: pair of bald eagles, sea otters, puffins, other seabirds, stellar sea lions, Dall's porpoises, 2 humpback whales, Dall sheep

Day 9 was our return trip home, where the only notable thing that happened was going through security.  Between the 4 of us, there were 3 knives in our carry-on bags.  Ha!!!  That's what happens when you camp on a trip and spend no time prepping bags for the return trip home.

We said good-bye until next time to our dear friends Aaron and Julie, and rushed home to see our babies.  They were so happy to see us the next morning.  Kate went around the house squealing, "MAMA!  DADA!" all morning, and although Zachary has asked me many times, "When are you going on a trip so I can stay with my friends?,"it was obvious he was happy to have us back, too.

I'm so sad that my year of planning is all over, but this trip was worth the effort, preparation, and expense.  I feel like if we had to plan the entire thing all over again, there are very few changes we would make.  It was exactly what we needed to scratch our adventure itch and it was a great time to spend as a couple and with friends doing something we loved.

Last note: coming back to Kauai was the very first time we felt any sign of "island fever."  Hearing Aaron and Julie talk about the Pacific Northwest and all the new areas they explore made us a bit envious, on top of being in such a vast wilderness with all new experiences for our week in Alaska.  We have done just about everything we can do in Kauai--multiple times in most cases.  We obviously got over our fever in a hurry, though, because we are once again house hunting.