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Brittany L. Bergman

Savoring motherhood, building marriage, and living simply

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Whale Watching in Seattle

May 14 56 Comments

Just over a year ago, you couldn’t have paid me to go whale watching. I would have complained to Dan that it sounded like a drag, a waste of precious money and time. I’d seen whales at SeaWorld as a kid (although, I’ll never go back because of the cruelty issues), and that was enough for me.

But as I shared last week, my time hiking at Yosemite—my first real experience with the majesty and grandness of nature—changed my perspective in a way I didn’t expect. Cities don’t thrill me like they used to; give me open water, bays, trees, waterfalls, and cliffs. And sure, even wildlife.

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My friend Jess, whom we visited in Seattle, suggested that we book a whale-watching tour during our time there. Between my newish love of nature and the money Dan and I saved on the travel expenses, we didn’t hesitate for a second. We found an amazing Groupon for a 3.5-hour tour through Orcas Island Eclipse Charters, and it was worth every single penny (and even more). The husband and wife team who own the company clearly love their jobs and know so much about the wildlife of the area; their passion is contagious. The tour was small, maybe 30 people on the boat, and they made each person feel welcomed.

(I’m not being paid to say any of this, by the way. We just had such a positive experience that other people deserve to know about it!)

We set out early on a Saturday morning, bound for the ferry terminal at Anacortes about 2 hours north of Seattle. We took the ferry another hour out to Orcas Island, part of the San Juan Islands archipelago. The ferry ride itself was gorgeous, it and revved our anticipation of what was to come.

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We stopped for lunch at a little deli and grocery, and then we boarded our boat and set off. It was a bright and sunny day, but rather chilly as we cruised along the water. The tour company provided lots of extra coats, hats, and gloves. They even binoculars for better viewing.

We cruised for about an hour before reaching the spot where we’d find whales, and there was no shortage of beauty to behold. Everywhere we looked, there were tiny islands with towering trees and brilliant emerald grasses, rocky cliffs and steep hills. Some of the islands were even inhabited—pretty amazing considering I have no idea where they get their groceries.

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When we arrived at one of our destinations, we saw a few other boats gathered around. Our guides assured us that the boats never bother the whales, and the whales don’t mind the noise from the boats (also, the pollution is minimal in the open waters). Anytime a whale comes close to a boat, they shift into neutral to avoid hurting the animal.

We saw a wild humpback whale, fondly named Big Mama, and she was in quite a playful mood. She would come up for air, gracefully dive down into the water, giving us a view of her massive tail, and then surface again a few minutes later. She also did a few rolls and splashes much to our delight.

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Seeing the enormity of a whale in real life, in the wild, was another mind-blowing experience for me. I can’t say I have a lovely little lesson to share with you, except that God is amazing, Creation is astounding, and life is incredible. Eloquent, right?

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From there we cruised a little more, spotting a few eagles nests and some bald eagles. I didn’t expect to be too impressed, but I was wrong again. (Are you sensing a theme yet? I doubt, hem and haw, set low expectations, and then I’m usually wrong. I love it.)

Towards the end of the tour, we came across a pod of sea lions, one of whom was feasting on a 4-foot-long halibut. I wondered why the sea lion was being so violent about this whole feeding thing, but the sweet and patient guide pointed out that they don’t have hands or fingers, just flippers. They have to use their teeth and sheer force to tear off chunks of meat, then go pick up the fish and repeat the process. Sounds like a lot of work for some raw fish, but to each his own.

Sadly, we didn’t get to see any orca whales, but we knew it was early in the season for them. We’ll absolutely do a whale watching tour again in the future, on another visit to Seattle or maybe on an Alaskan cruise someday (dream trip!).

Have you ever done a grand nature outing like this — whale watching or something else? What are your favorite kinds of adventures to have on vacation?

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Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: adventure, budgeting, Creation, experiences, fun, God, money, nature, Seattle, TBT, travel, trip, vacation, wanderlust

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brittanylbergman

Brittany L. Bergman
✔️ Kamala shirt ✔️ Kamala pearls ✔️ Ka ✔️ Kamala shirt
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It’s a great day to witness the shattering of a glass ceiling, to embrace empathy and decency, and to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

The work is only just beginning, but today, we celebrate. Congratulations, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris! 👏🏼🎉💙
What a beautiful, exhausting, festive, heartbreaki What a beautiful, exhausting, festive, heartbreaking, cozy, chaotic-but-strangely-quiet Christmas we had. ✨🎄✨

That’s a wrap for me on 2020—I’ll be off social media until sometime in January. May you be filled with peace and hope as we close this year but still wait for the close of this chapter in our history. 💜
I have faced Christmases full of grief and loss; d I have faced Christmases full of grief and loss; depression and rage; exhaustion and loneliness. But I can honestly say this is the weariest Christmas I can remember. I say that not to shine a spotlight on me, but to say that I have a feeling this might be your experience too. I’m with you.
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And so the words to my favorite Christmas hymn hit me different this year. They resonate in a place much deeper, more tender and true than ever before. I rejoice in the giggles of my meltdown-prone child. I rejoice in stolen moments alone in the dark, the room lit only by the glow of the Christmas tree. I rejoice in every video and every social media post I see of a frontline worker receiving the COVID vaccine, our ticket out of this nightmare. I rejoice in the vision that next Christmas might look more familiar than this one does. I rejoice in the hope of Christ, whose universal, creative, motherly love holds the whole universe together.
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On this Christmas Eve, I’ll leave you with this quote from Howard Thurman. I hope these words bring a slant of light to your day.
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“The symbol of Christmas—what is it? It is the rainbow arched over the roof of the sky when the clouds are heavy with foreboding. It is the cry of life in the newborn babe when, forced from its mother’s nest, it claims its right to live. It is the brooding Presence of the Eternal Spirit making crooked paths straight, rough places smooth, tired hearts refreshed, dead hopes stir with newness of life. It is the promise of tomorrow at the close of every day, the movement of life in defiance of death, and the assurance that love is sturdier than hate, that right is more confident than wrong, that good is more permanent than evil.”
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Whatever and however you celebrate at this time of year, I’m sending you all my love and peace. 💫
I found my Christmas spirit this weekend, just in I found my Christmas spirit this weekend, just in the nick of time.

I baked cookies with Selah without getting frustrated (first time ever?), took the kids on drive to see Christmas lights, and wrapped a bunch of gifts.

But here’s what I think did the trick, and please do steal this idea (because I stole it from someone else but have no idea who): Magical Movie Night™️.

On Saturday night, I stealthily placed a golden ticket under Selah’s pillow (which I printed from the internets and colored quickly with a yellow marker; good enough is good enough for Magical Movie Night!). We put Eamon to bed and got Selah ready for bed too, going through all the normal motions of brushing teeth, putting on pajamas, picking out a book. When we climbed into bed, I told her to look under her pillow.

She was confused when she found the ticket, and I told her it was for a Christmas movie night. “When?” she asked. “Right now!” I said. “What do you mean ‘right now’?” When it dawned on her that she was going to stay up past her bedtime to have a special movie night with Mommy and Daddy (sans Eamon), she lost her mind with excitement.

Bonus: Gramma was waiting downstairs with a bag of popcorn and Swedish Fish!

We snuggled under blankets, turned on Elf, and laughed our festive butts off. (This was her first time watching Elf, and it felt like the dawning of a new era. It’s such a big kid movie! And she loved it! Hold me. 😭)

Deck the halls, bring on Christmas, fill my mug with holly jolly goodness. 

I also acknowledge this has been a crappy year in so many ways, and I know many of you are not going to be able to access Christmas cheer this year. That’s okay. The real spirit of Christmas is light breaking through the dark, love making a way, and the beauty that can’t help seeping through the dirty, messy, horribly human moments of our lives. So you’re covered.

(And if you want to fake it ’til you make it, give Magical Movie Night a try. It’s the actual easiest.)
In which I couldn’t come up with a clever captio In which I couldn’t come up with a clever caption. There are signs of life but my brain is dead. 💀
“This is what I find most mystifying about Adven “This is what I find most mystifying about Advent: the period of waiting ultimately ends in great joy, but we can’t get to that great joy without intense, active, unbearable pain. In Advent we sense the mingling of anticipation and anxiety, excitement and disappointment, joy and pain, hope and fear.
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“On this side of history, we have the luxury of waiting with great hope, great joy, and great expectation. We know Jesus will be born, we know he will save us and redeem us, we know he will die and rise again, and we know he will set all things right one day.
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“But before Christ came, Advent was dark. It was lonely and unknown, as the Israelites waited in faith to hear from God, and all they got was… nothing. Silence.
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“Isn’t this more characteristic of the waiting we usually do? The waiting seasons of our lives are less often marked by joy and hope and more often marked by pain and fear. They are not often cozy or comforting but difficult and dark and even laborious.
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“We wait as a pregnant mother waits for her child to be born—there’s a vision of the joy to come, to be sure, but in the throes of gut-wrenching labor pains, we think we might actually die before we see that joy fulfilled. After a long season of pregnancy, when the fullness of time has arrived, the advent of labor ushers in the real period of waiting—and it is active and painful and raw.”
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// From “In the Fullness of Time,” a new blog post on @first15. There’s a link in my bio to the whole piece, with thoughts on pregnancy, Advent, and waiting well in an exceptionally hard year. 💜 Thank you so much to @first15 for publishing this post!
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Brittany L Bergman is a for-profit blog. Any company that I collaborate with is chosen by me and fits the theme and readership of my blog. At times, posts may contain affiliate links or sponsored content, which is never at any charge to you.

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