The day began with a rousing wake-up song from Gabi Fratta and Britta Seifert, and I really hope they keep their day jobs. We got on the boat to go whale watching at around 7:30am, and it definitely wasn’t a big boat. We got out on the water and everything was fine, that is, until we started getting in bumpy water. Tons of people were starting to get seasick. But then we saw two humpback whales. It was a mother and her baby and it was so awesome because they were fluking, which is showing their tails. Everyone was so excited, and then we saw another whale about a half hour after that. The scenery was totally amazing, huge glaciers and volcanoes in the distance and miles and miles of open sea before us. The whales were amazing to watch. I even heard one singing; it was beautiful. We saw about seven humpback whales and two sea otters. The sea otters were so cute!
     After we saw the majority of the whales, everyone started to get really seasick. I think it was because not many people had ever been out on the open sea before and they weren’t used to all the waves. By the time we were six hours in to the trip, most people had gotten comfortable and fallen asleep. We all woke up when another whale was spotted, though. Everyone watched it for about ten to fifteen minutes. When we figured the whale had left, the captain moved on.
     We stopped in Seldovia before going back to the dock at the Homer Spit. We were there about an hour and pretty much everyone bought food and ice cream. Sierra Tinglin and Erica Earl got a half-gallon of chocolate ice cream and brought it on the boat to share with everyone. We left Seldovia at around 5:00pm and went back to the dock at the Spit. We arrived at the campsite at around 6:30.
     The adults had reservations at The Homestead Restaurant while everyone else had to eat stir fry made by the junior leaders. I was walking up to the pavilion and saw Erin Fitzpatrick “hiding” behind a pole for the canopy. I asked her what she was hiding from, and she said she was afraid that the junior leaders were going to blow up the propane tanks. I can see why she would be scared. But in the end they didn’t blow anything up and we had a very yummy dinner.
     After dinner it was hug time and then bedtime. The day was really fun and interesting. I don’t think anyone will ever forget the beautiful scenery that we’ve witnessed today. But I’m pretty sure no one will miss the ten-hour boat ride.

      The wise singer Jack Johnson once wrote in one of his songs, “There’s no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard”. How true that is for a lot of people right now. It’s hard to describe one’s trip to Alaska. You could start by talking about the scenery, you could describe a funny experience, but you could also talk about the new things. Alaska is all about firsts. For some, it’s the first time camping, first time kissing a starfish, and today, first time on a boat for ten hours seeing whales.
      As we boarded our boat, the Rainbow Connection, we all knew that we would be on a boat for ten hours, and we were all expecting to see whales. Once everyone was settled and the boat started moving, whales started being spotted right away. All eyes were fixed on the whales, all jaws were dropped, and every time the whales fluked, there would be a combined gasp. “It seems a lot different in pictures than it does in real life. You don’t realize how big they are until you see them,” Mitch Sayers said. For some of the participants, it was their first time seeing a whale, and the reactions were priceless. “It was my best first moment ever because I had never seen anything so sweet like that in my life,” Braden DeWeese said.
      After a considerable amount of time out on the boat, we all stopped at a village called Seldovia for a break. Since we had one hour to explore, all the kids went around looking for something to do. A lot of people will agree that the best thing to do when you don’t exactly know what to do is to eat, so that is what a lot of people did. Megan Williams, Emily LaFleur, Ashley Smith, and some other girls wanted ice cream, so they found a coffee shop that had some.
      While at the coffee shop, Emily LaFleur realized that they sold onion rings. She knew that Megan Williams and Ashley Smith had never had onion rings, so she put her foot down and told them that they were going to have to try them. “We were going to have Megan’s first onion ring at the fair, but it’s way better in Alaska,” LaFleur said.
      So, as the onion rings came out, and the girls prepared themselves to try them, emotions were running wild. According to the girls, they were both scared, but they both got over it and took a bite. How was it? “It was… very surprising because I absolutely detest onions, and the onion rings were okay,” Smith said laughing. Megan Williams was also surprised to have enjoyed them. “I’ve seen them around at the fair, and they look juicy. I’ll probably have another one… I actually really liked them,” Williams said.
      A big part of this trip is creating memories that you can look back on, and having “firsts” here is definitely a good memory. Memories that were made on this trip stick around for a long time, and all we have to do now is find the words to put on the back of a postcard to describe them. People always say that there is a first time for everything, but that saying holds a special true meaning when it happens in Alaska.