Whitney, our sister-in-law came out to California for the first time as part of a certification course the weekend of Lee’s birthday.  She was busy most of the time she was here, but when her class ended Sunday evening, we picked her up and took her out to Half Moon Bay.   We picked Half Moon Bay over San Francisco because Whitney had never seen the ocean or been to the beach!  It was a chilly and very cloudy day and we weren’t excited about what we would find a

long the coast, but Half Moon Bay was in one of the only pockets of sunshine.  We decided the sun came out for Whitney and she was one lucky girl.   As we sat there on the beach, eating the dinner I had packed, Whitney looked down the coast and asked if there could be dolphins swimming that close to shore.  She had seen something, but they weren’t dolphins.  Instead there were seven or eight whales right there playing in the surf.  The mama whales were bringing their baby whales north and took their sweet time passing by the state park.  We hadn’t ever seen whales that close to shore or that many in a group - it was awesome.    Such a treat! Whitney couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to the ocean!   It was fun to have Whitney at our house and when she returns for the next part of her course, we’ll show her around some more!