Whales and whatnot

Today we are in Maui where the whales are plentiful.....and I don't just mean the ones at the buffet.  A large pod of 7 or 8 swam past our side of the ship a little earlier, and Mr. G and I were surprised at how much noise they made.  We took lots of pictures... which I will post at the end of the cruise.  In a couple of hours, the captain will hoist the anchor and we'll be heading eastward for home.  The return trip will take 4 days, and we'll spend part of the 5th and final day in Ensenada, Mexico....not noted for being particularly scenic or exciting.  The stop is solely for the purpose of complying with The Jones Act--a ruling that requires a ship leaving and returning to a US port to make a stop at a foreign port.

So far, this has been a great trip.  We've had good weather and calm seas--both unusual for January.  Of course, we still have several more days to go, so there's no telling what could be in store.  Yesterday we were on the island of Kauai, where we took a river cruise to the fern grotto.  One of the things we noticed was the great number of chickens running loose everywhere.  It seems  that many years ago Kauai had a hurricane and the chicken coops around the island were the first things to go, and all the chickens flew the coop. Rounding them all up proved to be an impossible task and they've been reproducing in great numbers ever since.  They do add a bit of whimsy which I find charming. You know what a fan I am of whimsy. If only I had my embroidery thread...

Tomorrow I'll get together  with the other needleworkers again, and we'll have a show-and-tell.  I'll see if anyone else has made progress on their projects, and I'll find out if any of them scored any great fabric or fiber finds on the islands.  I did see some shops out of the sightseeing bus windows, but I couldn't convince the drivers to stop.  If only I was in charge of choosing the excursions.  There would be fewer fern grottos and more fabric stores.  I'll drop a note to the captain....