Once Again Here's Hawaii...

So the priorities for this trip were to relax after the long year we'd experienced 2009-2010 and to see real live whales in their natural environment.
Both priorities were accomplished
Below are some photos we got from the balcony (The Lanai- pronounced La-nigh') of our condo on the third floor. Fred estimated that these whales were in the deeper water probably about three to five football fields away! I will say that the way they looked thorough our amazing binoculars were what I would have loved to have captured on film. However, that would have necessitated an even better lens than I have and getting a better tripod which finally broke last year. That expense would have eaten up the trip budget. Therefore we opted to go and get the best pictures we could, but the main thing was to sit there and over and over be stunned at the power, strength, and grace of these largest of mammals! Even without binoculars we watched them in amazement.
The fact that each of us caught a full breach at two different times is miraculous.A couple told us they had been coming there for the past eleven years, going out n the whale spotting tours and only last year caught a full breach n film. There's just no way to judge when these large animals are going to burst up through the ocean from the depths like this. Enough blathering then...

This is the underside of one of the whales that breached...Fred took these shots

SPLASHDOWN!

These next shots were taken by me, perhaps a little bit closer in. Look at the boat and the people on it to gain perspective on the mammoth size of these Humpbacks... Remember to click on each photo below to see the entire shot. The program with my blog needs to be replaced...

 There was a sizable pod just hanging around this whale excursion boat for a very long time, so I just shot repeatedly and finally...

And off he goes...

Sonya and Dora finally meet!

So we met Josh and Mis and the kiddos for lunch at Fuddruckers and brought Dora who had finally arrived home yesterday.
As you may recall Dora was a Ty Beanie Baby purchase form a truck stop in Alabama on our way to the beaches of Florida a couple of weeks ago. She went everywhere with us and I sent photos, texts with pics and videos home to our granddaughter, Sonya, of Dora's adventures with us on vacation.
Somewhere in Southeast Missouri on our return trek home we lost Dora!!!
As near as we can tell here is the most likely scenario.
Dora was in one of her usual perches in our car, sitting on top of the vent on the dashboard on the passenger side.

Sweet, trusting Dora...

As we ventured through the cotton fields in the Boot-heel, I kept shooting pictures of them for Sonya to look at later. (One of those fields is where I scarfed this particular piece of cotton that Dora is holding.)

Anyway, I had to open the window once or twice to get off a decent shot without "window scum" .

It is our humble opinion that Dora exited the safety of the car through the open window on a trajectory that was below my eye level as I was wildly photographing yet one more cotton field.

Sadly she was not missed until after we had stopped at a rest area and only upon starting to leave there did I cry out, "Where's Dora?!?!"

After tearing our fully packed vehicle apart, searching the entire grounds of the rest area and leaving my name and contact info with the rest area greeter (who I might add was horrified at our negligence!) we had to head on down the road towards home.

After several stops at truck stops and small towns Fred had me pull into a Starbucks with WiFi in Cape Girardeau and we found an identical Dora online via Amazon and promptly ordered her! (We have secretly been awaiting her arrival and had already dubbed her "Dora's evil twin sister")

So today was the long-awaited meeting of Dora and Sonya. I'd love to report that Sonya was overcome with joy and excitement, but truthfully, she seemed somewhat shy and embarrassed. It just took a little time for them to warm up to each other. Then they were fine.

And here's one more shot of Dora on the trip to Florida and one of her sunbathing at the beach.

It's important to provide adequate sun protection for her on the beach even though her skin is naturally darker because of her nationality.

Anyway we hope that (this) Dora survives the "baby crocodile" (that's Sonya's name for her little brother, Teddy) and the Buddies (the puggles) at Sonya's house and that she and Sonya have lots of adventures together.