Swine Flu and the Voyage Home

Posted on September 8, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Sunset in Alaska

My son Chris, grandson Justin, and I took our cruise on the Norwegian Sun early in the Alaska cruising season in 2009, the year of the big swine flu epidemic. At that time many of the ships on the Alaska run in the summer cruised Mexico throughout the winter. Whether or not our particular ship had just come up from Mexico (where the swine flu outbreak started) or not, we were bound to run into people in port that came from ships freshly out of Mexican waters.

Despite my daughter’s warnings of quarantined ships not allowed to dock in Australia, we decided to take our cruise anyway. The crew did everything under their power to stop the spread of germs. They had people stationed at the entrance to every food venue armed with hand sanitizer who would not let passengers pass without a squirt. Some crew members spent the whole day going up and down the stairways repeatedly cleaning the railings. Anything passengers touched frequently was bound to get cleaned multiple times daily.

By the time we reached our last port in Skagway, Chris had started feeling a bit under the weather, though not enough to miss our train ride. Shortly after, Justin and I did not feel well either. Instead of enjoying all the ship has to offer on the voyage home, we mostly just stayed in our cabin. Our dark little interior cabin, as we did not want to spend the extra money for one with a view.

Leela, Bender, and Fry from Futurama

I tried reading, but after reading the same paragraph several times and then realizing I had read the same page at least five times and still comprehended nothing, I gave up on that. Chris had DVD’s with every episode of Futurama, and we probably watched all of them several times.

Every now and then either Chris or I managed to drag ourselves up to the buffet and gather a tray of soup and drinks for us all. Although this flu did not include the upset stomach or emesis associated with the 24-hour flu, none of us much felt like eating, but we knew we had to at least try and stay hydrated. At least Chris and I did. We could hardly get Justin to take so much as a sip of water or spoonful of jello.

Towel Rabbit

Once we even mustered up the energy to try and attend a towel animal folding lecture. We did not get there early enough to get good seats and we couldn’t see much. English definitely was not the presenter’s first language so we didn’t really understand what he said either. I gave up early on and went back to the cabin to lie down. Chris and Justin soon followed. How to make towel animals remained a mystery to us at that time.

Other than the free cruise drawing from the tickets we got playing bingo, which I went to by myself and missed winning the cruise by one number, we spent the rest of the journey home in our room.

I don’t know if anyone else got sick on this cruise since we spent the majority of the last portion of it in our cabin.

The one adjustment I have made due to this is that I now get a flu shot every fall, at least 6 weeks before any scheduled cruise. Not only have I not been sick on a cruise since, I also have not gotten sick from airplane flights or when many of my co-workers do. Before that I had never gotten a flu shot, but having the swine flu once is one time too many so I try to make sure it won’t happen again.

Posted in Alaska, Norwegian, Sun | Tagged Alaska, cruise, futurama, sick, sick on a cruise, swine flu, travel | 11 Comments

Spotlight Award and Beautiful Blogger Award

Posted on September 6, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

My Blog has recently received two new awards. I’ve been given the Spotlight Award from Nicole at NMNPHX.

This very special award differs from other blog awards in that it is not passed around from blogger to blogger, but only awarded to those blogs Nicole chooses to highlight in her monthly spotlight.

Thank you Nicole for honoring my blog with the spotlight award.

My other new award is the Beautiful Blogger award from Meg at Meg Travels.

The requirements for the Beautiful Blogger award are:

Copy the Beautiful Blogger Award logo and place it in your post.
Thank the person who nominated you and create a link back to their blog.
Nominate 7 other bloggers for their own Beautiful Blogger Award.

Thank you Meg for the Beautiful Blogger award.

My Nominees Are:

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged awards, Beautiful Blogger award, blog awards, blogging, blogs, spotlight award | 6 Comments

How To Fold a Towel Dog

Posted on September 1, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

bulldog does what dogs do best - beg for food

Bulldog in Carnival Liberty’s Lido Resturant

Supplies Needed to Make a Towel Dog

1. Bath Towel

2. Hand Towel

3. Wash Cloth

4. Eyes

5. Tongue, collar, or any other decorations desired

Video – Carnival Liberty Stateroom Steward Folding Towel Dog

How To Fold a Towel Dog Body

The dog takes the standard towel animal body.

roll both ends of bath towel to middle

Lay the bath towel out flat and roll both sides to the middle from the short ends. Fold the towel in half with the rolls to the outside. Pull the tips out of the end of each roll.

pull the ends of all four rolls at once

Take the two tips from each end of the same roll in one hand and the two tips from either end of the other roll in the other hand and pull all four at once until the rolls pull out into legs and it makes a body. (If you don’t have the hand strength to pull all four at once you can just start them that way and then pull each half individually to the finished position.)

how to make the standard towel animal body

pulling rolled towel into 4-legged towel animal body

For more detailed instructions on how to fold a standard towel animal body refer to My Cruise Stories pig or gorilla cruise ship towel animal folding blogs.

How to Make a Towel Dog Head

how to fold a towel dog head from a hand towel

fold hand towel in half lengthwise

Lay the hand towel out flat and fold in half the long way.

put a finger on the center of the folded side and pick up corner of top layer only

Put one finger in the center of the folded side to hold the towel flat.

pull the top corner to the middle making a triangle out of one side of the towel

Take one corner of just the top layer of towel and bring it to the center so the end with your finger becomes the pointed end of that side of the towel which now looks like a triangle.

fold the top layer of the other side into a second triangle

towel looks like two side-by-side triangles

Repeat with the other side. Now you have two side by side triangles.

fold the pointy tips under

Fold the tip of the pointed end under the towel.

fold the edges of both sides toward the center

Fold the edges of both sides toward the center, but not all the way to the middle on the top side of the towel.

roll both sides to the center at the same time

Roll both sides to the middle at the same time.

towel dog head ready for nose sculpting

Turn the head around. Shape the nose as desired.

One side tucked in

Take the top ear bits and tuck them in under the sides of the nose. This both defines the top of the face and makes ears. Place the head onto the body.

How to Fold a Washcloth Dog Tail

roll the washcloth diagonally from corner

For optional towel dog tail, lay a washcloth out flat. Start from any corner and roll on the diagonal until whole washcloth is rolled.

washcloth rolled into dog tail

Place tail under dog body and position as desired.

putting together the parts of the towel dog

make the tail the length you want by putting the rest of the rolled washcloth under the towel dog so only the part you want showing sticks out

Finishing the Towel Dog

finished towel dog decorated with eyes and tongue

Decorate towel dog as desired with eyes, nostrils, tongue, collar, etc.

Next up in this Towel Animal folding series: Stingray

towel stingray

For more towel animal folding instructions on a variety of animals please visit My Cruise Stories Towel Animal Page.

Posted in Towel Animals | Tagged crafts, how to, photos, towel animals, towel art, towel dog, towel origami | 4 Comments

White Pass and Yukon Railroad in Skagway Alaska

Posted on August 25, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

White Pass and Yukon Railroad in Skagway

Skagway History

Skagway began as a gold rush boom town during the late 1800’s. Miners poured through town on their way to the gold fields of the Yukon. White Pass acquired the nickname of the Dead Horse Trail as overworked horses got sold from one miner to the next without getting a chance to rest or have enough to eat between trips up the pass. The Canadian government required each person to have a large supply of provisions before crossing the boarder, so it often took multiple trips up the pass with pack animals before loading supplies on a barge they built to float downriver to the gold fields near Dawson City. The White Pass and Yukon Railway was built to accommodate the miners, however its completion in 1898 happened near the end of the Klondike gold rush.

Steam engine, White Pass and Yukon railway

Old Steam Engine in train yard, photo taken while riding train

The railway was an engineering marvel for its time with its steep grade, sharp turns, and bridges, one of which was the tallest of its kind in the world at the time. (This bridge has since been replaced with a much simpler bridge spanning a far smaller gap just a short distance away from the original.)

Old Railroad Bridge

The white horse and yukon narrow gauge railway was designed for the gold rush as a means to make the trip up the pass far easier for the miners and their massive load of supplies. Following the end of the gold rush the trains hauled cargo for a number of years before becoming shutting down in 1892 when the mining industry in the Yukon collapsed due to low prices for minerals.

Once an engineering marvel, now a wreck

The trains re-opened in 1988 as a seasonal tourist attraction and now mine a new kind of gold. It comes from the sea in the form of cruise ships full of tourists willing to spend their money. Summertime in Skagway brings seasonal workers and a cruise ship population that far outnumbers the actual population of the town. The railway has become the most popular shore excursion in all of Alaska.

the train snakes up the mountain

Riding the Rails in Skagway

We booked the train excursion online within days of booking our Alaskan cruise on the Norwegian Sun. After all, we specifically picked an itinerary that included Skagway so we could take Justin on the train since he loves trains. The ship offered a variety of excursions involving the train, however the ones that actually went somewhere that you could get out of the train all seemed to involve a bus ride in one direction. We opted for the basic ride the train up the pass and back down trip since our whole purpose was just to ride the train.

when the trains worked in winter, tracks had to be cleared of snow

Justin standing in front of old train snow plow

This excursion had a number of start times, so we picked a middle of the day sort of one that did not involve getting up early to catch the train or rushing back to the ship before it left port. The train has tracks that run down to each cruise ship dock, so whichever ship you came to town on, you board near that ship with other passengers from the same ship. It also has a station in town for people who either did not come on a cruise or book through their ship. Everyone gets off at the town station. That’s where all the shops are. Sort of how rides in theme parks always exit through the gift shop.

The town had a display of things from the train’s working era including a snow remover and a hand-pumped cart.

no matter how hard we pump this handle, the cart never moves

We had some time to look around town before we got on the train. We’d heard about tanzanite in the jewelry lectures, so we went to a jewelry store to look at some. The shops there had blue tanzanite stones. The ones in the Caribbean on the cruises I’ve been on since all have purple tanzanite. I could have had a very nice tanzanite and white gold bracelet for $500, the sort that is pretty much a solid line of stones without a whole lot of metal between them. Nice stones too, not just a shallow inlay. I could kick myself for not spending the $500 because the price has gone up and up since and a bracelet that is not nearly as nice costs at least three or four times that much now.

We had kept hearing throughout our cruise how great Alaskan sourdough bread is, but had not had the opportunity to try any. We found a little bakery down one of the side streets and bought a loaf. We didn’t have time to take it back to the ship before our train ride, and also are pretty much too cheap to buy lunch when we could have had it on the ship for free. It was beside the point that we were not on the ship at the time, nor did we have time to go there for lunch.

We ate our loaf of sourdough bread on the train. It made a good enough lunch for us and even Justin actually ate it. It was good bread, but we weren’t really sure what the difference was between that and any other sourdough bread.

diesel engines pull the train now

The trains are pulled by diesel engines now rather than the original steam engines, but the some of the passenger cars are restored originals. Others are replicas.

river seen from the train

Once they check the tickets and get all aboard, the train begins its journey up the mountain. There’s always something to see whether its great scenery, historic landmarks, or another part of the train going around a bend. Sometimes we saw other trains above or below us when the tracks zigzagged up the mountain. A guide on the train pointed out any important things as we chugged past them.

glacier seen from train

On the way up the mountain the train passed over a number of bridges and through many tunnels. We saw all sorts of wildflowers and even some glaciers. We rumbled past the huge old steel bridge spanning a long gap. Once an engineering marvel, it has now fallen into disrepair. As the train crossed the new bridge we wondered why the people of old didn’t just go the few hundred feet farther to the narrow in the gap where they could have built a much smaller bridge as their modern counterparts did.

At the end of the climb the train just crossed over the border into Canada. It stopped there awhile, but as this excursion did not require passports, and there is no customs in the middle of nowhere, we were not allowed to get off the train. Three trains had come up the mountain, each from a different cruise ship dock. There’s only one set of tracks so they had to wait until all three arrived before heading back down.

Early on Justin saw the thing that fascinated him most on this whole journey. While randomly looking out the window, we saw lying in a ditch next to the track a rusty old steam engine that had derailed many years before.

All the way back down Justin stood eagerly at the window, camera in hand, waiting for the derailed train. We tried reminding him we had seen that on the flat land before the train even started uphill, but nothing would deter him from his post. By the time we got there he nearly missed the shot. That was a disposable camera that used actual film rather than a digital camera so I’m not sure what happened to the picture.

Skagway, Akaska

Things to do in Skagway

The Skagway Chamber of Commerce lists a variety of activities for visitors to do on their website. Everything from jeep adventures, zip lines, bus tours, boat or fishing charters, to gold panning or helicopter rides.

Shore excursions in Skagway can be booked through the cruise ship, or through outside companies in town. There were also plenty of places that had signs on the sidewalk offering a variety of tours to book on the spot for people who got off the ship with no definite plans.

Cruise ship shore excursions offer plenty of choices. Train excursions include many options including hiking, biking, kayaking and gold mining. Or just ride the train. Other excursions offer dog sled adventures, zip lines, salmon bake, walking tour of the city, horseback riding, river or other water based adventures, glass blowing, rock climbing, riding 4×4’s, helicopter rides, fishing and more.

Posted in Alaska, Norwegian, Shore Excursions, Sun | Tagged Alaska, cruise, narrow gauge railway, photos, shore excursion, Skagway, train, travel, White Pass and Yukon Railroad | 11 Comments

Taking a Twilight Tour in Forks, Washington

Posted on August 18, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Twilight Tour Bus

Many of the cruise ships heading for Alaska each summer depart from Seattle. Passengers who have a bit of extra time to spend in the Seattle area before or after their cruise find numerous things to see. Seattle, of course, has its major icons like Pike Place Market and the Space Needle. It also has lesser-known delights like the Underground Tour or the Freemont troll.

Some folks venture out a bit farther to visit Mt. Rainer, the area’s largest mountain, or her more famous sister Mt. St. Helens, who blew her top in a 1980 volcanic eruption. What about the many Twilight fans though? There’s something extra special for them to see. You don’t even have to be a Twilight fan to enjoy a Twilight tour in Forks. Randy, our tour guide and bus driver, had lots of tidbits of information to share about the local area and the book that saved a town.

Forks High School sign

We booked an evening tour with Team Forks that included a hot dog roast on the beach. The tour met at a flower shop right across the street from Forks High School. The school itself has been rebuilt, but it still has the original sign. The flower shop has mostly been taken over by Twilight merchandise. Forks may be a small town, but there’s no shortage of places to buy all things Twilight.

City of Forks police car

We had a group of five, and were joined by two other people on our tour. Our friendly bus driver/tour guide Randy gave us all plenty of time for photos at the school sign before boarding the bus, and even brought out his cardboard cutouts of Bella and Edward to join in the posing. Sometimes they have actual live look-alikes for the movie characters, but none joined our tour.

Here it is….the Forks City Hall Sign

The bus stopped first at Forks City Hall, home of the police station where Bella’s dad Charlie (Chief Swan) works. We had plenty of opportunities for photos inside and out. When a real live Forks cop pulled into the parking lot he posed for photos with tourists as well. Just about everyone in Forks welcomes Twilight fans.

Randy said that before Twilight, Forks was a dying town. Mainly only fishing or hunting brought visitors in the pre-Twilight era. With the town’s main source of employment – logging – on the fritz many people had been laid off and the town itself had so little money it considered unincorporating because the town could not pay its bills.

B&B in Forks better known as Cullens' house

Miller Tree Inn B&B, AKA the Cullens’ house

Just a few hundred yards down the road from City Hall we found the Cullens’ house. Apparently the team Forks tour does not have a monopoly on cardboard cut-outs of the movie characters as Edward peered out of an upstairs window. People who really want to immerse themselves into the Twilight experience can stay at the Cullen’s house, as it is a Bed and Breakfast.

Edward looks out the upstairs window

In between stops Randy added more tidbits of information about either Forks or Twilight. He said the whole concept of the books started with Stephanie Myers having recurring dreams about a misty clouded shadowy place.

Forks Hospital, Dr. Cullen’s parking space

Next the bus stopped at the Forks Hospital where the head of the vampire family works. Randy mentioned a need to relocate Dr. Cullen’s parking space sign due to its original location causing tourists to interfere with the arrival of ambulances. With the looming possibility of an emergency occurring right when tourists have stopped to take photos, the ambulance gets precedence.

Bella’s injured, get Dr. Cullen quick!

Twilight author Stephanie Myers literally discovered the place of her dreams in an online search for the setting of her books. Not having actually been to Forks at the time, she based the character’s homes on actual places in “for sale” listings. Bella and Jacob’s houses on the tour are those very houses from the original descriptions. The house described in the book as the Cullen’s house was a ways out of town and later burned down. Needing a suitable replacement for the tours, they found one right in town that fit the description.

Bella Swan’s house in Forks WA

Following a short drive through the backstreets of Forks, we stopped at Bella’s house. This house remains a private residence, but they have placed a sign in the yard proclaiming it as the home of the Swans. While we were there a couple of Mormons out on their proselytizing duties walked by. They seemed amused by the Twilight bus, but did not object to having their picture taken even though they are not part of the story. Perhaps even vampires or vampires to be need a bit of religion in their lives.

Do Vampires Bite Mormons?

Stephanie did her research well, finding later when she actually did come to visit Forks that the descriptions in her books fit the actual places they intended to describe as well as if she had actually seen them.

Bella's trucks at the Forks Visitor's Center

Bella’s trucks, movie version and book version

Parked in front of the visitor’s center sit two old trucks. The oldest and reddest one looks like Bella’s truck as described in the book. The more oranger-looking and somewhat newer one is of the type used in the movie. Apparently they could not find one from the book that actually ran when filming the movies. The first movie was too low-budget to have a replica made. We had lots of time for posing with both trucks and the cardboard cut-outs. Jacob came out to join Bella at this stop.

Forks Chamber of Commerce / Visitor's Center

Bella’s truck, book version

Before the filming of the first Twilight movie, crews came to Forks to do the prep work for filming there. Then the state of Washington stepped in demanding a hefty tax. Unable to afford it at that time, the film crews moved to Vancouver B.C. and Oregon instead. After the first movie became so successful, the state wanted a piece of the action, but by then the movie makers had soured on Washington and did not care to make a deal.

Jacob and Edward at the treaty line

As we headed out of town, Randy gave options of which Twilight movie to play. I thought the how-it-was-made one sounded interesting, but got out-voted by everyone else who preferred watching the first movie. We stopped at the Treaty Line, which was a sign at the entrance to a campground. The campground also offered restrooms, a store, and a small cafe.

Forks has embraced everything Twilight. The success of the books and movies brought enough tourists to the area to revive Forks from a dying town to a thriving town, thus becoming the book that saved a town.

Jacob the werewolf's house from Twilight

Jacob Black’s house, La Push WA

Jacob Black’s house offers Twilight fans another opportunity to immerse themselves in the story. It operates as a vacation rental home, sleeping up to 10 people. The tour still stops there, with photo ops on a motorcycle as well as in front of the house.

Rialto beach at La Push

We stopped at a different beach than where the tour normally goes, as Jacob’s people, the Quileute tribe, had some sort of ceremony going on where the tour usually stops. We went to a sort of mystical beach with huge logs to climb over and a nearby flat-topped island with trees only in a ring around the edge while the center remains a sacred burial ground to the tribe. The surf crashed into shore with great force and a heavy undertow. A kind of mist surrounded the rocky stacks in the water.

Randy cooking hot dogs on Rialto Beach

Randy cooked the hot dogs while the rest of us explored and enjoyed the beach. We had our choice of beef or turkey hot dogs roasted over a fire and plenty of logs to sit on. A couple seagulls came begging and enjoyed the leftovers, one running off with an entire hot dog which it swallowed whole. It looked like enough to choke a seagull, but then again they probably eat whole fish that way too. It gulped it right down without any trouble.

Rialto Beach, La Push WA

On the way back we stopped at the “Welcome to Forks” sign for night photos when it is lit up.

Welcome to Forks sign at night

Forks has two different Twilight Tour operators. The original Twilight Tours in Forks, and Twilight Tours by Team Forks. We had nothing to go on but the websites, and went with Team Forks because it looked like more fun and had the tour including the hot dog roast on the beach. Our guide said both tours go to the same places, and will actually work together by sending guests that want to book when they are already full to each other. In his opinion, his tour is more fun and the other more informative. The cardboard cut-outs of the movie characters for picture posing are only on the Team Forks tour.

Some people prefer to tour the area on their own rather than taking an organized tour. The Forks Visitor Information Center provides maps of all of the Twilight destinations to assist with do-it-yourself Twilight Tours.

Forks sits just about 140 miles from Seattle, so many visitors get there by rental car. A day tour that includes transportation provides another option. Those who choose to drive themselves also have the option of spending the night in the Cullen’s house B&B or renting Jacob’s house. Forks has several motels as well.

GPS or mapquest will tell you it takes just over 3 hours drive time to get from Seattle to Forks, but that does not include the state ferry where you have to add waiting time and loading and unloading time as well as the time it takes for the actual crossing.

Another option is to bypass the ferry and drive around crossing on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge instead. It is a toll bridge, though the toll is less than the ferry fare. When the ferry lines and waiting times are long you can drive around before you would have even gotten on the ferry, but when it is not peak time the ferry makes a nicer and faster trip.

Lavender farms sell an assortment of lavender products

lavender in Sequim, WA

Things to see on the way to or from Forks include the lavender farms of Sequim, Hurricane Ridge near Port Angeles, and the historic town of Port Gamble.

Posted in Day Trips, Port City Side Trips, Washington | Tagged #TwilightTour, Bella's house, Cullens house, Forks WA, Jacob's house, photos, travel, Twilight, Twilight Tour, Twilight Tour in Forks | 15 Comments

Nothing to Eat at the Chocolate Buffet

Posted on August 11, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Norwegian Sun

We had good meals on the Norwegian Sun. On the one-week cruise I took with my son and grandson, they served lobster twice. The ship had all sorts of different eateries, but since a number of them cost extra we pretty much stuck with the dining room or the buffet. Chris did try the sushi and said it was well worth the nominal fee. Justin had either pizza or a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner every night. If anyone could starve on a cruise ship full of food, he could. So much to choose from, and the picky six-year-old wouldn’t try hardly anything. He insisted he didn’t like it without even giving it a chance.

One thing I did notice though, was that while we had a lot of tasty dessert choices each meal, none of them were ever chocolate. I wondered what was up with that until finally the daily events paper mentioned a late-night chocolate buffet. This we must attend, Chris and I agreed. Justin didn’t seem so thrilled about it, but really, what’s not to love about a whole room full of chocolate choices in every cake, cookie, pie, mousse, or pudding type imaginable. Even Justin could find something he liked there.

We waited in a bit of a line to get in, Justin grumbling about not wanting to go. Once through the door, they had three rows of tables piled high with chocolate goodies of every shape and variety. Another passenger said all three lines had the same things, so we grabbed plates and went down one of the ones on the side. As Chris and I filled our plates, we kept offering Justin things, while he said no to everything. Finally I just put some things like chocolate pudding on his plate that I know he likes, and a few things that looked like the sort of thing he would eat such as chocolate rice krispie cookies.

“There’s nothing to eat at the Chocolate Buffet.”

After we got to the end of the line and Justin still had said no to everything, we found out the tortes and fancy cakes were all in the middle line, just the outer two were the same. I figured I had more on my plate already than I could ever eat and decided to skip those no matter how good they looked (and they did look good.) Chris found a couple things to try there, and Justin still said no to everything. We figured once we sat down he’d at least eat the pudding.

We found an open table, which was not easy as the room had quite a crowd. Justin refused to eat anything, I suppose just to be stubborn since he said he didn’t want to go to the chocolate buffet in the first place. Then we noticed a table with a crewmember behind it, serving ice cream. We took Justin there to see what they had. Surprisingly enough, since this was after all a chocolate buffet, they had strawberry or vanilla. No chocolate ice cream at all, although they did have things like m&m’s or chocolate sprinkles people could put on top.

Justin settled for a bowl of strawberry ice cream, and did actually eat that. I can’t imagine anyone else going to a chocolate buffet and eating nothing but strawberry ice cream. Justin is one of a kind. (I do realize there are people who can’t eat chocolate, but what are the odds they would actually go to a chocolate buffet?)

Posted in Cruise Food, Norwegian, Shipboard Life, Sun | Tagged cartoon, chocolate buffet, cruise, dessert, food, picky eater | 6 Comments

How to Fold a Towel Turtle

Posted on August 4, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Towel Turtle on Carnival Liberty

Supplies Needed to Make a Towel Turtle

1. Bath Towel

2. Hand Towel

3. Washcloth

4. eyes (bits of paper or felt or googly eyes)

Video of Stateroom Steward Folding Towel Turtle

How to Make a Towel Turtle Body

The turtle takes the standard towel animal body, same as many other towel animals.

one side of towel rolled to middle

Lay the bath towel out flat.

both sides rolled to the middle

Roll both ends to the middle.

rolled towel folded in half, rolls to outside

Fold rolled towel in half, rolls to the outside.

pull the ends of the tips out of each roll

Pull the tip out of the end of each roll.

pull the rolls into legs

Take the two tips that are the ends of one roll in one hand and the tips that are the ends of the other roll in the other hand and pull all four at once until the rolls pull into legs.

finished towel animal body

How to Make a Towel Turtle Shell

Lay the hand towel out flat.

fold the hand towel in half crosswise

Fold in half the short way across the middle.

fold hand towel in half diagonally

Fold in half diagonally so it looks like a triangle.

How to Make a Towel Turtle Head

Lay the washcloth out flat.

how to make a washcloth head for a towel turtle

fold down one end of the washcloth

Fold one end down a couple inches.

one side of washcloth folded over for turtle head

Fold both corners down from the middle of the folded end turning that end pointy.

both corners folded over for washcloth turtle head

Roll both sides to the middle at the same time.

if you don’t have camera in the other hand, you can roll both sides at once

Shape the pointy end into the head and make sure the rolls of the neck are tight.

Putting the Towel Turtle Together

set the head on top of the body

Set head on top of body.

drape the shell over the turtle with the straight edge to the front

Drape the shell over the head and body.

finished towel turtle

Tuck the ends of the shell in at the back and sides and decorate with eyes. Bits of paper, cloth or felt work for eyes. Googly eyes work well too.

for a different way to assemble the turtle, tuck the head between the leg rolls on the body

For a different way to assemble the turtle, turn the body over and nestle the head between the leg rolls, then flip it back over and put on the shell instead of putting the head on top of the body before adding the shell.

flip turtle over so neck is underneath

top it with a shell for a different finished towel turtle

Next in this towel animal folding series: Towel Dog

towel bulldog in Carnival Liberty launderette

For instructions on folding other towel animals check out My Cruise Stories Towel Animal Page, where clicking on any photo brings you to a blog with instructions on how to fold that animal.

Posted in Towel Animals | Tagged crafts, how to make cruise ship towel animals, photos, towel animal folding, towel animals, towel art, towel origami, towel turtle, video | 6 Comments

How to Win a Fantastick Hair Clip Great for Cruises and Everything Else

Posted on July 28, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

my flexi clip collection

You Can Wear the Flexi Clips Everywhere

Up-do’s made easy. No more hair in your face on windy decks. No hair tangled around pony tail holders. A versatile stylish hair clip you can wear any time, anywhere. What more could anyone ask for? Speed and ease in styling their hair? With these clips, you get that too!

I first discovered the Lilla Rose flexi clip on my daughter’s blog when she did a review on a fantastick clip for mommies to keep their hair out of grabby baby fingers. The first thing I thought when I saw it was what a great clip to wear on cruise ships. I posted a link on my facebook page, and Linda Menke saw it and asked if I’d like to review the clips too.

My hair is slicker than a freshly zambonied ice skating rink. It is also thin, baby fine, and straight. Did I mention there’s not that much of it? My greatest irritation with it is how my ears always want to stick out. (Thin hair and big ears are not a good combination.) No ordinary hair clip stands a chance. Barrettes slide around, headbands not only hurt my head, but also pop up or slide off, and ponytail holders tangle around the hair and break or pull out hairs that I really can’t spare when removed.

I mentioned this to Linda when she asked me if I wanted to review her products and she welcomed the challenge. It takes great confidence in the product to welcome a challenge that big. I think I got lucky that my very first product review is on such a great product.

horseback riding with the flexi clip

My sister and I gave the flexi clips a real test on a camping trip where we wore them horseback riding every day. On a cloudy day I put all my hair into a bun with a medium size flexi clip over it, and on the sunnier days we both wore ponytails with hats to keep the sun out of our eyes. I used an extra-small flexi clip for the ponytail and my sister used a small. In both styles the clips stayed put through the ride and beyond. A random stranger at the trailhead complimented our hair clips. These clips would work great for horse shows too. There’s even a flexi clip on the Lilla Rose website with a horse head as the center decoration.

I took this close-up of the ponytail myself, while riding my horse down the trail

Tips For Using Flexi Clips

I’ve found that the key is using the right size clip for the style you want to wear. It needs to have enough hair to fill the clip with just enough room left over to include some of the other hair under the styled part. If you use the right size clip and get it securely held into some of the underhair, it will stay on there all day whatever you do, even if you fall asleep on it in the evening after a hard day’s work. If your clip is too big for the chosen style, then there’s not enough hair to hold it in and it will tend to slide. If it is too small then you don’t have room to get some of the hair underneath included in the clip to keep the styled hair in place. Also when wearing flexi clips with danglies, make sure the clip is high enough on your head that the danglies don’t catch in collars on clothes or jackets.

trail riding with flexi clip in pony tail

more hair means a bigger flexi clip for the same style

Unfortunately, I don’t have a cruise coming up in the near future to test them on. The closest I could come to that for now is to stand out on deck on the state ferry. The next cruise I have booked is a transatlantic though, and I will definitely pack my Lilla Rose flexi clips and the headband too. Since receiving sample clips in the mail, I’ve worn them everyday, everywhere. I like them so much I bought more. I’m really looking forward to wearing the princess tiara dangle clip on formal night, and trying the not so fancy ones on the waterslide when I finally get to go on that cruise.

Lill Rose flexi clips stand up to the wind and sea

on the deck of the state ferry

I use the extra small for pony tails or half-ups (though I actually can fit all my hair into it for an up-do.) The mini also works for me for half-ups. I use the small for styles from the Lilla Rose website, although since I have layered hair not all of them work for me. My favorite turned out to be the medium because I can just twist my hair into a basic messy bun and clip that over the whole thing with plenty of underhair to hold it in securely.

the simple danglie jet size small flexi clip on the job at work

I’ve never mentioned my day job in this blog before. Other than paying the bills, it has nothing to do with cruising or travel of any sort. I’m a press brake operator in a sheet metal shop. Yup, I bend parts all day. I also start early in the morning and work a 10 hour shift (12 lately, we’ve been on overtime.) My normal routine used to be take a shower, put some clothes on, and get in the car. My hair dried in route and I ran a brush or comb through it before getting out of the car. I ignored it the rest of the day and it looked like a mess.

Now I can duck into the bathroom and put one on when I get there (which is normally a couple minutes before my shift starts.) The clip stays in all day and my hair looks much neater.

I work mainly with guys. One would think they would not notice such things as hair clips, but a number of them commented on the flexi clips. You know the clip is special when that many busy working guys notice it. They aren’t the only ones noticing it either. At my niece’s graduation dinner my family commented on what great-looking clip the daisy freestyle dangle was. (I love that one.)

Lilla Rose flexi clip, princess tiara dangle

princess tiara dangle worn on a windy beach

I wear the clips around the house, to the store, and for all my routine chores. My hair stays exactly how it started. Sometimes the hair on top of my head or around the clip isn’t the neatest from the get go, but that’s just how my hair is, impossible to get a perfectly groomed look. Sort of like Harry Potter’s hair, which was described in the books as being “all over the place.” Or maybe I’m just hair styling challenged because I’ve never gotten it to look perfect in any sort of style or clip of any sort ever. But it is better in the Lilla Rose clips than in any other one I’ve ever tried. Layered hair like mine does present a challenge trying to keep all the ends contained.

The Lilla Rose Headband

Thin hair and big ears always means fighting a loosing battle trying to keep my ears from sticking out through the hair when my hair is down. I’ve tried a variety of headbands, and they either hurt or don’t stay in place, often both. The Lilla Rose headband is adjustable so it can be as tight or loose as the person wearing it wants, to find their own balance between comfort and staying in place. I wore mine to work and it did its job of keeping my ears from sticking out, and felt so comfortable I never really noticed it, where usually when wearing a headband I am very conscious of its presence. I had it snug, but not tight, and it barely moved at all.

using Lilla Rose headband as necklace, flexi clip for scarf clip

Creative use of Lilla Rose products

I think the headband will be perfect for the times I deal poker or blackjack for an outfit that provides casino games for parties. On a recent trip with some family members though, my niece found a whole lot more creative use for it. She wore it around her neck like a necklace most of the day, then when we stopped awhile on a very windy beach she had it handy to pull up over her hair to keep it from blowing around.

Lilla Rose headband holds hair on a windy beach

More About Lilla Rose Flexi Clips

Lilla Rose has lots of different styles of hair jewelry. I love the flexi clip, but you might like something different. The winner of this giveaway picks whatever one they want. For those with long, thick, curly, or any other different type of hair who may be thinking something that works for me couldn’t possibly fit around your hair never fear, the flexiclip comes in a wide variety of sizes ranging from mini to mega and accommodates all types of hair. There’s many different styles and colors to choose from.

How to Win Your Very Own Lilla Rose Hair Clip

Winning your very own Lilla Rose Hair Clip is very easy. All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog about what sort of Lilla Rose product you would like to win. That’s it, and you are entered in the drawing for this giveaway sponsored by Independent Consultant Linda Menke. To see the Lilla Rose products, visit the website. Click on go shopping to see all the wonderful products you can choose from if you win.

Want more chances to win? To get your name in the drawing extra times, there are several things you can do for bonus entries. You can like Linda’s facebook page, and comment on my blog that you did so. You can also watch the styling videos on Linda’s website and comment back on my blog with your favorite hairstyle. For yet another entry share the blog review on facebook, and again comment back on the blog that you did so. It’s really easy to share, just go to my facebook page and hit the share button on the link posted there. (While you’re there feel free to like the page.) These three things plus your initial comment give you up to four chances to win. Only two of them require a facebook account, so all those of you not on facebook still have two chances to win. The winning entry will be drawn at random from the comments, which is why it is important to leave separate comments for each entry.

One lucky winner among those people who comment on this blog will win their very own Lilla Rose product of choice from the Lilla Rose website priced under $16. If the winner lives outside of the USA, they may need to pay postage to receive their prize.

For those who don’t wear hair clips, Lilla Rose also has other products. And odds are you know someone who would love to receive one of these great clips as a gift.

Anyone living in the US, Canada, or Mexico can purchase Lilla Rose products directly from Linda’s website. People living in other countries can order their great Lilla Rose hair jewelry directly from the sponsor of this giveaway by emailing her at Cliptomania@ymail.com. She’ll figure out the shipping cost, send you an invoice through paypal, and ship your items directly to you.

WINNER will be announced on this blog on August 12. If you’ve entered be sure to check back because it is the winner’s responsibility to contact Linda Menke to claim their prize.

flexi clip size comparison of the 4 smallest sizes

Be sure to leave a comment about what flexi clip or other Lilla Rose product you like so you have a chance to win. If you are on the home page and not this specific post, click on comments in the tiny writing at the end of this post and before the next one to leave your comments.

In case you missed them above, the 4 ways to get entries into the giveaway are:

1. Main entry – View products in the go shopping section of the Lilla Rose website and leave a comment on this blog saying which product you would like to win.

2. “Like” Linda Menke’s Lilla Rose facebook page and leave a comment on this blog that you did so.

3. Watch the styling videos on the Lilla Rose website and leave a comment on this blog about which style you liked best.

4. Go to My Cruise Stories facebook page and share the link to this blog, then comment on this blog that you did so.

These must all be in different comments to count as separate entries.

THE WINNER IS:

To make this as fair as possible, I put a number for each comment on a piece of paper, put them all in a pile and stirred them up. Then I drew #14. Counting down the comments, the 14th comment came from…………my sponsor. This would never do, so my husband drew another number. Congratulations to lucky LINDA of comment #11. Yes the sponsor’s name is also Linda, but this is a different Linda. It’s just a Linda kind of day. Linda of comment #11, please contact Linda Menke at Cliptomania@ymail.com to claim your prize. Linda said in her comments that she liked the renaissance cross the best.

If you entered and are not the winner, you also may want to contact Linda Menke because if you read comment #14, she mentions special deals to everyone who entered the drawing.

Posted in Product Reviews | Tagged flexi clips, free, giveaway, hair clips for cruises, hairclip, Lilla Rose, photos, product review, win | 33 Comments

One Lovely Blog Award

Posted on July 27, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

My sudden string of awards continues with the One Lovely Blog Award. It’s wonderful to know my blog has been noticed and appreciated.

A great big thank-you to Nicole of NMNPHX for the nomination. Check out her blog for some really entertaining posts. She even has her very own award called the spotlight award that she awards to other blogs with no strings attached.

I have to agree with Nicole that the tree graphic for this award looks nicer than the heart graphic. It’s a much more attractive picture, I think.

As with most blogger to blogger awards, this one has some rules. The rules for this award include thanking the person who nominated you with a link back to their blog (and honestly that is the polite thing to do rule or no rule.) Also post 7 random things about yourself and nominate 15 other blogs for the award. Fifteen is quite a lot. A number of the blogs I would have nominated already had this award displayed. Which just goes to show other people like those blogs too.

Seven Things About Myself

1. My favorite name that I ever gave to a horse is Royal Golden Glow. The name totally suited her because she was a golden palomino. Her dam (mother)’s name was Royal Blue Sue, and sire (father)’s name was Mr. Glow Buck so her name combined both their names and her color.

2. Both of my children married people from other countries.

3. While riding in the car with me, my dog likes to sit in the front passenger seat, and then wants me to hold her paw while we drive down the road.

4. I wonder if there is any such thing as a politician who would do right by the people they are elected to represent instead of cutting everything except their own overly generous salaries, perks, and benefits to save money. Not likely.

5. I like pajama jeans.

6. I think experimental cooking is more fun than making known recipes.

7. Given the option, I’ll do without something rather than wait in line for it.

My Nominations are:

Feel free to check out this random collection of interesting blogs. (Just a note to other bloggers – if you want to make your blog easy to find, put a link on your gravatar!)

The world according to Hannah

Fotobird

A Mom’s Reviews

Clement Allen Photography

Envisioning Future

Zent Creative Blog

Munchow’s Creative Photo Blog

Afternoon Popcorn Snack

The High Heel Gourmet

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged awards, blog awards, blogging, blogs, random stuff | 11 Comments

Mount Roberts Tramway in Juneau, Alaska

Posted on July 21, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Norwegian Sun in Juneau viewed from Mount Roberts

The bus from our scenic river raft tour dropped us off at the base of the Mount Roberts Tramway in Juneau, Alaska. Glad we had purchased our tickets on the ship, we bypassed the ticket line and went straight to the tram line. Figuring in time spent in line to go back down, the return trip itself (which takes 6 minutes from the 2000 foot high top back down to the lower tram station at 27 feet above sea level ) and catching the shuttle back to the not-quite-in-town pier where the bigger ships like Norwegian Sun docked, we had about 15 minutes to spend at the top.

Mt Roberts Tram

There seemed to be quite an extensive building up there with gift shops, a restaurant, bar, and theater. Somewhere up there there’s a nature center and observatory that we didn’t have time to look for. Along the sides of the wide hallway in from where we exited the tram, people had cameras set up to sell vacation photos to the many tourists. We bypassed all that and went outside where they had a pretty extensive set of trails. With such limited time to explore, we took a very short hike.

Justin in the snow on top of Mount Roberts

In June in Juneau, not all the snow melts on the tops of even small mountains. We saw snow alongside the trail here and there, and then a big patch covering the entire trail. We thought hiking through snow in June was pretty good. I topped that one later though, riding horseback through snow in August.

Mt. Roberts tram over Holland America Cruise Ship

We managed to find a few minutes to take some photos from the top of the mountain. The tram ride itself is quite scenic, as most mountain tram rides are. I wish I had more to say about it, but we spent such a brief time at the top we didn’t see enough to know anything more than that we could have spent our entire time in Juneau up there without running out of things to do.

view of Juneau from inside the Mt. Roberts tramway

We definitely did not want to get left behind in port, so we made sure to come down from the mountain in time to get back to the ship. If the bus from our river raft excursion had been late, the boat would have waited since that was an official ship’s excursion, but once we left that bus we were on our own. Even though we bought the tram tickets on board, since those could be used at will and not with scheduled transportation to and from the trip they did not count as something the ship would wait for.

Mt. Roberts Tramwway in route

Only once have I ever been on a ship that did not leave port at the scheduled time. In Belize, customs took a very long time to clear the ship, so the shore excursions started late and a whole boatload of people must have had an all-day tour because they got back about an hour past time the ship should have left. I bet they were glad they had an official tour. We booked one on our own there, an excellent cave tubing adventure. Even with the late start they got us back to the ship on time.

After wondering all day why we had so little time to spend in Juneau compared to what we got in our other ports, we got back on the ship shortly before the scheduled departure time. We went up on deck to watch it leave, and there we saw a short distance away the Princess boat we seemed to see at a lot of our ports circling around waiting for us to leave so it could have our place at the dock. That pretty much explained it. Juneau did not have a whole lot of places for the larger ships to dock, so each one could only stay a short time.

Things to do in Juneau, Alaska

However you get there, Mendenhall Glacier is Juneau’s main tourist attraction. For more ideas on what to do or see, check in with Juneau’s Visitor’s Center.

If you come in on a cruise ship, they offer plenty of shore excursions to choose from. A number of them involve glaciers, which you can arrive at by land, sea, or air. Other options include a zip line, fishing, wildlife watching, dogsledding, gold mining, biking, kayaking, eating salmon, a hummer tour, or a photo safari.

When we went there were also people around the town square type area where the shuttles stopped with signs offering an assortment of bargain tours, and busses people could ride to Mendenhall Glacier for a nominal fee.

Free things to do in Juneau include a self-guided walking tour (you can get a map at the visitor’s center,) or tours of a brewery or the capitol buildings.

More Blogs About Juneau

Juneau, Zipline, Mount Roberts Tram on a stormy day, Glacier Gardens, River Raft Excursion, Mendenhall Glacier, Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center

Posted in Alaska, Norwegian, Shore Excursions, Sun | Tagged Alaska, cruise, Juneau, Mt. Roberts, photo, snow in June, tram, travel | 6 Comments

Cruise Stories

Swine Flu and the Voyage Home

Spotlight Award and Beautiful Blogger Award

How To Fold a Towel Dog

White Pass and Yukon Railroad in Skagway Alaska

Taking a Twilight Tour in Forks, Washington

Nothing to Eat at the Chocolate Buffet

How to Fold a Towel Turtle

How to Win a Fantastick Hair Clip Great for Cruises and Everything Else

One Lovely Blog Award

Mount Roberts Tramway in Juneau, Alaska

More Blogs About Juneau

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