Things to Consider When Planning Your Alaskan Cruise

06 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by lorifranze in Pleasure, Travel

Tags

alaskan cruise, Celebrity Infinity, Glacier Bay, Hubbard glacier, Icy Straight, Junea, Ketchikan

I feel like an expert having just gotten back from an Alaskan and I want to share what I learned and help others avoid possible mistakes in planning their dream vacation. And an Alaskan cruise has the potential to be the best vacation you’ve taken!

Selecting Your Cruise Line and Itinerary

For us we wanted to leave and return to Vancouver and be on a ship that had more than 4 stars as a rating. That lead us to Celebrity and their ship the Infinity. We picked a cruise that went to Icy Strait, Hubbard Glacier, Juneau and Ketchikan with 2 full days at sea. I book through Vacations To Go – they never disappoint me with their knowledge and prices. My guy Johnston was fantastic so let me know if you want his details.

The Infinity at the Hubbard (taken by Celebrity)

Veranda or No Veranda? Concierge Class or Regular?

It can be very overwhelming when trying to decide what type of room to book especially when the prices can start to get pretty steep. One thing that is a must for this cruise is a Veranda room – do not miss out on sitting on your veranda with a glass of wine looking at a humpback whale forage for herring with mountains as the backdrop. We went with the concierge class and were treated to upgraded sheets and pillows, priority getting off at ports, a bottle of bubbly in our room when we arrived and a concierge if we needed one.

How do I plan for Shore Excursions?

I learned an important lesson (or a few with this cruise). First, not all excursions are offered through the cruise line. There are hundreds but you might find something you want to do that is through a non-affiliated company so do your research. I found a kayaking trip I wanted to do two days before we left. Sadly for me I didn’t book it right away and that is lesson two. If there is something you really want to do, don’t delay. Some of these tours can only accommodate a half dozen people per outing and most days there were three ships in port. Next lesson is a bit contradictory to lesson one. You don’t have to book everything on the first day. I booked before getting on the ship then went to an advance session for Concierge Class travellers (another perk) that gave me a sneak peak and ran down to book before the mob. Unfortunately I didn’t pay attention to the deadlines and when we thought we might want to cancel we couldn’t get a refund. (It all worked out in the end though!)

The Infinity docked in Ketchikan (photo by Celebrity)

Budget for More Spending On Board

We were lucky enough to get two bonus items on our package and we selected the booze package and gratuities with a $50 onboard credit. Well, we still managed to spend quite a bit with our excursions, a trip to the spa, onboard shopping, an upgrade to the classic beverage package and a bottle of Evian in our room (another learning there, get the water at the bar since the one in your room is not on your package!)

I’d love to hear your tips for cruising since I plan to do it again and if you have questions for me I’d be happy to help, if I can! More on my trip in the coming days and weeks.

My backyard oasis in the city

24 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by lorifranze in Uncategorized

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Before…

If you’ve followed my blog over the years (sorry if you’ve missed me the last 6 months… I had writer’s block!) you are aware that we have had some battles with the raccoons in our backyard. We’ve struggled with the sod and the pond and it is not only the raccoons but also the lack of sunshine due to the tree canopy. Well this year we started early and I wanted to share photos that may inspire others living in cities with small spaces.

We started with trimming our trees and removing a Blackberry tree that was making a mess in the yard and blocking the sun. Karmatree did an amazing job for 1/3 of other quotes so if you need some trees trimmed or removed give them a call.

Garden wall, before…

In the above before photo you can see the start of the garden wall – this was a huge undertaking but we wanted to do something unique that would possibly allow for me to grow herbs that would be safe from raccoons and squirrels (who actually even eat the plastic pants we have out on the deck). Houzz was a fabulous app if you are in to design but I must warn you that it might make you sad too, to look at all these gorgeous homes and yards. You’ve been warned.

A whole lot of work went it to planting, moving the pond and getting the wall up. We had friends consult and actually do some of the work (thanks Colleen) and the end result is is even more spectacular than I could have imaged after spending 2 straight days out back with family and friends.

Scroll down to check out the after photos and let me know what you think!

My garden wall with veggies, herbs and berries.

After, from above. You can see my ladder on the wall. So I can reach my mint, berries and cilantro.

Buying a New Furnace

27 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by lorifranze in Advice & Recommendations

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Tags

buying a new furnace, high efficiency furnace, modulating furnace, Reliance, two stage

A couple of weekends ago I woke up to a freezing cold home, after having turned up the thermostat before settling in to an evening of relaxing in front of the TV. I immediately ran down to the furnace and heard nothing, not a good sign. I put out a plea to Facebook friends for a repair person and that started what has become a great education in the art of buying a furnace. I am sharing my story with you so that you can learn from what I did right and wrong!

Well first we thought the furnace could be repaired and that was good news but that prognosis changed and we were on the hunt for a new furnace.

Brand & BTUs The repair duo offered to replace the furnace and the price was right! $2,500! But when to research the brand and the BTUs they offered, well, it was a bit shocking that a professional wanted to put an 80,000 BTU furnace in my small

Our new furnace

home. This BTU furnace could heat a 4,000 square foot home and additionally the brand was a builder brand which is the lowest end you can find. I moved on from this provider feeling that they didn’t know what they were doing or did and didn’t really care about me! Check out your BTU requirements here.

Modulating vs 2 Stage vs 1 Stage Our next ~~contestant~~ provider was a large independent, he came in and took us through the types of furnaces and recommended a modulating furnace which sounded great. It was going to save gas and electricity. It was going to be quite and just make our lives exponentially better as it modulated. The only thing it wasn’t going to make better was my bank balance at over $7,000. We decided though that modulating was the way to go and wanted to get a few more quotes.

Financing Options & Warranties Next was a major chain who offered additional discounts and financing. Who doesn’t want to pay less and pay nothing for a year? You want to make sure you read all the fine print and also the warranty details. Is it on all parts? Major parts? What about labour? Ask those questions.

Customer Service, Knowledge & Quality of Work Our fourth and final contender was a recommendation from our contractor. Our roofing and eavestrough guys came from him and they were not only reasonable in their fees but the quality of the work was top notch and the furnace recommendation too was fantastic. We learned something big, that we didn’t need a modulating furnace, that it would be a big waste of money and based on that knowledge we moved to a 2 stage high-efficiency furnace.

So who did we pick? We went with Reliance after the provider recommended by our contractor actually suggested that they were even a better deal than he could offer on the warranty. How is that for customer service? Recommending a competitor because it is better for the customer!!!

I’d like to say that the rest of the process was simple and everything was seamless but it was two weeks of frustration, that only now we can laugh at – it helps that Reliance is sending a cheque to make us feel better about the experience.

And what was that experience you ask? Here is a summary:

Pipe put out the wrong wall, now how in siding filled with caulking
Furnace didn’t work first time we put it on, repair man comes and says humidifier is installed in the wrong spot
Installers come back and fix, furnace doesn’t work next morning
Another repair team comes, says humidifier is in the wrong spot (yup, the one that was moved from the correct spot)
Second repair guy comes back with part and fixes everything, now furnace works

Part of the above was some really angry phone calls to Reliance on Saturday mornings when the brand new furnace wouldn’t work. But I feel, in the end, they did make it right with the additional rebate. The cheque is in the mail…

My Electronic Muscular Stimulation Experience at Body InVest

30 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by lorifranze in Health & Fitness

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Body Invest, Electronic Muscular Stimulation, EMS

It has been a long time since I’ve blogged … but today I had something I had to share! Electronic muscular stimulation (EMS) at Body InVest. And I have to say it was pretty intense and awesome at the same time. And not because I got to dress up like ~~the borg~~ Laura Croft in a cool suit!

Me after my workout!

In 20 minutes I got an intense workout for my entire body that I know I will feel for days to come. Elise my coach explained everything we were doing and really pushed me (I believe she secretly enjoys turning up the intensity on all those cuffs) to my max. She also shocked me by telling me that she lost 2 dress sizes by working this program! I think I might be hooked.

If you want to give it a try you can contact Elise at elise@bodyinvest.ca and get a trial session like I had today for only $25. You won’t be disappointed.

I think I need to go take a nap! Will let you all know how I feel tomorrow…

Orcas in San Juan

10 Sunday May 2015

Posted by lorifranze in Pleasure, Travel

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Blackfish, Friday Harbour, J pod, langley, Lolita, Maya's Legacy Whale Watching, San Juan Island, Stellar Sea Lions, Super Pod, Tokitae

Lolita, slave to entertainment

This post is dedicated to Tokitae who was abducted from the waters of Penn Cove in Puget Sound for almost 46 years. If you’ve seen Blackfish the movie you have some insight to her story. She has been living at Miami Seaquarium all these decades and for most of them alone after her cell mate Hugo died after he repeatedly slammed his head against the concrete wall.

Tomorrow is a very special day for Tokitae (oh, you may know her as Lolita, the name they gave her in Miami). Tomorrow a ruling takes affect changing her status to an endangered species like the members of her family that are free in Puget Sound (their dwindling numbers are due to the capture of so many in the 70s). While this doesn’t change her captive status (yet), it is a move in the right direction as there is a plan in place to move Tokitae to a sea pen in the waters of the San Juan Islands.

Free J pod orca does a tail slap!

See, Tokitae still vocalizes in the dialect of her family and her family members are still alive, likely even her mom. There is hope that the next ruling will force her release and the well thought out retirement plan will move in to action. If you want to watch Lolita’s story you can watch the documentary “Lolita: Slave to Entertainment“.

For me the visit to San Juan was the highlight, it was a dream coming true! See San Juan Islands’ waters are home to many orcas – both resident pods (Southern Resident Killer Whales or SRKW) and transients. We drove from Seattle and took the leisure route with the only “must do” is our ferry ride from Anacortes to Friday Harbour late in the afternoon. We took a short ferry ride from Mukilteo to Clinton and I was truly in heaven – mountains, the Pacific Ocean. It was bliss. The drive was gorgeous. We stopped in Langley on Whidbey Island and stopped in at the Orca Network (it was actually Welcome the Whales parade day although we couldn’t stay for it) and then Penn Cove where Tokitae was taken from.

123 West over on the right

We got in to Friday Harbour after an hour long ferry ride, checked in to 123 West which was perfect for us – new, comfortable, right in the town and such friendly staff! With nothing really planned this first evening we went and grabbed some drinks and soaked in the views before we decided to head out to Lime Kiln Park to watch the sunset and hopefully see some orcas from shore. J, K and L pod often play off the coast of the park for visitors to enjoy!

Sunset in Lime Kiln

While the sunset was stunning there were no whales hanging out, just a seal. I wasn’t discouraged though having an excursion booked on the Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching the next day.

Jeff had called, from Maya’s, while were having drinks the day before and asked if we were flexible with our time. We had been booked for 4pm but there is more likelihood for sightings earlier in the day when other boats are out. Of course seeing whales was a priority, so whatever it took. I was ecstatic when Jeff called that morning and said that J pod was spotted off the island and as an orca fanatic they are my favourite pod with 3 calves!

The trip was fantastic, mind-blowing, life-changing… Captain James Maya and his first mate Jeff made the trip even more enjoyable with their knowledge and love for orcas and everything in that ocean. We also had Melissa Sehgal on the trip who once served with Sea Shepherd in Taiji Japan and moved to San Juan Island to be closer to the amazing orcas and other sea life!

J pod Male

We had porpoises play on off the bow, hung out stellar sea lions lounging and of course the orcas! I saw my first male, who I think was J27 Blackberry or J26 Mike whose dorsals are just so majestic!

Baby J Orca

Of course we were almost about to head in but before we did Captain James made sure to find us one of the babies, J52 was swimming close to shore with it’s mother and seeing them made the day complete.

Now if you are interested in orcas and ever want to learn more, message me! I could talk with you for hours about them! I hope to make it to Super Pod next year (to visit with my new friends Jeff, James and Melissa and the orcas) and some day spend, at a minimum, a summer on San Juan Island. If you make it to the island make sure you book a trip out with Captain James and Jeff. We might be lucky enough to share a trip out together, if when I make that dream a reality!

Friendly Sea Lions

Lounging Stellar Sea Lion

The Edited Version of Life

08 Friday May 2015

Posted by lorifranze in Uncategorized

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Madison Holleran, social media

I am supposed to be writing about the next stop in our trip but something I just read really has got me thinking and not a new thought but something I needed to get down and share.

Many of my friends have heard me talk about social meeting and how I feel it exasperates the sadness and loneliness people might feel, or even that sense of failure and under-achievement most of us deal with during a crisis of confidence. I am sure you all have that one friend who is posting all the wonderful photos of happy relationships, beautiful vacation shots (yes I know I just was doing that) and nice homes and cottages, etc. And while you don’t begrudge your friends of anything, does it sometimes feel like you are the only one with struggles because you have forgotten that most people are posting only the best aspects of their every day.

Well the story that inspired me to stop and write this post is about Madison Holleran (you can read it here). It is about a girl whose life on Instagram is nothing like what she is living or thinks she is. Now this isn’t a bashing of social media but really gets one thinking about the generations that are growing up with it and just how challenging life in a social spotlight can be.

To quote the author, “Everyone presents an edited version of life on social media.” And this really is a new phenomenon the author reminds us. Before phones it was the mail and before the Internet we had just the phone. The article sites a scary stat, especially if 74% of girls are actually doing it, “nearly 74 percent of girls agreed that other girls tried to make themselves look “cooler than they are” on social networking sites.” I can’t imagine how challenging it is to grow up with these added pressures.

Now this post might not really have a point, like I said, I am not bashing social media, I love being able to connect with old friends, make new ones. Maybe I am just trying to warn young people and their parents, read Madison’s story, share it with your children, remind them that they are not alone, they are not the only ones who struggle, even though all they see on their screens are happy, filtered faces.

One Night in Seattle: Meeting Mark Anthony Dobransky

03 Sunday May 2015

Posted by lorifranze in Pleasure, Travel

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Tags

Inn at the Market, LoPriore Brothers, Mark Anthony Dobranski, Pike Place Chowder, Seattle, Seattle Public Market

I totally over-promised when I said I would post one entry a day when I got back from vacation (if you came directly to this post you can check my last two for Cannon Beach and Portland). I am not going to make another promise of when my posts for Friday Harbour and Salish Lodge will be up but I will have them done before the month is over!

Me at the Market (scroll down for more photos)

The longest part of our drive was from Cannon Beach up to Seattle – about 4 hours but it was pretty smooth until we got in to Seattle where the traffic was obscene! We were lucky enough to have booked a place right at the market, Inn at the Market, once we checked in we headed to the market to search out the places I found on Trip Advisor that I wanted to try. Pike Place Chowder was delicious, as was LoPriore Brothers meatball sandwich!

Where we met Mark

After that lunch we needed to walk it off, so we headed down to the waterfront and down there is where we met Mark Anthony Dobransky. Mark Anthony was obviously living on the streets and first I thought he is going to start asking for money but he didn’t. He sat down to talk with us and asked us about the camera and if we print pictures. We chatted about many things – chukars (I had a bag from Chukars Cherries – amazing chocolate covered wine soaked cherries!), drugs and a surfer he says he mentored who died of an overdose (Andy Irons), and Facebook. He told us he is on Facebook and that we can find pictures of him on there.

Signing our picture

He asked if we want to see a picture and he goes to his bag and comes back with two black and whites. Both are of him and taken obviously by someone who knows his or her way around a camera. He asked us if we wanted one. We decided which we wanted and he grabbed a fresh one from his bag and told us he would sign it and put our names on the back.

As we were leaving he asked if I had any of those loonies or twoonies (we had told him we were Canadian) and luckily I did. I handed him the twoonie and we headed back to the hotel.

On our walk back I googled Mark Anthony Dobransky and found a tweet that clicked through to a blog post of a photographer. As I read it I began to cry. It is a touching story and I encourage you to read it. So not to spoil it for you who will, I am not going to write anything else about Mark Anthony’s story but that I had wished that we spent more time talking with him. I walked backed to where we had seen him earlier but I didn’t find him… (there is also a news story you can read!) (and if you want to read the comments on Facebook)

Once I was done reading the story I sent a tweet to the photographer and told him that I read his story and that it moved me to tears. He asked me how Mark was doing and I told him he seemed to be doing well.

I know there isn’t much here about Seattle but honestly Mark Anthony was the best part of the day. Remember, if you have someone approach you, someone who looks a bit down on their luck, maybe give them the time, have a conversation with them, it will probably do you both some good.

And one more post about Mark.

Oh ya, the first Starbucks is there too. It was underwhelming. I should mention we had an amazing sunset on the roof deck of the hotel. Cheese, bread and wine!

Gorgeous sunset

Market Pig – forget her name

Crab Roll & Chowder

Yum

Flowers!

Cannon Beach: More than sand and surf!

25 Saturday Apr 2015

Posted by lorifranze in Pleasure, Travel

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Blue Heron Oregon, Cannon Beach, Cannon Beach Hotel, david hill winery, Haystack Rock, manzanita, roloff farm, Shafer Vineyard

We left our place with the elevator in Portland quite early and started to venture north to Manzanita (I know it sounds like somewhere in Mexico but it is a coastal town in Oregon) however we had planned to visit some wineries on the way but there was a problem – it was too early for wine tastings! So I opened up the trusty Trip Advisor app and found us some things to do to kill the time.

Drive by

We stopped in Banks at the Banks Cafe where we had a delicious breakfast. With an hour or more to still kill I found us some sites. A church from the 1800s and… the Roloff Farm. Don’t pretend you don’t know the farm from the show with the little people! The farm isn’t open though so it was a drive by.

I love wine tasting!

At 11am we rolled in to David Hill Winery where I really enjoyed their whites. We left with 3 bottles – some for the trip and some for home (Remember: as a Canadian if you are away 48 hours you can bring back 2 bottles of wine. And I failed to mention how cheap the wine was in Portland. We bought a Barolo at Trader Jack’s for $19!) The scenery was just spectacular at this winery…

We continued our drive north and west to the coast and actually found one more winery on our route. Another bottle of wine and a bottle of port were added to our collection from Shafer Vineyard! And before we reached the coast one more stop was made for cheese at the Blue Heron French Cheese Co and bread… and maybe a bottle of sparkling wine (we didn’t have any with bubbles!). When we got to the coast it was just stunning (cue Wait Kygo Remix).

Cheers!

We lunched on the beach in Manzanita with our Pepsi cups. It was perfect. It was a bit chilly for the beach but I did change over to flip flops and felt that the vacation had truly began. From Manzanita it was a quick drive to Canon Beach and it was mostly along the gorgeous ocean.

Getting the fire ready at Haystack Rock

Now, you may think you don’t know Cannon Beach but you do if you saw the movie Goonies! The kids visit Haystack Rock as part of their scavenger hunt. If you haven’t seenthe movie, get your hands on it and watch, it’s a fun movie (at least it was when I was 8). We stayed at The Cannon Beach Hotel and I was happy with my pick! Close to the beach, breakfast included (with mimosas) and a fireplace in the room.

Things you have to do in Cannon Beach:

Funcycle on the beach (but beware if you start riding with the wind that the ride back against is not going to be easy!)
Marshmallows!
Visit the town and do some shopping for souvenirs
Have a fire on the beach and watch the sunset (yes, it is legal there to set up a fire on the beach!)
Visit the glass blowing shop across from the Cannon Beach Hotel (it was amazing to watch, wish I had room to bring a piece home and the budget!)
Buy a kite and fly it on the beach! (There is a kite shop on the way out of Cannon Beach towards Seaside, the guy there was great and had a big Canadian flag in the window)

A couple Cannon Beach tips:

We were there in the off season and were told it is bedlam there during the summer so go in off peak if you can
Places close early during the off-season at least so we got stuck with some dismal meals while we were there except for the amazing breakfast, calamari overlooking the beach and oyster cocktail thingies during happy hour

Next stop Seattle!

Go fly a kite

Rehydrating after bike ride

Beach toes

Kite Shop

Lori Logorrhea

~ Just a girl with a lot to say!

Things to Consider When Planning Your Alaskan Cruise

My backyard oasis in the city

Buying a New Furnace

My Electronic Muscular Stimulation Experience at Body InVest

Orcas in San Juan

One Night in Seattle: Meeting Mark Anthony Dobransky

Cannon Beach: More than sand and surf!