Jump to content

The Daily for Thursday Jan 7, 2021


richwmn
 Share

Recommended Posts

I was shocked to discover I don't have a sunrise for January 7.  This is from January 6, 2018, approaching Key West on my 2-ship world cruise:

 

dawn0106.jpg

 

A bonus today.  This is from the Port Everglades webcam this morning:

 

dawn07.JPG.f108917aa7bd295c1ca4c88fa406b718.JPG

 

After yesterday we can use a bit more sunshine

 

Roy

 

  • Like 24
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good morning! I thought if I typed fast, that I'd make page 1. Oh, well!

Thanks Rich for the daily. It is always appreciated.

I think all Rocks are old, aren't they? Tempura Day, eh? Maybe I have fish in the basement that can be battered instead of the lasagna. DS collects bobbleheads-any and all Toronto Blue Jays.  LOL He has a couple of cabinets full.

Today, my plan is to finish up the tree de-trimming. One lucky thing. With us moving in 6 weeks, I'm just going to leave all of the boxes upstairs. No sense moving them twice! (it also frees up some space for DS to move some of his things into the house early).

@dobiemomI bet you have a local crafter that could make that shirt for you.

I'm hopeful that today will be a better day than yesterday, although the next 12 days could be very tense.

Please take care. Prayers for all on Roy's list and a few extras.

Be well. Stay safe. Be kind. Wear a mask! 😷

 

  • Like 14
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To continue my travelogue from my Jan 2020 trip that I started several days ago -

 

After the Maasdam left Portland, Australia, our next stop was Phillip Island and the famous Fairy Penguins.  Not nearly as impressive as the penguins found in Antactica or the Falklands, but still pretty cute. Unfortunately the only time to see them very well is when they all come up out of the sea at sunset for their "Penguin Parade."  And photos are not permitted during this event.  I went on the HAL shore excursion which was, quite frankly, a dissapointment.  We were bused to the Nobbies Ocean Discovery Center where there is a huge ampitheatre for viewing.  So, along with hundreds (probably thousands) of others we waited for sunset.  Finally the penguins started to come out of the water in what they called "rafts of penguins."  At this point we were told we needed to start walking back to the bus so we could get back to the ship on time. I did see some penguins from the boardwalk while walking back, but that was my best view.  I found out afterward that others had taken a private tour, sat in the VIP section and had a much better experience for about the same cost.  

 

Earlier in the day I visited the Nobbies Ocean Discovery Center (for a daytime visit) and the Koala Conservation Centre. 

20200103_104947.thumb.jpg.3e15e577ca9d4ec03e1fc1f90a2776f9.jpg

 

20200103_105604.thumb.jpg.ba476fff5292b2e816effc686c11f715.jpg

 

20200103_120135.thumb.jpg.9b9f10520046c6ea7e291e63d3647f4d.jpg

Koala at the Koala Conservation Centre

20200103_194040.thumb.jpg.58b15047d917f4f77e12b656a78b67c0.jpg

Waiting for the penguins to come out of the water at sunset.  I had a pretty good seat...there were hundreds of people behind me.  If we could have stayed longer I might have actually seen penguins. At this point pictures were still allowed.

1117217371_Penguinparade1.png.323b3a027f350d6df2efcd8b20992875.png

Since photos were not allowed, and I didn't really see many penguins anyway, I am posting a picture from the web.

747886270_Penguinparade4.png.05d44dccfac52c81b8178fb74429b7b1.png

Another picture from the web.  In the forground is the VIP seating area.  At the top of the picture you can see the two sets of regular seats where we sat.

769354112_Penguinparade8.png.b1633f2d6fef7e2bf18bb815a4b5ba29.png

 

Night view of the seating area (from the web)

 

 

  • Like 15
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good morning everyone. I was up earlier , but am very tired after staying up last night watching the election results in Congress. What an awful day for our country. Hopefully, better ones are on the way.

 

I love tempura, but although sushi is my very favorite go to, I limit the amount of tempura I can eat. Lasagna sounds great for tonight. I think we’ll order it in from one of the many Italian restaurants around here.

 

 

  • Like 12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good morning. Thanks for the Daily!

Interesting days. I've never had Tempura. My bobblehead collection were giveaways from the Pittsburgh Penguins when I was a season ticket holder.

I'll likely have pasta for dinner, but not lasagna.

@CrabbiPatti Belated Happy Birthday!

Prayers for the care list and the USA, cheers to the celebratory/shoutout list.

Stay safe, stay well, wear your mask!

V

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good morning all!

At first I thought "old rock" meant music.  😁  We have a very old rock right across the street.  It's an erratic from the ice age floods, 34 feet high and 210 feet in circumference.  It's a blessing and a curse though.  We have a nice little quiet park by it, but word got out in the news about it and it became a challenge for teens to climb, partiers, and even Pokemon.  In the summer our quiet little cul de sac can be lined with cars.  Here's a photo of "the rock" as we call it.

 

I love tempura, especially served in the Tamarind!!  DH has quite a collection of sports bobbleheads from his days working for the Mariners and Sea Hawks.  They are collecting dust. 😉  

 

The latest I can gather from local news is that WA state will start vaccinating those over 70 at the end of this month.  At least that's the goal.  I guess I won't complain about turning 70 this month!  😄  We still have to vaccinate residents of nursing homes etc. so we'll see if that goal is met but I'm happy to be somewhere near the top.

 

Have a great day everyone and don't forget your masks!

LS rock.jpg

LS erratic.jpg

  • Like 16
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good morning, all! Thank you, Rich and Roy and our drink ladies ( I love that term!). At any time, and today even more so, it’s so good to have a positive, safe place to come to. No rain today, so hiking and seeing old rocks is doable today. And tempura, lasagna, and strip loin makes a wonderful selection of menu items on their own. Yesterday I made a gluten free Black Forest Cake. We are out of cherries, so I tried a strawberry version. I was very happy with it, and it will happen again! The bathroom scale says DH and I can’t eat the whole thing, so he’s porch dropping a large portion off to some friends. After a full week cooking and baking induced by heavy rain, we’re getting a break in the weather today. Today will be walking instead of baking, and the bathroom scale will thank us for it!

Happy Thursday with fond memories of the Amsterdam!

587EF682-99C9-47E3-85B7-0D9583B61081.jpeg

  • Like 14
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, ger_77 said:

A couple of great suggestions for dinner tonight, but at this point in the day (and with very little coffee in my system), I'm not sure we're going to do anything but graze from the fridge.  It seems we have an abundance of leftovers from which to choose, so I think we we might just have "let's see what's in this tupperware container" for dinner tonight. And wine.

 

Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

We have a cruise friend who calls that a corn dinner.  Clean Out the Refrigerator Night!

  • Like 5
  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good morning everyone.  This is such a ray of sunshine especially after yesterday and all that went on in the Capital.  Praying for our country. 

Lasagna sounds great but we will be on the road back to the coast for the weekend.  So we will get a sandwich somewhere as we travel.

Thank you for all the pictures of cruises.  Brings back good memories.

Have a great day everyone.  No rain today which will be nice for driving.

Take care, stay safe and wear those masks.

 

 

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good morning!  
 

We were shocked at the events yesterday.  That was something we never thought we’d see in the US.  It reminded us of a similar incident the last time we were in Caracas, as a large group stormed their government building.  The tour guides kept the ship passengers safe, but it ended cruising to Venezuela.


It was reassuring to see Congress return and finish certifying the election results.

 

Lenda

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can you guys help me out? I am searching for some popular Baltics agent companies\cruise companies or excursion offices. Do any of you know any in particular? The first cruise I want to take after the lock down is a Baltic cruise. I am sure it will be the most affordable one

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good morning all.😃  Thank you, Rich and Roy and the drinks ladies for everything good!  What a relief that yesterday is over, and we hope and pray for better things to come.  

 

We also had a visit with the Fairies when we visited my DSIL in Perth, WA.  They took us to a little island where injured penguins were being cared for.  Most could never be released back into the wild, and they were fed by hand so their keepers could monitor their intake and they put vitamins in the little fish they fed them.  They were so sweet and tiny.

 

P1030854.jpeg.8d3ee97f40bc46611000cbc7db0b7814.jpeg

 

P1030856.jpeg.00bfad6c28d04965706d09bb1c6da2da.jpeg

 

P1030849.jpeg.b3b03539779f326bbc3862299a18997d.jpeg

 

  • Like 20
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Vict0riann said:

Good morning all.😃  Thank you, Rich and Roy and the drinks ladies for everything good!  What a relief that yesterday is over, and we hope and pray for better things to come.  

 

We also had a visit with the Fairies when we visited my DSIL in Perth, WA.  They took us to a little island where injured penguins were being cared for.  Most could never be released back into the wild, and they were fed by hand so their keepers could monitor their intake and they put vitamins in the little fish they fed them.  They were so sweet and tiny.

 

P1030854.jpeg.8d3ee97f40bc46611000cbc7db0b7814.jpeg

 

P1030856.jpeg.00bfad6c28d04965706d09bb1c6da2da.jpeg

 

P1030849.jpeg.b3b03539779f326bbc3862299a18997d.jpeg

 

They're adorable!

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

That's hilarious.  Is there an attribution?

the list I got it from didn't attribute it to anyone, but a quick search finds references to Ralph Richarson and Ben Franklin.

 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Roger88 said:

Can you guys help me out? I am searching for some popular Baltics agent companies\cruise companies or excursion offices. Do any of you know any in particular? The first cruise I want to take after the lock down is a Baltic cruise. I am sure it will be the most affordable one

 

Not sure what the first 2 are you inquiring about but if you are talking excursions and private tours - there are all kinds of terrific ones in the Baltics.

If you visit the ports boards, for that area you will find lots of great recommendations.

 

A few off the top of my head are Allah tours (used them), Red October, TJ Travels, etc. There are other top notch companies.  They all arrange for your visa in St. Petersburg for you.

hope this helps.

  • Like 5
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Not sure what the first 2 are you inquiring about but if you are talking excursions and private tours - there are all kinds of terrific ones in the Baltics.

If you visit the ports boards, for that area you will find lots of great recommendations.

 

A few off the top of my head are Allah tours (used them), Red October, TJ Travels, etc. There are other top notch companies.  They all arrange for your visa in St. Petersburg for you.

hope this helps.

Thank you for you response my friend. I will certainly check them out. I just thought that this is the right place to inquire this information. Have you tried any of them yourself? Can you recommend me the good one? Do they work right now ? 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Roger88 said:

Have you tried any of them yourself?

 

 

We used Allah tours on our 2nd visit to the Baltics.  When my friend went back she used TJTravels and was very pleased.

 

The top companies (and there are a few) are all top notch IMO.  It’s just a matter of who has what itinerary and price that appeals to you.

 

1 minute ago, Roger88 said:

 

Can you recommend me the good one? Do they work right now ? 

 

there are a LOT of good companies.  Check out St. Petersburg boards and the good ones have packages that include other ports in the Baltics.

I have no idea who is working and who isn’t everywhere in the world (do you 😉 ) but I would suspect they are like the other tour companies I am currently dealing with - working email wise - perhaps with a bit of delay but manning (for the most part)  and working email.

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Such a sad day yesterday with the assault on our nations capitol and notice from HAL that my April cruise was cancelled. 

One piece of good news for me yesterday since I am over 75 I will be able to sign up for the Covid vaccination  beginning next week.

 

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com Summer 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...