Arnie The Wonder Boy!

I have to tell you. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I thought about selling Arnie! He is such a doll and such an easy going, sweet boy and I feel like I fell in love with him a long time ago and just didn’t know.

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You see, I’m prejudice. I do not usually like boy dogs. I’m a “girl dog” person. I’ve always had them, always found them easier to train and somehow found them easier to snuggle with.

Arnie is changing all of that. He comes over and falls down on my feet. He sleeps on my toes, in my lap he wriggles and cuddles and then settles in to sleep. Arnie kisses my chin and looks up into my eyes and makes me feel like I am the only one in the world for him.

He also was the first of the two puppies to crack Fritz.

Fritz was just terrified of the two puppies. He would moan and groan and bare his teeth. What did Arnie do? He lay down, flipped over on his back and took his front paws and tickled Fritz on the chin. At first Fritz wasn’t buying this, but slowly he started to warm up to the little guy. Now Fritz is really doing well. He allows the puppies to run around him, he isn’t growling and I think he actually likes them now.

And it is all because of Arnie! Yes, he is quite a boy!

Welcome To Alaska

As Host of the Alaska portion of your Lifecruiser Cyber Cruise around the world, may I say a hearty welcome to you all! This is where we board the ship for the Alaska leg of our cruise.

Our Itinerary

Our trip

1 Seattle
2 At Sea
3 Juneau
4 Skagway
5 Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska (Scenic Cruising)
6 Ketchikan
7 Victoria
8 Seattle

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Part 1

A limousine will dropped us off at the terminal with all the baggage.
Once our passports are validated we zip through and we are on board the ship by noon, and checked into our rooms. They are lovely with fairly good views, a big bed and a bar. Once we are settled then we are off to explore.
This ship is huge! And I am still not sure where everything is, or how to get there. But there is time for all of that. Since we are all hungry, we stop in at the buffet for lunch, where we will meet up with friends from around the world. We eat our lunches, toasting the meal with champagne and then set off to unpack our cases back at our rooms.
Once that is done it is time for the fire drills, and then we set sail. What a pretty sight that is, as we pull out of the docking area and sail along the harbor in Seattle.

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We have a Coast Guard escort all the way out of the Harbor, and then he waves and turns and is gone. We stay out watching a while longer before hunger strikes us once again.

We explore the restaurants on board and decide to eat at the Savoy. It is a very posh restaurant and you can get almost any sort of meal that you might want. We get a very nice table near a window. Our servers are Adriana from Mexico and then Mia from Thailand. They were young and sweet and take incredibly good care of us!
We also have a wine steward. He is hysterical. He is from Romania, and reminds us all of Agadore in the movie, “The Bird Cage”. We all laugh and enjoy the food and wines and dear Agadore.
After we eat, we head to the disco for a night of dancing under the stars!


Part 2

So, what does one do when they get to their first Alaskan port of call? Why I called home! I wanted to share that moment with my sister and cousin and daughter! I also called to check on my beloved pets at home. What a great place for a call! I was so excited I felt like a little kid!

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We go ashore to Juneau to take a tour over to the Mendenhall Glacier. I think the first thing you realize when you see a glacier is how enormous they are! This was huge, and even more impressive then I can ever say. Some people took a helicopter to the top of the glacier, but I was happy to view the glacier from below.

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It was at Mendenhall that we saw the Bald Eagles and the Mama Brown Bear with her two baby cubs. Believe it or not while standing talking to a Park Service Ranger about the glacier, the subject came up about dachshunds. And well, you guessed it. The next thing I knew we were talking about dachshunds and how wonderful they are. Hubby was a bit annoyed with me because we go all the way to Alaska and what do I speak of? Dachshunds!

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In the very center of this picture you can see the Mama bear. This was as close as I was going to get to her. Sorry, but she just didn’t look too friendly to me.

Juneau is the capital of the State of Alaska. The area of Juneau is larger than that of Rhode Island, Delaware, or Connecticut, and almost as large as Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Juneau is nestled at the base of Mount Juneau and across the channel from Douglas Island. Juneau was named after gold prospector Joe Juneau, though the place was for a time called Rockwell and then Harrisburg (after Juneau’s co-prospector, Richard Harris)

Part 3

The next day we headed into Ketchikan. Ketchikan’s economy is based upon tourism and fishing, and the city is known as the “Salmon Capital of the World.” The Misty Fjords National Monument is one of the area’s major attractions. Ketchikan is named after Ketchikan Creek, which flows through the town. Ketchikan also has the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles located at three major locations: Saxman Village, Totem Bight, and the Totem Heritage Center.

It’s formal night, and we all get dressed up and go to dinner down at our favorite restaurants. Since we speak to all the wait-staff and managers we get the best tables in the place for our meals, and we get the best waitresses too! Adrianna and Mala. The meal was a bit more diverse, but they offered Ketchikan Sockeye Salmon and almost everyone had that. There is nothing like fresh salmon!

After dinner we go to a musical show and it is very fun. The singers are good, the songs all 1970’s and pop, familiar in type, and then we head to the casino’s to play the slots. Some move on to dance floor, while others head off to bed so they are ready for the day in Skagway.

Part 4

We were up with the dawn so we could go on shore to the town of Skagway to travel on the narrow guage railroad and go to White Pass. We all meet in the cafe to have breakfast and watch the sun rises.

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Skagway is a small town on the Alaska Panhandle. The port of Skagway is a popular stop for cruise ships, and the tourist trade is a big part of the city’s business. The White Pass and Yukon Route narrow gauge railroad, part of the area’s mining past, is now in operation purely for the tourist trade and runs throughout the summer months.

Skagway (originally spelled Skaguay) is from the Tlingit name for the area, “Skagua.” The name has several meanings, “the place where the north wind blows,”.

Part 5

We cruise Tracy Arm Fjord. To say it is beautiful would be a real understatement of fact. It was beyond anything I could have imagined. Certainly the best part of the cruise! At first it seems pretty much like any inlet, then as we go further and further in, small chunks of ice turned into larger ones until I could hear the theme from “Titanic” in my ears! LOL The mountains are enormous and tower above the shore and then seem to drop into the fjord below at a sharp angle.
Glacial Ice is incredibly blue and white. I couldn’t get enough of it! We toured this inlet 4 hours and it was all breath taking.

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The glacier at the end of Tracy Arm.

That night we went for an all you could eat Alaskan King Crab dinner. Oh my, what a meal! I love Alaskan King Crab, and this was just so delicious and so wonderful! I am afraid I ate far too much, but I have learned that a cruise is often a good place to eat a lot of good foods from around the world!

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Part 6

Victoria, BC. Victoria is the capital of the western Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a beautiful city and the last stop before we go back to Seattle and head off to our next port of call Chesapeake Beach.

Victoria is a city full of gardens. It is a charming, beautiful place that I hope to return to one day. I was sorry that we got in so late that we did not have a chance to see more.

Our last night on board the Cruise Ship there is a chocolate Buffet, where they offered every sort of wonderful confection.

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I’m afraid I will never want to leave. Alaska was so wonderful, so vast, I think we all must return when we have more time to spend there.

Pass the chocolate and another glass of champagne!

The Cyber Cruise Scheduled ports

Announcing!!!

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We have great news here in New Hampshire! Arnie has found a home!
Right here with us!
On Sunday night we were sitting watching the TV when we both just knew that Arnie wasn’t going to be going anywhere. He was already home.

Yes, I know we will have to do a few things to keep the girls and Arnie separated when the girls are in heat, and yes, we will need to spend time training him and then showing him so he can go on the long road to stud-dom, errrr, stardom!

So please join me in welcoming Dackel Prince Arnie home!

New Toys

The new toys I had ordered for the puppies arrived today. I had gotten an assortment of stuffed animals, bones and balls. After their morning nap I introduced them to their new toys. They went crazy! And so did their mother, Greta.

It’s an amazing thing. Greta no longer looks at them as her kids. She treats them like best pals and she plays with them with wild abandon. It is so wonderful to see the three dogs running around like crazy just enjoying each other.

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Arnie in the front and Anneliese in the back

I had the dogs out a lot today and consequently Arnie began “performing” for me. I now have two good puppies who are getting house trained. I just wish spring would come and it would warm up. It is just a little less thrilling to jump up and drag the pups out when it is 19 degrees outside! Still I am grateful.

The pups, old and young are all asleep now, and I am curled up with a nice warm blanket. Simply a great way to end my day.

Life At The Dackel Princess House

Amazing things are happing at the Dackel Princess house. Old Uncle Fritz is warming up to Anneliese and Arnie and he is actually starting to gently “play” with them. In a rare moment I was able to reach the movie camera and capture this event this morning. Usually as soon as I pick up the video camera, Fritz jumps down, but today, he stayed and played!

I have been trying to increase my drinking of water. I believe in the past I have spoken of my general dislike for water. Yes, it is good to bathe in, and yes it is good to cook in and wash in, but to drink? Not so much. However, I discovered “flavored” water. I love the lemon and cherry and the tropical flavors! I have been known to down 4 or 5 bottles in a day.
Recently I discovered that I am not the only designer water lover.

Saturday Stuff

Hubby is down and out with a bad cough. It started in the night and was so bad and hard it woke me out of a sound sleep. I got up and gave Hubby some cough syrup and told Hubby the guest room bed was made up. (hint, hint!) So off he went to the guest room where is is currently residing. I simply must have my sleep, seeing as I am a new puppy mother and all.

The day began a few hours later, when the sun rose and I surveyed the 10 inches of snow that had fallen overnight. While still in my pajamas, I slipped on my boots, hat, coat and gloves and got the two puppies and off we went for our first morning walk. The snow was up over their little bodies and they were not quite sure they liked this at all, but off we went in the yard. The next thing I knew the dog from next door came running over and went for Arnie. I smacked at the dog, and grabbed both Arnie and Anneliese and picked them up. Since the other dog was not on a leash (Arnie and Anneliese were) I had no choice but to turn around and take them in.

The rest of the day I was able to get them out on their little leashes and they did pretty well. Hubby got out and used the snow blower to clear a path for the puppies and the drive, but once he came in I put him right back to bed.

We enjoyed a traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal, and now I simply want to relax and watch a bunch of mindless television, which is not hard to do on a Saturday night.

Don’t forget to stop over at Mrs Lifecruiser’s site for updates on the First Cybercruise!

Good/Sad/Good

I woke up Thursday morning and before my feet even it the floor it was a bad day. You see when I went to put on my glasses, the lens fell out of my glasses! I got out the glasses repair kit, and tried to repair the frame, and I couldn’t. I spent all morning trying to repair the stupid things and I couldn’t. In the late morning I finally gave up and took my shower and dressed. I needed to go to get my bangs cut, stop at the pharmacy and the post office before coming home.

Now here’s the thing. The lens fell out on the left side of my glasses. This is the eye that Dr. W. has already fixed. So I took the paper off of a twist tie, tied the frames together and found I could actually see pretty well doing this. So I got in the Jeep and off I went.

My bangs were half way down my nose and my wonderful hairdresser trimmed them up and showed me a new way to blow dry my hair. She also didn’t charge me for this! Okay, the day was picking up. Then I was onto the pharmacy where I got a new glasses repair kit and some hand lotion. Good……….Then I went to the post office and picked up the mail. Usually the place is mobbed and there is no place to park, but today I got a space right in front!

I was starting to become suspicious that the turn in my luck was only going to turn again into something awful. I drove carefully home, tried to repair my glasses once again (no luck) and then made lunch for Hubby and me. Once we had digested, Hubby suggested that we go shopping. We’re due for another winter storm this weekend, so it would be good to stock up before the snow falls. He said we could also swing by the glasses store and get them fixed.

So off we went. I stopped feeling bad about not being able to fix my glasses when the optician had trouble and explained that the screw hole had been stripped. Great! She was actually the one who had done it last week when my new lens had come in, but heck, let’s not get technical about it, after all she did fix it.

We stocked up on the usual St. Patrick’s Day fare of corned beef and cabbage and carrots and potatoes, and came home to four happy hounds! I wish we could also keep Arnie. He is such a sweetheart and I adore him (yes, I am getting too attached), and he fits in with everyone pretty well. Why today, even Uncle Fritz seemed able to handle the puppies better than he ever has. Alas, Arnie must find himself a home of his own and I must say goodbye to him. We hope that soon we will get that call from someone who will love that boy!

The day ended nicely even if it started off badly. Glasses fixed, warm pajamas and happy hounds!

Anneliese, Queen of Hearts

I took Anneliese with me when I went to the town office’s to register the dogs. Each year we must register them and pay a fee for having them in the town. Since I do not want any illegal alien dogs in this house I took all their documents down and paid the fee.

Anneliese is so good when I go in the car, that I decided to bring her. She sat in my lap, and when we got to the town offices, she quickly began to flirt with everyone in the office. Soon she was being passed from one person to the next.

I was worried that this would make her nervous, but I looked over, only to see her licking each and every person who picked her up and also seeing that magical tail of hers wag, wag, wag!

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Once we were done I went to get the mail and once again Anneliese was collecting admirer’s. I simply have to laugh at her because she is so sweet and really loves people, much like both Greta and Bernie.

We arrived home and I put her into the puppy room and she crawled into her little bed and fell asleep. This lasted for a couple of hours until she woke up and we went out for a walk, slogging through the mud!

61 degrees (F) and everything was in full melt down. I do love the snow, but wow, I hate it when it all melts and the world becomes a gigantic mud hole!!!