Alaska Highlights

Hi there friends, have you missed me? I am so sorry for the long delay in blogging. I had intended to blog while I was in Alaska to share daily sights and fun with you but my Wi-Fi even though I purchased it on the ship was very spotty. And I had a problem with my WordPress account and it reset my password for some reason and I could not get in. I was only home for a couple days recovering from jetlagged and feeling like I was on the cruise then back to work and then transition to my sisters house to take care of their pets while they were in the UK. They got home last night. And I knew it was time to finally share some of my highlights with you all. This post is just going to be about the cruise and my favorite parts of Seattle, Alaska, in Canada. Then later this weekend in another post I will share with you all the Stampin Up fun, prizes, and pillow gifts. I took over 1000 pictures and my brother Scott and sister-in-law Kathy took some as well and we shared with each other so some of these photos could be from them. Enjoy! And thank you again for your part in helping me earn this incentive trip, we had the time of our lives and cannot thank you enough for supporting me in my Stampin Up business! It was such a treat to be spoiled by Stampin Up and on such a luxurious cruise with Royal Caribbean and my heart is so full of love and gratitude. ❤️

We decided to go a day early to have some time in Seattle, I was born in Washington state as my dad was in the army and I really wanted to see that part of our country. We had a lovely meal in a restaurant and I’ve already forgotten the name. I was unable to fit the new backpacks I purchased for our service project in my luggage. Every time Stampin Up has an incentive trip there is something they do to give back to the community. For the Alaska cruise they decided to do backpacks for children in need and we were to fill them with school supplies and books. My carry-on was full of all the school supplies and books but I just couldn’t fit the backpacks so after we ate we walked around town and found a Target.

I have to say my favorite part of Seattle was the next morning we had some free time before getting on the shuttle to the cruise ship and we went down to pikes market. All of the artisans and vendors were setting up early and it was so fabulous to see all the fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, and fish and many other products … I could have spent the whole day there.

There were so many activities on the ship, and it was so beautiful. Of course you’ve heard the food is to die for on a cruise but I was committed to staying healthy and following my whole 30 program as best as I could. I did not want to pig out and gain 10 pounds on this cruise. I enjoyed all the fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafood at almost every meal. They had smoked salmon out on the buffet for the morning breakfast I cannot believe I didn’t take any photos of the Windjammer It was our favorite spot for breakfast and lunch.

This ship had everything you could imagine or want. Miniature golf, pools, hot tub’s, walking track, Flow Rider, Rock-wall, chapel, music everywhere, some of the nicest people you would ever meet! I had no problem getting in my 8000 steps a day, in fact most days I went way over.

We enjoyed the formal nights on the cruise and our waiters were so fabulous it was a delight to be waited on in this manner, when we had shrimp, they would come over and cut the tails off for us! We had an assigned dining time and table in the Sapphire dining room every night at 5:30 PM … we quickly adjusted to the new time zone and that worked perfectly for us.

The entertainment was absolutely fabulous, comedians, musicians, the shows were phenomenal! Sometimes we had tough decisions about what we were going to do but we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest!

Our first stop was in Juneau Alaska and we had time to walk around …it was an unseasonably hot 84° day so we tried not to over-exert ourselves before our excursion. We went on a whale watching trip and to a salmon bake on Orca island. It was really the highlight of the whole trip for me. We saw a humpback whale name Sasha, (the naturalist on our boat could recognize her from her tail markings.) We saw several orca in fact one was a large pod traveling together with seven Orca. We also saw lots of eagles, sea otters, mountain goats, and all kinds of wildlife. Scott and Kathy say they want to live in Alaska for at least a year someday, I don’t think I could take the winters with all the darkness and the cold. But Summers sure was a nice time to visit!

The next day we went to Skagway Alaska where we had some time to walk around the quaint town, actually Scott, Kathy and I agree that Skagway was our favorite town. We booked an excursion to go to a town called Liarsville, where we were entertained and participated in gold panning and another salmon bake! Most of the tour guides, bus drivers, and people we interacted with in these two towns or actually from other parts of the country and they just go to Alaska in the summer to work for the tourism industry. We did learn lots of interesting facts about Alaska and just enjoyed every minute.

The next day we were scheduled to go up into Tracy arm Fordj but due to the weather, the captain has to be careful and follow all the Alaska laws, we went into Dawes instead and travel through the Lynn channel. The ice glaciers were a stunning blue color and the water was so unusual and at one point the captain rotated the ship 360° very slowly I might add we never felt the motion, and he did that so everyone in their cabin could see all of the same views. This was at 7 o’clock in the morning, we got up extra early that day to get some coffee with Baileys …it was very cold that morning.

We had a day at sea before our next stop which was in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. What a gorgeous town we did not book an excursion there although I heard they had a fabulous Garden to visit but we just wanted to explore the town and did the hop on hop off bus plus a lot of walking to see the highlights.

Well that is it for today, what do you think about my trip? I highly recommend the royal Caribbean explorer of the seas, it was a fabulous ship! Of course this trip was an incentive trip that I earned through my hard work as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator. I am very close to earning the next incentive trip which is to the Greek Isles next summer. My family is so excited for for me and I plan to take my nieces Jordan and Claire with me, at least that was the original plan. Now many others want to go with me so who knows this may be our first family vacation that we take together. But first I have to earn it. Right now I am taking reservations for 2018 holiday catalog paper shares and ribbon shares as well as a crafty supplies kit to go.

I have a newsletter with all the details about the paper and ribbon share, let me know if you’d like me to send that to you but here are the details about my crafty supplies box:

Have you ever wished for a cute little box that you could just tuck all your important stamping supplies in? Whether to keep your work surface neat and tidy while you’re crafting or to grab and take to a class or club or events? Well have I got the solution for you! (Plus, you would totally be helping me out in my quest to earn the trip to Greece.) I have found the perfect little storage container and have picked out 10 must have Stampin’ Up! supplies that fit nicely inside: a paper piercing tool, paper snips scissors, bone folder, silicone mat, fine tip glue, mini glue dots, mini dimensionals, dimensionals, tear and tape, liquid glue mono adhesive, and snail (our fabulous double sided tape runner). If you were to place an order for these 10 products with tax and shipping you would pay $77.52, I found the boxes for $10 plus tax and shipping so the grand value of this kit is $90. But for a limited time only I am going to take pre-orders for these (I am only allowed to cash and carry adhesives and by including other tools in this kit, I cannot stock these up, so I need to place an order for them) I will be selling these for $65 each, cash or check will be preferred. You will be eligible to receive one $5 coupon to be used on an order in September (our Bonus Days Special)!

Please contact me if you are interested and I will make arrangements for your payment. If you need this kit shipped to you, $7 will be added on for shipping fees.

I am super excited to offer you this great kit! Feel free to share this post with your other crafty friends. My goal is to place this order by August 30 or sooner if I reach my goal. Thanks friends!!

Thank you so much for reading my blog today I hope you have a fabulous day and please let me know if I can help you with any Stampin Up supplies! Know how thankful I am for your support! ❤️

If you are thinking of ordering anything this month please use Hostess Code: 29QMJWNE 

~Lynn Streifert

Independent Demonstrator, Stampin’ Up!

Shop my Online Store 24/7 on my website: http://LynnStreifert.stampinup.net

Email: Lstreifert@nycap.rr.com

Workshops and Classes offered in your home or mine featuring: Memory Keeping- aka scrapbooking, card making, paper crafting, Big Shot fun and a variety of 3D objects and gift items.

Think of me for Birthday Parties, Kid Crafts, baby and bridal showers, weddings, and special anniversaries or parties where you need customized invitations or decorations!