Ruzovacek, Grafton, VA, USA

ondrejliska Posted Sep 21, 2007, 8:18 pm	Hi there! My name is Ruzovacek and I've just heard about the Toyvoyagers.com. I think it's a great idea! Immediately, I started planning where to go and what to see. This is me with my friends, who like to play cards. Before I could join the Toyvoyagers, I had to find out my weight. (In Czech, we have a simile "as heavy as a pig", but I think I'm quite light.)
ondrejliska Posted Sep 25, 2007, 12:34 am	Oh, that's great! I'm going to travel around the world!  My first destination is Florida. I'm on my way!
marina Posted Oct 5, 2007, 4:14 am	Hello! Today I arrived in Miami, Florida. I am staying in a small town by the name of North Bay Village. Breaking out of my tight package wasn't at all easy! I had to struggle quite a bit. When I finally managed to poke out little more than my snout, there were so many unfamiliar faces staring at me that I almost went back inside! I felt so shy. But they were all nice to me, and helped me out of my tight envelope. As soon as I was out, I gave my host a letter written by ondrejliska. She seemed very happy as she took it. With that out of the way, I got acquainted with everyone there. Palmito the monkey is also a Toy Voyager but he has never been anywhere yet as he is waiting for his tag. Then there was Budd the kitten, who has already traveled to many places and was so kind and friendly to me that I soon felt quite at ease. I also met Trapito the scarecrow and Rosemary the skunk. Trapito seemed shy, like me, but a nice guy. I think we will get along well. Rosemary was also very soft-spoken, but not shy. She was just very ladylike. Both will become Toy voyagers soon. I was quite tired after my trip, so my host told everyone to let me rest awhile. She wrapped me in a blanket and gave me a book to read. The title was Animal Farm, and I was delighted, as this is a book I have been wanting to read for a while! Pigs play a very important role in the story. Now one of my missions has been accomplished! Even though I was sleepy, I became so enthralled that I didn't stop reading until I was finished. ...Then, I slept soundly. A bit later, Palmito woke me up. He invited me to play hide-and-seek with everyone else. We had a very good time! So far, things are going great. Although right now the weather here is stormy, windy and very humid--good thing they have air conditioner. And, also, I think I have a bit of jet lag, but I'll be fine. I wonder what fun things will I get to do tomorrow?
marina Posted Oct 5, 2007, 2:41 pm	I've been here for a few days. I must say I have begun to miss Ondrej a little. I miss my home, too. I thought they'd think I was silly if they saw me sad because I'm homesick so soon, so today I hid under a hat, thinking that maybe I could sit in the dark and imagine I wasn't in Miami, but home with ondrejliska. It didn't really help. It was indeed quite dark inside, and I soon felt even gloomier. I almost began to cry! But then I heard Rosemary's voice. She gently asked me why I was sitting under a hat, all alone, crying. But I--I wasn't crying, and I told her so! Anyhow, I told her I missed my home, but not much--just a very little bit. Rosemary said that if I missed my mentor, sending him a postcard would surely make me feel a lot better. And since I had no postcard to send, she gave me one of her own. I spent a long time thinking of what to write Ondrej. I wonder if he misses me, too? Tomorrow I will drop the postcard in the mail. Wow! I really feel much better already!
marina Posted Oct 12, 2007, 4:35 am	Well, like Budd, I'm spending a lot of time inside or nearby the house. It's a little bit boring... But hey--at least I get to relax! Today I went out to look at the bay: The wind was strong and very invigorating. It felt great on my face...! ...and what a beautiful blue sky! Here I am walking around the apartment building where I'm currently staying. It's a nice place. Maybe I'll go hang by the pool and get a suntan. The weather's just too nice! Well, that's all I have been doing, sorry it isn't more interesting, but hopefully I will get to do something fun soon!
marina Posted Oct 16, 2007, 2:49 am	Today I finally went someplace exciting--and I made many new friends, too! We went to a place called Butterfly Garden. It was truly incredible. My host apologized to me for not being able to take me more places, but I think just this one makes my trip to Florida worthwhile! There were a lot of other Toy Voyagers with me in the car. Here I am with Budd, Helen Bear, Romeo, Mumble, Mommet (who is apparently Trapito's lost twin or something), Mocha, Snegovik and Prince Charming. Our four hosts are with us too: carlissa, pkboo, marina and tarepanda. Budd and me. It was a pretty long ride, but I could look out the window so I wasn't bored. We're almost there! Here we are at a lake in Tradewinds Park. Butterfly Garden is close by. Yaay, we're here!!! I'm so excited. There were butterflies wherever you looked--and they were very tame! Not afraid of people (or pigs!) at all. Here you could watch butterflies as they came out of their cocoons. Me, Budd and Romeo, a new friend. I went on a search to see how many butterflies I could find. Hey!! There's a butterfly on tarepanda's back! It is actually one of the prettiest butterflies in the garden; its wings are of an amazing bright blue. But they are closed now, so you can't see it... The butterfly stayed there for a long, long time. When it was time to leave that part of the garden, an employee had to carefully remove it because it wouldn't budge at all. When it was picked up by its wings, the butterfly kicked its tiny legs like crazy! Then it flew away... Behind me you can a wonderful artificial lake filled with Japanese koi. It was beautiful. Right above that small waterfall, many butterflies gathered and fluttered. The cute Japanese koi. Me and Budd on a mossy rock by the lake. Later, clarissa released a BookCrossing book. Here I am next to it with Budd. We heard it was picked up quickly. That was our day at Butterfly Garden. I had a lot of fun. And I even got a souvenir for Ondřej!
wourpet Posted Oct 28, 2007, 4:02 pm	I have arrived in Colorado and although it is quite beautiful here the overnight temperature was a bit nippy.  There was a light frost and I was quite happy for all the insulating bubbles in my package.  It was nice to be welcomed by new friends and I can't wait to get out and see what's here and maybe find some real pigs.
wourpet Posted Oct 29, 2007, 6:35 am	It warmed up quickly so I went out for a walk around the yard.  I was happy to find all the apples on the ground and then Wourpet told me I could have even more from the tree.  I took one look and decided it was too much even for a pig.  Those I ate were quite delicious though.
wourpet Posted Oct 29, 2007, 7:06 am	On my way back to the house I found lots and lots of leaves from the sycamore tree and all the other trees in the yard. I ran into the house and asked Mara-Joy to come outside and play with me. We bounced and jumped and rolled and had such a great time.
wourpet Posted Nov 9, 2007, 4:30 am	After Mara-Joy left it was very quiet around here.  I went for a few rides around town (I have a cool chair to sit in) but wourpet didn't take any pictures. Today was exciting.  There was a package in the mail and after I brought it in from the mailbox and helped open it I met Soar -- a tiny little bald eagle. It was fun having a friend to play with and while we were rooting through the cartons (because pigs like to root) we found a whole bunch of toys.  There were even a couple more pigs in the box although they were very strange looking. The one with the patch on his eye said he is not just any pig -- he's a Hawg!
wourpet Posted Nov 9, 2007, 4:35 am	Hahahahaha!  Today another toy voyager arrived and she looked quite strange.  She knew my name and I was quite curious about this odd little creature.  To my surprise it was my friend Helen Bear that I met in Florida.  She was wearing a halloween costume and told me all about a halloween party she had been at in Oregon.
wourpet Posted Nov 23, 2007, 5:19 am	We went to Fruita and we were going to drive up to the Colorado Monument on our way back but it was too hazy out to get any pictures.  Once we got back it was clear and the sky was blue.  There are still a lot of apples under the tree so I'm going back to root them around and I'll talk to you later.
wourpet Posted Nov 23, 2007, 5:29 am	Happy Thanksgiving!  Thanksgiving is a real big holiday in America and about 90% of the people eat a big turkey dinner.  Soar told me all about it and you can read it on his travelog.  Wourpet invited us for dinner and said there would be lots of food for all of us.  We helped get some of it ready and I peeked on the turkey in the oven to see if it was ready. We had our own places at the table and wourpet said something about having seen pigs eat before so she put a napkin under my plates.  Helen Bear and Soar ate with me too. There was lots and lots of foods and I guess I did make a pig out of myself. I ate so much I was absolutely stuffed and then I dozed off before I had my pumpkin pie.
3tmom Posted Dec 12, 2007, 11:54 am	I've arrived!  The trip was quick and I wasn't lonely.  Helen the Bear and I chatted about our past adventures as we flew across the country west to east. I don't know how we're going to get out.  The top is way up there. Who is that?  Hi, Picado and Bonnie Voyage. Would you give us a leg up?  Oomph, ugh, <sigh>. This is better.
wourpet Posted Dec 15, 2007, 6:21 am	Today we helped get a float ready for the parade.  We were doing a pretty good job and I helped get this giant globe up on the trailer when a winter storm came up and almost collapsed it.  It rained and snowed and hailed and the wind blew and blew so I decided to stay in the house and I missed the parade.  Sorry i didn't get any pictures.  My host said she didn't get any either because she had frozen fingers carrying a banner in the parade.
3tmom Posted Jan 11, 2008, 7:50 pm	We're all at Tee's school for a holiday activity.  Henry the Adventure Hound came with us; he said he got enough rest on his journey here. Helen Bear, Bonnie Voyage, Picado, Henry, and I are building a gingerbread house. We each have a job to do.  I'm punching out the windows in the door so we can see what's happening on the other side.  Brrrr, separating the decorative snow drifts is a cold job. I wonder why I'm cold, I'm well insulated.  The house came together beautifully with all of us cooperating.

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