Travelog for: Blanche

My name is Blanche Conejo and I began my journey with my siblings Rosa, Picado, Morado, Azul and Ahumado ( Coney ) in Springerville Arizona USA.  We moved from there to our home in Farmington, New Mexico.
On our way to Farmington I saw lots of places to eat but we only stopped at some.


There is a movie of our trip here and a blog of our travels here.

Here is a picture of me with several of the other toys.  We took a group picture before Henry the Adventure Hound left.  I was sitting on the hedgehog but he wasn't really prickly.  Rosa and Budd are in this picture too.

Here we are saying goodbye to Budd after she stayed with us for awhile.  I have my hat on because it was very hot and sunny and I had been walking in the garden.

This is a picture taken when Ballet Cindy and Holiday Harry arrived.  I am on the right.

Yippee! I think.  Today wourpet said I could get ready for traveling but I did not expect I was going to be leaving so soon.  When she said today she meant TODAY!  I was a little bit nervous but excited just the same.  I went out to the vegetable garden for a last look at the vegetables (I had thought I might be eating some) before I was ready to get into my travel envelope.
We didn't even have time for a goodbye party but I did say goodbye to Rosa and Ballet Cindy.  They said if I stayed I might get a pretty dress too but I am looking forward to seeing Chicago.


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and now I say farewell to my home and head out to see the world -- and I'm just a little nervous but at least I am not released in the wild.  I'll talk to you again soon.

Yay!  I arrived at kjnohr's in Indiana today and got my first peek at my new surroundings. 



I was greeted by kjnohr's two Toy Voyagers, Hudson and Flora.  I took off my hat, put down my purse, and we immediately posed for a picture.  I was happy to meet Hudson before he leaves for Ohio on Monday.



I looked outside and was disappointed by the gloomy weather.  I knew we wouldn't be going out.  kjnohr's cat Anakin was quite rude and didn't even acknowledge that I was there.  Jedi, however, was curious, so I said hello to him.





Hopefully, the weather will be better tomorrow and we can go somewhere. 

Sunday was even more rainy and gloomy than Saturday was, so I still didn't get a chance to go anywhere.  kjnohr stayed in the apartment to catch up on chores.  Here I am, helping Anakin with the laundry.



Monday morning, Hudson, kjnohr's first Toy Voyager, was scheduled to leave for Ohio.  Here, Flora and I are hugging him goodbye.



kjnohr had a LOT of mail to go out Monday morning.  Flora and I inspected the stack to make sure that everything was addressed correctly and had enough postage.



Monday, kjnohr took me to work with her so at least I could get out of the apartment.  First, I made sure the printer was working properly.



Then, I helped kjnohr add up some numbers.  Unfortunately, my paws couldn't hit the numbers very well, so I quickly gave it up.



I decided to have a little fun after that.  I tried on kjnohr's hard hat (it was a little big), then I met a whole bunch of new friends.  Yes, they are ALL in kjnohr's office.









I was tired by this point, so I decided to sit quietly out of the way.  Can you guess what kjnohr's favorite team is?



I am now going to rest to be ready for our trip to Buffalo, NY this weekend.  Yay! 

kjnohr headed to a letterboxing gathering in Buffalo and took Flora and me along.  I was very excited as the plane pulled into the gate at Midway Airport.



We sat next to the window, so I decided to have a look before it got too dark.



After the relatively short flight, we were glad to relax in the hotel room.

Today kjnohr took Flora and me to a letterboxing gathering at Chestnut Ridge Park in Orchard Park, NY.  I'm not sure exactly what it was about, but I know it involved a lot of stamping and teasing about skorts.  Flora and I sat on the table and observed.



Then we met a Boxing Buddy named Ju Ju Bee.  Boxing Buddies are like Toy Voyagers, but they have their own signature stamps and go letterboxing with their hosts.



Then kjnohr took us for a "short" hike in the woods.



We hiked down to the Eternal Flame.



It was a fun day, but we were tired and were happy to go back to kjnohr's the next day.

kjnohr took Flora and me to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago today.  kjnohr thought the museum opened at 9:30 am, but it didn't open until 11:00 am, so we arrived early.  We used that time to take some pictures around the outside of the museum, which was built as the Palace of Fine Arts for the 1893 World Colombian Exposition.  It opened as a museum in 1933.









Don't we look tiny on the steps of this huge building?



After taking the pictures outside the museum, we still had time so kjnohr took us across the street to see Lake Michigan.  Here I am after getting my first glimpse of it across Lake Shore Drive.



We took the path underneath the road and came out by the lake. 





Here is what the museum looks like from the lake side of the Drive.



Finally we were able to go inside.  First we went to see the Great Train Story, a HUGE model railroad with Chicago at one end and Seattle at the other end.  Look, it's the Sears Tower and the Space Needle, just dozens of feet apart!







Before leaving the train area, we sat on an old-fashioned trolley.



We then walked through the Streets of Yesterday.  It looks like an old cobblestone street with all kinds of old shops and buildings.  There is even a theater that plays silent movies.  It was a very dark area, so it was difficult to take many pictures, but we did get one in front of the doctor's office and one on top of a mailbox outside the post office.





Next we learned about petroleum.  These bubbling boxes represent petroleum in the ground.  I never knew oil was so pretty!



I went into the mirror maze and pretended to be a hydrocarbon.



We then went into the Toymaker 3000.  I was very excited to see another kind of toy being made.  Look at all of those top parts!



There were a number of hands-on exhibits in this area explaining how robots work.  In this one, we got our picture taken and then picked dance moves for the robot to do.  Don't we look great? 



We went in to see the baby chicks in the Genetics exhibit.  They are so cute!  Unfortunately, they made Flora hungry, so we didn't stay there long.



At this point, I wanted to go upstairs to see all the airplanes.  On the way up the stairs, we saw many different kinds of gears.



What a neat old plane!



This is part of a United Airlines jet that was donated to the museum.  It was flown to Gary, Indiana, floated across Lake Michigan on a barge, dismantled and reconstructed inside the museum as an exhibit. 





I bet I'll never get this close to a jet engine again!



Flora and I were getting very tired, so we decided to rest on this bench.  Hey, is that the Titanic?



After our short break, we continued walking around the balcony.  I looked over and saw the huge banner for CSI: The Experience.  Unfortunately, the exhibit was sold out that day, but kjnohr assured me no photography is allowed inside anyway.



Finally we came to this 16 foot tall model of a heart.  Wow!





We went downstairs to the Great Hall so that kjnohr could buy some postcards.  While we were down there, we took a look at the Pioneer Zephyr, a stainless steel train that once set a speed record for the trip between Denver and Chicago.



We started heading back towards the door we came in, but first we stopped to see the circus parade and a stagecoach.





Finally we ended up in the Henry Crown Space Center where we came in.  Most of the exhibits have been removed for renovation, but the Apollo 8 capsule is still there.





Boy, I sure did learn a lot.  Flora and I were very tired, but we decided to pose for one last picture in the car on the way out of the parking lot.

Gerald McB arrived!  I have someone to keep me company again!

Henry the Adventure Hound arrived today!

kjnohr has been so busy that she hasn't been able to take us anywhere.  But today she decided to take us to the park.  Here we are at one of the entrances.  Can you spot us?



We went to see the old grist mill which is still used to grind cornmeal. 



This is the water wheel from the back.



This gazebo is very popular for weddings.  There was a lot of flower petals all over the ground around it.



Here we are on a bench outside the Sugar Shack.



On the steps of the sawmill.





Checking out the workings of the sawmill.

How sad!  Both Henry and I are leaving, so Gerald will be here all alone.



Group hug!



Here I am, all ready to head to Australia.  I can't wait to get there!



I hope wourpet enjoys the little surprise I am carrying in my purse!

It is suddenly of the utmost importance that the Conejo family rounds up all the strays and travelers for a family reunion at Easter.  It would seem that Ahumado (Coney) Conejo is due to return from Iraq.  His timing, even if we don't know the eexact date, is excellent since it was one year ago on March 24 of 2007 that the Conejo family were rescued in Springerville Arizona and set off on their worldly adventures.  However it seems the fate of the Conejo family is not a happy one and many may have possibly ended up in the stew pot.

Coney joined the army and was soon in Baghdad traveling around in tanks and hummers.  Azul ran off with a new and unknown friend following a July 4th parade and is likely deep in the Navajo Nation with no internet communication and unable to report in.  Picado has clocked a remarkable amount of miles as he has crisscrossed the globe and is currently in California.  He will make one last visit to Florida before returning home for the reunion.  Morado has just started out on the Russian TVT so he will not be able to make it home, or so he says, but the pictures from Germany and Russia are indicative of a fondness for partying.  Rosa spent most of the year at home waiting for Coney but was invited by a park ranger (after she had left her wallet and ID behind at Aztec Ruins National Park) to visit a friend in France where she would be able to reach a life mission and visit a winery.  First, though, she would spend some time with the Park Ranger, including a road trip around Montana. Apparently there is a large amount of snow in Montana but she made it to France in December and will hopefully be heard from again this spring.  Maybe she can even make the reunion before returning to France.  Blanche went to Australia and it would appear she fell into the fate every little rabbit worries about  -- the stew pot – and she was never heard from again.  All attempts to contact her host or to have her moved on have gone unanswered.  The rest of the Conejo family is of little help.  With Azul missing in action on the Navajo Nation, or maybe also in the stew pot, Rosa snowed under in the wilds of Montana, or also in the stew pot,  Morado partying and dancing in Russia, and sufficiently stewed even if he’s not in a pot and Blanche in the billycan -- it is going to be a sad affair when Picado is the only Conejo present to welcome his brother Coney home from his long deployment in Baghdad. 

So I am asking you please – If you are able at all to help Blanche find her way home please do so.