Travelog for: Budd

Today while I was waiting to go to the store for the turqoise I talked for awhile with Stinger.  He isn't a TV yet but might be soon.  I was a little scared when I met him a few days ago -- he is kind of odd looking and has a very large stinger but today he told me about himself.
He is a scorpion and scorpions can be up to 7 inches long.  They come in a wide variety and 90 species live in the United States -- but only 4 west of the Mississippi River. 
Scorpions have 2 pincers and a curved tail ending in a poisonous stinger.  They eat insects, spiders, and sometimes lizards and mice.  They live in the desert but also in tropical forests and grasslands and caves.  They live for 10 to 15 years.
Scorpions are prey to certain lizards, owls and mammals.  The venom of the scorpion consisits of chemicals that affect the nervous system but most scorpion venom is not considered deadly to humans or toy voyagers.

I was glad to hear that and I thought Stinger was a pretty friendly scorpion.



The second picture is my friend Rosa and I out in the backyard.

Today we went to the store and picked out a turqoise stone for my hat.  Wourpet told me my other stone was fake and it was just glass.  It was also too big for my hat so she told me I could pick a new one out.  It was very hard to do because there were soooooo many to choose from.



After I finally decided we sewed it onto my hat band and I posed for some pictures.  Isn't it pretty?

Wourpet decided to take me shopping again today.  We went to Home Depot and I felt very very small.




I think though, that climbing around on the lumber piles is good practice for me.

Today I got to help Wourpet in the work shop. We were building boxes and I learned how to use many of the power tools safely, including the laser.





Because some of the jobs were very dusty Wourpet gave me an apron to wear.





I got to help with everything but the gluing up.  Wourpet thought I might get very sticky paws if I helped with that.

Budd is off for more travel on the USATVT.  Today she left with a first class ticket to Washington State where she will meet up with her next host. 3tmom.  After vacationing in Washington they will be returning to Virginia.



The toys here had a farewell party for her and Rosa saw her off at the post office.



She has been a very welcome and well behaved guest and we enjoyed her visit.

What a quick trip! I arrived in Washington this afternoon! I wasn't stuffed into a small, dark mailbox like last time and had plenty of air. My new hosts released me from the box as soon as they arrived from the airport.

This afternoon we're travelling to Grandpa's Woods on the Olympic Peninsula, near Sequim (pronounce squim)!  We're going to camp, pick berries, haul brush, pick berries, sightsee, and pick berries.  Grandpa's Woods used to be full of tall pines but they got sick and had to be cut down.  The Forest Service planted new pines which are competing with Alders for space.  Grandma and Grandpa cut down as many alders as they can.

This morning I saw a few deer.  They were quite shy and quickly moved away before I could greet them.  I helped pick berries: blackberries, black caps, thimble berries, and salmon berries. They're yummy.  This afternoon we drove through a Safari Park with many BIG animals.  3tmom let me greet the domestic animals.

Today, I picked berries, examined a log splitter, and hauled brush.  3tmom's husband let their eldest drive the pickup truck.  Grandpa had palpitations.  In the afternoon we drove to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park.  I saw the American Mt. Olympus and Canada (across the water).  After going back to Grandpa's Woods to pack the vehicles, we went home to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Grandma likes to go to the Mariners' baseball games.  Since today is her birthday, we are all going to watch the Mariners play the Twins.  I hope Ishiro hits a homer.
This morning, Grandma made a cobbler with the berries we picked in Grandpa's Woods.  We ate it instead of birthday cake.

We picked more blackberries along the side of a road.  When we got home, Grandpa let me help juice the berries and make jelly.  We made 53 jars of blackberry jelly.

Tonight we are making chicken curry and ice cream for the church family night.  Chicken curry is a navy tradition.  We went shopping and bought lots of chicken, onions, apples, cream, and ice. 
I didn't realize chopping onions was a sad occasion.  Grandpa made the mango chutney that went into and on the curry. 

We're going home!  I don't know where it is, but we're going.
I pushed the luggage cart to check-in and then hung out with Eat-a-Lot Snuffles while we waited to go through security.  We boarded on time and then waited while more luggage (late & lost?) was loaded. We left one hour late.

The photos are not displayed in the order they were attached.

Because we left Seattle an hour late and our layover in Atlanta was supposed to be 45 min, we sprinted to the next terminal, hoping we'd make our flight. We arrived at the gate panting like dogs (I am an elegant immaculate cat, though, not a dog).  No one had boarded!  The plane had mechanical problems so the airline was looking for another plane. Our new departure was to be in 2 1/2 hours.
I played, phoned friends, and checked out my travelog while we waited. We finally boarded after 11 pm.

We arrived home after 1 am.  This is Barney the doorman.