Travelog for: Ronnie N Hammie

Another envelope arrived today! We were excited to see who it could be. Mom said that had no idea who it could be. We watched as mom opened the envelope....out popped Bene. He seemed very happy to be here. Of course we welcomed him with open arms!

Today we decided to go on another adventure! MissMelissa has offered her home to us and we couldn't turn her down. We said goodbye to all of our friends then headed for the post office.

Greetings from West Virginia!

Hello! On our first day out in West Virginia, we visited Melissa's relative's home. We met some furry friends.


This is Nicky. He's a homeless kitty. Luckily, the owner of the house keeps him fed and got him fixed (he didn't like it, but it was for his own good). The person that lives there is in charge of Save A Kitty Feral Cat Program
Sadly, things got terribly out of hand after that...







OH NO! Ronnie's been taken by the wild beast! Hammie couldn't stop laughing because it looked strikingly like the Wild Witch of the East with a house on it with those striped feet. Luckily, Melissa stepped in and saved us from the savage.


Things quieted down after that and we got to enjoy the scenery a bit. One thing's for sure...We may be in for quite an adventure here!

Until Next Time,
Ronnie & Hammie

We were supposed to go camping this evening. The weather had other plans...Melissa failed to tell us that she's had a black cloud literally following her for weeks now. Great! Maybe tomorrow?

On our way to work with Melissa, we visited a McDonald's. Sadly, we were in a rush, so we hit up the drive-thru. But at least we got to help order!





Then, when we got to Melissa's workplace, she had quite a surprise for us.



Somehow, and she won't reveal her sources, but Melissa found a Happy Meal box from 1988. Granted, there was no 20 year old Happy Meal inside, but you never see the old boxes anymore. We decided to take a moment to reminisce.






Fantastic!

Till Next Time,
Ronnie & Hammie!

Tomorrow is the 4th of July, so we decided to show our friend from the U.K., Sandi Rose, why we celebrate the 4th of July...Well, the shortened version anyway. Here is what we told her:


A long long time ago, some people from Europe wanted to start a new life in the Americas. They made the long voyage across the Atlantic to what is now the United States.


Settlements popped up in Virginia, and soon after all over the East Coast, settlers made their way all the way up to what is now called New England.


Soon, though, the settlers of America wanted independence from Great Britain and started rebelling. We showed Sandi Rose how to throw tea overboard to protest taxes. Shortly after that, the Revolutionary War started and eventually some very gutsy fellas decided to officially declare their independence.


On July 4th, 1776, the United States of America declared her independence from Great Britain.

Tah Dah! It's amazing what one can accomplish in one slow night at work with an endless supply of cardboard, construction paper and tape. Of course, we hated wearing the powdered wigs. They just weren't flattering. Now that we've shown Sandi Rose why we celebrate the 4th, tomorrow we'll show her how!

What is the 4th of July with a bunch of thunderstorms? Not the best 4th ever, I'll tell you! While cookouts got canned, the fireworks went off despite the steady drizzle. We watched the fireworks from city park and Melissa set us up with some sparklers of our own. Which, she lucked into because they were the last pack in the whole store and she really had to dig for them! Good job, Melissa! Real fireworks are illegal in West Virginia, so you have to go to Ohio if you want anything fun. Melissa's clumsy, so she thinks sparklers are the best thing for her to celebrate with. Happy 4th of July! (somebody needs a tripod!)

Until Next Time,
Ronnie & Hammie

Today was a pretty sleepy Sunday. We were climbing the walls to get outside!

Melissa showed us the newest additions to her bug collection. She wants to stress that they have all died of natural causes. She doesn't even squash spiders when she finds them, she "relocates" them to a larger distance from herself. She's waiting for her entomology kit so she can frame these bugs and put them on the wall. Dork!

So we are going on a lightning bug hunt with Sandi Rose and Samantha Turtle!

Until Next Time,
Ronnie & Hammie

Hello! Our hunt was quite successful last night and we had a great
time.


All four of us caught a lightning bug!



We brought them inside to check them out and then let them go. But before we did, we caught one glowing! (which is trickier to catch on film than one might think...)



They were fairly nice, considering the circumstances, but were glad to be set free.

Until Next Time,
Ronnie & Hammie

I've visited another McDonald's. Melissa's trying to reduce her cheeseburger intake, so we haven't been getting too close to them. This one is the least attractive one in the area, but it's got a Grimace on top! We'll hopefully be able to see the other ones in town before we leave.

Been wondering what we've been up to? Well, not too much. Melissa's been very busy with school, so we've been learning lots. We even got to partake in Melissa's newest adventure: a moss terrarium. We're kind of interested to see if it will work...

Until Next Time,
Ronnie & Hammie

Field trip! Today we went to McDonough Park, a 277 acre wildlife reserve.


The first thing we saw were a family of deer. Do you see them? In between Hammie's ears? Look closely!



There were three of them, a mama dear and 2 babies!





The park is a series of trails that all surround this marsh area. There are lots of birds and animals that live here in their natural habitat.


We met this lovely little butterfly, but Ronnie's head made the picture all blurry, so we sat it out.



Geeses and gooses, oh my!


We poked around a bit longer in hopes of finding a turtle so Samantha Turtle could meet with him.


It started getting a bit late, so we decided to go home. You know how horror movies start. 2 bears, alone in the woods! In the middle of West Virginia! Eeeek!

Until Next Time,
Ronnie & Hammie

We went to work with Melissa today!


First, we met the Fonz. Can you believe someone traded this in for 10 cents? We can't either.


Melissa works in the local independent record store. We think it would be a pretty cool job. Melissa assures us that it's not all puppy dogs and rainbows. But it could be worse, for sure.


Here we are in front of the counter which is held together by stickers.


It's so overly colorful that we could hide and probably never be seen again.


Hammie tried to scan his face to find out his suggested retail value. It didn't work, but he was temporarily blinded...


But that didn't deter him from trying again. That Hammie!


We eventually got so bored that we fell asleep...

Until next time,
Ronnie & Hammie

Today was Parkersburg's Homecoming Festival. It was Melissa's first time, so she didn't know what to expect. We did know that Eddie Money was playing, so that's why we went.



There were quite a few people there. And a weird flying person too.



Finally, we found a place by the stage.



And here comes the MoneyMan!




We made a sign, but felt a little too embarrassed to hold it.



No big deal, Melissa's friends were happy to oblige. Until they got kicked out after one song.

The rest of the evening was spent at a friend's river lot. Which, sadly, is not very scenic at dark...



Until Next Time,
Ronnie & Hammie