Crown Point, Indiana, USA - 15th August 2007
By: kjnohr
My friend Hudson and I are just waiting to get our tags so that we can be sent to hosts. I can't wait! This is us, on the balcony of kjnohr's apartment.
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Posted Aug 16, 2007, 1:57 am Last edited Aug 16, 2007, 2:38 am by kjnohr
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Chicago, Illinois, USA - 2nd September 2007
By: kjnohr
kjnohr took Blanche 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.
On the way back to the museum, I took time to smell the pretty pink flowers.
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. The Sears Tower and the Space Needle are 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.
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 me 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.
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Posted Oct 10, 2007, 11:20 pm Last edited Oct 10, 2007, 11:20 pm by kjnohr
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Crown Point, Indiana, USA - 5th September 2007
By: kjnohr
Here I am, all ready to go to sleepybirdy's. Blanche was so distraught at being left alone that she couldn't even pose for the picture with me.
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Posted Sep 13, 2007, 12:44 am
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Temperance, Michigan, USA - 14th September 2007
By: sleepybirdy
Sorry I havent written much, I've just been so busy. Jamie's been taking me to work with her everyday so I could help cheer up some of her clients, but because of the nature of her work, we couldnt take any pictures.
One day, I burned the midnight oil with Jamie and helped her stay awake when she had to work the midnight shift. I wouldnt want to do that all the time-How's a perfect little kitty like me supposed to get her beauty sleep?
Another day, we visited "Angela," a woman in her late 20s whose father got mad at her and threw her against the wall when she was an infant, causing permanent brain damage. We gave her a bath and read and sang to her, and did some chores around the house to help her adopted parents, who're both over age 60. "Angela's" mom, "Kari" had a lot of pretty flowers out back that i got to help water. "Angela" couldnt say thank you, but i could tell she enjoyed the attention, as she was very relaxed when we left.
Later that night, we visited "Roxanne" and "Terra," her mother. "Roxanne" is in her late 70s and has cerebral palsy, and her mother is in her 90s so, as much as they try to maintain their independence as they have for so long and so well, they do need a little help now and then. We helped "Roxanne" onto her recumbent bike and visited with her and her mother, then helped "Roxanne" take a bath and get in bed. I got to meet their gorgeous white cat, "Snowball," and their little tuxedoed chihuahua, "Millie."
We also took a young (minor) man with asbergers to the mall and the library, and took a charming woman in her 70s out for dinner. It's been a busy week.
Its not something I think I could do, or would like to do for the rest of my life-its a lot of hard work and physical labor to take care of people, especially for such a sweet little kitten such as myself, but you should have seen their faces when they saw me! Their eyes lit right up and wanted to know who I was and what my story was.
Maybe someday when Im rich and famous, I'll open a charity to help those less fortunate then me.
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Posted Sep 15, 2007, 12:13 am
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Garden City, Michigan, USA - 14th September 2007
By: sleepybirdy
After all that hard work, Jamie got a chance to go up north to visit her fiance. When I heard where she was going, I begged to go too-Garden City, Michigan! What a perfect place for a rose-decked cat like me, right?
Jamie explained that it wasnt very pretty there, and the place didnt have a lot of flowers. What a let down! Jamie explained that natives actually refer to the place as "Garbage City" which is a bit more acurate.
We had a lot of fun together today, but I learned one important lesson-dont let a man take charge of the camera! All the pictures Dave took didnt even show up on the memory card! But the ones Jamie took turned out ok. Go figure!
This is us at lunch at Olga's. Jamie let me share her food. The sandwhich looked kind of like catfood, but it tasted pretty good, and the mustard sauce for the fries was really good, too.
We had a picture of me at Dairy Queen with a pink blizzard in a flowerbox...but Dave took that one. I met his sister's animals-a daschund named Kal, a black lab named Sophie, a black cat named Shadow and a very pretty tabby named Ash, but no pictures with them, either-the dogs thought i was a new toy and wanted to eat me! The horror! Jamie kept me safe and sound, though. The cats were too shy as the dogs were tearing about the house and the cats dont like a bunch of noise and commotion.
This is me driving a racecar at the mall. Dave took a picture of me going to the moon in a rocket, but you know what happened to that one!
Do you recognize these two fellows that I met in Dave's car? The one Im snuggled up to is Mario. He's very friendly and protected me from Bowser. I wasnt too sure of him, his teeth are SO big! Mario explained to me that he and Bowser help Dave deliver pizza for Dominoes. Mario has had previous pizza experience, being italian, and Bowser makes sure everyone tips Dave REALLY well.
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Posted Sep 15, 2007, 12:31 am
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 23rd October 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
Well, here I am in Australia! I arrived on a very hot, sticky day, feeling a little bit shy and nervous.
There are other TV visiting here, and I was happy to find that another TV had arrived with me. His name is Strider, a fellow kitty!
Rangler was the first to greet us both - he is also from the USA!
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Posted Oct 24, 2007, 10:28 am
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 23rd October 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
I also made friends with Twinette Kani (don't you think she looks a little like Blanche?)
As she says, us girls have to stick together! There are four other TVs here and they are all boys!
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Posted Oct 24, 2007, 10:34 am
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 24th October 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
Oh my...everything I've heard about the drought in Australia is true. Look at the cracks in Nik's yard. The only green things growing are some very stubborn parasitic weeds!
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Posted Oct 24, 2007, 10:37 am
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 31st October 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
I had not realized that Halloween passes by barely noticed in Australia, but my host and Strider did their best to make a great Halloween for me!
Nik hunted high and low and found some Halloween M&Ms, and even made me a passable Jack-O-Lantern!
I was especially happy to see this Halloween postcard Nik received from a Postcrossing friend - it has spooky stuff all over it!
Nik told me Aussies would rather tell you a "yarn" (a tall tale) than a ghost story.
I was disappointed to hear that, but then Nik read us some true ghost stories, ghsot stories from the earliest days of Australia!
Spine-chilling tales of penal settlements haunted by the spirits of convicts weren't enough, we scared ourselves long into the night with these other books as well!
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Posted Nov 11, 2007, 1:12 pm
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 6th November 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
Welcome Alpina! It's a cat gathering!
Today is the Melbourne Cup, Australia's biggest horse race. It's called "The race that stops a nation"
Nik says it's true; just about every Australian stops what he or she is doing at 3pm on the first Tuesday in November to watch the race.
Alpina was more interested in the field fashions. She was a bit disappointed about not having enough time to find something to wear, so I lent her my tail decos.
Nik put a little bet on a horse for each of us, so we studied the chart to find out what our chances were!
And we had the traditional Melbourne Cup lunch, just like in the corporate boxes!
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Posted Nov 21, 2007, 1:04 am
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Stroud, NSW, Australia - 6th November 2007
By: Prowl_Worshipper
The race was so exciting! We didn't want to miss a thing.
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Posted Nov 21, 2007, 1:08 am Last edited Nov 21, 2007, 1:16 am by Prowl_Worshipper
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