Groovy, Orangevale, Ca, USA

Tristan Posted Feb 4, 2008, 7:42 pm	Hi! My name is Groovy the Zebra. I was born in Holland, Sneek. After that i moved to a nice zooshop in Beeksebergen. My friends saw me there and fell in love with me!  I live with my friends Wendy and Tristan in Alkmaar. It's really nice there and i love my friends a lot, but i want to see more of the world. My friend Tristan made me a really nice car!!!!! It's a pitty that i can't really drive with that car, but I really like it! Anyway, I hope you will all help me, so I can see all the things I ever dreamt of!!!!! I also have a little notebook with me so you can wright in it or put pictures in it if you like to! Lots of love Wendy, Tristan en Groovy
Tristan Posted Feb 7, 2008, 8:22 am	I'm so happy! I started my travel today! I'm on my way to the other side of the world, Australia where i'm going to stay with Gingermuggins! After that my list is: Tarepanda (Miami) MarthaWWF (Washington) A scottish lass (Scotland) Fam-united (Germany) Chrissini (Austria) ChristinaB (Austria) Magickzzl (California) My goodbyeparty with my family and friends was great! But they will really miss me. Fortunately I can let them know how I'm doing when I am so far away!
gingermuggins Posted Feb 15, 2008, 1:19 am	Hello Tristan and Wendy!! I have arrived in Australia after a week long trip in my travelling bag. I was picked up from the post office by Sam's mum and am staying with her for a couple of days until Sam comes to get me. I am going to say hello to the many animals who live at this farm. I will get Sam to put photos up in a few days. I am safe and well and i miss you both. xx Groovy
gingermuggins Posted Feb 18, 2008, 12:21 am	Hello Again Sam came to get me from her mums house. She is very impatient and couldn't wait another day. I was happy to see her. Here i am walking out of my travel bag I then jumped into Sams handbag And we went shopping. I had my photo taken at the entrance of Mount Gambier. I can't wait to see the big Blue Lake in the picture later in the week. It was a short shopping trip as it is very hot down here. We are going home to swim in the pool and have a refreshing drink. Hope you are both happy. xx Groovy
gingermuggins Posted Feb 20, 2008, 1:32 am	Hi Everyone is happy today because it is raining. The last few days have been awfully hot and we haven't been outside to do anything. This morning we drove to a small town called Casterton. We drove through a Pine Tree Plantation. In 7 years these trees will be cut down and made into paper! Along the way we looked over the bridge and saw the Glenelg River. Not much water in the river. Sam says it's been a long, hot and dry summer. In winter the river gets really full and sometimes it floods! One side of the bridge The other side of the bridge We had a phone call on our way to town from Marcello asking us not to forget to buy some cheese! He called 3 times to remind us! Here is the welcome sign to Casterton Sam will upload some more photos later tonight. We have some farm work to do now. I miss you xx Groovy
gingermuggins Posted Feb 20, 2008, 10:35 am	I'm back with more photos While we were in Casterton i saw a statue made by someone who lives in the town. It is made from iron/tin, very creative! We then checked the post box for Sam's neighbours but it was empty. I'm lucky i wasn't sent to this box because it is so tiny! I started writting a postcard to send home, It's not finished yet. We brought the cheese and headed home to have cheese on biscuits with Marcello, a refreshing drink and a read of the local newspaper.
gingermuggins Posted Feb 21, 2008, 10:51 pm	Hello! We had a surprise visitor today, a fellow toyvoyager named Snuggles. I greeted him with a big smile as he came out of the post box. Sam's daughter has let us borrow her bag to travel around in. Snuggles doesn't like the colour but i told him we wont get lost because it's a very bright bag! We did a quick trip to see the lake in the picture i saw when i arrived. It is very very blue and pretty. We couldn't swim in it. The water is what the town people drink and use in their houses. We read some interesting information about the lake. I haven't seen any Australian animals yet. We found a sign that said Kangaroos live here, I think they were hiding from us. Sam's husband came home tonight. I really want to go for a drive in his truck. Can you see me, i feel really small up here! Big Hugs xx Groovy
gingermuggins Posted Feb 26, 2008, 1:51 am	Hi!!!! I'm sorry you have been waiting for many days for the next update. It has been quiet here. The weather has been miserable. On the weekend Snuggles and I watched car racing on television The begining of the race The driver of this car is who Sam was hoping would win the race but he didn't Sometimes the car racing was boring so i helped Sam do some stitching. The needle was very sharp! I was very careful.
gingermuggins Posted Feb 26, 2008, 6:22 am	Hello I went to school today! Sam's 7 year old daughter took me and the camera and took lots of happy pictures. We didn't get many pictures in the classroom, we were having too much fun playing outside. We had to wait for the bus to pick us up. It was cold and foggy this morning I made sure my seat belt was on for the bumpy ride on the school bus. When we arrived at school we had time to play in the playground. Before we play outside we must wear a sunhat I tried to carry Siobhan's school bag into the classroom but it was very very heavy! This sign lets me know this is the classroom i need to be in. We made boats in art class. Small enough for me to sit in! For lunch i shared cheese on biscuits with Siobhan I found some tasty green leaves that were good for lunch too. It was an exhausting day. I had lots of fun and made many new friends. Now i need to rest before i tell Snuggles and the other toy friends all about my adventure today. I miss you very much. I hope you are keeping well. Big Hugs to you both xx Groovy
gingermuggins Posted Feb 29, 2008, 7:56 am	Hello A short update! Today we said farewell to Marcello the mouse. He became a ToyVoyager today. He is going to visit the USA. Sam told me my next journey is to the USA too. I will pack my belongings over the weekend and be ready to leave Australia on Tuesday. Big hugs to both of you xx Groovy
gingermuggins Posted Mar 5, 2008, 7:50 am	HI!!!!!!!! On Saturday Sam and her family took Snuggles and me to the Speedway to see the local car racing. It was horribly noisey and smelly but we had loads of fun watching the cars crash into each other (no one was hurt) and a nice lady gave us a sticker to put in our note books
gingermuggins Posted Mar 5, 2008, 11:00 pm	Hello Today was my very last day in Australia. Sam helped me write in my notebook and paste some pictures in it. I gave Snuggles a goodbye hug and settled into my travel bag for the long journey. I had alot of fun here and Sam and her family were really nice to me. I did see some Kangaroos but everytime we tried to take a photo they would jump away. They don't like people getting to close to them in the wild. Maybe one day i might return to Australia and visit a zoo to see many Australian animals. I will hopefully speak to you very soon when i arrive at my next destination. Love and hugs to you both xx Groovy
tarepanda Posted Mar 24, 2008, 4:38 am	I arrived in Miami two days ago and I am going places already!  We go to the Easter Egghunt event at Miami Seaquarium.  Tarepanda is volunteering at the booth for Marine Animal Rescue Society, who rescue dolphins, whales, manatees, sea turtles and the like when they are injured or sick. Here is the booth.  We meet Manny the manatee and help him give out brochure and information to visitors.  This is Mandy, she is really great at teaching children about saving marine animals. We see a shark posing as a Easter Bunny!!  We hurry to call the police to have him arrested.  I think he is trying to lure the kids near him and then eat them! We get to meet a lot of animals: sea lions, sea turtles, crocodiles, dolphins and flamingos. We also say hi to the manatees at the seaquarium.  They are all rescues of MARS.  They are huge herbivorous mammals who weigh about 1,000 lbs.  They are an endangered species; because they are slow moving and big, they easily get killed or injured by fast moving motor boats.  Therefore MARS has an education booth to tell people how to save the manatees. There is a big aquarium with many fishes.  Look!  Zebra fishes!!  Just like me with strips!!! We also watch the children egg hunting. Happy Easter!! What a fun day!  We see a penny press, and decide to get one for souvenir.  We feed the penny in then turn... It's hard work!!
tarepanda Posted Apr 5, 2008, 2:07 am	Smith is leaving Miami and we decide to have a farewell party.  As weather is pretty hot we opt to go for some ice cream. We first decide on the ice cream flavor. Then we watch our ice cream being made.  The staff mixes in the ingredients we like: chocolate chips, caramel, fudge, almond and more... and mix everything up on the cold marble stone. This is a lot of ice cream for a little zebra like me! It's delicious and it's plenty to feed all of us: Watson, Fuzzy Wuzzy, McDull and Smith.  Bye Smith! Bon Voyage!
tarepanda Posted Apr 5, 2008, 2:27 am	We welcome a new visitor today, JamaBanaDukLuv .  We take him for a walk around the neighborhood. There is a dog exercising in the park. We check out the papaya tree in Tarepanda's backyard.  See all the papayas up there! We pick up the ones that have fallen from the tree already. We cut the papayas open when we get home.  Doesn't it look delicious?? Well, it is~!
tarepanda Posted Apr 5, 2008, 2:36 am	Today we go to Sawgrass Mills Mall, the largest mall in Florida.  The outside area is kind of cute, almost like Disneyland!
tarepanda Posted Apr 19, 2008, 5:16 am	Yesterday a new visitor arrived.  He is a bunny named Floppers.  We helped him out of his envelop and introduce him to everybody. Today we go to a Thai temple to celebrate the Thai New Year.  Homestead has a good sized Thai community as the weather is very comparable to Thailand.  The lady here is making green papaya salad.  They put the papaya shreds, chili pepper, green bean, tomato, palm sugar, carrot, lime juice and other ingredients into the big mortar and smash them together.  Very spicy but delicious. It's really hot so we drink some coconut juice, right from the coconut. Here are some grilled meatballs on bamboo skewers. These sesame balls have yellow bean paste in it and are very delicious. This is a sand temple with some prayer flags around it.  This is the temple, called Wat in Thai. The hall inside the temple looks very grand. The chairs are where the monks sit during ceremony. Thai New Year is also called Water Festival as people splash each other with water to wish them good health and happiness.  For the kids, this is a fun day for them to have a water battle. People also pour water over the Buddha statues for good luck.  We are told that we should pour the water over the shoulder, not the head.  I suppose Buddha doesn't like to be dunked. Here people line up so the monks can sprinkle water on them as blessing.  It is a hot day so the water actually feels very refreshing.
tarepanda Posted May 1, 2008, 4:04 am	Today we go to the EarthFest to celebrate Earth Day. The little "worms" hanging at the entrance are actually old socks decorated to look like worms.  Really cute! I thought this man was torturing the guy on the bed, but I was told that he was actually having a massage and it's my enjoyable.  Now I am not sure about that... Weather is really nice, if a bit hot. Oh I want an ice cone too! There is this booth asking people to sign a petition for a Department of Peace.  It's a lovely idea, give peace a chance!  We sign the petition. We meet a celebrity: Mr. Clucky! This famous rooster even has his own website: http://www.mrclucky.com/ This booth teaches us about sea turtle.  You can see the shells, eggs and more. There are drummers and musicians on the stage, and people dance along to the beat. There is a company educating people on wind power and we get a kite as a souvenir.  It's a perfect size for us!  See how high my kite flies!!
tarepanda Posted May 9, 2008, 3:48 am	Today is a nice day to relax and have a leisurely breakfast of coffee and toast. First I get the coffee and French press ready. After adding grounded coffee to the pot we added some hot water. Now be patient and wait for it to brew! Finally, time to PUSH! Mmm, the coffee smells so good! Ihad basil walnut spread on one slice and clotted cream with brandy on the other. Ahh, what a scumptious breakfast.
tarepanda Posted May 9, 2008, 3:54 am	Today we travel to Tampa. When we arrive we go to Ybor City for dinner.  It's quite a charming town.  They used to make cigar in the city.  There are some cigar lounges here but we didn't go because we don't want to smell like smoke.
tarepanda Posted May 17, 2008, 4:00 am	This is the hotel we stay at in Tampa. This is the lobby.  It's interesting to see the palm trees. There is a zoo called Busch Garden in Tampa.  I wonder if I may get to see some zebras there?  Too bad we won't be going there.  I would love to meet some friends. Here we are relaxing at the balcony of our hotel room. What a nice view it is of Tampa downtown and the channel. Do you see the dragon boats at the dock?  Yes, this is why we are here for, to attend the dragon boat race. Here we are, watching the races.  I am going to cheer for my host's team! We find this dragon statue by the hotel.
tarepanda Posted May 17, 2008, 4:19 am	Today we visit Tarpon Springs.  It used to be a port famous for the sponges, and there was a big Greek colony here.  See all the Greek restaurants and stores? We come to this place for lunch. Guess what this place is famous for? This is the view from the outdoor dining patio. Nice, isn't it? This is the shrimp boat that catches the shrimps for the restaurant.  I guess seeing it here means that our food is not that fresh...?
tarepanda Posted May 28, 2008, 2:41 am	I have been in Miami a while but this will be the first time I visit the famous South Beach.  I am glad I can do it before leaving Miami.  First we see this white statue on our way to the beach.  Only that it moves.  It gives us quite a scare, until our host tells us that she is a real person painted white to look like a status.  We then walk towards the beach. Wow this is the beach! This is the Atlantic Ocean!  I love looking at the ocean. Being Miami there are a lot of palm trees. Next we walk down to Ocean Drive.  This is a famous street that shows up a lot in postcards and movies, renowned for the Art Deco buildings.  Like the pastel cute ones you see here. Here that says it! I am on the very hip SoBe!! And here's a famous landmark on Ocean Drive.  This house is where Versace, a very well-known designer (so I was told... I am not into fashion, you know...) once lived, and got killed.  He was shot to death at the door steps right there one morning when he walked home from breakfast.
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jun 11, 2008, 5:43 am	I hjave arrived in California!! There are lots of other voyagers here, Cool Jules, Scott the lobster, Filia and Charlie. Izzy my host has been very busy and not fun. But she made it up to us today by bringing home tiny live roses. Their so cute and the perfect voyager size. She promised to take us on her errends now.
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jun 15, 2008, 9:18 pm	Im helping Izzy house sit again. This place has a beautiful garden and so the other voyagers and I hang out there while Izzy does her things. I just love this great warm California weather and all the flowers!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jun 29, 2008, 12:54 am	So, inbetween house sitting Izzy told us we would be going on a trip waaaaaaay out to the very edge of California to Susanville. I got really excited, Im finaly getting to see California!!! I got my stuff packed for an adventure!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jun 29, 2008, 12:59 am	We drove for 4 HOURS and finally arrived. Its really smokey because of all the forest fires, so alot of the picture we took were no good (Bummer!) We set up camp and one of the nice people we camped with brought us donuts! We all shared one while unrolling the sleeping bag.
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jun 29, 2008, 1:11 am	So after a few days of camping and fun, with the camera NOT working right, we headed back to Izzy's, tired and dirty. on the ride home the camera suddenly worked! So we took as many pictures as we could! We drove through part of Nevada and Reno, then through the seirra nevada's.
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jul 4, 2008, 12:13 am	So we stopped by one of Izzy's friend houses to water the plants and were amazed to find a mama Dove watching her nest. it was so sweet! As we were leaving we also saw a mama turkey and her babies running around!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jul 4, 2008, 12:28 am	Izzy and her mom took all us voyagers out for a walk along the river near her house. it was beautiful, although smokey because California is having SOO many forest fires and all the smoke gathers here in the Sacramento Valley. We saw lots of wild life, and even the state bird! The California Quail.
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jul 12, 2008, 10:28 pm	So Izzy packed us up and we headed to IKEA the furniture store for some fun! We ate a snack first then things went horribly wrong and... THE CAMERA DIED! Izzy is truely a terrible host, not charging batteries, paw. just kidding. But i did get a yummy treat while we were there.
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jul 23, 2008, 6:59 pm	Today Izzy to us voyagers to the river again to go bike riding with pollunga, another host here on TV's. It was so pretty, the hosts rode their bikes and us voyagers watched from the basket. We saw a deer and a rooster on our ride! It was so peacefull. Then we went with Izzy to pollunga's house. She has a very nice house and lots of cute animals! We fed her kitty a graham cracker! After playing on the cat's big cat tree we were tired and went home.
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jul 25, 2008, 6:49 pm	Today I traveled with Izzy and the other voyagers down the coast of California to Watsonville, home of wonderfull produce and a fantastic GOAT SHOW! Izzy raises and shows African pygmy goats, and we went with her to a breed show. The fair grounds where we camped we nice, and had a voyager sized train (but it wasnt running) There was also a big horse arena, but I was to busy with the goat show and making sure Izzy won to watch the horses. To bad. Izzy says tomarrow we get to go to the mystery spot! shounds mysteriose!!! Before bed I got to meet a big stinky boy goat named DC. He was very nice!!!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jul 30, 2008, 6:27 pm	Today The other voyagers and I got up REALLY early (wow, 7:30 am! lol) To get ready to go see the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot! It was very foggy but the fog moved up into a cloud, so then it was just overcast. We drove through watsonville wich is known for growing yummy fruits and vegi's, I even saw Rasberries growing on the vines! Finally we got to Santa Cruz and the mystery spot was very crowded, so bad Izzy had trouble getting pictures. But we waited in line, and took the tour! There is a neat old cabin right on the "mystery" and it leans really bad, and made me feel dizzy. Everyone was leaning at an angle, and it was alot of fun. No one knows why the spot makes you lean, and the tree's lean, and the shack lean.... scary!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jul 30, 2008, 6:31 pm	We headed back to camp, loaded up the goats and started to head home, when Izzy realized we didnt have any pictures on the beach! Sp we stopped off highway 1 inbetween Moss Landing and Sea Cliff and I got to see the California Coast!! Then we headed home, so tired
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jul 30, 2008, 6:37 pm	Today I helped Izzy throw a party for her friends Birthday. We went out to Folsom lake for some lake fun! But we got there and- hey, wheres the lake? It turns out in January they thought we would get more rain, and they drained the lake so it wouldnt flood the houses, but we didnt get anymore rain! So the lake is very empty. That means more beach!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Jul 30, 2008, 6:45 pm	Izzy decided to ride her bike out to her animals pasture today and we got to ride!! I got to meet Dusty the horse and some nice sheep. We then had a snack and headed home.
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Aug 20, 2008, 4:10 am	Today Izzy drove myself and the other voyagers up to Truckee, a little mountain town to see her aunt. It is really beautiful here!! We went down to the river and played in the water with Izzy's dog Piper. He's a cute little Corgi. Then We went into town aned found a lawn gnome being hualed away by some locals so we decided to head back and get some sleep.
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Aug 20, 2008, 4:16 am	Today we went to see the "Tour De Fat" which is a bicycle parade sponsered by the Fat Tire beer company. their were all sorts of crazy bikes! It was alot of fun! We then headed home because we have a big trip coming up!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Aug 20, 2008, 4:22 am	Izzy's internet went down just in time for her to not tell everyone that the other voyagers and I get to drove 900 miles with her to Tuscon! We got up at 4:00 am this morning and drove for 14 hours down California, through bakersfeild, Las Angeles and all then over into Arizona through Pheonix then finaly, 50 miles from Mexico, to Tuscon! this is exciting, and Im whopped!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Aug 20, 2008, 4:42 am	This morning I woke up to a wonderful sight! A gorgiose hotel and desert outside the window! There are huge cactus and tumble weeds and sage brush and all sorts of neat things! Izzy grabbed us up and drove about 15 minutes down the road and we found the "Old Tuscom Studio's" where they used to shoot John Wayne Cowboy movies! We didn't go in, Izzy didnt have enough money for entry there and the other place she wants to go, but we got out pictures with a real movie camera! Hi MOM!!!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Aug 20, 2008, 5:10 am	As we continued on through the desert, Izzy told us Voyagers that we were getting to go to the Arizona-Senora Desert Museum. The museum is an amazing place. Its really a big zoo full of the native plants and animals with a huge re-created cave with gems and rock formations, trails, fossils and of course, great animals! There was so much we spent 4 hours wondering around in the heat, with lots of water of course! it was 115f degrees today! Wow thats hot!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Aug 20, 2008, 5:11 am	As we continued on through the desert, Izzy told us Voyagers that we were getting to go to the Arizona-Senora Desert Museum. The museum is an amazing place. Its really a big zoo full of the native plants and animals with a huge re-created cave with gems and rock formations, trails, fossils and of course, great animals! There was so much we spent 4 hours wondering around in the heat, with lots of water of course! it was 115f degrees today! Wow thats hot!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Aug 21, 2008, 11:43 pm	Today we got up early again to see more of Tucson. Izzy heard they have a pretty good Zoo, and since she loves animals we thought it woulf be fun to go. The Zoo was so exciting! I see Giraffe's and Elephants and Polar Bears and all sorts of stuff! then we played on a fake tortaise shell and wondered around a bit more. At lunch time Izzy said it was time to hit another museum!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Aug 21, 2008, 11:57 pm	We left the zoo in search of our next museum. Izzy seemed REALLY excited! We jumped on the freeway a bit, and got lost in town, but then we pulled up to.. The PIMA Air and Space Musuem! It was so cool! There is over 3 acres with over 300 planes and spaceships and 4 hangers! We walked all over that place, in and out of hangers, talking to Docents and drinking alot of water because its over 110 degrees today. I even got to see mars! Then we headed back to the hotel exaghsted
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Aug 22, 2008, 12:15 am	Today is our last day in Tucson. Izzy got up early again and we headed out down the roag just a little bit to the International Wildlife Museum. Its a neat natural history museum where we learned about lots of kinds of animals and saw lots of stuffed creatures. After a few hours of that we headed back to take one last sunbath by the pool and say goodbye to the beautiful hotel and all the nice staff. Then we headed out for another 14 hour drive across the desert then california. While it was still light we saw a neat storm way out across the Mojave Desert.
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Sep 8, 2008, 5:12 am	So today we hung out in our voyager hotel. its actually a My Little Pony celebration castle, and we got rooms. It must be the end of summer break because WOW were the college girls out!
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Sep 8, 2008, 5:18 am	Izzy has been ignoring me so I made a few calls on her phone. She wont mind one bit.. I am going home to soon and am very excited!! I will miss my new friends though.
magickzzl guardianicewolf@hotmail.com Posted Sep 8, 2008, 5:23 am	Izzy is very lazy and has done nothing since Tucson. So Im coming home. I have gotten very good at Pirates of the Carribean on DS though. We have that at home, right?

Back