Percy, Bruchsal, Germany

JaymeC Posted May 21, 2008, 8:39 am	Hello! My name is Percy and I'm currently with my mentor in Okinawa, Japan. She's been a good mentor and cared for me the past few years after rescuing me from a bin of delivery owls destined for Hogwarts. I've been able to follow her through her moves, but she's finally residing somewhere she'll be staying the next few years. This compounded with her closing in on her college degree finally means that I'm getting a little bored! She recently started trading postcards, and we both thought it would be excellent (and save her much money!) if I were able to deliver the cards for her! To that end, I would love to travel the world so I can learn all these locations that postcards may one day travel to! In the mean time during my travels I would love to further my eduction. To this end, I would love to visit any universities or any schools in general! I'd also love to visit any historic spots or even scenic spots since science is also an interest of mine! And of course I love being up high and seeing the world below me! (I am a bird after all!) I'd like to visit you for 2-3 weeks and then continue on my journey. I'd also like to come home to visit every 5-10 journeys. My mentor is a mommy to two young boys, and I don't want them to grow too much while I'm gone! Also, I will try to bring with me from Okinawa one postcard for each person I'll be visiting. If possible, I would love to take one home with me as a souvenier of my journey. If you could write on the back some of the fun things we did, that would a wonderful addition to my scrapbook! Hope to see you soon, Percy My Travel Schedule: June - olgamaus - ARRIVED July - sararingham - ARRIVED August - Kira1997 - ARRIVED September - luckaye October - November - Drakie December - Vicki January - missslady February - HOME!
olgamaus Posted Jun 5, 2008, 8:29 pm	Hello Mummy, I arrived in Remscheid today. I'm so happy. It was a long journey. I think I was hanging around for a few days in the custom's office. But now I'm here and everything is fine. First I recognized that someone was jumping onto my envelope, then the envelope was opened carefully with a knife. I already could see something green with an orange pecker - that was Bertie the duck. My new host Katja helped me out of my envelope and welcomed me. I showed Bertie and Katja my package of postcards. Every host is allowed to take one of them. They chose the one with the figure on the roof. They put it onto the fridge door where already a lot of postcards, drawn pictures and a lot of funny magnets are sticked to. Katja had to work the whole day and she said she needed a little walk in the fresh air. I was also in need of fresh air, you can believe me. So Bertie, Katja and me took a walk. I'm now living in the attic storey of this house. As a mail owl I was anger to see a mail box. The first one is standing in front of the police station. Someone should take a cleaning rag and clean it. In front of the police station a little park is located. Here we took some pictures. I loved the feeling to sit in a tree. From there we walked to the muncipal park because I could not get enough from green leafes and fresh air. Here I found this beautiful flower. The roses smelled really good. On this pillar on every side the names of men are engraved  that died in several wars, from the early 1800's until World War I. In this part of the town I already saw many old houses. We also found another mail box. This was clean but the wall behind it is in need of some repair work. I am really tired now. Tomorrow we have to get up early. We are going to a trade fair fot pet supplies, food and so on. Katja is a member of a association for pet rat keepers. They are exhibiting at this fair. By the way, I'm not only tired but also hungry. Who said something about rats? I think I would like one for dinner .... oh, Katja is coming. She heard what I said. No, I won't have a rat for dinner. Not even a small one ... funny people are living in Germany. I tell you more tomorrow. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 6, 2008, 7:30 pm	Hi Mummy, today we went to Rheinberg, we had to drive for an hour. We visited the trade fair “Tier & Wir” (animal & us). The German pet rat keeper’s association was exhibiting there. Katja is an active member of this association. They are informing interested people about pet rats keeping, about their needs, how the cages should look like, what they eat and so on. They also sell things from their own shop like coffee mugs, biros, t-shirts with their own logo printed on, books, stickers, stuffed rats, crafted things  and much more. The income from this sale will be used for animal protection. We arrived in the morning. First we helped to put everything at it’s place. Later we walked around and watched a lot of animals. There were guinea pigs, rabbits, reptiles, American minipigs, birds, chicken, fishes and horses. They also had a petting zoo with lamas, sheep and goats. Bertie and me were brave enough to sit on a goat. Among the birds I found my favourite – a beautiful eagle owl. Later the owners walked around with the owl and visited our stand. There were also fledglings of tawny owls. You can buy all sorts of pet supplies like food and housings here, for dogs, for cats, for all sorts of rodents, for equitation, aquaristics and terraristics and also craftwork. This photo is taken outside of the fair buildings. We also found something really special: Katja’s new ToyVoyager. She fell in love with a cute mouse dressed perfectly and carrying a shopping bag. She simply could not resist though she already has two travelling mice. We are looking foreward to dinner now. We are all very tired because we had to get up early. It was exciting to meet a real owl. Katja told me that I would meet more owls on Sunday. She did not say more so I’ll have to wait. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 8, 2008, 10:39 pm	Hi Mummy, today we visited Katja's parents. Her father was celebrating his 78th birthday today. Katja's parents are living in Remscheid-Lennep, that's one of the oldest districts of Remscheid. The historic city centre is really old, some houses are built in 18th century. Origininally it was far older, but the city centre burnt down almost completely several times during the last centuries. On the photos you can see that the houses are built in small distances to the next houses. When one house caught fire usually the neighbour houses also caught fire, then the next houses and so on. Katja's parents are living in a flat in the seventh storey. From the balcony you have a stunning view over the old town. I met a lot of owl friends here. Katja's mum is collecting owls. She has owls made of plush, glass, ceramics, wood, stone, brass and copper, crystal glass and more materials. Can you spot me among my plushy friends? This is Hedwig, my new best friend. Now I will show you some of the other owls. This guy is living on the balcony. I was really delighted to see so many owls. Katja said that her mum has collected about 500 different owls. Later we walked to a restaurant for dinner. On our way we walked through the old town. On the next photo you can see how narrow some of the lanes are. This shop where you can buy tea and antiques is called "Die Eule" (the owl). Here all the shops are closed on Sundays, otherwise I would have had a look inside. Many cars are looking like this at the moment. Yesterday the UEFA European (Football) Championship started. Many cars and houses are decorated with flags. Here you can see an old water pump. I almost fell into the water underneath the pump. If Bertie would have fallen he would have been delighted. He can swim. Now we are standing in front of the restaurant. We were all very hungry. We were waiting for our dinner quite long. We all had a beer. It was very refreshing. Later we drove home by bus. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 10, 2008, 6:47 pm	Hi Mummy, today Katja showed us a little bit more of the town centre. She had an hour off in her lunch break. Besides the weather forecast says we will have bad weather the next days, so we wanted to see more with sunshine and a blue sky. Here Katja's daughter went to school. She had her last day there today. Tomorrow they have their graduation party. This are two really nice old  houses. You can see that there are many trees in the town centre. In the background you can see the town hall. The shopping mall will be enlarged in a few months. Here you can see the central bus station. We are now standing in front of the building of the local newspaper "Remscheider General-Anzeiger". The statue is made of copper. It is the figurehead of the newspaper which is existing since 1889 A.D. It´is called "Tüpitter". That comes from an early column called "Niet te bang - Tü Pitter". This language is German. but the dialect of Remscheid. It means "Don't be afraid - pull, Peter". This is relating to the bell. In German they have a byword "etwas an die große Glocke hängen" which means to shout something from the rooftops. The first house on the left side contains a nice pub with a beer garden, the house with schist is the municpal gallery. Maybe we will visit it next week. We are now standing in front of the public library. We rested a little bit on the sculpture in front it. We only had a very short rest because the metal was really hot. We almost burnt our backsides. This is the shopping street with the pedestrian area. Here you can see more of the town hall. The tower had to be restored and it had a scaffold for months. The scaffold will be removed soon. In the middle of the photo you can see a water tower. These are the mail boxes in the office building where Katja is working. They don't look very exciting but as a mail owl I can accept that. Katja took us into the law firm where she's working. It was boring for us. Bertie wanted to answer the telephone but most of the time he was only croaking in Finnish or Spanish. That's not enough for a German law firm, so he had to be quiet. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 11, 2008, 9:08 pm	Hi Mummy, two ToyVoyagers arrived today, owl Desmond and eagle Aquila. We are now four birds here. Katja wanted to take a walk with a friend. So she took us with her. In front of the house we waited for her friend to arrive. We were sitting on a wall, you can see the front door in the background. The house I am now living in is an art-nouveau-house, built in 1904 A.D. We walked along the "route of tools", a lane for pedestrians and biker, built on a closed railroad bed. It was sponsored by the local industry. Along the lane you can find many signs of  those companies. The first sign that we saw is showing the crest of Remscheid. Later we rested on a bench that was made of a huge screw clamp. We went into a wooded area. Although Remscheid seems to be an industrial town you can see many trees, valleys and wooded areas. We walked through the muncipal park on our way back home. I saw many blooming flowers again, today I saw foxglove. We  saw a playground there. We went on the swings. We four birds want to play a little bit now. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 13, 2008, 8:32 pm	Hi Mummy, the weather has gone really bad. It’s raining sometimes, but that’s not the worst thing. It became really cold! We had 7°C (44°F) in the morning yesterday and today. I did not want to leave my warm bed today. In the afternoon the weather became better and in the early evening we took a little walk along the route of tools. Katja wanted to convince us that Remscheid is not only consisting nice flowers in the muncipal park, forrests and calm side roads but it is also an idustrial town. The route of tools is made on a closed railway track, I already told you. Along this route you can find many industrial companies and also abandoned factory buildings. These pictures are made by an artist which is living here. Along the route you can find many pictures and signs made by him. This rusty bridge does not look trustworthily. This is one of the abandoned buildings. This complex of buildungs formerly contained the local slaughterhouse. Now there are offices and other companies in the buildings wich are now under monumental protecion. Here we are sitting on a bench that is made of really old parts. One of them is the axis of a historic water wheel. Oh yes, we saw a completely different town today. No more trees and flowers but factories like that. This building takes the whole daylight away. We went back home then, into the district with trees, flowers and nice old houses. We had to hurry because it started raining again. But we reached our home save and dry. Later we will watch TV. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 15, 2008, 7:49 pm	Hi Mummy, today we took a walk with Katja’s brother-in-law and his dog Bertie. Bertie the duck was delighted to meet another animal named Bertie. First we had a look at the building site of the new central railway station they are building. We walked for about an hour through the forrest. The weather was not too good, so there was not enough sunlight for really nice photos. Here is the creek that’s running through the valley. Here we are sitting on a fence in front of a house in the valley. In the valley you can only find some houses, this part of the town is really in the middle of nowhere (in German you say “Am A***h der Welt). Where we had parked the car we saw this graffiti, it’s funny that somebody painted an owl of all things onto this tank. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 15, 2008, 7:59 pm	Hi Mummy, today the weather became better and we took a walk from Wuppertal-Ronsdorf back to Remscheid. We went with Katja’s fried. We walked through the forrest along the dam of Wuppertal-Ronsdorf back home. The dam is a really small one. Here you can see us having a little rest on a pile of trunks. Along the path you can find some charts with information about the forrest. This one is about different trees and their leafes. We are standing on the concrete dam, you can see here that the dam is really a small one. Here you can see a popular country inn. It’s existing here for about 100 years. You can ride horses in this part of the valley. Two of them were tethered in front of the restaurant. This is a fish pond in the middle of the forrest. Really large trouts are swimming in it. We are now at “Steffenshammer”, a historical location with a museum. On the right side you can see a water wheel, that was driving hones in ancient times. This is another building that belongs to this complex. It is typically “Bergisch”. We are here in the region that is called “Bergisches Land”, butn ot because of the many hills and valleys, but it is named after the earl vom Berg who reigned over this region in the early medieval times. We are all sitting in a big wheel in the front garden of one the houses here. I will show you some more photos of typical houses, either with schist or truss walls, in any case with green shutters. Today I saw a beautiful and clean mail box. But the weather became bad again. We reached the house of Katja’s friend and it started raining again. Inside the house the family’s cat Leona was lying on the window sill. She allowed a photo with me. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 16, 2008, 8:51 pm	Hi Mummy, we are watching the UEFA European (Football) Championship on TV just now. Germany is playing against Austria. For Germany it's neck or nothing. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 17, 2008, 7:26 pm	Hi Mummy, today Katja showed us the town hall. The scaffold at the tower is still not dismanteled completely. This is the view from the market place in front of the town hall onto the tower and the pillar with a lion. The lion is the heraldic animal of Remscheid. Of course I already have seen the town hall, but not from the market place, I must admit. I also saw another mail box (I've seen better ones). Back home we studied today's newspaper, especially the sports news. Yesterday Germany has won 1 : 0 and will be playing in the quarter-final. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 21, 2008, 8:48 pm	Hi Mummy, today we made a wonderful trip. First we went to Wuppertal by bus. We did not stay in Wuppertal but we had to change from bus to train there to get further to Essen, our real destination. Here you can see me in front of the concert hall. The penguin is one of about 200 penguins that were designed in 2006 A.D. for a campain because of the125-year existance of the Wuppertal zoo.They could be bought by companies for benefit of the zoo. They were designed and painted. You can find many of them in the town now. This is one of them. From here we went to Essen by train. Essen is a town in Ruhr District.
olgamaus Posted Jun 21, 2008, 8:53 pm	When we arrived in Essen we were welcomed by another ToyVoyager host – BlackCat. She also carried some ToyVoyagers with her. First we went by streetcar to Zeche Zollverein, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Germany. The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex is a large former industrial site in the city of Essen. It was inscribed into the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in December 2001 and is one of the anchor points of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. Outside there is a 3D-model of the whole complex. Here you can see the four of us and BlackCat’s TVs Burrimul Memu, Chocolate Moose and Hueso. She also had three of her own toys with her. We went into the visitor centre. You could get there by escalator or by walking up relly long and steep stairs. The banister illuminated with orange light. We rested a little bit there. These are the stairs in the main building. It looks a bit spooky. Outside we saw many information charts. This is one of them. Then we went to Gruga Park.
olgamaus Posted Jun 21, 2008, 8:56 pm	The Gruga Park is a large park which is existing here since the 1902s. In 1965 the German Federal Garden Show took place here. It was designed then the way it appears today. This is the entrance area. This is the Hundertwasser house. It was built for parents of critically ill childred who are getting medical care here. I saw many exitic plants from all over the world. This is a gingko tree… a blooming cactus … unfortunately I don’t know the name of these plants with giant leafes … Not exotic, but beautiful roses … Of course we also had lunch. We had a lot of fun today but we are very tired now. We better go to bed early because tomorrow we have to get up at 5:30 am! We will fly to Stuttgart tomorrow. Katja has to join a meeting of the rat keeper’s association. I am really excited to fly in a plane without being stucked into an envelope. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 22, 2008, 10:16 pm	Hi Mummy, today we had to travel to Stuttgart in South Germany. We went to Düsseldorf airport by train. After the check in we had time to go to the observation deck for visitors. Here you can see me in the terminal and on the observation deck. I am now on the obersever deck.
olgamaus Posted Jun 22, 2008, 10:28 pm	Hi Mummy, Katja had to join a meeting in Stuttgart. We did not have much time to explore the town. What we saw from driving through the town looked very nice. We only had an hour to have a little walk before we had to go to the central station to get home by train. This is the central station. We made the following photos while we walked around a little bit. The pedestrian area is looking like every pedestrian area, but we also found some old and more interesting buildings. This is a castle built by Wilhelm I, king and emperor of Germany who lived from 1797 until 1888. Now I will show you some nice old houses in Stuttgart. We went home by train. We returned at about 09:00 pm. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 23, 2008, 8:41 pm	Hi Mummy, today I met a really interesting animal. Interesting, but unfortunately extremely small. Have a look! A cute little ladybug was crawling on the kitchen cupboad's door. I also met Mathilda, the mummy of the rat babies. I met a lot of different animals up to now: An owl, a goat, a parrot, minipigs, a cat, a horse, a ladybug and a pet rat. These are already eight different animals. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 25, 2008, 7:30 pm	Hi Mummy, we are prepared to watch the first semi final of the UEFA European (Football) Championship between Germany and Turkey. It will begin in a few minutes. Bye Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 28, 2008, 1:58 pm	Hi Mummy, today we took a last walk with four TVs. The sun was shining again though in the morning it was raining. We walked to Hasten, one of the oldest districts of Remscheid. This district is surrounded by wooded areas. On our way back home we walked along the route of tools. Here are many blackberry bushes, they are full with blackberry flowers. They will have many blackberries here in late summer. Katja told us that she made a delicious liqueur with blackberries last summer. Therefore you need vodka or another "white" hard liqueur. Into one bottle of this stuff you put about 200 g blackberries and 200 g white rock candy. Then you keep it in a cool and dark place for at least two months. The rock candy has to be dissolved completely. Then you strain it into a new bottle and then enjoy it chilled. Maybe we all should return to Remscheid in winter to taste it. Tomorrow I will pack my envelope and travel to Australia. I hope my journey won't take too long. I ate some gummi candy mice today, so I won't starve. Love Percy
olgamaus Posted Jun 28, 2008, 2:06 pm	Hi Mummy, today Katja helped me to pack my envelope. We put the present postcards for my next hosts into it. I sent  a letter to you, containing a postcard and a photo showing me and the eagle owl on the trade fair a few weeks ago. Aquila, Bertie and Desmond gave me a hug and then I disappeared into my envelope. Australia, I'm coming! I hope you'll hear from me soon. Love Percy
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 4, 2008, 9:34 am	Hi mom! As you can see I'm now in Australia all safe! :-) Today was kind of a boring day, as was my first day in Australia - it's crazy to think it's so cold here, I'm not really used to the cold anymore since every where I've been previously have been so much warmer than this! First thing's first Sara introduced to me to her pets... first I got to meet the mice... they were busy eating - Sara says she's due to clean their cage... that's a chore for tomorrow though... :-P You can see waffles in the food dish, and Charlotte much closer to me. Although they're kind of scared of me so Sara had to stand a bit back so I didn't scare them too much! Then I got introduced to the birds... it's a huge cage, and they're even smaller than me, which is suprising since I'm a very small owl! Well, compared to what I'm supposed to be anyways... ...and then as I was walking away Sara noticed that Mr. Colors was coming up to introduce himself to me... see... ...later on as you can see he didn't get enough of an introduction you'll see that picture a bit later though... :-) Then I got to meet the puppy, she was put in the kennel just before because she made a mess on the carpet as well as taking a much needed nap... Sara woke her up for the photo... :-) Isn't she cute? ...and then last but not least I got to meet the fish... they're in the midst of having their tank cleaned so the net in the tank is holding charcoal to take a bit of the ammonia out of the water... therefore keeping the little guys healthy... if you look at the bottom you can see our sucker fish, he's quite big... :-) ...and then before I knew it all the toyvoyagers came out to introduce themselves to me... ...from left to right... of course it's me, then Fluffy, KattieMill, SebastienLGreen, and last but not least 87518 they're all very nice, they've been here for a while and probably will soon be traveling again... :-) Then I finally will get to show you what I was "helping" Sara with this morning... we cleaned up their room and prepared it for all the new stuff therefore finishing off their bedroom. They've been trying to do this for months so this was very exciting for them... :-) ...it looks a lot better than the picture makes it seem but since it's dark outside Sara had to take a photo with just the light on... :-) and here's a really comfortable rug on their floor that matches the rest of the bedroom. It's a lot brighter than it looks in the photo but it matches really well... :-) ...oh and it's very comfortable... so much so that Sara had to get us up... as we were getting up and moving out of the room Sara saw someone fly over her head... looking up she thought it was one of her quails but then when it landed she realised who it was... ...Mr Colors... he escaped to say hello to me obviously... sadly I couldn't get too close before he flew away this time... I guess since he's actually smaller than me, he may have been a bit intimidated... but isn't he pretty? :-) Well the time has come to get some rest with the rest of the voyagers, we have a lot to discuss... :-) Talk again soon mom! <3
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 11, 2008, 10:46 am	I wasn't quite sure where we were going today. It was quite unexpected even for Sara... but we packed up the car and took a little bit of a drive... After a bit of the drive it because really woodsy, there was a lot of eucalyptus trees, and the road started to get really slippery... it's amazing the temperature change too, pretty shocking... ...and then we got there - well, not really got there as we never quite made it to the summit... but we got close... a whole 2 kilometres away, but Sara took us to see what she could without having to walk 2 kilometres in the freezing weather... ...as you can see it had snowed up there, this is only a little bit of the snow... but the summit of the mountain was covered in snow... Sara didn't think there would still be snow as on the lower ground there was no more left... but there was so we got a photo with it. Who knew it snowed in Australia? I guess it's not that common because there was a LOT of cars parked where we were, people had come from all over New South Wales to see the snow at the top of the mountain. It doesn't snow as often as it used to, so it was quite amazing to see... As you can see with the whiteness of the trees that's all snow on them... and on the ground... it was REALLY cold... and to top it all off it was snowing from the trees onto us and the wind was blowing really hard as well... brrrrr! This is a picture after we ran back into the car, that shows how much snow was coming off of the trees... it's weird that it's snowing in July, how backwards is that? ...we got to stop on the way back down the mountain though and see a bit of what we would have seen at the top... here are me with the mountains surrounding where I was standing... it's an entire mountain range the tallest one in the photo is called 'Little Mount Canobolas'. ...and then we got to see what was behind me in that last picture, an idea of what it would have looked like at the top of the mountain... this is a higher view of Orange... at the top of Mount Canobolas on a clear day you can see very very far. Especially since Mount Canobolas is the highest point until somewhere in South Australia on the Perth side of the country. Crazy isn't it? ...but that's not all we did... wait for the next update. :-)
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 11, 2008, 11:06 am	...next stop was Lake Canobolas, only a short distance away... when we got there we were the only ones there... because of the recent rain (which we've really REALLY needed) the lake was overflowing over the dam wall... looks cool doesn't it? ....and then we got to pose in front of the lake, it looks quite cold doesn't it?... ...here's some more photos of the lake... isn't it big?... ...and just as we were about to leave, a huge bird, Sara says it's called a magpie came to us to pay us a visit. Obviously he didn't feel safe enough to come closer to us, but it was still cool, he's quite big! ...well I'll update again soon! With the recent freezing temperatures I wouldn't be surprised if we'd get a bit more snow in the lower lands. I hope so, maybe we can make a snowman this time! A snowman in July, haha the thought of that is so funny isn't it?
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 17, 2008, 3:07 pm	Sara decided to take me and the other toyvoyagers back to Bathurst for a few more mystery shops. Obviously that's not picture worthy, so no photos were taken then... but Sara got a few shots on the way to Bathurst... so here I am on the way to Bathurst... seemed like a much longer drive than it was! Crazy! ...and here we are just coming into Bathurst... Since we came into Bathurst late we couldn't do too much before the sun was coming down so a few more things were shown to me, pretty exciting I think anyways. We went to the hill that's known to have a family of kangaroos on it... and just as we arrived there were two kangaroos (a momma and a joey) standing near the fence line, so Sara got a few shots... and then got out of the car and we got to see them close up too!... how exciting is that? ...this was pretty close to the fence line maybe 15 feet from where Sara and us were standing... ...whoops... I guess we got too close, she didn't feel that comfortable obviously... ...just as Sara saw the last kangaroo bounce off, she saw around 5-6 others pop out of the long grass and have a look at us... ...you see the joey in the pouch? See how the dad is so much bigger than the mom? He's bending over and he's almost as tall as her, crazy! ...and here's the baby and the mom again with another kangaroo they're very interested in what I was doing... Sara actually made a few loud noises to get them to look up at her. They seemed to be getting pretty comfortable with her around... ...and here's the last photo of the kangaroos and the baby... aren't they just the cutest? :-) I'm so glad I got to see some real wildlife in Australia! :-) It's been so much fun! <3 ...and last thing we got to do had to be just as fun as the kangaroo outing. We got to visit the famous Mount Panorama. A very famous race track in Australia, and around the world. Every October Bathurst/Orange, and all surrounding areas are packed from people coming all over the world to watch the races... and we can actually have a drive around the track... it also gives you a bit of a view from the top of the mountain overlooking Bathurst... quite beautiful! ...and then we started driving again, I wonder where we're going now? :-) ...here I am coming onto the track. Although backwards. In front of me you can see the starting gate an where all the announcers are whilst the races are on... pretty cool!... ...and here I am a few photos while I'm going around the famous race track... ...and there's the opposite side of the starting gate where it says Mount Panorama on it... ...and here's the track just as your exiting back onto the main street... funny enough the speed limit on the track is around 35mph so pretty slow, even though the cops catch A LOT of people speeding around the track. I can see why, it looks like a lot of fun. But Sara was obviously safe about it all. :-) ...tomorrow we're off to Molong, although it's not much... it's a small little town... :-) Write again soon!
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 17, 2008, 3:16 pm	Today we took another road trip... although not as long... we went to Molong. Molong is a town around 30 minutes drive from Orange towards Dubbo, but obviously not as far. It was another mystery shop... and sadly enough, Molong is pretty small, one street town, so there's not really much to see... so Sara just got a shot of us on the main street. :-) Molong is a town with just over 2,000 people. So very small... we even saw a horse riding through the main street... people seemed to know each others name... it was pretty crazy! lol Sara said that Molong is a historic town with all the buildings in the picture all all original even if they've been changed a little bit they're all very very old... Molong was the site of the first copper mine in Australia... so that's pretty interesting. But not much to see sadly... :-)
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 17, 2008, 3:34 pm	Well... after a busy week we got a new visitor, this guy is called Misko and he's all the way from Slovenia... he's very new to the travel scene like we all seem to be (besides Fluffy of course... so we told him all about our travels so far and what we've seen, I think it impressed him a bit... this is going to be heaps of fun! ...I just know that understanding him is a bit hard since he only knows limited English at the moment, but I'm sure we can teach him a bit of English as well as maybe a few other languages... :-) It's going to be great... Sara let us know that we'll be traveling to Parramatta on Monday morning. It's going to be a busy day, and she doesn't think we'll be able to see the famous parts of Sydney like the harbor, the bridge and the opera house but she'll do her best to let us see that. As I know she wants to see it herself. Anyways, we'll at least say we've been in Sydney anyway... :-) Better get a restful weekend it's going to be a big day on Monday! Write again soon! <3
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 23, 2008, 3:57 pm	We had to take a trip today, on the way there we of course had to pass through Bathurst. Some of us had been there - some of us - not quite yet. But I'm sure will make a trip there again soon to see more of the sights, but we were on a tight schedule and were already an hour or so late. Whoops! Here's us on the road to Bathurst, as you can tell it's very rainy and cloudy, and the windscreen is foggy. No matter what Sara and Daniel did it didn't help it, it's crazy sometimes how foggy the windscreen of their car gets (from what they were saying anyways)... Well, now we're in Bathurst, but it's only a pass through - no time for breakfast - onto the next stop... I think this time we might be stopping for a bite to eat... :-)
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 23, 2008, 4:09 pm	...around half way now to Sydney just outside of the 'Blue Mountains' which are at the outer edge of Sydney and we've been on the road now for a good 90 minutes. My legs are getting a bit sore but we're almost there... as you can see it doesn't look *too* much different... but Sara couldn't get some photos to show the main differences. They have a huge power plant and a huge lake or something next to it... pretty crazy. ...as we're now entering Lithgow, we see something really strange... what... is... that?... ...that is Lithgow's famous "Miner's Lamp", it's a huge version of it obviously... next stop was McDonalds to get something to eat. I couldn't get any photos obviously since we were a bit late... next stop... something a bit more exciting... yay! I wonder what it's going to be...
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 23, 2008, 4:19 pm	...in route to the Blue Mountains now... lots of people visit this area anytime they go to Sydney because of the beautiful nature that surrounds them. Since it's just on the extreme outskirts of Sydney it's a popular destination for tourists... Now that we've entered the Blue Mountains, as you can see there is LOTS and LOTS of trees and lots of hills... and lots of small little towns... the driving up and down, up and down, our ears popped a lot. It was quite uncomfortable. But closer to the Sydney side of things is a small town called Katoomba. Katoomba is known as the 'Heart of the Blue Mountains'. It's a gorgeous little town, and it seemed quite touristy at the time we went there... Sara said she thought it might be because the pope just left town the day before, and therefore all the tourists now decided to take a bit of a tour around the famous parts of the outskirts of Sydney... ...as you can see lots and lots of cars... ...finally we got to our destination... sadly since it was so busy Sara couldn't take individual photos so Sara just got a photo of something called the 'Three Sisters'. It's a very famous rock formation, if people go through the Blue Mountains they have to stop off and see them. There's also lots of trails to take around, one of them Sara said was extremely steep and hard to climb down, let alone up. So we only spent a little bit of time there, and then we were back on the road...
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 23, 2008, 4:35 pm	...Welcome to Sydney... after 3-1/2 to 4 hours drive we're FINALLY here. Sadly Sara says we can't really see anything famous like the harbor bridge or anything... but we suprisingly got pretty close to the famous CBD of Sydney... we had an appointment at 230pm, so it sadly was just that. We did see the famous hospital called "RPA" which is known as Royal Price Albert Hospital that's got a TV show named after it, and is obviously filmed there as well. One of Sara's favourite TV shows. But this wasn't at RPA but more a smaller clinic that is owned by RPA... anyways, here's us navigating around Sydney... Although it seems like it should be pretty simple and straight forward... you can easily get lost, especially if we're getting close to the CBD. Sara told us about the story a few years ago that Daniel and her were trying to make it to Cronulla (South Sydney) and ended up in Glebe (which is near where we were going - in South Sydney). She told us how they ended up going over the harbor bridge around 3-4 times since they couldn't get off it and had to go back across before turning around. I'm so glad we didn't get lost though... here are some sights from around Sydney... :-) ...and now, we're in Parramatta, we have to get on Parramatta Road which is a huge major road, we've technically been driving on it the whole time but it was called the "Great Western Highway" it goes all the way to Dubbo, so it's a main highway through the state... it was amazing to see the difference between Orange and Sydney, I mean, I knew Sydney was big... but man, there are sure a lot of palm trees as well. :-) ...and now we're almost to the appointment, so here are some more sights around the area we were driving around... ...oh wow, we're getting close... although we couldn't personally go and visit it there's the CBD in the background, can you see it? It's pretty small but you can see the huge buildings on George Street (which is the main street and most famous street along with Pitt Street in Sydney... how cool! I just wish I could have seen a bit more... maybe someday...) here's a close up... :-) ...sadly when we got out of the appointment it was almost 530pm and we couldn't stay much longer. With a cranky child in the back seat and to be honest we were all a bit worn out... it was time to go home... here's the traffic on the road just as we were leaving Sydney... Well it was a long and busy day, but I hope to go back here some day and visit the more famous parts of Sydney. Maybe my next host will take me on a ferry even around the harbor? Who knows, it was pretty awesome anyways. :-) I hope you enjoyed my trip, I'll update again soon! <3
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 23, 2008, 4:38 pm	I had so much fun here, I just wonder what is next for me to see. I hope I get to see as much as I've seen already, and maybe some beaches and pretty sights. Who knows... :-) I've moved onto my next host, I'll update again soon! :-)
Kira1997 Posted Jul 29, 2008, 5:44 am	I have arrived in Busselton and its pouring down with rain .
Kira1997 Posted Aug 18, 2008, 5:16 am	Today i am at geographe bay which is in busselton i am on the rocks and i am enjoying the wind.
Kira1997 Posted Aug 19, 2008, 11:26 pm	Just had a long flight and thought i deserve a long rest.
Kira1997 Posted Aug 20, 2008, 3:33 am	I had soo much fun with Summy and Charity Bear today at the Beach
luckaye Posted Sep 4, 2008, 1:58 am	Hey, I have arrived in Logan City, Queensland! My host, Lucie says she is so sorry that I had to sit in the PO Box for a week until she was well enough to come and get me. She had been sick with the flu, but is much better now Queensland is the sunshine state but it is very rainy today so I don't think we will be going anywhere fun today!
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Oct 20, 2008, 7:08 am	Well... I'm back in Orange. Weather is quite different this time... last time it was so cold... but now, it's SO hot... man, I guess it's time to moult... but... wait, shouldn't that be happening in June/July? Oh well, I guess that's what's strange about the Southern Hemisphere... I'm just happy to be out of that padded back. It got so stuffy! Can you see me in this big group? Sara's been doing a bit of rescuing and taking over for people that can no longer host so she has a bit of a crowd. A few of them are moving onto other hosts tomorrow... but she thought to get a photo all together before they leave... it's going to be interesting the conversations we'll have. :-)
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Oct 28, 2008, 4:35 am	This weekend was a pretty boring weekend... but Sara decided on a whim that she was in a Halloween decoration mood... even though Australia doesn't have the normal orange Halloween pumpkins (well, they have the small ones sometimes but they're quite expensive since they're imported from America). Sara found a pumpkin that they've been storing for a baked dinner and decided that it looked like it wanted to be a jack-o-lantern. Sara carved and cut out the pumpkin and we all watched since there was a sharp knife involved... well, here I am with the finished product... ...after we all got our photos with the pumpkin, Sara turned out the lights and put a candle in the pumpkin... doesn't it look cool? It was quite fun! We also did a few other halloween decorations... you'll probably see those a bit later... Write again soon mom! Sorry I've been so quiet... :-)
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Oct 28, 2008, 4:54 am	Well, today me and the toyvoyagers took another trip up to Mount Canobolas. This is my second attempt, but this is everyone else's first go... there's no chance for snow this time, quite the opposite actually it's quite warm out... I think I'll be moulting quite soon because of the heat... ugh! Well, when we finally got up there it was VERY windy, we were all kept in a plastic bag so Sara was sure not to loose any of us in the car ride up or while we were there (except when photos were taken of course)... but I got to see a nice view of the town below... ...as you can see it was a beautiful blue sky day... not a cloud in sight, apparently it's supposed to rain... but for some reason Sara doubts it... she hopes so though because then it'll at least cool everything down a bit... here's the other side of the mountain. This is facing towards Blayney and the smaller towns that are around 30 minutes drive away... it's so dark because it was around 3pm when the photos were taken so the sun was in the wrong place.. whoops!... ...when Sara was actually taking photos the plastic bag flew away, thankfully it didn't have any toyvoyagers in it... it flew around 300 feet and then down a huge hill so Sara had to trudge down by herself to get the bag... but first she dropped all the toyvoyagers off in the car where they would be safe.... here's the apex point of the mountain... ...and here's a bit of information about the Canobolas mountain range that were standing on... ...because you can't read it because it's so small, Sara will type it out in case you want to learn a bit more about the mountain range... Mount Canobolas volcanic complex is listed in the Commonwealth Heritage Register for it's unique geological composition and location. These factors have resulted in a distinctive vegetation pattern, containing rare and unique species, which in turn contain habitats for a number of equally unique animals. Within a 30 kilometre radius of Mount Canobolas, approximately 30 vents are known to have erupted. These eruptions commenced about 50 million years ago and halted approximately 10-15 million years ago. The Mount Canobolas vents erupted over that entire period, while others within the 30 kilometre radius were active for shorter periods. The basalt capping has largely weathered away, producing fertile soils as far away as West Wyalong. Well, it was getting kind of late so it was time to move on... Sara did another stop off half way down the mountain for another view of Orange along the side of the road... quite the same from what I've already seen, but so different as it's not all cloudy and freezing cold (even though Sara would kind of prefer that right now)... ....and across the road is the peak of the mountain we were standing on and Little Mount Canobolas (as it's called) is another peak near it that you can hike to... it's around a 1.3 kilometre hike from the peak of the mountain...
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Oct 28, 2008, 4:59 am	On the way home, we stopped off at Lake Canobolas to see the ducks and well... it was just a nice and pretty day out and the water was gorgeous... although it was tempting to go swimming we didn't... we were on the other side of the lake this time, last time the photos were taken we were directly on the other side... ...well, not much time to spend there it was time to head home... on the way home we saw a fire truck... Sara thinks they kind of look funny from the ones she's used to in America... ...it seems one of the firemen seemed to be looking at her taking a photo of them too while they were driving by... they probably think she's crazy! Oh well... :-) ...and you know how I said it was forecasted to rain? Well... it did, for a whole 5 minutes before heating up again actually warmer than it was most of the day, at 7pm even... ugh! But it did have a nice rainbow... :-) Well, I'll write again soon! Miss you mom!
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Oct 30, 2008, 6:50 am	I'm ready to go home for a little while... I think I've had enough of Australia and I've actually seen what I set out to see the last time I was in Orange... Mount Canobolas... very pretty... at least I'm not traveling alone - I'm traveling with Guss Elephant I still hope that the travel won't take too long. I can't wait to see you again mom! :-)
drakie Posted Dec 18, 2008, 4:52 pm	I arrived in England, gosh it was a long journey but I am safe, we will update soon
drakie Posted Dec 18, 2008, 4:56 pm	This weekend we went to Babbacombe Model Village in Torquay there was lots of snow,  not the real stuff you see but pretend and as it was getting dusk it was really pretty.  I went with Alpina we had a great time. Torquay is called the English Riviera, a bit cold for this time of year mind you
drakie Posted Jan 26, 2009, 3:20 pm	Christmas day and Percy is checking out the presents in the drakie household, he is with his friends, marylouise, floppsy, pinkz so he is having so much fun.
drakie Posted Jan 26, 2009, 3:28 pm	My host went down to St Ives, boy was it windy, we saw the sea and went to a pizza shop and I sat and watch the boats go by.  We went to a place that makes jewellery with pearls, and I sat in a display with the De Lorian car from back to the future, I met elvis, very tall man, I met some very strange egyptian characters in the ladies loo!!!  I love the gun from James Bond and then we ended the day with a swing on the carousel, not a bad day in all.
Pixiedustlady Posted Jan 30, 2009, 7:06 pm	Hi Mom! My plane just landed at Albert J. Ellis airport! I am now at Darcie's house which is located in Richlands, North Carolina! Darcie's husband is a Marine and is coming home after being deployed for seven months tommorro night and I get to go to the big celebration!!  We found out the arrival time is at MIDNIGHT!!! That is FINE with me because I am Owl and I love the night time!!  I met all the toys that do not travel that live in the house. I also met Daisy the Boston Terrier and Thumper the Pug.  I also watched the fish swim and then I went in the kitchen to get myself a Monster energy drink! I got on the computer today and did a bunch of research on  the Tarheel state!!! Here it is!! North Carolina  is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties and its capital is Raleigh. North Carolina was one of the original Thirteen Colonies, originally known as Carolina. Joara, a native village near present-day Morganton, was the site in 1567 of Fort San Juan, the first Spanish colonial settlement in the interior of what became the United States.[4] A colony was later established at Roanoke Island, the first attempt by the English to found a settlement in the Americas.[5] On May 20, 1861, North Carolina was the last of the Confederate states to secede from the Union. It was readmitted on July 4, 1868. The state was the location of the first successful controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air flight, by the Wright brothers, at Kill Devil Hills, about 6.4 miles from Kitty Hawk in 1903. Today, it is a fast-growing state with an increasingly diverse economy and population. As of July 1, 2007, the population was estimated to be 9,061,032 (a 12% increase since April 1, 2000).[6] Recognizing eight Native American tribes, North Carolina has the largest population of American Indians of any state east of the Mississippi. North Carolina has a wide range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to almost 6,700 feet (2,042 m) in the mountains. The climate ranges widely from the coastal Tidewater and Piedmont to the western mountains. The coastal plains are strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the state falls in the humid subtropical zone. More than 300 miles (500 km) from the coast, the western, mountainous part of the state has a subtropical highland climate. In 1860, North Carolina was a slave state, in which about one-third of the population of 992,622 were enslaved African Americans. This was a smaller proportion than many Southern states. In addition, the state had a substantial number of Free Negroes, just over 30,000.[20] The state did not vote to join the Confederacy until President Abraham Lincoln called on it to invade its sister-state, South Carolina, becoming the last state to join the Confederacy. North Carolina was the site of few battles, but it provided at least 125,000 troops to the Confederacy— far more than any other state. Approximately 40,000 of those troops never returned home, dying of disease, battlefield wounds, and starvation. Elected in 1862, Governor Zebulon Baird Vance tried to maintain state autonomy against Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond. Even after secession, some North Carolinians refused to support the Confederacy. This was particularly true of non-slave-owning farmers in the state's mountains and western Piedmont region. Some of these farmers remained neutral during the war, while some covertly supported the Union cause during the conflict. Even so, Confederate troops from all parts of North Carolina served in virtually all the major battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, the Confederacy's most famous army. Five regiments from North Carolina served in the western theater in the Army of Tennessee. About two thousand North Carolinans from the western part of the state enlisted into the Union army, among the regiments they were assigned to were the 2nd and 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry regiments, and some in the 13th Tennessee Cavalry. Two other Union regiments made up of North Carolinians, the 1st and 2nd North Carolina U.S., were organized in the coastal areas of the state. The largest battle fought in North Carolina was at Bentonville, which was a futile attempt by Confederate General Joseph Johnston to slow Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's advance through the Carolinas in the spring of 1865.[15] In April 1865 after losing the Battle of Morrisville, Johnston surrendered to Sherman at Bennett Place, in what is today Durham, North Carolina. This was the last major Confederate Army to surrender. North Carolina's port city of Wilmington was the last Confederate port to fall to the Union. It fell in the spring of 1865 after the nearby Second Battle of Fort Fisher. Bennett Place historic site in Durham, North Carolina.The first Confederate soldier to be killed in the Civil War was Private Henry Wyatt, a North Carolinian. He was killed in the Battle of Big Bethel in June 1861. At the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the 26th North Carolina Regiment participated in Pickett/Pettigrew's Charge and advanced the farthest into the Northern lines of any Confederate regiment. During the Battle of Chickamauga the 58th North Carolina Regiment advanced farther than any other regiment on Snodgrass Hill to push back the remaining Union forces from the battlefield. At Appomattox Court House in Virginia in April 1865, the 75th North Carolina Regiment, a cavalry unit, fired the last shots of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War. For many years, North Carolinians proudly boasted that they had been "First at Bethel, Farthest at Gettysburg and Chickamauga, and Last at Appomattox." Film studios are located in Shelby, Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem. Some of the best-known films and television shows filmed in the state include: All the Real Girls, Being There, Blue Velvet, Bull Durham, A Walk to Remember, Glory (film), The Color Purple, Cabin Fever, Super Mario Bros.(film), Cape Fear, Children of the Corn, The Crow, Dawson's Creek, Dirty Dancing, Evil Dead 2, The Fugitive, The Green Mile, Hannibal, The Last of the Mohicans, Nell, One Tree Hill, Patch Adams (film), Shallow Hal, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Leatherheads, and 28 Days. Half of Steven King's movies were filmed in North Carolina. The television show most associated with North Carolina is The Andy Griffith Show, which aired on CBS-TV from 1960 to 1968. The series is set in the fictional small town of Mayberry, North Carolina, and was based on the real-life town of Mount Airy, North Carolina, although it was filmed in California. Mount Airy is the hometown of actor Andy Griffith. The show is still popular in reruns and is frequently shown in syndication around the nation. North Carolina is also home to some of the Southeast's biggest film festivals, including the National Black Theatre Festival and the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, and the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina Some of North Carolina's most prestigious private universities and colleges include: Duke University, Wake Forest University, Elon University, Belmont Abbey College, Campbell University, Shaw University, Davidson College, Guilford College, Gardner-Webb University, High Point University, Salem College, and Saint Augustine's College A nationally-famous cuisine from North Carolina is pork barbecue. However, there are strong regional differences and rivalries over the sauces and method of preparation used in making the barbecue. Eastern North Carolina pork barbecue uses a vinegar-based sauce and the "whole hog" is cooked, thus using both white and dark meat. The "capital" of eastern Carolina barbecue is usually considered to be the town of Wilson, near Raleigh. Western North Carolina pork barbecue uses a ketchup and vinegar based sauce and only the pork shoulder (dark meat) is used. The "capital" of western Carolina barbecue is usually considered to be the Piedmont Triad town of Lexington, home of the Lexington Barbecue Festival which brings in over 100,000 visitors each October. North Carolina is the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola, first produced in 1890 in New Bern. Regional soft drinks created and still based in the state are Sun Drop and Cheerwine. Krispy Kreme, a popular chain of doughnut stores, was started in North Carolina; the company's headquarters are in Winston-Salem. Despite its name, the hot sauce Texas Pete was created in North Carolina; its headquarters are also in Winston-Salem. The Hardees fast-food chain was started in Rocky Mount. Another fast-food chain, Bojangles', was started in Charlotte, and has its corporate headquarters there. A popular North Carolina restaurant chain is Golden Corral. Started in 1973, the chain was founded in Fayetteville. Popular pickle brand Mount Olive Pickle Company was founded in Mount Olive in 1926. Cook Out, a popular fast food chain featuring burgers, hot dogs, and milkshakes in a wide variety of flavors, was founded in Greensboro in 1989 and operates exclusively in North Carolina. State motto: Esse quam videri ("To be, rather than to seem") (1893) State song: "The Old North State" (1927) State flower: Dogwood (1941) State bird: Cardinal (1943) State colors: the red and blue of the N.C. and U.S. flags (1945) State toast: The Tar Heel Toast (1957) State tree: Pine (1963) State shell: Scotch bonnet (1965) State mammal: Eastern Grey Squirrel (1969) State salt water fish: Red Drum (also known as the Channel bass) (1971) State insect: European honey bee (1973) State gemstone: Emerald (1973) State reptile: Eastern Box Turtle (1979) State rock: Granite (1979) State beverage: Milk (1987) State historical boat: Shad boat (1987) State language: English (1987) State dog: Plott Hound (1989) State military academy: Oak Ridge Military Academy (1991) State tartan: Carolina tartan (1991)[54] State vegetable: Sweet potato (1995) State red berry: Strawberry (2001) State blue berry: Blueberry (2001) State fruit: Scuppernong grape (2001) State wildflower: Carolina Lily (2003) State Christmas tree: Fraser Fir (2005) State carnivorous plant: Venus Flytrap (2005) State folk dance: Clogging (2005) State popular dance: Shag (2005) NOT the same as UK shag! lol State freshwater trout: Southern Appalachian Brook Trout (2005) State birthplace of traditional pottery: the Seagrove area (2005) North Carolina Facts and Trivia The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill is the oldest State University in the United States. In 1903 the Wright Brothers made the first successful powered flight by man at Kill Devil Hill near Kitty Hawk. The Wright Memorial at Kitty Hawks now commemorates their achievement. High Point is known as the Furniture Capital of the World. Know as "Fish Town" in the early 1700's when Blackbeard frequented the coast, "Beaufort Town" was established as a seaport with the right to collect customs, in 1722. The Outer Banks of NC hosts some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. Whitewater Falls in Transylvania County is the highest waterfall in the eastern United States. Cape Hatteras is the largest lighthouse ever to be moved due to erosion problems. The University of North Carolina's mascot, the Tarheels, is a nickname for North Carolinians that supposedly came from the days when NC produced a lot of tar, and someone saw a set of footprints made by someone who had stepped in the tar. Charles Karault was born and raised in Wilmington. Havelock is home of Marine Base "Cherry Point." It is the largest air base in the Marine Corps. North Carolina is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in the nation. Students at a Wilson County school petitioned the North Carolina General Assembly for the establishment of the sweet potato as the official state vegetable. Harker's Island hosts the annual Core Sound Decoy Festival in December. Morehead City is home to the North Carolina Seafood Festival, held the first weekend in October every year. The World War II battleship 'North Carolina' is permanently berthed on the Cape Fear River at Wilmington. She was saved from the scrap heap in the 1960's by public subscription, including donations of dimes by schoolchildren. The first English colony in America was located on Roanoke Island. Walter Raleigh founded it. The colony mysteriously vanished with no trace except for the word "Croatoan" scrawled on a nearby tree. Mount Mitchell in the Blue Ridge Mountains is the highest peak east of the Mississippi. It towers 6,684 feet above sea level. Krispy Kreme Doughnut was founded in Winston-Salem. The Venus Fly-Trap is native to Hampstead. The first miniature golf course was built in Fayetteville. Babe Ruth hit his first home run in Fayetteville on March 7, 1914. Winston-Salem was created when the two towns Winston and Salem combined. The Biltmore Estate in Ashville is America's largest home, and includes a 255-room chateau, an award-winning winery and extensive gardens. The first English child born in America was born in Roanoke in 1587. Her name was Virginia Dare. The Lost Colony Outdoor Drama in Albemarle commemorates the birth of Virginia Dare. Scheduled to run just one year, it proved so successful that it has played for nearly sixty consecutive summers. The first state owned art museum in the country is located in Raleigh. Fontana Dam is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States, at 480 feet high. Many people believe that North Carolina was the first state to declare independence from England with the Mecklenburg Declaration of 1775. Grandfather Mountain, highest peak in the Blue Ridge, is the only private park in the world designated by the United Nations as an International Biosphere Reserve. The Mile-High Swinging Bridge near Linville is 5,305 feet above sea level. The bridge actually hangs about 80 feet above the ground. Pepsi was invented and first served in New Bern in 1898. Beech Mountain is Eastern America's highest town at 5,506ft above sea level. Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States, was born in the Waxsaws area on the border of North and South Carolina. Arnold Palmer recognized as the player whose aggressive play and winning personality raised golf to national attention, honed his skills on the championship golf team of Wake Forest University. James K. Polk, born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, was the eleventh President of the United States. Hiram Rhoades Revels, born in Fayetteville in 1822, was the first African-American member of the United States Congress. Andrew Johnson started his career as a tailor's apprentice in Raleigh, North Carolina and rose to lead in the reuniting of the nation as the seventeenth President of the United States. North Carolina leads the nation in furniture, tobacco, brick, and textile production. Saluda, North Carolina is located at the top of the Saluda Grade. The crest of the steepest standard gauge mainline railroad in the United States. State Motto: Esse quam videri (To be rather than to seem) The town of Wendell town was named for the American writer, Oliver Wendell Holmes. The Swiss and German settlement of New Bern was named in honor of the founder's home, Bern, Switzerland. When Bern, Switzerland was founded, it was named by a group of hunters. They named the city for the first animal they came upon on their hunting expedition. It was a bear. "Bern" is the old Germanic word for Bear, and the bear became the symbol of the city. It has been adopted by New Bern, as well. North Carolina was the first state in the nation to establish a state museum of art. North Carolina was one of the first states in the U.S. to establish a state symphony. The North Carolina Symphony, founded in 1943, currently performs nearly 185 full-orchestra concerts each year. North Carolina has the largest state-maintained highway system in the United States. The state's highway system currently has 77,400 miles of roads The General Assembly of 1987 adopted milk as the official state beverage. The oldest town in the state is Bath, incorporated in 1705. Located in northeastern North Carolina on the Albemarle-Pamlico peninsula, Columbia is on the eastern shore of the Scuppernong River. The Indians called the area "the place of the sweet bay tree." Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run in Fayetteville on March 7, 1914. White Lake near Elizabethtown is very unique in that it has a white sandy bottom and is blessed with crystal clear waters. It has also been labeled as the "Nation's Safest Beach." It is truly a child's paradise in that there are no currents, no tides, no hazardous depressions or real dangers of any kind to swimmers. North Carolina has 1,500 lakes of 10 acres or more in size and 37,000 miles of fresh water streams.
Pixiedustlady Posted Feb 3, 2009, 5:42 pm	Hi Mom! Sunday I had a Super Bowl Party with Bertie the Duck and Darcie.  Darcie is a bit sad right now because her husband is stuck over in Germany and did not make it home last week due to a mechanical issue.  Anyways me and Bertie another Toy Voyager have been trying to cheer her up and making her laugh.  The football game was excellent and it was The Pittsburgh Steelers vs the Arizona Cardinals.  Darcie said it was the BEST Superbowl game she ever saw!!  the commercials were soooo funny! We took a vote and everyones favorite was the Pedigree pet commercial! Me and Bertie had a big feast.  We cooked Hot Wings with Budweiser hot wing sauce, Mozzarella cheese sticks, Baked Potato skins with cheese and sour cream and we drank a LOT of Corona Beer!! Dont worry I am being a good Owl!!  Here are photos of me and Bertie and of our feast and of the game!!  The last photo is Ben Roethlisberger who is the Quarterback for the Steelers. He played a flawless game!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Feb 11, 2009, 9:45 pm	Hi Mom!! Just went to El Camino Real for some good Mexican food and then I helped drink a HUGE Margarita!! Darcie's husband is now home and guess where WE are going tommorro? We are going to Rome, Italy for a week!!! I will be going with another TV and we plan on visiting all the old ancient sites and taking LOTS of photos! I want to go shopping at Dolce Gabbana, Prada, Fendi, Gucci ect.  Well I have to get my bags packed, we leave tommorro at around lunch time for our big adventure!!! Love Percy
Pixiedustlady Posted Feb 23, 2009, 1:06 am	Hi Mom!! I am back from Rome, Italy and boy did I have a fantastic time! I spent a week seeing all the sites with another TV named Bertie.  Our trip started with seats in First Class!! I had a seat that went all the way down into a bed and I watched lots of movies and had wonderful food and lots of Margaritas!  I stayed at Hotel Homs, Via Della Vite street, which is located in North Rome, right in the middle of all the action.  I took a TON of photos and will explain them all to you below! The weather was nice and cool and their was not a ton of tourists so it made for easy navigation through the city.  I especially liked the tall tree's and buildings.  Here are my photos from my big trip! Here I am with Bertie getting ready to take off out of Philadelphia International Airport in Pennsylvania.  We had to fly from Jacksonville, North Carolina to Philadelphia then to Rome. Here I am with Bertie getting ready to land at  Leonardo da Vinci - Fiumicino Airport! We were sooo excited to get on with our adventure! We got in a cab and it usually only takes 20 minutes to get to the hotel BUT today they were having a demonstration/Protest of some sort and our poor cab driver had to find a way to get to Old Roma where our hotel was!! we had the WILDEST ride!! most roads were blocked off and our cab driver got in many arguments with the Police hahaha it was fun listening to him yell back and forth in Italian and we picked up a few new phrases of our own!  The cab driver finally got sooo mad he drove right through the DO NOT CROSS tape and got us to our hotel in one frazzled piece!! I will never forget that ride! Our next stop was to take a walk down the cobble stone streets and get some food! Darcie said this was the BEST sauce she had ever tasted!! The food was soooo good compared to the Italian food in the US.  Here we are having Rigatoni Pompodore with fresh Mozarella and wine! Our hotel was situated right next to Piazza De Spanga (The Spanish Steps) here we are at The Spanish steps.  Everyday people would gather up this fantastic staircase and sit down and rest and have some Gelatto or drink some beer.  We loved the people watching and the people loved watching us! After the steps we were very jet lagged so we went back to the hotel for a rest.  Here we are at our first Italian dinner! and guess what we had? Yep Pizza!! The pizza is very different then the stuff they serve in the US.  This was way better as the tomato's are grown here and they taste way better and the cheese was out of this world! Steve (Darcie's husband) LOVED the local beer, which was Nastro Azzuro, here we are with a photo of our glass of beer and our pizza. Every morning we would head to the McDonalds.  This McDonalds was stunning and Darcie could not believe they had a pastry shop downstairs!!! This was always open early (most places didnt open till 9am)  so every morning we would pick out a pastry and a nice big cup of fresh Capuchino.  Here we are picking out our breakfast for the day. The next day we went to the National Museum of Rome.  This was a fantastic collection of statues from all around Rome.  Here we are with Brutus, he is the man who killed Julius Ceaser.  We had fun reading all about the different people and seeing all the history. Here we are with Hercules, he was much bigger then we were! After the Museum we went to Vatican City!!!! first we stopped for some wonderful lunch!! Here we are with Pasta Carbonera, which is cream, cheese and bacon with pasta.. it was beyond fantastic tasting!!! Here we are in the Vatican courtyard.  The Vatican is the worlds smallest country.  They did not allow a lot of photos. The best part of the tour was inside the Cistine Chapel.  This is the worlds prettiest church and this is the painting that Michaelangelo did on the ceiling.  No photos were allowed but you can see it if you Google it.  We had a fantastic history lesson from our tour guide and we learned a lot! This is us inside the Vatican and we are sitting on a bath tub!!! look how big it is!!! After our tour inside the Vatican we went outside to St. Peters Square.  This is shown on TV a lot and it was HUGE HUGE HUGE! Here we are with St Peters church in the background.  Look at all the statues on top!! After the Vatican we were really hungry and tired.  We took the Metro back to our hotel for a nap then we went to our favorite place to eat which is called Ciros.  We ate at many places but this one was the best! Here we are with our Anti Pasta... lots of different things such as cheese, ham, Bruscella ect ect and it was all sooooooooo good! Every night we would stop at The Gelateria where they sell Gelatto... yep we ate it every single night!1 it was a fantastic treat!! here we are deciding what kind to get!! The following day we spent at The Colosseum and Roman Forum.  All the old ruins are fantastic to see!!  Here we are at the Colosseum. Here we are inside the Colosseum, we had a long discussion on how great it would of been to sit with the other 50,000 fans watching the Gladiators fight!! We walked around and then stopped for directions to see more of the Colosseum. We stopped for a quick lunch at McDonalds before heading over to Palantine Hill and the Roman Forum.  Next we went to the Roman Forum, there are a lot of ruins that looked the same over and over so we just got one good shot of us at Circus Maximus!! This is where they used to do chariot racing and must of been way cool back in the day!! After a long day we got a piece of Darcie's favorite Tiramisu (Italian wedding cake) and some Gelatto and watched a bit of Italian soccer on TV. The next few days was shopping and visiting the Trevi Fountain, The Patheon and basically strolling around before we had to leave!! Here we are at the Trevi Fountain. Here we are inside the Patheon, this ceiling was AMAZING!!! The best part of the trip was the SHOPPING!!! We were 100 feet from Via Del Corso which had Versace, Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana, Fendi ect ect  Darcie went crazy!! here we are outside the Gucci store. Here we are with all our shopping bags! Also we went with Steve to get Dolce Gabbana silk boxers! we each got a pair!! hahaha We went to a Irish Pub to watch the six Nations Cup! Ireland was playing Italy and we were pulling for Ireland to win and they did!! we drank Guiness with Steve! Then we stopped for a snack... we were always eating and drinking!! Here we are at the private first class lounge at the airport getting ready to go home.... we had sweet rolls and more Cappucino!! Darcie pulled off a miracle!!! since we were in first class she went up to the flight deck before take off.. guess what??? WE GOT TO FLY THE PLANE HOME!!!!!!!!! here we are in the cockpit with the pilots!! After a few hours we wanted a rest... here we are in our seats.. I had a fantastic time mom and I hope you like the photos!!! Ciao! Percy
Pixiedustlady Posted Feb 28, 2009, 7:34 pm	Hi Mom! a few days ago we all got in the truck and headed up to Raleigh to watch a LIVE National Hockey League game!! The North Carolina Hurricanes played Colorado Avalanche and the Hurricanes won! I am a official *CANIAC*  Darcie and Steve are big Caniacs and love to watch the Hurricanes play.  We had great seats up on *Club Level* which we had big leather seats, buffet lunch and our own private TV and a fantastic view of the entire arena. Here is The Hurricanes logo... which is the real sign for a Hurricane Warning!!! hahaha Here we are outside the RBC center getting ready to go in and have some fun!! Before we went inside we stood outside Carter Finley football stadium, this is located across the street from the RBC center. Here we are before all the players came out on the ice for warm up. Here we are with our own TV!! we are ready for the game!! Here we are with our game tickets, we had great seats. Here we are with our lunch.  We got a HUGE roast beef sandwich, carved by the server and some potato chips and a Coke Zero.  Here we are with the players, watching them warm up on the ice. Here we are cheering on The Hurricanes Here is a shot of the scoreboard and all the different flags from places that have played at this arena.  They also use it for basketball and for concerts. Anyways Mom I had a fantastic time!  The hurricanes won 5 to 3 and I got to see my first *Hat Trick* the Hat Trick is when one player scores three goals in one game.. this is VERY hard to do! anyways the skater that did this had a ton of hats thrown on the ice by all the fans, everyone threw whatever was on their head onto the ice.  Darcie has NEVER seen this happen live! so it was a real treat!  I really like North Carolina and glad I got to come and meet new friends!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Mar 2, 2009, 11:31 pm	Hi Mom! I got news that I am off to The Netherlands! Darcie helped pack my bags and is taking me to the airport tommorro morning.  I had a fantastic time here in North Carolina (and Rome) and I met some great friends for life!! Percy
Avalance Posted Mar 10, 2009, 8:12 pm	Hello ^___^ Today I finally arrived here in Bovensmilde, The Netherlands from the USA. It was a long and exhausting trip, but I am looking forward to stay here for a while! And see many things! Here is a picture from me and Bebe @ my arrival. More pictures will follow! *Percy*
Avalance Posted Mar 11, 2009, 6:02 pm	Hi mom! Today I went with host-mom to her internship. She is going to make an Artificial Intelligence Chat bot for the company. When she is done with it she will graduate and will be called: Bachelor of Communication, with specialisation: Gaming & Development. She is really looking forward to graduate, as she is a bit tired of studying. As her internship is in Hoogersmilde, which is like 15 min. away from where she lives, she takes the bus every morning and then have to walk 5 minutes to reach her "work". On our little walk we did made pictures of sheeps and horses, but host-mom thought they weren't that pretty so she will redo those tomorrow! This picture is just like me and happy Dutch tree. On the next picture you see me coaching my host-mom with her work. She was eating chocolate chip cookies at her desk! If her boss knows, whoaa I think she'll get whipped! So I helped her with eating them. Yummie! Oh yeah, Hoogersmilde (surrounded by countryside) is a town in the province of Drenthe. Same like where host-mom lives in Bovensmilde, though Hoogersmilde is futher away from the capital city Assen (lies about 16 km south west of Assen). Assen is quite known (all over the world) about the TT CIRCUIT ASSEN, a motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Saturday in June the Dutch TT is run. This is a part of the MotoGP World Championship. The other name for this circuit is "The Cathedral" of motorcycling. Maybe I can go there too, even there aren't any races right now. *Percy*
Avalance Posted Mar 12, 2009, 8:07 pm	Today was a bad day! I has been raining all day so host-mom couldn't remake the pictures of the horses and sheeps. Instead of pictures outside, I went to visit Valentino. Host-moms bunny pet. He's so cute! Kept sniffling me and told me that we could be friends. I wanted to have pictures with their dog Icarus as well, but he wanted to eat me so I got a bit afraid. Maybe host-mom can make one when he's just awake or so tomorrow then he won't move that much and maybe you'll be able to see me with him on a picture. Tomorrow host-mom will be going to University to deliver some stuff, so then I can have a look at where she studies as well. Weather might be bad too, but we'll see. I hope everything is fine over there, mom. *Percy*
Avalance Posted Mar 13, 2009, 7:21 pm	Today it started good! The weather was a bit different than they had forcasted! Since host-mom was making breakfast I went outside, as I saw Mr. Heron. I told him that I was here for a holiday and all and that it was nice to meet him. As he didn't talk back, I realized he was a fake! *urgh* Oh well, here you see a picture of him and me. On this early morning, I was hoping to meet the cute wood pigeon couple here that comes every day, I might was too early as I haven't seen them. Hope to have better luck next time! I went back inside the house and host-mom took a picture of me and Icarus, but on a distance. Do you see his look?! I don't think he likes me or so  .. He probably doesn't understand what I am saying .. After breakfast we went out. First we had to take the bus to the bus/train station of Assen. There we waited for the train to come to take us to Groningen where host-mom goes to Uni. It's very important to read the newspaper of the day for the latest news. Like the bomb threat at the Ikea here in the Netherlands. *brr* When we arrived in Groningen we had to take the bus. This bus trip took about 20 minutes. Here is a picture of me in front of her building where she gets her lessons. Hmm yes, it's a bit fuzzy .. She has to go 2 stairs up and then she will be here: Don't I look so small there?! It was really sunny so host-mom made a little trip espcially for me after she was done with her 3D-lesson, she's making a bird, a goose  !! As her Institute is located on the Zernike Science Park and is next to the State University of Groningen Zernikecomplex, she thought to make a quick stop there to take a picture of me! As it was getting late we had to hurry a bit. We took the bus again and went to the city. We saw there city pigeons and gulls flying over. It was market time and as it was also very sunny, many people were out for a drink. It was really cool to talk to them, but they were in a hurry so we don't have any group pictures. The terraces of the cafés were all full. So I posed in front of the Martini Church. And then we took the bus again to go back to the bus/train station of Groningen. As we had a bit of time left she told me to pose in front of the train station and at a statue there. I surely look very small, can you find me mom?! Hope you like it so far. Missing you mommy  *Percy*
Avalance Posted Mar 14, 2009, 5:41 pm	Today is Saturday! We didn't do much as it was raining again. But I did saw her preparing the oven dish that they would be eating that evening. She went to the butcher and supermarket without me, for a quick errand. She had to get minced meat, diced bacon, chicory and potato slices. Anyways this oven dish is called "chicory with minced meat and diced bacon ovendish" . It looked very yummie before it went into the oven as she did some cheese powder on top of it as she forgot to get grated cheese. This will do too I guess. So when it went into the oven I went to game on her NintendoDS as she was reading a book. After like 45 minutes the oven dish looked good and it smells very nice. Oh I tasted it and it was really delicious! Maybe I was hungry of all the gaming I did on her NintendoDS, she got many nice games  . Other than that, I think we'll be watching a movie or so tonight. Maybe I'll go and play with Bebe's friends, I haven't met them all yet. Hugs to you mommy! *Percy*
Avalance Posted Mar 18, 2009, 7:27 pm	Hi mom! I am sorry I haven't updated the last few days, but host mom was very busy when she came home from work to fix and burn the DVD she was making for her boyfriend's grandma. The weather was very foggy and all, but she made a few pics on monday, tuesday and today. A few on the way to host-mom's work and one on the bus and one from today, in the afternoon when the weather became clear and sunny. Still chilly cold though! I hope you like the pictures! This is at her busstop where she waits for the bus to get to work. The water you see, is a long canal which is called "Drentsche Hoofdvaart" (41,8 km long). We are in the bus on our way to work! Whoaaa can you see, in front of us is another bus. I thought it was very cool to be on the bus. Yes, bus bus bus, very cool! An open field, on her way to work. She has to walk like 5 minutes when she gets off the bus, so this is what she see! It was very foggy on Monday so.. Yesterday the weather was ok in the early morning, no fog as on Monday. But this is the road she has to walk nearly everyday to get to work. Today the weather started with very foggy weather (again), but it got very sunny and bright this afternoon, so in the lunch break we went outside for some fresh air and as one of her boss pony's were close to the fence it was cute to have a picture of us together. So here you see me with 1 of the 2 pony's her boss got. They are in a field next to the company and on the other side of the company is the house of her boss. Easy life I think! Big hug! *Percy*
Avalance Posted Mar 23, 2009, 8:41 pm	Hi mom! Me and host-mom and Mr. Bunny (he arrived on 17 March) left home early to visit some places before she would go to Uni for her lesson 3D. Ok first stop was at the Deer Camp in Assen. I first posed with this Deer Camp statue. And then we saw the deers. They are so cute! It was very sunny that day so it was really beautiful to see them walking around and enjoying the weather. Even the ducks in the water were all happy and talking out loud. After visiting the deers we walked to town of Assen. There was another statue. Looks like a farmer, not sure though. This statue was close to the museum called "Drents Museum". Host-mom went to this museum a little while ago to see the Terracotta Army. Do you know it? Anyways this museum had these huge insects infront of it, I think because of the art exhibition that is there now. We walked then up to a famous Character there in Drenthe. He is called Bartje. Bartje Bartels is the main character of the books from Anne de Vries (a Dutch teacher and writer). It's about a boy that grew up in a poor farmer family. Instead of following his dad's footstep as a farm laborer he wanted to see the world. Though his destiny was somewhere else. After a few years working as a servant he has to take care of the family when his mom passes away. To be honest, host-mom knew nothing about Bartje until she started to date her (first) boyfriend and later moved to Drenthe. She's already 8 years together with him! And no, no, not married yet!  Ok as we had a long walk and all, we had a quick mini break so we sat on a stone bench near Bartje. Here you see me with Mr. Bunny. He looks very small, so adorable. LOL! And then we walked to the trainstation where we took the train to Groningen and so. Mr. Bunny then also saw where host-mom studies and all that. I think he was very excited like I was. Being in a Dutch train and also see the Martini Church and so, like I did earlier! Hugs *Percy*
Avalance Posted Mar 23, 2009, 9:27 pm	Hello mom! As host-mom promised to help her brother's girlfriend with a scrapbook album (for friends of them that are getting married in May) we had to take the train to her hometown Arnhem. This trip takes over 2 hours of travelling (bus + train + bus), but since there were some track work (they were working on the rail tracks and so), from Assen we couldn't take the intercity train to Zwolle. So we had to take the bus that they had prepared for all these passengers that needed to go to Zwolle or had to switch train (we had to switch train in Zwolle to take another train that goes to Arnhem). Anyways, we don't have pictures of this trip as it was very crowdy in the bus to Meppel (from there, we had to take a train to Zwolle). *sigh* After we finally arrived in Zwolle we had to take the train to Arnhem. There weren't many people as the train compartment where we were in was like totally empty. So here you see me in the 2nd class of the train. And this is when I look outside. It's the trainstation of Zwolle. Looks cool huh? We left Bovensmilde at 8:30AM and we arrived in Arnhem at 11:30AM !! Trip took a bit longer since the track work stuff, ugh! Arnhem is the home town of host-mom, she lived there for like 17 years or so. A bit of history about Arnhem: In World War II, during Operation Market Garden (September 1944), the British 1st Airborne Division and the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade were given the task of securing the bridge at Arnhem. The units were parachuted and glider-landed into the area on September 17 and later. The bulk of the force was dropped rather far from the bridge and never met their objective. A small force of British 1st Airborne managed to make their way as far as the bridge but was unable to secure both sides. The Allied troops encountered stiff resistance from the German 9th and 10th SS Panzer divisions, which had been stationed in and around the city. The British force at the bridge eventually surrendered on September 21, and a full withdrawal of the remaining forces was made on September 26. These events were dramatized in the 1977 movie A Bridge Too Far. (The bridge scenes in the movie were shot in Deventer, where a similar bridge over the IJssel was available, as the area around Arnhem bridge had changed too much to represent WWII era Arnhem). As a tribute, the rebuilt bridge was renamed 'John Frost-bridge' after the commander of the paratroopers. The official commemoration is September 16. The current bridge is the third almost-identical bridge built at the same spot. The Dutch Army destroyed the first bridge when the Germans invaded Holland in 1940. The second bridge was destroyed by the US Army Air Forces shortly after the 1944 battle. A second battle of Arnhem took place in April 1945 when the city was liberated by I Canadian Corps of the First Canadian Army. Although it is generally said, as above, that the British Force at the Northern end of the Arnhem bridge surrendered, General John Frost, who as a Lt Col commanded that force, fiercely denied that. He and his men were overwhelmed and were captured. Arnhem is unique in the Netherlands with its trolleybus system and also the only one. How cool is that! As you see on the picture  ! The bus with his end destiny Rijkerswoerd is the bus that we took to visit host-mom's brother and girlfriend. The bus next to it "De Laar West" goes to her mom. We first dropped our bags and stuff at her brother's house and we went back to town with her brother to pick up his girlfriend. We haven't had lunch yet so we went to the Kentucky Fried Chicken. She finds it yummie, I actually wanted a corn / cob, but she forgot to order that! But I got one afterwards together with Mr. Bunny. We then had to shop a bit for some craft supplies and after we had everything we went home. Here you see me  in their car. That building that you see infront of us is OHRA. That is an insurance company. Well that was all for this Saturday! As host-mom was busy with crafting and all. Hugs *Percy*
Avalance Posted Mar 23, 2009, 9:49 pm	As we were staying at host-mom's brother + gf house we were a bit lucky. We could go to the playground infront of their house. While host mom was crafting inside, we went outside and saw some kids playing. Not sure why but they were looking weird at us. Probably we were without parental controls *giggle*. We had a lot of fun though! On this picture you see me sitting on a toadstool. On the back you see their house! We also had some fun on the swing. Though it was very windy so we had to take quick pictures. I wanted to swing with Mr. Bunny, but we kept blown away by the wind. *nawwww* There were also some stone / rocks there so we took some pictures there as well. The kids there still kept looking weird at us. Oh well, we didn't stay that long outside anyways because it was so windy. Around lunch time (we ate pancakes!) a friend with her baby girl came over. She was so funny! They gave her muffin with chocolate pieces in it, while she was eating it + walking around she was like this fairytale "Hansel and Gretel", she was like scattering crumbs around and we followed her. Too bad no pictures of that because host-mom was eating pancakes... Then we went back home again after the pancakes and all. Again the long trip back to Bovensmilde, but we really had a great and fun time! Hugs *Percy*
Avalance Posted Apr 8, 2009, 7:11 pm	This weekend we went to Arnhem again, as host-mom went to HIGH TEA with her best friend. Whoa all so yummie I think! As you can see on the pictures. Other than that we didn't do that much as host-mom had to go to work and I had already seen her work and town and such .. *Percy*
Avalance Posted Apr 8, 2009, 7:16 pm	We went back on Sunday again. Here you see me with Mr. Bunny on our way back home to Assen / Bovensmilde again in the train. My last trip will be next weekend, then host-mom will go shopping with 2 friends of her in Germany. Hope you like all the pictures of me mommy! *Percy*
Avalance Posted Apr 8, 2009, 7:22 pm	Today 2 more TV's arrived! Mandarin came with HitchaRideMarky, who fear to travel alone so his next destiny is always a huge surprise. It's getting really crowdy doesn't it? It was really cool to meet them, and hear all their adventures and all the things they've done. Soon I am going home again as mommy is missing me a lot! To be honest, I do miss mommy as well. I have been a way for such a long time now. *Percy*
Avalance Posted Apr 8, 2009, 7:32 pm	This is my last trip while I was here in the Netherlands! We all went to Germany with host-mom and her 2 friends. We went by car and we went shopping in Oberhausen, at this huuuuge mall called Centr-O. Here you see us all FLTR: Bambi and Nutty (they protect the car for all time), HitchaRideMarky, Mandarin, me and Mr. Bunny! Centr-O got many cool stores, too bad host-mom was running out of money, so she couldn't buy much more clothes. And our feet started to hurt as well you know. Oh well! As you see here, me and all the stores in this big mall! Big hug from me mommy! And to everyone I have got to know in this short time of period that I was here in the Netherlands. It was an experience to never forget! It was awesome and I really enjoyed my time here. Thanks everyone, and thanks host-mom. You were really good to me! *hug*
aliah Posted May 13, 2009, 1:08 pm	Hi Mum, I have arrived in Malaysia. I 'll have more updates soon ~Percy
aliah Posted May 21, 2009, 5:52 pm	At Petronas Twin Towers
aliah Posted Jun 12, 2009, 4:25 am	We are in Kangar, Aliah's hometown preparing for her sister wedding. Some sweets and bunga telur (egg which represents fertility symbolized blessing so that the bride & groom will have a child soon) for the guests,  and some necessities prepared for the groom.
aliah Posted Jun 12, 2009, 6:47 pm	Aliah's brother is wearing traditional Malay men outfit called baju melayu for the wedding
aliah Posted Jun 13, 2009, 1:58 am	Before the bride & groom enter the hall, they are welcome with silat, a traditional Malay self-defence.
aliah Posted Jun 21, 2009, 8:09 am	At Kangar town centre
aliah Posted Jun 21, 2009, 2:45 pm	Alpina and I are going to Kuala Lumpur for sightseeing. We are taking the Komuter train to Kuala Lumpur from Subang Jaya Station.
aliah Posted Jun 21, 2009, 3:30 pm	We are touring Kuala Lumpur. First stop, Dayabumi Complex. The Dayabumi Complex is one of the major landmark in Kuala Lumpur. It houses several commercial facilities and is one of the earliest skyscrapers in the city. It was designed in a modern Islamic style.
aliah Posted Jun 28, 2009, 7:03 am	Next to Tugu Negara or National Monument. The place was in honour of those who died when Malaysia was struggling for freedom. Each of the figures symbolizes leadership, suffering, unity, vigilance, strength, courage and sacrifice. A group of school children already there when we arrived. Can you spot them? Yup there are the one who are wearing the white-blue uniform. We were told that that's what Malaysian primary schoolers wear here.
aliah Posted Jun 28, 2009, 11:36 am	At Masjid Negara which has the semi-open umbralla shaped roof symbolises the Malay culture of being good host and providing shelter to others.
aliah Posted Jun 28, 2009, 12:59 pm	We're on the way back to Aliah's hometown again and stopped by Kuala Kangsar, Perak Royal Town. It is a great town. Masjid Ubudiah is the Kuala Kangsar landmark. It is beautiful, isn't it?
aliah Posted Jun 28, 2009, 1:18 pm	We're at Istana Kenangan (istana means castle). It was being built entirely of wood, without the use of nails. Now the istana showcase the Perak royalty family history.
aliah Posted Jun 28, 2009, 1:23 pm	Istana Iskandariah is now the official residence of the Sultan of Perak.
aliah Posted Jun 28, 2009, 1:28 pm	Istana Ulu houses the Sultan Azlan Shah Gallery. It showcases memorabilia and personal items belonging to the present Sultan of Perak. But we cannot take pictures inside. What we can say that he has a very huge collection of stuffs.
aliah Posted Jun 28, 2009, 1:33 pm	Last picture before we continue our journey. It says "Kuala Kangsar- Bandar  DiRaja" or in English literally means "Kuala Kangsar, The Royal Town"
JaymeC Posted Sep 28, 2009, 6:10 am	I must have accidently stumbled into a Haunted Place. It was so scary even my feathers changed color! Odd, I thought they were supposed to get lighter when frightened... maybe I was too white already! But then I seemed to just reappear here in Okinawa again! Hm... maybe I can go investigate some other haunted happenings. First I decided to take the time to help decorate a bit before Halloween Whew! I'm bushed. Time to head off to Germany, hopefully I make it there in time for some frightful fun! Percy
AnjaM Posted Oct 25, 2009, 6:14 pm	I have arrived at Anja's House! Hi Mommy, today, I arrived at Anja's house in Oberursel, close to Frankfurt, Germany. I was met by Ninni the rabbit, Terry the tiger, Bree the giraffe and Polki the duck. They all admired the lovely postcard I brought from Japan (Japan! Wow! Even Anja was impressed!  ), and we all shared the Snickers bars that I brought. By the way, speaking of Haunted places: Anja had all kinds of weird stuff lying around. And I mean: WEIRD!!!! The other TVs said that Anja likes to party, and that she will be hosting a big Halloween party for a lot of people on Saturday! OMG, haven't I been scared enough? Frightened  regards Percy
AnjaM Posted Nov 21, 2009, 12:27 am	Terry is leaving for Russia!!! Hi Mommy, today, Terry got all excited: Anja said he is leaving for Russia! Moscow area to be exact! WOW!!! So, Anja got a Russian doll for his going away picture and she kept singing a song "Moskau, Moskau, wirf die Gläser an die Wand, Russland ist ein schönes Land, ha ha ha ha ha - hey!" What the heck????  So she translated for us: "Moscow, Moscow throw the glasses at the wall Russia is a nice place for all ha ha ha ha ha - hey!" Still: what the heck?  So she played us an old song which was popular when she was a young girl: Moskau Moskau Ah, well, we are kinda glad we live today!  So, we all waved goodbye to Terry, singing "Moskau, Moskau..." Hugs Percy
AnjaM Posted Nov 21, 2009, 1:09 am	Halloween Party at Anja's House!!! Hi Mommy, today, Anja had guests over for a big Halloween party. Yes, I know, Halloween is in one week, but she always celebrates the October Meeting of the Frankfurt Pet Rat Owners Group with a big Halloween party at her house. Halloween AND rat owners?  Sounds scary somehow....  First, we helped Anja decorate the house. First, the front door Then, the hallway Look at this sticker of rats coming out of the floor! It looks so real! Then, we hung up all kinds of ghastly stuff the kitchen door the doors "the brain" of the family the picture gallery the cobwebs (even the picture of Anja looks quite scary here!) the pumpkin candles the witch and this guy in the cage who hollers "let me out of here!!!" when you press his belly When the guests arrived, we had to sit still in a corner, because the whole house was full of people. But we still got a good luck at the yukky-looking Halloween food that was being served (Anja made some, and the guests brought some). chopped off fingers dead fingers with pus blood pudding with eyes toenail cake rats plague macaroni salad blood punch two rat cakes But the very greatest surprise of the day was ... ta daaa... the Puking Pumpkin!!!! All of a sudden, we got a big scare! The Grim Reaper came in through the window!!! But when we gave him a plate full of yukky-looking Halloween food, he decided not to kill us, after all!  What a relief!  So we could continue to have a good time. Which we certainly did!  What a nice party!!!! And the food LOOKED yukky, but it certainly tasted great!  Hugs Percy
fam-united Posted May 20, 2011, 1:29 pm	SURPRISE! SURPRISE! Hi Mum, I'm here in Germany with fam-united now. AnjaM had a really really bad time last year and she is so sorry, that she didn't get in contact with you and tell you about it and that she didn't send me home to you. I can tell you, that we tried everything to make her smile again, but until today she's still not all herself again. This week she felt the stength to send me on to my new host in Bruchsal. I'm looking forward to some more updates with her before I will travel on to my next destination. Greetings, Percy
fam-united Posted May 27, 2011, 5:09 pm	Hi Mum, after we arrived at Petra's host the other tvs were very happy to welcome us. Our first wish was to take a bath, so we all ran to the bathroom. Here you see us from left to right: Louis the rat, Nippy, me, Bree and Polki I really enjoyed my bath. Nippy thought, that it would be enough to clean one ear But then she fell head over into the bath. Polki loved to swim in the water. We asked Petra, if she never needs a towel after having a bath and she ran to wrap us in the towel quickly. Because it was warm and sunny, we asked our host, if she could bring us to the balcony. We lied down on a table in the sun - more or less.
fam-united Posted May 29, 2011, 11:49 am	Hi Mum, today nothing really interesting happened, but this evening Petra's son called me to take a look out of the window and get some photos taken there. I'm sorry, but we had to zoom some views, so you can see more of the sky. We thought, we would get some rain, but nothing happened. It is still much too dry.
fam-united Posted May 29, 2011, 1:22 pm	Hi Mum, Petra and her husband will get spoiled by her children - it's mother and father day present. And of course we will get spoiled too For breakfast we had bread rolls, jam, honey, chocolate plates and a special treat called Einäpfchen. It was made of ham cubes and egg. I also ate a croissant and drank some green tea and orange juice. Let's see, what I will eat for lunch Bye, Percy
fam-united Posted Jun 7, 2011, 9:12 pm	Later we had lunch. The kids made some special appetizer and then noodles, salad, pork loin in lemon sauce. As dessert we had banana and vanilla ice cream. You see, that the dessert was my favourite
fam-united Posted Aug 19, 2011, 7:46 pm	Today we took a photo of nearly all tvs, which stay here right now. There are several tvs of our host: Aaron, Robinson, Schnuffi, Scotty, Cassiopeia and Simba Leon. Then there are the regular guests: BarryO, Bubo, Henry, Sanji, Tuffy, NiliHH, Jack, Chuckle, WillyW. All the others are tvs, which stayed with hosts, who had some problems and no chance to send them on to their owners or the next host, including me. It is the biggest amount of toyvoyagers I ever had around me
fam-united Posted Aug 21, 2011, 11:59 am	Today the weather is nice - finally. So we had a chance to go out and take a look at the sightseeing places of Bruchsal. Bruchsal was first named in 976, but there are places even older than that. Bruchsal is famous for its beautiful baroque palace, for asparagus and for traffic jams on the autobahn. Here you see the Damian Gate, which is the entrance to the palace area. You can see art exhibitions there every now and then. It's my friend Henry, who you can see on this photo, because somehow I missed it. We crossed the street and walked to the fountain in front of the county court. Such a pity, that my host forgot to take a photo of the county court, but you can see it on another photo. Here you can read a about the fountain: We crossed the street again and walked into the palace front garden. At first we took a photo of a sign: The big part of the building is the main building of the palace. On the left side you see the catholic church St. Damian and Hugo, where my hosts go to Sunday service. Here you can see from left to right: the building with the chamber music hall, the tower of Damian Gate, the little piece of the tower of the jailhouse, then the tree. At next there are two more buildings, which belong to the palace area, between both is the street, which we crossed before. Then the higher building on the right side is the county court. And you can see the little gate, through which we walked into the front garden. We walked into the church to take a look at old photos. You can see, that the palace was destroyed during World War II. They rebuilt the area, but the church inside is modern nowadays. In the second last photo you can see a little gate, which leads from the front part to the back part of the palace. We walked through it and took a photo of the backside of the church and the church tower. There are some fountains on the backside of the palace. Each year there are open air concerts and it's a place for nice wedding photos. Around Christmas there is a second Christmas market at that place, too. Four guards with halberts are at the line between the fountain part and the palace garden. We walked to the little pond, where usually you can find many ducks. At two crossings of the main way you can find a statue at each corner. This crossing shows the four elements water, fire, earth, air. Here you see the fire statue. This crossing shows the four seasons winter, spring, summer, autumn. This statue is summer. There are several ways lined with chestnut trees. We left the palace area and drove to the backside of the hospital. There is a parking place and we stopped to take two photos: one shows the old hospital building with its nice little tower and the other shows the jailhouse. Then we drove to the Belvedere, which was built as a hunting lodge for Prince Bishop Franz Christoph von Hutten. Next to the Belvedere and Stadtgarten there is a place, where you have a great view over Bruchsal. You can see the two towers of the baroque church St. Peter, which is close to my host's house. In the street right in front of me you can see some of the oldest houses of Bruchsal. 80 % of Bruchsal was destroyed during the war, so mostly you only see houses built from 1945 to today. The buildings in front of me and the white one on the left side belong to the older people's house. Then there is the private catholic grammer school called St. Paulusheim - the big grey building in the far left side. This nice house also is next to the Belvedere. Nowadays it belongs to a hotel.
fam-united Posted Sep 7, 2011, 6:20 pm	A thunderstorm is coming.
fam-united Posted Sep 29, 2011, 5:10 pm	Today we visited our host's aunt and uncle in Mannheim. From the balcony in the fifth floor we saw these high buildings. We saw some rather old houses. We also saw the tv-tower. Emmh, more or less
fam-united Posted Sep 29, 2011, 5:40 pm	My host and her daughter and son had the idea to walk around the Mummelsee. The Mummelsee is a 17-metre-deep lake at the western mountainside of the Hornisgrinde in the northern Black Forest of Germany. It is very popular with tourists travelling along the Schwarzwaldhochstraße. According to legends, the lake is inhabited by a Nix and the King of the Mummelsee.
fam-united Posted Oct 8, 2011, 4:21 pm	Today we went on a short trip to Bad Wildbad. We first thought, that we maybe could walk through a spa garden, but then the weather was so bad, that we decided to only have lunch and then go home again. Oh no, we didn't walk from Bruchsal to Bad Wildbad, we took the city railway. For lunch we had Swabian pockets with fresh flowers on it. It looked and tasted really good.
fam-united Posted Oct 8, 2011, 5:14 pm	Today we bake a cake for a birthday party, where we will go later. It is an apple cake, bottom and cover with the same dough. It is really yummy, but we had to work a lot to get all these apples cut into small pieces.
fam-united Posted Jan 28, 2012, 10:20 am	I like this Christmas decoration on the window. It's on the same place each year. If you like it too and want the originals to cut them out for yourself, please send a note to Petra. It's a nice place for us toyvoyagers, too. It is warm and you can see everything that's going on on the street The first photo is without flash, just to show you, how dark it is outside although it is early midday. If Petra hasn't done a mistake, then there are 26 toyvoyagers sitting together. Some are her toyvoyagers, some her daughters and some are rescued toyvoyagers, which still are at her place and of course some are guests, who will move on again.
fam-united Posted Jan 28, 2012, 11:03 am	After the big group photo session the guests finished the stars. Of course we other toyvoyagers were really curious and came to take a look at the beautiful stars. Later a group of starsingers visited our house, but we just had been too slow, so we aren't on this photo. Nevertheless we thougth, that it is a good idea to show you, how starsingers can look like. They don't carry one of our stars, though. They belong to the church region, were our hosts live, but our hosts go to another church, where they lived before. It's a bit complicated In the afternoon we all helped our Petra to bake two cakes. She told us, that tomorrow isn't only Epiphany, but also her husbands 50th birthday and that we will go to the parish hall and carry cakes with us. At first we baked a Hermann cake. It is a cake like a round robin, that's how it seems for me. Petra told us, that she received a part of the cake a few days ago and that she had to stir it and to feed it and that now it is ready to get baken. Of course we added some more stuff like flour, sugar, almonds, cinnamon, chocolate pieces. We read the recipe. Then we had to get some more dishes for the "kids" of this cake. We had been really busy. We also added some apple pieces. We wondered, if this dish would be big enough and decided, that it wasn't. So we took a star for the dough of Hermann.
German Rescue Posted Mar 25, 2012, 10:42 am	Petra has created the German Rescue, so she keeps an overview over all the toyvoyagers at her place. The German Rescue is for toys, who were stuck at a place and then send on to fam-united. I'm sure, I will travel home as soon as you write to my host.
fam-united Posted Apr 29, 2012, 3:53 pm	Finally I found time to read these two pages of two different newspapers of the week. The one is about Bruchsal asparagus. Bruchsal is famous for its asparagus fields and auctions. The other newspaper page is about the baroque palace of Bruchsal. I think, you have a good view to many different parts of the main building with the church tower, but still many houses are missing.
fam-united Posted Apr 30, 2012, 6:59 pm	We have typical April weather in Bruchsal. There is sunshine and the next moment there is hail and thunder and rain.
fam-united Posted Jun 2, 2013, 2:30 pm	Wow! We have another sunny day! I really had no chance to see the flowers in the garden behind the house until now, because the weather was that bad. I can't remember, that we had springweather like this before. All flowers are blooming at the same time and the trees got leaves within minutes it seems.
fam-united Posted Jul 21, 2013, 9:17 pm	Today we decided to bake a rhubarb cake. Our host allowed us to do it all alone without her help. So please take a look at the recipe. We explain it step by step: At first we had to find a place - we are quite a few Of course we aren't all traveling. Some of us are here as active toyvoyagers, but many of us are guests, who decided to stay here as long as the owners don't find time to get in contact with our host. And of course some of us live here, but we all have one thing in common - we are toyvoyagers. At next we had to get the eggs. We need six eggs for the cake. It was Sausi Karl's job to beat the eggs. Then one of us - don't know who - added 50g sugar for each egg, so it was 300 g sugar. It's quite a lot, we know. Madam Miff added one packet of vanilla sugar to the dough. Of course we had to beat the dough again, but we couldn't handle the camera while beating the dough. Matcha and Ted added 300g flour and one packet of baking powder. Then we had to stir the dough again until it was fluffy. Melek helped and Nathalie Then Matcha prepared the dish for the dough. We baked without bottom on a foil. Nathalie was still busy stiring the dough. And the she filled it in the dish. Then we all were sitting there and waiting for the cake to get baken in the oven. Man it was boring at first. But we didn't expect, that half an hour can be such a short time, when so many tvs are together. After this break we had to prepare the rhubarb, because we wanted to fill the cake with rhubarb cream. Little Dragon helped to skin it. And Matcha helped to cut it in pieces. Billy helped Matcha to stay on the pot during cutting the rhubarb pieces. Then we had to prepare some ingrediences for the cream. We needed two packets of vanilly pudding powder, one egg white and one yolk. We had to stir the egg white. Before adding the stirred egg white, we had to add the pudding powder. We had added a little bit of water to it and shook it until it was smooth. Then we added the pudding powder to the cooked rhubarb. We also added the yolk. Then Louis the Rat added the stirred egg white and gently folded it in. Finally we cut the cake in two layers and filled the cream on the first and then on the second layer and put the last layer on top of it.
fam-united Posted Feb 20, 2015, 6:53 pm	There will be a big event in this family this year: the wedding of one of the sons. Petra is happy, that she is allowed to bake the wedding cake. It will be a cake with strawberries and maybe some marzipan. She still doesn't know the other ingredients, so she has to try some cakes and find out the best version. And of course we are part of this. Here's the first cake - I can't remember the ingredients anymore, I'm sorry.

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