Travelog for: Kaspian

I'm called Kaspian after the Barometz, the Tartan "cottonsheep", that are said to have lived near the Caspian Sea in mythological times.
These sheep grew as tree-melons, when they were ripe and fell ff the tree, they opened and looked like normal sheep. They were still connected to their mother-tree by the umbilical cord, though, and thus, when the grass within the reach of the tree had all been eaten, they starved.
For wolves they were easy prey. Their flesh tasted like fish and their blood was sweet as honey.
The story might originate from the medieval travelers that returned from Tartan lands and wondered about the previously unknown cotton plants there.
Whatever the origin, I thought the story very sad, but then realized that I live similary.

So I decided to cut my metaphorical umbilical cord and go to see the world and taste different pastures.

My itinerary:
Arizona  ----  ashl_bee

I have arrived in Flagstaff!


I am finally out of the package! Nice fresh mountain air!


After being picked up from the Post Office, we went back to my host Ashley's building. She is currently in school at Northern Arizona University. She lives in a residnce hall with her friend Heidi, and this is the view of the forest from her bedroom window.

We will go exploring later on in the week when Ashley has finished with her classes.

My first night here in Flagstaff, my host Ashley is taking me out with her and her friends. After a short walk from the university to what they call "downtown", we ended up at Hotel Monte Vista. Ashley told me that this hotel is said to be haunted and has been featured on several television programs, and written about in books.

We started out in the Lounge.


One of many ghost stories about the Hotel Monte Vista is one that sepcifically happened in the lounge. It is said that in 1970, three men robbed a nearby bank & during the robbery, a bank guard shot one of the men. Despite their injured comrade they decided to stop by the hotel lounge and have a drink to celebrate. The wounded man bled to death while enjoying his last drink. Since then both patrons and staff have reported being greeted by a an anonymous voice saying "Good Morning!" There have also been reports of barstools and drinks that seem to move on their own.

There were too many people sitting at the actual bar so Ashley and her friends went up to a different level to play pool.

These are the tables.

All the girls had to use the restroom. Since I keep hearing all about these ghost stories, I thought I would sit out and see if I could have a ghost sighting of my own.

This is a comfy couch for ghost hunting, but I didnt see anything. Next to the hotel lobby.

This is the lobby. Doesnt look like there are any here either. Darn! Maybe next time.


After a few more rounds of pool, and some more drinks we braved the cold and walked home. Here is a great picture Ashley got of the hotel as we were leaving. I was snuggled in her purse though to keep me from catching illness.

I cant wait to see what else she has planned for me!

The past week has been very relaxing. I spend most of the day in a pile of pillows.


Besides the hotel, we haven't been able to go out and see the town. Ashley has been somewhat ill. Tonight, Ashley's man friend came over to try to make her feel better. She was sleeping when he got here.


WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD!

He brought her some homemade soup and we all got in the bed and watched a show called The Hills.


This is a very popular show here. A lot of Ashley's neighbors were watching the same show tonight too!

Heidi and Ashley were talking about going on a Haunted Locations tour around Flagstaff. That really sounds exciting! This upcoming weekend is something they call Homecoming here at Ashley's university. There is going to be a big football game and lots of festivities. I can't wait!

This weekend was Homecoming at Ashley's university. She was very busy all weekend. Her very good friend also came to visit and join in on the festivities. One tradition that the girls participated in is called Tequila Sunrise. Ashley explained that is tradition for some of the bars to open early in the morning and people start drinking as the sun begins to rise. I didnt think they would actually do it.

The next morning the girls woke up at 5am! That is too early for me, so I stayed in bed and awaited their return. Finally, they returned in the afternoon and got ready for the football game.


Here I am with Ashley's shirt for the game. I am too small for a shirt, but I am very excited to go to the game.

When we got there lots of people were hanging out. They call this tailgating. There was a big celebration.
Once we got inside the Skydome, we were handed sticks with streamers at the end of them. Ashley said there were called Pom-Poms. I got my very own. It was excited and lots of fun cheering for the Lumberjacks!

WOOOOO!!!!

GO JACKS!!!!

Afterwards, we took a very long nap. I cant wait for my next adventure with Ashley.

Today, I ran errands with Ashley. There were lots of different people out and about. Ashley bought a big round orange vegetable and a bunch of different tools. She explained that because Halloween is tomorrow she was gonna carve out a pumpkin. This must be something lots of people do at Halloween time because there were tons of pumpkins at the store.

When we got back to Ashley's room she laid out some newspaper, and I helped her cut a hole in the pumpkin and we removed the insides.


With the tools Ashley bought, there was a book with funny little pictures. Ashley took one and cut it out. Then we traced the pattern onto the pumpkin with a special pointy thing. Ashley let me do most of it at the top.


An hour or so later, after we had used a little saw to cut along the pattern, we ended up with a spider web design on the pumpkin. We had a few accidents and part of it broke, but it still looks great.


You can see all the way down inside of it!


Then the next step is to light it up on the inside. And then the design glows!


Tomorrow evening I will be going to a costume party with Ashley! Hopefully we can get some more pictures!

Its been getting colder here and it has been getting harder for us to get up in the morning. It has been so cold that Ashley made me a little scarf. Just in time too because the weather forecast predicts snow!



As we were checking things on the internet, Ashlet recieved an email that she had a package. I was very curious to see what had come.



I snuck a peek inside


And what did I find?


It is Prance! She arrived this week. Unfortunately, the only time I will get spend with her is tonight and tomorrow because my mentor is ready for me to move onto another host.

But before we do anything else Ashley needed to vote because today was election day in America.


Here we are on the way to the County Recorder's Office to turn in Ashley's Ballot.

It was such a pretty day!!
We got to the County Recorder's office and there was a pretty box that that Ashley placed her ballot, but to preserve the integrity of the election and respect peoples confidentiality we couldn't take any pictures there.

Today is my last day here in Flagstaff. I got to to go along to classes with Ashley before she dropped me off in the mail to be sent on to Ontario, Canada tomorrow.

We got up very early.


I got to ride in Ashley's backpack. It was quite cramped in there. She said we were in for a long day!


Ashley walks to all her classes everyday. Here I am walking down one of the main pathways as well. You can see the big mountains in the background. They are called the San Francisco Peaks. They are pretty massive.



Here we are! This is halfway through the walk. We still have more to go!

Before we went to any of Ashley's classes, we stopped for something warm to drink.

Ashley let me have a nibble of her Lemon Pound Cake while she had tea. There were lots of different people here. There were many students, and professors in this place. It was very comfortable, so I can see why.

After a quick breakfast, Ashley had a meeting. As we were leaving the Student Union, we passed a big picture. I thought it was very pretty.

Quote:

Unity Mural Dedicated on April 25, 2002 Artist Benjamin J. Unkefer Benjamin was selected and commissioned to produce this mural reflecting the unity of the citizens throughout NAU and Flagstaff.

At Ashley's meeting she was given lots of papers and she was very happy about them.

This is one she was most happy to recieve. Ashley explained all the checks show which courses she has taken and that she only has a few more courses to complete before she can graduate! Now it is time for class!


Walking down the hall to the first course Ashley has.

Before class started we studied a little bit.

Several hours later we had time to take a break. It was a nicer day today compared to the other days. It wasn't as cold, so we rested outside.


Here we are outside of the Biological Sciences building. We have spent a lot of time here today. But it was very pretty. There were many different plants and different types of trees. It was a nice rest before continuing on with the rest of classes. By the time we were done, it was dark outside and not very many pictures were turning out well.


After walking all the way home in the dark we got everything ready so I can continue my journey!


Bye Ashley! I had a great time in Flagstaff!

Kaspian arrived in Ottawa on Friday. He was excited to be out and about and looking forward to visiting Ottawa's German Christmas Market. He also met Lily our resident puppy.

Friday night we visited Ottawa's Christmas Market.
Kaspian enjoyed seeing all the vendors and loved the gulash soup and bratwurst. It was a fun evening!

Today we went to the Photographic, Video & Digital Imaging Show and then in the afternoon my host Em made a cake for her friend's birthday.
In the evening we went to "the farm" - Em's good friend/family's H&S' home. Unfortunately it was too rainy and dark to get photos with my brother and sister sheep - but hopefully I will be able to visit them before I continue on my journey.
We enjoyed a glass of cranberry wine and partied the night away!
I also got to visit with H&S' little kittens.

This week I've been visiting with my host grandfather and got to end a great view of Ottawa's farmers market and sat by the fireplace. I also visited my hosts office.
The weather has been rainy and snowy so I haven't been to Parliament Hill yet but on tomorrow we are going on a roadtrip to Montreal, Quebec.
We have also spent quiet nights at home as my host is working on an art piece and watched tv and helped.

This weekend I was busy with my host - we went out for dinner on Friday night with her family and then went to Montreal on Saturday for a day trip. We visited a local craft fair, decorated cookies (and ate them) and then went out for dinner before driving back to Ottawa.
We are hoping that weather permitting we will be able to visit Parliament Hill this week.
That's it for now!

I have been enjoying my stay in Ottawa with my host - we have done many things together, most recently Christmas shopping, tree decorating, gift wrapping and shoveling snow (photos to come). I also found a friend on the Christmas tree!
It has been a very busy time for my host as she started a new job and has been adjusting to her new work environment.

Today is Christmas day - and a very busy one! I enjoyed opening presents, eating Christmas treats and playing games.
In my hosts family they go from house to house visiting family and friends and sharing the Christmas cheer. It was a very mild day but still there was a lot of snow.
It's hard to believe my time in Canada is coming to an end but I look forward to warmer weather in my next destination.