Travelog for: Strider

Wow. That was a really long trip...

I'm here now. Wait. Where am I? West Virginia? This had better be worth it, considering how ruffled my whiskers are...

So I made it all this way, and what do I get? To sit in the rain, with messed up whiskers and no welcoming party at all...I don't know about this West Virginia place.

Maybe I judged this place poorly. My host, Melissa, made me sit in the rain for a minute because they weren't expecting me so soon. She was just putting together an impromptu surprise welcome party.

The entire gang was very nice. They told me that they all used to be sad little balls of yarn, but Melissa turned them into toys like me. Maybe this place will be allright after all...

Good morning! It's still raining. I'm told it's because spring is wet and windy. Well, it doesn't look like spring.

I overheard something about Melissa's (almost) mother-in-law having some sort of cat program. I got all of the details while I pretended to be asleep...

Apparently, there's a feral cat program in the area that feeds and takes care of wild cats. Of course, these people mean "spay and neuter" by that. So far, they have spayed 700 wild cats in the area and adopted 150 into new homes. That means out of the rain! I decided to tuck myself into Melissa's purse and see for myself.

First, I met Damien. I guess he used to be wild and didn't like people at all. But now, he's very friendly, fat and a little too affectionate if you ask me. He lives in a shelter that a volunteer made him. His breath smelled like cat food.

Then I was introduced to Ebony. She's black like me. She didn't have a home, but Melissa's boyfriend's mom gave her a place to live because she was so nice. Ebony offered me a treat and then took a nap.

Then I met a crazy brown cat named Bear. He didn't have a place to live either, but now he lives here. He likes to jump on people's backs. Melissa is a little afraid of him.

I'm going to do some more investigating. I'll try to find out more about this program for cats. They all seem pretty fat and happy to me. Once the rain stops, I'll try to meet some more of them.

Until next time,
Strider

Hello again!

Unfortunately, Melissa has been really busy, this is her first week of school. So I've gotten to tag along with her in her bag, but no pictures. I'm getting pretty smart, though. Microbiology was my particular favorite.

I did get to tag along with her at work, though. People thought she was so crazy taking pictures of me.


Melissa works at a record store. It's a little independent one that has all sorts of music.





I got to sit on the counter and help customers. Although, all I could offer them was the Stray Cats and Tiger Army.



Considering that I wasn't very helpful in the customer service area, I was reassigned to guard cat. I was very menacing.



I helped rearrange the new release cds. Melissa says the Murder by Death is quite good. The rest of them, not so much.



That's a lot of music! But while I was sitting here relaxing, Melissa made me get back to work. She has a strict "no slacking" policy.



So I had to re-alphabetize a whole row of cds. I made it to the As.

Then I told her that I thought there was certainly a law that prohibits me from working. So she let me off the hook.



Nothing left to do but watch the clock and explore my surroundings a bit...









What a long day. Now we're driving home and going to sleep!

XOXO,
Strider

Good evening! Today I met Melissa's dog Davey. Well, I met him before, but he just sat still long enough for me to get a picture with him today.



Considering I'm a cat and he's a dog, it was a little scary at first, but I think we warmed up to each other.



Of course, what you didn't see was the bribery that took place in order to get the picture. That's me and the new arrival, Carl, bribing Davey to be nice.



Then we went out in a hurry to try to catch the sunset. Apparently, "red sky at night, sailor's delight" means it supposed to be a nice day tomorrow. Of course, this part of West Virginia is atypically flat, so it's hard to find a high spot to get a good picture. The rest of the state is very mountainous. But this is the Ohio River Valley, and it's flat. As a matter of fact, the trees that you see in the background is actually the next state over, Ohio.

Sadly, Melissa had a hard time focusing me and the sky into a pretty picture. This is what it actually looked like without me blurring it all up...



Pretty, huh?

Well, Melissa is fretting about having to study for her parasitology test. I think she's actually just using us as an excuse to put off studying!

XOXO
Strider

It is a nice day today! And we finally got out of the house!
My hosts decided to go to Marietta to the flea market.



Remember when I said Ohio was just behind me? Well, this is the bridge that crosses between the two states. Most of West Virginia's border is the Ohio River, which is what we're crossing.



Our first stop was the flea market. It is a bit unsavory. And filthy. Our hosts made no purchases and were sad they drove all that way for a big building full of worthless junk 



Here we are driving down the main street in Marietta. It's a really nice town, quaint and the buildings are older.

Here are some "fun facts" about Marietta:

-Founded in 1788, Marietta is the oldest city in Ohio.
-The population was 14,515 at the 2000 census.
-Marietta is the home of the Ohio River Sternwheel Festival, which brings dozens of sternwheelers to the banks of the Ohio River.



Speaking of sternwheelers, this is the Becky Thatcher. It is permanently docked in the Muskingum River because it is for sale. It used to be a restaurant. I tried to commandeer it, but believe me, it isn't going anywhere.



We stopped by the box office to try to buy tickets aboard the Becky Thatcher, but no one was there.



Here is a fun cannon we found.



Look at this! There were blue and silver pinwheels all over the place!



There were 1552 of them. They were placed on the lawn to raise awareness for child abuse and neglect. There was one pinwheel for every reported case in 2006. I hope it works!



Here I am on the bank of the Ohio River. This time it's West Virginia that is behind me.



And here we are going back across the bridge home. It's been a really long day!


XOXO,
Strider

Melissa is having a hard time keeping her brain on straight. She completely forgot to upload some pictures from our trip to Marietta the other day. She's a little ditzy...



Here's another picture of me in the sunset. It's been really pretty at night here.



Here is a monument for the first European settlers. Seems like a strange place for it, but I guess there's probably a reason.





Here are a few pictures of me in front of the LaFayette Hotel in Marietta. It's an odd triangular building.

Okay, that's all of 'em. I'll have to give her a piece of my mind for forgetting such a thing. Don't worry, I'll get her back, she's a very deep sleeper 

Toyvoyager of the week! Well, how do you like that? I like it just fine, although "Toyvoyager of the Year" or "Toyvoyager of the Century" is more fitting for me. Just throwing that out there...

So the weather in this place has been terrible. There were tornado warnings yesterday, and it's been pretty rainy and cold. Although we got a new visitor, Yum Yum, yesterday. So it hasn't been too lonely. I'm glad to have a new visitor, maybe I can get a little time to myself. That Carl is following me everywhere like a little puppy dog. Wait. Err. He is a dog, so I take that back. Whatever, let's get to the pictures, shall we?




Here I am with Yum Yum and Carl at a wildlife reserve park. The only wild animal I saw was Melissa's dog Davey. Maybe they were scared of me.



Here is a picnic shelter at the park. Maybe we can go back and have lunch there.



We hung out on the tennis court for a little while so Davey could run without worrying about little kids attacking him. That dog does not care for children.





One of my missions is to steal a ride on a train or a plane. Melissa took me to a spot where she was certain I could fulfill that mission. But they must have known I was coming, because they put a fence up around the plane and the train.





Are these people crazy? You can't move a train or a plane with a fence built around it!



Oh, what's this? This plane is borrowed? Remind me first thing when I get back home, Kristl. I'm writing a letter to these people to see if I can borrow one of their planes.



Here is another monument, but this one is for veterans of the US Armed Forces. That's pretty nice.



Look! It's an American flag and the state flag of West Virginia behind it. Not too bad, Melissa. I look pretty good in this one, too. If you weren't squeezing me so hard, I might not look so surprised!


That's all for now. I'll check in when I go on my next adventure!

XOXO,
Strider
AKA
ToyVoyager of the Millenium

Hello! It's been a while, and Melissa wanted me to tell you that she's sorry. But, we finally got out, and it was H-O-T! Well, for spring anyway.

We went to Parkersburg to Point Park. This is where the ferry for Blennerhassett Island docks, but it is not open yet. We decided to explore a little bit anyway...



This is the bridge that crosses the Ohio River from Belpre, Ohio to Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Here are a few more pictures of me at "The Point." One is of me and the other side of the river and one of me in front of the flood wall. The flood wall is there to protect Parkersburg from the river if it floods. The gate closes and water can't get through.  I wonder how well it works...

We also went to Riverview Cemetery to take some pictures. Melissa goes there from time to time to take pictures of the statues. It's really pretty there despite being, you know... a graveyard.



Here we are on the path around the perimeter of the cemetery. Look, the leaves are popping out!



We played in the ivy and Carl was almost completely covered!



This is a gravestone that is really creepy. There are stories that sometimes the statue cries. I didn't see anything, but I certainly didn't stick around too long!





Then we just followed Melissa along while she took some photographs. Here are two of them:

Hello again! We had a little bit more adventuring today.


This is a bird's eye view of Parkersburg. We went to Quincy Hill park today and stayed there until a tree fell down and scared the crap out of Melissa.


Can you see the river and all of the bridges we've visited?


Apparently, in 1909, there was a terrible disaster on this hill.

Quote:

At 5:10 a.m. on March 19, 1909, Parkersburg's two reserve water tanks, sitting atop Prospect Hill (now Quincy Hill), burst and sent two million gallons of water cascading down the side of the hilll and into the streets of the city. Each tank, made of iron and sitting on a stone foundation, was 40 feet high and 60 feet in diameter. They were pumped full every night from the city water works located at the foot of 12th Street. Apparently one of the 26-year-old tanks broke first, and the gushing water smashed its bottom plates against the companion tank, ten feet away. A cottage on the hillside above Avery was washed away and carried down Tenth Street to Market, killing the young newlyweds who lived there. A couple of other houses were shattered, and St. John's Lutheran Church on Avery at 9½th Street was nearly demolished. Trees were washed through the walls of Sumner, the city's black school, and several streets were choked with the debris of other trees and lumber from the destroyed houses. A barbershop in the basement of the Blennerhassett Hotel, six blocks to the south, had two inches of mud on its floor. In all, three people died and several were badly injured.

So I am standing where the tanks were, and everything down below me was flooded and destroyed. That's kinda scary.


These stairs go from Quincy Hill all the way down to Avery Street. Melissa says people run up and down them to train for all the marathons they hold in the summer. Those people must be nuts!


I got a little dizzy after those stairs, so I took a little break.


Here's a tank in the park. Melissa had no explanation for the tank or why people here put weird vehicles in playgrounds. Bizarre.


She didn't know what this wacky thing was doing here either.


Tee hee, it looks like the flagpole is coming out of my head!


Then I climbed this pretty tree for no particular reason.



Goodbye, Quincy Park. It's been lovely.


XOXO,
Strider

I think after crawling around in that tree, my allergies are kicking up a little. Every morning, Melissa's car is covered in pollen. It's a really bad place to be for your nose.

Yesterday we went a few more places.


This is the gate to the Julia-Ann Square Historic district. We were just passing through.


This is the Chancellor house in the historic district. Melissa says if it wasn't so boring in this town, she would storm this house and claim it as her own and live there forever. She would probably die of boredom at age 30, though. Isn't it a pretty house?

Our last stop for the day was the Blennerhassett Museum.

Quote:

Harman Blennerhassett (8 October 1765 – 2 February 1831), Irish-American lawyer, born in Castle Conway in County Kerry, Ireland to Conway Blennerhassett and Elizabeth Lacy. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and in 1790 was called to the Irish bar. After living for several years on the continent, he married in 1796 his niece, Margaret Agnew, daughter of Robert Agnew, the lieutenant-governor of the Isle of Man. Ostracised by their families for this step, the couple decided to settle in America, where Blennerhassett in 1798 bought a (now-eponymous) island in the Ohio river about 2 miles below what is now Parkersburg, West Virginia. Here in 1805 he received a visit from Aaron Burr, in whose conspiracy he became interested, furnishing liberal funds for its support, and offering the use of his island as a rendezvous for the gathering of arms and supplies and the training of volunteers. When the conspiracy collapsed, the mansion and island were occupied and plundered by the Virginia militia. Blennerhassett fled, was twice arrested and remained a prisoner until after Burr's release. The island was then abandoned, and Blennerhassett was in turn a cotton planter in Mississippi, and a lawyer (1819-1822) in Montreal, Canada. After returning to Ireland, he died on the island of Guernsey in 1831. His wife, who had considerable literary talent and who published The Deserted Isle (1822) and The Widow of the Rock and Other Poems (1824), returned to the United States in 1840, and died soon afterward in New York City while attempting to obtain through Congress payment for property destroyed on the island. The buildings on his island have since been restored and the location is now Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park, a popular tourist attraction.

Here is an old car and gas pump. I'm guessing that you couldn't really take this car out in the rain since there is no top and it's wooden.


This is an old farming tool, a grain thrasher. Using this must have made farming a pretty slow-going process.


This case has Aaron Burr's death mask. Creepy, no?


Here's a really old organ. It's blurry because Melissa got scared when she heard people talking. They were filming a commercial, so we ran really fast so as to not appear in the commercial. : )


Here is an old painting of the Point. Remember, we were there a few days ago? It doesn't look like the flood wall is there, though.


This is a painting of a saucy lady that was from a prominent family in the early days of the town.


Here are a whole bunch of paintings of important people of days gone by. The metal folding chairs really add elegance to this exhibit, don't you think? 


The basement of the museum held all sorts of Native American artifacts. Here is some jewelry. Very earthy!


Then Carl, YumYum and I watched a video all about Blennerhassett island and the ruckus the Blennerhassetts caused.

Until next time,
Strider

Hiya. Remember before when I got my picture taken in front of the Becky Thatcher? And remember when Melissa told me about the sternwheelers? Well, the first one of the season docked in Marietta today, and I got to see it!


A sternwheeler is a paddle steamer (boat) with a paddle on the back.


This sternwheeler is named the Delta Queen


Built in 1926, the 81 year old Delta Queen has a remarkable history, and is the last true steam powered sternwheeler in existence. The boat is 285 ft long and carries a crew of 80 to accommodate up to 174 guests.


This may be the last time the Delta Queen ever docks in Marietta because of financial reasons, Melissa said. Can you see the "Save the Delta Queen" banner hanging from one of the overhangs?


I guess I'm very lucky to have seen her! 


Until Next Time,
Strider

Well, Melissa's been pretty busy. So I've been home alone alot. She has a pretty terrible school schedule. I would feel bad for her, but I have a lot of fun when she's not around too.


I have been practicing my Mario Kart skills for the Wii. I'm getting pretty good.


I wanted to see how well I did up against players all over the world.


Unfortunately, the internet leaves a lot to be desired. I was sick of playing all by myself, so...


I caught up on The Office on DVD.


That Toby!


Melissa's been working on this little fella forever! Now that he has a face, we had a lovely conversation about all the places I've been.

Nothing makes you more tired than sitting in front of a tv all day.