Travelog for: Ricky the Rat

Unfortunately, there has been more rain this week, but the other Tv's and I got to learn a little more about Flagstaff and all the interesting things to do here.

Flagstaff lies near the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau, along the western side of the largest contiguous Ponderosa Pine forest in the continental United States and is adjacent to Mount Elden, just south of the San Francisco Peaks, the highest mountain range in the state of Arizona. The first permanent settlement was in 1876, when Thomas F. McMillan built a cabin at the base of Mars Hill on the west side of town. During the 1880s, Flagstaff began to grow, opening its first post office and attracting the railroad industry. By 1886, Flagstaff was the largest city on the railroad line between Albuquerque and the west coast of the United States.

In 1894, Massachusetts astronomer Percival Lowell hired A. E. Douglass to scout an ideal site for a new observatory. Douglass, impressed by Flagstaff's elevation, named it as an ideal location for the now famous Lowell Observatory. In 1930, Pluto was discovered using one of the observatory’s telescopes.

Route 66 was completed in 1926 and ran through Flagstaff. Flagstaff was incorporated as a city in 1928, and in 1929, the city's first motel, the Motel Du Beau, was built at the intersection of Beaver Street and Phoenix Avenue. The Daily Sun described the motel as "a hotel with garages for the better class of motorists." The units originally rented for $2.60 to $5.00 each, with baths, toilets, double beds, carpets, and furniture. Flagstaff went on to become a popular tourist stop along Route 66, particularly due to its proximity to the Grand Canyon.

Flagstaff grew and prospered through the 1960s. During the 1970s and 1980s, however, many businesses started to move from the city center, and the downtown area entered an economic and social decline. Sears and J.C. Penney left the downtown area in 1979 to open up as anchor stores in the new Flagstaff Mall, joined in 1986 by Dillard's. By 1987, the Babbitt Brothers Trading Company, which had been a retail fixture in Flagstaff since 1891, had closed its doors at Aspen Avenue and San Francisco Street.

In 1987, the city drafted a new master plan, which would transform downtown Flagstaff from a shopping and trade center into a regional center for finance, office use, and government. During the 1990s, the downtown area underwent a revitalization, many of the city sidewalks were repaved with decorative brick facing, and a different mix of shops and restaurants opened up to take advantage of the area's historical appeal.

As home to a major astronomical observatory, the city has recognized an interest in preserving its dark skies by keeping light pollution to a minimum. In 1958, the city council passed the nation's first ordinance governing outdoor lighting, and similar ordinances in the latter half of the 20th century have maintained this commitment to preserving Flagstaff's dark skies. On October 24, 2001, Flagstaff was recognized by the International Dark-Sky Association as the world's first "International Dark-Sky City."

Also, Flagstaff is sister cities with Barnaul (Russia), City of Blue Mountains (Australia), Hsin Tien City (Taiwan), and Manzanillo (Mexico). I learned a lot of interesting facts about this beautiful town that I could write a whole book about it!

Ashley told me that I should be heading onto my next host soon. I am very excited!

Before I head off to my new host, Ashley, the other Tv's and I set off on a cupcake baking extravaganza! Ashley and many of her friends have birthdays soon so we made lots of cupcakes of different colors and decorations.


First thing we did was pre-heat the oven and put pretty cupcake liners into the pan. Not only did this make the cupcakes pretty, it also keeps them from sticking to the pan.


Next, after mixing the batter, we each took turns filling the cups. We used a measuring cup to make sure we didn't put too much batter so that they don't overflow when baking.


After baking the cupcakes we put Reese's Peanut Butter candy kisses on the top while they were still warm. The heat made them melt.


The last step was to put frosting and sprinkles on, then to eat them. They were very good!

The birthday celebrations were a great and fun way to end my time with Ashley. On to Casa Grande in Southern Arizona!

Look Mama I made it!



Today i arived to Casa Grande, Arizonia-
Zero told me of some adventures we will be going on,
and I think the one im most excited about is Disneyland!!
Im just so excited!
Right when i got out of my stuffy envelope Zero was quick to introduce me to her family,

This is one of her nice cats, his name is Emo, she named him emo [short for emotional] becuase when he was just a bitty kitty he used to cry and cry and cey [he still does] but later on she found out he cry's becuase he's blind.
Then i met two of her RATS! Can you belieave it!! she has RATS!!
of corse we became the best of friends,
here is myself on top of there house

and then theres me again greeting this lovely girl named Denia.

and then this sassy little girl. her name is flower,

Zero says she has four rats, but these are the only two i got pictures with, ill be sure to get pictures with the others before i leave though!
One of the ratties is an excape artest says zero, her names caramell and shes currently liveing in her dresser in her room, LOL
and the other is an all white baby named Alakay shes just a baby and is quite shy,
oh yes and two of Zero's rats are Dumbo's
oh and she also has two mice named Awon and Pants, they were asleep so we let them rest,


and here is me meeting Zero's little sissters,
the one on the right in blue is Sydney the one one the left is Bailey-annabelle
And this is the littest sisster ha! she fell asleep on the floor how cute, her name is Emily-skye and she just went to sleep in the hallway!! 

I still have yet to meet her brother, Theodore [he dosent like to take pictures] her mother Melissa [who was sleeping when i arived] and her stepdad David [who was out and about running errands]


today we did not do much, Rode some bikes, watched the sunset, and made some soup! and just relax's took a nap,
Zero said her mother and her might go out later tonight on a trip to walmart, they tend to do that in there spare time they said its an adventure and most of the time they don;t even buy anything! how silly

well here are some pictures from today

the nice sunset;


Zero's sisster Bailey-annabelle gave me a spin on her bike!


she said i can take a spin on my own if i wanted too but Im afraid her bike was just a tad too big

oh and while i was outside i met her other kitty his name is Christofur, the cat's are not alloud outside without someone out there with them, kinda like dogs! how strange,



makeing some yummy soup!



and finnaly nap time!

Hello mum!!

Sorry for the late update Zero was just too sleepy to update lastnight 

but here we go!

We diden't do much just sat around and watched movies and relaxed.
Zero and I were SUPPOSED TO go to a concert, to see her favorite band Blink 182
but her mom had to work so we diden't get to go, she was so upset so we just watched movies all day

the first movie we watched was one of Zero's favorites!

It was a great movie!!

Dirty Dancing is a 1987 romance film made in the United States. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Cynthia Rhodes, and Jerry Orbach. The story is a coming of age drama that documents a young débutante's rebellion against her father by starting a relationship with a dance instructor during a family summer vacation. Almost a third of the film involves dancing scenes choreographed by Kenny Ortega, and the finale has been described as "the most goosebump-inducing dance scene in movie history".
[taken from wiki]

and then we watched Eturnal Sunshine of spotless mind, wich is also one of zero's favorites. she would recommend this movie is ANYONE, and mama i must agree it was a really good movie!


Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 American drama by French director Michel Gondry. The film uses elements of science fiction and neosurrealism to explore the nature of memory and romantic love.[1] It opened in North America on March 19, 2004 and grossed over US$70 million worldwide.
Gondry worked on the story with Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth, a French performance artist. Together, they won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2005. The film stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet and features Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, Elijah Wood, Jane Adams, and David Cross.
[taken from wiki]

ooh and we had subway! 
Zero was sure to share some, shes a vegetarian
[6 years and counting]  so of course her sandwich was all veggies!


And i got to meet Zero's mom finally!
she was verry nice but also very sleepy she just got off work from working 20 hours! but she was a good spot and posed in a picture with me!


and in the end we ended the day by playing an online game called World of Warcraft, 




Zero promises today's update will be far more excited that yesterdays ha

Love you and miss you-
Ricky T. Rat

Hello again!!



Today we went to the movies!
We saw Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.


[im in sydney's hands the child to the left]


It was Zero Her brother and her three sissters.
Zero's brother Theodore finnaly was coaxed into takeing a picture with me thanks to my smooth talk 


Here is me Zero's mom and her Brother Oh and we had pizzza also as you can see i took a little nibble of his peace when he wassent paying attention 
Anyways we got ready for the movie and headed off!



At first we stoped at Target so Zero's brother can get some starbucks before the movie ha XD

[sorry about the blurryness we were late and i was trying to hurry >_<]

but don't worry we got there right in time! we missed all the previews but got in RIGHT when it started


The movie was great! i had a blast!!
Once the movie was over we went into the cortyard to wait for Zero's mom and we stumbled upon this frog
AND HE TRIED TO EAT ME!!

but after some serious reasoning with the fellow i have trained him to become my minion >:]


I was just so thirsty from training the huge frog i had to have a seat and have a sip of zero's dr.pepper



Soon after Zero's mother came to get us,
and that was it for the night.
I had zero take a picture of the movie thetures becuase its awfly bright there!
This picture just does not do it justice!



Love&&hugs
-Ricky

p.s 3 more days til disneyland!!!!

Hi!!
So sorry for such a late update Zero's mom took Benny [ new TV that came the day before yesterday] and I to her work so that Benny can get two of his goals done [meet a sick child and meet a nurse]along with the camera so I couldent post an update and then she forgot to take the camera out of her work bag so we did not update do to lack of pictures,
On the bright side!
TOMARROW WE LEAVE FOR DISNEYLAND!! 

Im going to update in about an hour becuase Zero's mom is asleep and she isnt makeing any sence [mummbleing] when Zero asks where the camera charger is so she can upload the pictures!!
I promise ill have a loong update today!

Iloveyou& miss you!!

-Ricky zee rattie!
[and his new friend Benny<3]

Sorry for such a late update!
we have been running around like crazzy getting ready for our disneyland trip, inface we leave in about an hour! 




A new friend arived!!
Zero and I were so excited it seems Benny and I are the only ones that will be going to disneyland with her :O

His name is Benny




We went right into Zero's room to hang out with my new friend  check out Zero's wall of peace,

after the long day of getting ready for disneyland, Benny and I had a nice sit down to watch TV and have some nice tea





Soon enough Zero's mom packed Benny & I  up and took us to work!
[so we could take care of 2 of benny's goals]
she works with a sick baby who's name zero isnt alloud to tell you,
she also isnt alloud to tell you whats wrong with the baby due to a code that nurses have to be apart of to keep things secret about there patiants.
sorry

but shes a lovely little girl :]


when she gets older she will be all better and be able to go about life like a regular person
shes 2 years old


we snuggled up and went to sleep 


Well its time to get this show on the road were leaveing right now!!!

ill let you know how it all goes

love you and miss you!
-Ricky & zero [and benny]

Hey!!
We have just been so busy over here,
We havent had time to update plus Zero got bit by an ant [shes highly allergec] so she had to go to the hospital for 6 hours

But we will have an update tonight!
promise!

as soon as the battery for the camera is charged

we had loadsss of fun at disneyland!
oh oh oh! and we went to the beach!!!!!!

Zero is still VERY ill from being bit by bugs.
she had to return to the hospital but shes up today to try and get this update up.
this update is for the beach
[which we visited After Disneyland.]

here we all are relaxen in a bucket at the beach right as the sun was comeing out!


and here is my good friend tobi just soaking in the sun!


Ohh and look at me! havein fun
i love the beach!

ah yes look at those waves, oh! and my good friend benny is in there as well!


and here's all three of us haveing fun sun batheing on our nemo towl zero brought us


Zero's mother was digging a hole, so we decided to pitch in and help!
the whole got to almost 3 feet deep!!


havein fun with zero's brother


We had just so much fun at the beach!
I wanna go back someday soon 
Zero says shes REALLLY sorry about the lack of updates shes just been really sick.
Love you and miss you
-Ricky

So sorry for the late update
Here are our pictures from disneyland!!!

The road trip:











"caution there may be rattlesnakes in this area rattlenakes are active at night during the summer. they will seek out any shady places during the
heat of the day. childran should be warned not to go near ANY snake. reasonable watchfullness should be sufficient to avoid a snakebite"



We had a long road ahead of us



All of us on our way to california!
so excited!!




DISNEYLAND!!

its a small world:





Look its zero Myself and all my new friends!
oh! and the mean old fox from pinochio.




Look at us fly threw the air!





We had so much fun,
Zero says she still has 100+ pictures to put up O_O!
her birthday is in 3 days!!
so we should have some cool pictures up then too