Travelog for: Takkie

My first update... and I'm not even living with my host!
Well... I'm traveling to her, right now.
Very exciting, because it's my first trip!
I am ready for some action!!!

Yes! I'm here!
But oh no, I'm not the only dog! They are a lot of fun and mom made sure they didn't play to rough with me.
I love dogs!!!

I enjoyed a trip with mom, Buster and Grouchy.
Mom is a volunteer, she visits people who want to adopt a rescue dog. And this time, she took us with her!
The family had 4 dogs and 4 cats, so we had to stay in the car.
But it was a great trip!

By the way... I'm still looking for a host!

Oh jeez... I am heading for the USA!
I am taking my "Book of Takkie" with me, with a note for my new family.

I was too affraid to get in the envelope.
Buster helped me, we looked together, he went in, then I went in with him and after making sure there are no funny or scary things in there, I said to Buster "It's OK, I am ready".
He closed the envelope and wrote down my new family's address.
Hope everything will turn out great....

Hi mom!
So I'm finally getting around to updating you on my travels!!
I'm so sorry it's taken me nearly a month.  My host is very busy with work and family/personal matters.  But today she finally has some time to show you what I've been up to!
So here are some pictures of my first day in the US.

Here I am coming out of my package!


on my host's bed...you can tell the room hasn't changed much from the 70s


This is the first stuffed animal my host ever had...he looks tired, well he should be because he's around 20 yrs old!!


This is the work station where my host sends out her postcrossing postcards.



In that same room is a pool table



I decide to go outside and explore some more...
here are my host's birds.  They are shy so you can't see them too well...



and look! they have a pool! it's been so hot here lately I think I'll go for a swim. 



Show you more later!

Love,
Takkie

Hi mom!
So today my host is taking me to go eat with her dad and then later on to work. 

Her car


she's going to let me navigate!


but...uh oh!...need some gas first!


this sounds like a good deal...but we're running late so we pass


on the road! ( my host tells me she shouldn't be taking pictures while driving...but she wanted to show you the roads.)

School bus

CVS (drug store) with a McDonalds??

7-11 (convenience store)


we finally make it to our destination...IHOP!!
Is it really international? (IHOP stands for International House of Pancakes). I can't remember if we have these at home.

and of course...my host shares her pancakes with me.
YUM!



Later on that night at work...her coworkers decide to order some pizza and mojo potatoes from Shakeys.  YUMMY!!!




I have to satisfy my sweet tooth after so my host lets me try Japanese candy...tastes a little like lemon soda.




My host then tells me I can put these things in my book to take home to you!


More adventures later!

Love,
Takkie

Hi Mom!
Ready for my biggest update yet??  Today was a busy day...we went to LA for the La Brea Tar Pits, LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and La Grand Lux Cafe for dinner...phew!  Here are my pictures!!

Before we leave we decide to eat.  My host likes to eat so you will see many pictures of me with food (if you haven't noticed )  We get fast food so we can get on our way.



what a funny looking man...


Let's see where we're going...

and oh...here we are!


The tar pits are connected to a museum.  Let me show you around...
When we arrive we notice people digging around...this board tells a little about what they have found

When they were building the parking lot...they found bones...so they decided to carefully box up the dirt and search through the boxes to find more bones.  This is called Project 23 for the 23 boxes they have.


We turn around and find this funny fellow...I decide to take a picture with him.


look paw prints...where does this lead us??


an Excavation pit!...look at all the tar!





On to the museum...on our way we come across the lake...it has tar bubbling in it and replicas of mammoths stuck in the tar...kind of a sad lake.




Finally! the museum!





Lets see what they have...
MAMMOTHS!





Wow they are huge! Here are some other skeletons of a Sabertooth tiger, buffalo and other extinct animals.








Various animal bones/skulls






There is a "fishbowl" lab where people are working on a Mammoth skeleton...







we make our way out to the atrium and gift shop...but I seemed to upset the locals...

I explain what I'm doing there and they let me go...phew!


we make it out the lovely atrium where we find a turtle! and a waterfall




and I get to ride a Mammoth at the gift shop on our way out...bye Tar Pits!



we next head off to LACMA!


On to the next post!

Love,
Takkie

Here are some pictures at LACMA...we couldn't take too many because security told us we weren't allowed.



got out tickets....now where do we go?? My host lets me decide...



I decide on the Japenese annex...lets go!





Pottery



There was a room filled with miniatures...I found a dog :]



A Kimono


Samuri armor




This clay horse is too cute...so I needed a picture with it



We next decide to check out the contemporary art...there was a section about fruit but we weren't allowed to take any pictures of the art...so i just took a picture by the sign.


There were some famous works here...do you recognize any of them?
Lichenstein


Ever had spam? People say it's tasty...my host thinks it tastes too salty


the biggest comb I've ever seen...do u see me??


Jackson Pollack


Picasso's



The last picture isn't that great because security told us to put the camera away...oops!

My host really likes Kandinsky and thought she'd share a picture with you


And outside is a modern installment...an artist placed many light posts together...they look quite beautiful at night.



After all that we had dinner for a friends birthday at the Grand Lux...sorry no picture of the outside...but you can see what we ate!





What an amazing day...more travels soon!

Love,
Takkie

Small update, mom.

My host was feeling kind of sad after her recent break up so we went to the movies.



She wanted to watch "You Again"  a comedy


And she needed to buy an Icee at the concession stand to help beat the heat.



The ticket stub is in my book!

More updates soon!

Love,
Takkie

Hi Mom!
Last week my host went to have dinner with some friends at Downtown Disneyland.  I got to be really close to the theme parks but we didn't have enough time to go in :/  maybe another day!

Here I am at the enterance...


we decide to take a look around while we wait for my hosts' friend...
Here is a walkway to the Disneyland hotel...



ESPN Zone restaurant


World of Disney gift shop (sorry the pictures are so dark...it was nighttime and my host's camera is not the best)


Then we decided to visit the entrance to California Adventure
you probably can't see it in this picture but there are big letters that spell out "California" behind me


better?


I decide to take a picture by the N for "Netherlands"


We then decide to head back to get dinner at the Rainforest Cafe...it's amazing in there!

The outside looks like a temple



While my host and her friend wait to order


I decide to explore the "jungle"!

SNAKE!


Gorilla


Elephant family


This fish tank was nice...I could just stay here and stare at the fish all night.



Bird


Inside they have a big waterfall too and every half hour or so there is a "storm" and the lights go down and the animals make noise...just as if you were in a rainforest.

Waterfall




This is a big fish tank that we walked through to go to the dining area


And a view of the gift shop...looks like this bird knows what it wants to buy...


On the way out I decide to take a picture with my new friend...



He said I was welcomed back anytime.

After dinner it was cold and it started to rain so we decided to spend a little time in the lobby of a near by hotel...the Grand California Hotel.
It is a nice lobby...




After that it was time to go home...my host and her friends all had work the next morning!

Until my next adventure!
Bye mom!

Hi Mom!
So a few weeks ago Sara and her dad went to a small church in Los Angeles and we decided to take a few pictures along the way.  Afterwards we went and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant back in Long Beach.

Along the freeway to the church we saw this crazy building...can you believe it's part of a high school? We're not sure what part it is though...

Closer


Here is a different church...Our Lady of Angels


Freeways are great...they take us everywhere!


Downtown


Union Station




We tried to have lunch at Olvera St, an old Mexican street right across the way from Union Station but it was busy with a festival and we couldn't find parking so we went back to Long Beach.

Few shots of Olvera St



And here we are at Los Compadres!


hmm...what shall we eat?


Let's dig in!

This is a traditional Mexican drink called a "Horchata" it's a rice milk and cinnamon drink. Very tasty!


Let me try some! (Hot cheese with peppers and guacamole)



Yummy!


And afterwards...an after dinner lollipop!


Hope we didn't make you too hungry mom!
See you later!
Love,
Takkie

Hi mom!
Last Saturday my host took me along to a concert for her favorite band Mae.  Here a few pictures.  Too bad she forgot her camera so her friend had to take some pictures off her phone...but the ones of the band were really blurry :/





 

They had a good time though...it was an amazing concert! Sunday we went to the drag races...pictures of that in the next post!

Hi mom!
So the next day I got to join my host and some of her friends to go see drag races (car races) at the Pomona fairgrounds.  Again, my host forgot her camera (she's quite forgetful these days) but she took some pictures off her phone.

There were alot of vendors around...this part was called "Nitro Alley"


The grandstands


All the way down at the end you can see the starting line


close up of the lanes


That little yellow blur is a car!


This is a type of car that was racing that day


And this is a silly car that races just for fun...look at those tires!


It was super loud there...the cars go by at nearly 300mph!!
Until my next adventure!
Love,
Takkie

Hello Mom!
It's been a while since I had an update.  Here is a little trip I took last weekend.  A friend of my host wanted to see the Dinosaurs of Cabazon so we took a small road trip out there.

It was cold and windy...and there were a bunch of windmills out there turning full force!



When the rain stopped for a bit we saw a rainbow! Can you see it?


Then we made it to the dinosaurs.  We didn't stay long because it was just too cold to walk around.





The last dinosaur you can walk inside of and there is a gift shop in it with lots of dinosaur gifts and toys.




This nearby restaurant is kind of famous.  It was in the movie "PeeWee's Big Adventure".



So that's it for my "big" adventure.  Until my next one!

Hi Mom!
It's been a long time since I've been on any adventures. My host took me on one last one before I get sent on back home to you.

We went to the Hollywood sign and then later the Griffith Observatory which was near by.

There is a trail you can take to hike up to the sign.  Here I am at the base...

Here are some views along the trail...





In the distance you can see the sign!

Closer...

Right on top of it!!  They fenced it off so we couldn't walk right up to it but it was super close to us.




After the hike we went over to the Griffith Observatory.




There are lots of telescopes and interesting astronomy things there.
Like this model of the telescope at the observatory.

A pendulum that keeps track of time inside the observatory.

This is a live shot of the sun...there is a telescope that is aimed at the sun and reflects it onto this screen.


And here we go to see the telescope




if you peek inside you can see the telescope!


That was a fun filled day.  Hope you enjoyed my pictures! Be home soon.