Travelling with Mr 'Davo' Devil

As part of my visit to Washington, I got to go home with Andrew, a kindergarten Bulldog Reader! He took me to Seattle to see some of the sites there! We thought about going up the Space Needle, but I’m afraid of heights, so I said, “No, thank you!”

I had a fun time with the Bulldog Readers in Washington. Now I’m on my way back to the east coast to visit some new students!

First we went to the Seattle Center, where the Seattle Space Needle is located. you can see it in the background. The Space Needle was built for the 1962 World’s Fair.

Then we went to the Pike Place Market. I got to see all the wonderful fresh food and flower vendors there. It gets really crowded with tourists!

All that walking around made us thirsty, so Andrew took me to the original Starbucks Coffee shop at the Pike Place Market. I had some hot chocolate because I was a little chilly!

Last week I arrived in Washington state to have a short visit with Mrs. Hembree and the Bulldog Readers.

As you can see on the map, Washington is a LONG way from Tasmania, Australia!

Washington state is on the northwest  coast of the United States. I came to us via Mr. Salsich’s class in Connecticut, which is on the northeast coast of the United States! I traveled about 3,000 miles or about 4,900 kilometers from there to here.

 I was pretty tired when I arrived, so I went home with Mrs. Hembree to rest. She let me take a  nap on the couch with Kasa, Mrs. Hembree’s Pomeranian.

Once I was rested, Mrs. Hembree thought it was time for me to meet Reese, Mrs. Hembree’s other dog. YIKES!  He is a rather large Bernese Mountain Dog!  I wasn’t sure if Reese was going to eat me or lick me! Luckily, he just gave me a look, and left me alone!

Then it was time to go to school just in time to meet Cat in the Hat who was also visiting for Read Across America Week!

I also helped some students with their library lessons. They were practicing how to be a book illustrator.

Then I counted stripes on Cat in the Hat’s hats! There were a lot to count!

Next I will be going home with Andrew! I wonder what that will be like!

Davo! Davo! It’s me, Squirrel!

Look downunder, here in the Antipodes!

I have arrived and Miss W has started a blog for me. I am going to be touring downunder in Australia and New Zealand. I might even get a chance to visit some Asian countries or some of the Pacific Islands which are nearby.

Miss W added the link to my blog  under class links.

I am so excited!

Did you see the picture? That is called a Leptospermum or a tea tree, commonly found in Australia. Doesn’t it look unusual?

I am going to have a hot Christmas down on the beach, rather than having to hunt down acorns and other nuts to put away for your cold winter. You might need a warm coat if you are travelling north to Mr Salsich in February.

Chat again another day. Just going to visit the local shop with Miss W, to check out the food here in Tasmania.

Image: ‘Australie‘

He was hiding out in Mrs Yollis’ classroom. Here is part of the comment from Mrs Yollis.

Dear Miss W. and Squirrel,

We have some surprising news for you! Leila discovered Davo hiding behind our visitor count number! He was crouching down and looked a bit sheepish when discovered. Sheepish means he looks a bit embarrassed with shame.

We can’t believe that he has been here hiding for almost a week!

So it looks like Davo will be starting more travels around the USA and Canada.

If you want him to visit your class sometime during 2012, could you please fill in the Google form below.

Miss W will need to know the following information:

• Name of teacher and twitter name if possible
• Name and address of school so Davo can find his way there
• Time of year you would like him to visit – month or special event with date

We will create a page with Davo’s calendar on it, so you will know which dates are already taken.

Squirrel worried about Mr Davo Devil

Squirrel:  Miss W! Miss W!

Miss W: What’s the problem Squirrel?

Squirrel: Have you seen Davo since we got home to Tasmania?

Miss W: Now I think about it, he wasn’t in the suitcase when I unpacked last night. Do you have any idea where he might be?

Squirrel: Well, I heard he had been talking about staying in America and Canada for a bit longer. He loved all the travelling around and thought he could hitch a ride through the postal service to visit lots of other schools that he missed on this trip.

Miss W: We need to send out an alert then on the blog to find out where he might have gone.

Squirrel: I reckon he stayed in Mrs Yollis’ room somewhere. He loved chatting to Panda and Beverly.

Please, please check your classrooms to see if Mr Davo Devil has hidden himself there. Please leave a comment on this post if you find him.

Also please tell him, his blog has been nominated in the Edublog Awards for best new blog. He needs to be around when the announcement is made.

WOW! It has been eleven weeks since I started this blog and began my fantastic trip around North America with Miss W. We have only one stop left – that is with Mrs Yollis and her class in Los Angeles.

Our first night here, Mrs Yollis  and her husband Todd, had invited their friends for a meal. Delicious hickory smoked chicken cooked on a rotisserie in the BBQ, asparagus and rice then fresh fruit and chocolates for dessert.

The next couple of days Miss W drove to three different schools to visit classes that were blogging. Again we spoke about our trip and especially about the plight of the Tasmanian devils. The students also had lots of questions, so many that we ran out of time. They will need to put their questions on the link in my blog, so the Aussie students can answer them.

When we visited Mrs Yollis’ class, I met Panda and Beverley. I already knew of Panda because he helped create the video about ‘Quality Comments‘, but this was the first time I had seen Beverley. Apparently Beverley is good at playing a game called ‘Switch or Bamboo‘.

Pacific Ocean and smog over downtown LA

While we weren’t visiting classes, Miss W did her normal thing – get in the car and go for a drive. So we went up and down the canyons here on the Pacific coastline – a lot different from the canyons in the desert areas of USA and Canada. One thing we often see on the news, especially in the American summer, is images of brushfires in the canyons on the west coast near Malibu. That was where we went for a drive.

One evening after school, Mrs Yollis had been invited to speak (5 minutes only) about using technology in her classroom. This was as part of a panel, in front of many administrators and superintendents of education as well as senators and other politicians. She did a magnificent job talking about her class blog and was the only speaker who had visuals as part of her presentation.

Well, it is time to go and help Miss W pack our bags ready to head back to Australia. We need to clean out the car, give Mrs Yollis all the brochures we have collected as we travelled and say goodbye to Squirrel. It will be good to have some company on the long trip back to Australia.

I would like to thank all the classes that have been following my journey around USA and Canada. Make sure you keep checking the questions and answers section.

Also remember to check out Squirrel’s blog once we arrive in Australia.

Bye, see you later, ciao, arrivederci, au revoir, auf wiedersehen.

How do you feel when something is over – a great holiday, reading a magnificent book? What do you do to start feeling good again?

Miss W hasn’t let me go out very often at night but since we are in Las Vegas, the home of “The Strip”, she felt we should go for a stroll there. We forgot it was Saturday night but it wasn’t too crowded. There were a few drunken young fellows – dropped a glass beer bottle on the footpath and didn’t bother picking any of the glass up – just left it there for others to walk over or around.

But the lights in Las Vegas were fantastic. The motel we stayed at had a shuttle bus that took us to the Tropicana casino and then we wandered up and down the sides of the Strip to look at the casinos and the entertainment. Miss W got a mango smoothie from Denny’s and right outside we saw Spongebob Squarepants and some Transformers. To get some photos of these entertainers, they expect you to put some money in their container as that is their actual job or occupation.

Last time Miss W was in Las Vegas, her nephew and niece really loved the fountains at the Bellagio, so we went down that end of the strip. They weren’t playing for a while but as we came up the other side, they suddenly sprang into life. Check out the slideshow of nightlife in Vegas.

Well this fabulous trip is nearing its end. We only have Los Angeles to go, where we will be meeting the world re-knowned Mrs Yollis and her blogging class.

Have you ever been in a big city to look at the night lights? Maybe it was New Year’s Eve to look at the fireworks somewhere.

After visiting the canyons we headed towards Salt Lake City to visit Gara. On her last trip to USA, Miss W tried to visit Gara but their schedules didn’t work out. So this time she is determined to meet her chat room friend. We didn’t realise that Thanksgiving was Thursday; we thought it was Friday and had planned to leave then so it would not interfere with Gara’s plans.

Check out this meal for Thanksgiving!

Instead, we were invited to Gara’s son’s in-laws for a real Thanksgiving meal. I took a photo of the meal that Miss W ate. It included turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, candied yams, green bean casserole, stuffing and cranberry sauce. (OOPS, forgot the devilled eggs which Miss W really liked) Then for dessert there was a choice of pies: pumpkin, cherry, apple, key lime as well as cakes decorated to look like Pilgrim hats and turkeys. A lovely fruit punch was also served.

While the meal was being organized, Miss W was asked many questions about our trip. We also watched some American football on the TV. Miss W learnt a new game from Stevie called “Chopsticks”. She will have to teach it to her students when she gets home.

Outside FamilySearch building

Also while in Salt Lake City, Miss W had to visit the FamilySearch Library. This is the most famous genealogical library in the world and all genealogists want to visit it some day in their life. Four storeys tall, with Australia and British on one floor including computers, microfilm and books. Unfortunately, Miss W didn’t find out anything new about her two brickwalls – her English grandfather and when he arrived in Australia or her Samoan great great grandfather’s native name.

After a fantastic time with Gara and her boarder, Hannah, we headed back to Las Vegas for a couple of days before visiting the last stop on our trip, Los Angeles.

Have you ever done research on your family? Do you know about your grandparents and what their childhood was like compared to yours?

I don’t think I need to write much about these two days except to say what spectacular views we saw while driving through Zion Canyon and up into Red Canyon and Bryce Canyon.
Zion and Bryce Canyon on PhotoPeach

Miss W has just learnt how to create a video and upload it to Youtube. Here is the video we shot while at the end of the canyon scenic drive.

What are some National Parks you have visited in your country? Which did you enjoy the most and why?

Do we go to the skywalk today and rush it or do we get closer to the west rim by staying at Kingman and do the skywalk tomorrow?

Joshua Tree

Kingman, it is. We followed the Joshua Tree Parkway. To start with, this tree looked like a multi-branched yucca plant. But looking more closely, it didn’t seem to have the flower stalks like the yucca plant has.

As we were driving through the Big Sandy Valley, we thought of Diane in Cleveland who kept reminding us of the changing colours of foliage throughout October and November. There were many trees still with bright yellow leaves as we followed the valley north.

Arriving in Kingman early, we booked in to the motel then headed out to follow Route 66 a bit more. This took us through Peach Springs to Seligman and back on highway 40 to Kingman. On route 66, we found a country dancing hall, a grub zone and a herd of deer – check out the images to find these.

Corrugated road

Next day, we were up early (before 8am) and driving to the west rim of the Grand Canyon. The earlier we could get there, the longer we could stay. At first the road was fine but once we turned onto the Diamond Bar Road, we had about 9 miles of gravelled road to follow. Much of this was also along washes, so if it rained today we might be in trouble getting out.

Arriving about 10am, we bought our tickets and headed for the shuttle bus which takes you around each of the sites. FIrst Eagle Point where the Skywalk actually is. I had to hide in Miss W’s jacket as she was supposed to put all personal items in a locker. One person tried to say I couldn’t go on the skywalk, but the next person said as long as I stayed in the jacket and patted my head. Miss W had to wear slippers on the Skywalk to protect the glass.

Can you see me and the eagle design on the rocks behind us?

As you couldn’t take cameras on the Skywalk means they have professional photographers who take about 15 photos of you in different poses. You can then buy 1 photo for $30 when you get off the Skywalk. Instead Miss W bought the package which included 4 printed images, a gift and a USB with all your images plus others taken by professional photographers. You will see most of these in my flickr photostream.

We then continued on the shuttle visiting Guano Point and the Hualapai ranch. By the time we re-entered the gift shop where we got our tickets it was past lunch time. The crowds of people from Las Vegas had arrived in their coaches and were booking helicopter rides and other extreme activities to do at the west rim.

So we headed off to Las Vegas to stay the night before going to Salt Lake City tomorrow. On our way to Vegas, we stopped off at many scenic points to see Lake Mead and Mohave Lake as well as the Hoover Dam which is part of the border of Nevada and Arizona. You can walk across the dam as well as drive your car. We took lots of photos here as it was such as important dam for this part of the country.

Have you ever done an extreme activity like walking on the Skywalk?