Mum had been really busy setting things up so that she could bring her brother Reid to come live in North Carolina to be near us. Uncle Reid lived in California. That is all the way across the country! Wow such a long way away. Mum told me I could come with her and tell people about RACPA-UK. I was so excited! We were going to go by airplanes and trains.

First we had to pack. Mum got a new suitcase and backpack purse for us. It had lots of purple cause Mum loves purple and red of course. Mum told me I had to be careful what I took because we would be carrying things and it had to fit on the airplane. I was confused because airplanes are big and have lots of room.

First stop Greensboro airport. I got to ride on the thingy that takes you through the x-ray machine. It was so much fun!

Here I am at the Greensboro Airport!                                    There's our plane!                                              There's my ticket! All ready to go.

It was sure hard to wait for our plane to be ready.                           Sitting on the plane!                                                       Still on the ground.                  

                      Buckled up and ready to go!                                                          In the air!                                                          The nice lady brought me something to drink.           

Our first stop was Atlanta where we changed planes. That was kinda interesting. Busy place. Lotsa people.

         Here I am on the plane to San Francisco!               We are on the plane but have to wait our turn to take off.             Finally we were in the air! Hooray!                       

It was a long trip so Mum lent me a book to read. It was cloudy the whole trip so Mum didn't get any pictures from the plane.

We made it to San Francisco. I had an adventure there. Mum was waiting to buy our BART tickets and I fell out of the backpack but this nice man picked me up and gave me back to Mum.

               This is a BART train. It goes in a tunnel under the Bay.                       Here I am on the BART train.    

At our hotel in Concord.

Here we are at the hotel. I was kinda tired cause it was a long trip.                                                       It had a comfy bed!                          

It had a swimming pool but Mum said she didn't have her suit. I wonder if you have to wear a shirt and tie too.                    I got ice from this machine after Mum hurt her leg.

Decisions, decisions!                                              Decided on the Cherry Coke. Yum!                                             Pretty Flowers!    

Found the fire extinguisher but we didn't need it cause we had a non-smoking room.              Letting everyone know on Facebook we got here okey-dokey.     

Learning about Chinese food.                                    I got the fortune cookie!                                                                  Sleeping in.                        

Mum and me at hotel.

Heading back by train!

Aunt Debi took us to the train station.                                      We saw Pixar Studios on the way.                                        Train station coming up!           

We saw a BART train. It went faster then us.                              Is was foggy over San Francisco.                                               On the train!                            

                    Waiting for the train to move.                                         And away we go! Woo-Hoo!

San Francisco Bay

I've never seen a beach before. Wow!                           Lots of water and bridges. So pretty.                        Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.          

                      Big bridge with ships!                                                  I wanna go on a ship next.                         Mummy was kinda sad cause she misses the Bay.

Mummy loves San Francisco and misses it.                       Coming around. Toot-toot!                                          A big ship going to far off places!

The train went fast sometimes.                                               Lotsa water.  

Some Train Stations, Martinez and the Carquinez Straits

                        I saw birdies at the Martinez Refinery.                      The refinery looked kinda sci-fi.                   Mummy told me about the Carquinez Straits and the ships.

It used to be all full of ships. Mum said it was wall to wall but they have scrapped them all now. That's sad isn't it?        We stopped at lotsa stations.

                    All aboard!                                                              This was funny! ::giggle:: 

Sacramento

                             Our first big stop Sacramento.                 Mummy said Sacramento is the capitol of California.                         It's an important city!                                          

Mountains and Trees

We are starting to leave towns behind.                         When we left the cities behind we saw big trees.                                     Pine trees!                               

Lotsa trees                                                                   I got to see mountains!                                                   And mountain streams!

Lotsa neat rocks!                                           Sure glad we didn't take that bridge on the mountains!                  The train goes on tracks.

Reno and Salt Lake City were next. Our train tracks broke on the way the Salt Lake City and we had to wait five hours for them to be fixed. It was night so I slept.

Reno train stations. Mum wouldn't let me gamble.                                Our train at Reno.                                                  Salt Lake City train station.                    

                            We saw a pretty train while waiting.                                        Usually it is night when the train comes through. 

Desserts and the Great Salt Lake

They had some of the neatest rocks in the dessert.                              It was huge!                                                         They were like big castles!                        

I liked this one lots. It was gigantic!                          There is a huge lake in the middle of the dessert.                            It has lots salt in it though.              

Cows!

                   Looking for cows.                                                                    I saw cows! I love cows. I want one for Christmas.         

Because of floods we missed our connections in Chicago. I slept a lot cause it was dark!

                                  It was a long trip so I took a nap.                                                                       We stayed at a hotel in Chicago one of Mum's favorite cities.          

New England

                              We saw lotsa rivers in New England. The trees were just starting to turn colors it was so pretty!

Washington D.C.

We saw the Washington Bridge. It is long!                             They are still fixing the Washington Monument.             The sun was going down as we were leaving.    

              The sun set as we were leaving.                                                     It got real dark.                                                         A nice lady gave me a piece of candy.            

Mum let me curl up and sleep on her coat.

Home. We got in after midnight.

                                                                                  Pixie was glad to see us.                                              Asleep in my own bed. What a wonderful trip!                           

L'arpies and Fl'obbles

L'arpies and Fl'obbles are made by lovely people over in Great Britain. They are sold around the world. The proceeds go to fight child abuse and pornography at RACPA-UK. L'arpie Michele Baker/Cook was the first to cross the pond. Since then more people have learned about the wonderful work this organization has done. All L'arpies are one of a kind. The Fl'obbles are the smaller cousin of the L'arpies. Be sure to check them out. They are "Hear to Help."