T-Bear Travels to Cajun Country

Miss Elaine and I went to Louisiana so she could research an article on the Creole Nature Trail. This is a 180-mile road that travels through several ecosystems in southwest Louisiana. A lot of it is wetlands -- very important habitat for birds and a nursery for lots of species for sea life in the Gulf of Mexico. The Creole Nature Trail is one of a select few roads in the nation which have been designated All-American Roads because of their unique features -- scenery, history, culture. Unfortunately, this part of the country has been hit by hurricanes several times in the last few years. The latest hit was September, 2008, when Hurricane Ike sent a 12-foot storm surge over the countryside. I spent most of the drive in the car -- it was drizzly out and you know what water does to my fur! Nobody wanted to ride in the car with a wet bear! Here are some pictures of what I saw, and even some pictures of me! (You know you can make the pictures bigger so you can see them better if you just click on them.)So much water came in with the storm surge -- waves of water pushed by the hurricane winds -- that big chunks of the road were picked up like using a spatula to get brownies out of a pan!Even though the hurricane hit three months ago, I could still see a LOT of damage.

The Trail crosses the shipping channel where huge tankers travel. They would have had to build a REALLY tall bridge for the ships to go under. Instead, cars get across on a ferryboat. I liked it and I could see dolphins in the water!There are four wildlife refuges on the Trail but only one was partially open when we were there. The others were still being repaired. This is me with Miss Katie (from the Lake Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau). It was very cold and all the wildlife, except me, refused to come out!Don't worry -- this alligator is not alive! I wouldn't get that close! Did you know that alligators can run so fast that they could get a speeding ticket in a school zone? I wouldn't want to try to arrest one!

Miss Elaine went to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to do research for an article about the Creole Nature Trail. This is a 180-mile road that goes through marshlands (marshes are watery prairies, swamps are watery forests) down to the Gulf of Mexico. This is an important habitat for lots of species of animals. It's also a nursery for many of the sea creatures from the Gulf. There are lots of birds there and more alligators than people! The United States Department of Transportation chooses the most scenic and/or historic roads in the country and designates them National Scenic Byways. There are 125 of them. Twenty-seven of these roads are so special that they are singled out as "All-American Roads." The Creole Nature Trail is one of them. Unfortunately, this part of the country has been hit by several hurricanes in the past few years. In 2005, Hurricane Rita did a lot of flood and wind damage to the area. The region was just recovering, then, September, 2008, Hurricane Ike hit it again. I spent most of the day in the car -- it was rainy -- and you know what happens to my fur! Here are some pictures of things I could see from the window.

The winds from the hurricane pushed the ocean water ahead of it in a series of giant waves called "storm surge. The water soaked the ground and literally lifted big pieces of road.There was a lot of damage -- and these pictures were taken three months after the storm. You know you can make the pictures larger by clicking on them, don't you?The Trail crosses the shipping channel but there's no bridge! They would have to make a very, very tall bridge for the big ships to go under, so, instead, cars go across by ferry boat. I liked it and I could see dolphins swimming in the water.There are four wildlife refuges on the Trail. Three of them were still closed because of damage. We did get to go on the wetlands walkway at the Cameron Prairie Wildlife Refuge. I was about the wildest wildlife there -- it was too cold for everything else. This is Miss Elaine's friend, Miss Katie, from the Lake Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau.Don't worry! This alligator is stuffed!

Teddy O'Bear

Mary Hendron is a friend of Miss Elaine's. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, but her husband is from Ireland. I was really excited when she invited me to go to Ireland with her. Here are some pictures from my trip.
This is me at the Donegal Town Visitor Centre. Did you notice they don't spell "centre" like we do? They also spell "theater" "theatre." They've been spelling these words longer than we have, so you can't say they're spelling them wrong. You can just say we spell them differently!Ernan McBettigan is the mayor of Donegal Town. He also owns McGettigan's Butcher Shop there.This is Donegal Castle. It was built over 500 years ago. A town grew up around the castle so now it stands in the center of Donegal Town.We flew out of Dublin and I got to visit with the nice ladies at the airport information centre.
I liked Ireland and meeting Mary's husband's family but it rained a lot more than it does here. My fur started to smell funny!

Teddy Takes Texas

Hi Kids, I went to Frisco, Texas, with Miss Elaine and Mr. Jack. They took me to Safety Town. I thought it would be boring -- let's face it, that's a boring name! They should have called it the Wow Climb on a Fire Engine Hide from a Tornado Visit a Tiny Town Ride A Bike Town. I learned a lot about staying safe -- how to call 911 (do you know how hard it is to use a phone with your paw?), what to do if you den catches fire and practicing safety rules when walking or riding a bike. The town part was really neat -- just like a real town but kid-sized. Fire Chief Ryan Wolford helped me get on a bike but I couldn't reach the pedals.

Teddy Takes (Another) Holiday

This post if from Teddy's October 2nd to 5th trip to Rosemary Beach, Florida.

Teddy's been on vacation while I've been working. Okay, so working and Rosemary Beach are oxymoronic! My work consisted of living like the other half -- more like the other one per cent! Rosemary Beach is elegant and expensive and oh, so relaxing. My apartment was a in carriage house -- upstairs over a garage with a loft bedroom. The chauffer never had it so good! Teddy didn't enjoy the beach as much as I did. He wasn't fond of sand in his fur. But he did like stretching out in a beach chair and, later, doing the same by the pool. Teddy particularly enjoyed riding in the basket of my tricycle!

New Mexico

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Chama

This is where I met Oso. Miss Elaine and I got up early for a campfire breakfast. That's us by an antique chuckwagon. A chuckwagon is a cowboy kitchen. Pulled by horses, it hit the trail with the cowboys. The cook carried all his supplies on the wagon. The back pulled down so he had a table for working. Everything was cooked over a campfire.
After breakfast, we went to town to take and old-fashioned steam train ride. That's Oso and me with the fireman. This fireman doesn't put fires out -- he makes them! He shovels coal into the firebox to keep the fire burning. The fire heats a big container full of water. When the water boils and makes steam, the steam pressure makes the engine go. If he lets the fire go out -- the train stops! He must have done a good job because we went up over some mountains and the train never stopped!
Posted by Elaine Warner at 6:18 AM 0 comments
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Bandelier National Monument

Bandelier is 70 per cent protected wilderness area but most visitors just see the part I saw -- Frijoles Canyon. Frijoles means beans in Spanish. I don't know why they would name the canyon Beans! In the canyon and on the cliffs are the remains of ancient pueblo houses and ceremonial structures. Miss Elaine left me in the car when she climbed up the cliffs to see the pueblos. She said she might need both hands to help her climb. I think she should buy a backpack to carry me in! She did get me out later so I could see some of the canyon and I met Ranger Brad Traver. I also got to go to the Visitor Center where I got to feel a real deer antler.
Posted by Elaine Warner at 6:09 AM 1 comments
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Santa Fe
Hi Kids, I promised I'd put up pictures from my first trips so here we go. My very first trip was to New Mexico. And I started in Santa Fe, the state capital. Here's my picture sitting on top of the monument that marks the end of the Santa Fe Trail, an important route that went from mid-Missouri to New Mexico. Did you know part of the trail crossed the Oklahoma panhandle? The other picture is of the La Fonda Hotel where I stayed. You'll notice that the architecture of the hotel replicates an Indian pueblo. There has been a hotel or inn on this spot since the days of the Trail (1822 to 1879).
Posted by Elaine Warner at 5:57 AM 1 comments

Welcome

Teddy has been bugging me to start a blog for him for some time. So here it is. He is feeling quite the celebrity since there was an article featuring him in the Edmond Sun today.





Third-grade class receives traveling bear


EDMOND — Students in Margaret Kysar’s third-grade class at Northern Hills Elementary have three new friends. Elaine Warner, travel writer for The Edmond Sun, visited the class last month and introduced them to a stuffed bear who likes to travel. The class named the bear Teddy. Teddy travels with Warner and sends post cards back to the class.Recently, Teddy visited northeastern New Mexico where he met Oso, the official New Mexico Adventure Bear. Jill Lane, New Mexico travel specialist and Oso’s creator, donated the bear to the Oklahoma class. Along with Oso, she sent several books about New Mexico. Oso will stay in Kysar’s room, traveling on class field trips and being a reading friend for the students.Travelin' Teddies is a program sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers in partnership with Build-A-Bear Workshop of St. Louis. Build-A-Bear has provided three dozen bears to members of SATW who are willing to take the bears on their travels. Each bear has his or her own backpack and official SATW shirt.SATW was founded in 1956 to promote responsible journalism and preservation of travel resources worldwide. The Travel Teddies program, sponsored by the 20-state Central States chapter, is designed to increase knowledge of geography and create curiosity about the world in American classrooms.





There were two pictures in the paper and three on the web site. I'll be backtracking and starting with Teddy's earlier adventures and adding pictures of Teddy so keep checking here.