Tera's Travels
Tera began her journey from West with chaperones who helped her discover what it is like to volunteer for the Red Cross. She first went to Texas in October of 1998. They were having terrible floods there, and many people needed the help of these wonderful volunteers. "Tera was given to us before we started to Texas on a Red Cross ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle) to help victims of the Texas floods, wrote Tera’s first traveling chaperones. In Austin, Texas, they met with another volunteer couple who later took Tera to Arkansas with them.
Later, Tera ended up with a couple from Agency, Missouri, who introduced her to St. Louis. There she had the honor to meet Pope Paul who was visiting there. (Their volunteer work in St. Louis was called Operation Pope Support!)
A Red Cross worker from Kansas City, Missouri, showed Tera how they served hot drinks for people who were there to see the Pope too. Tera’s diary revealed many, many Hello messages from people who met her there! They came from all over Missouri, but these greeters also came from as far as North Dakota and Wyoming. One lady, a friend to a teacher in Wyoming, took Tera to the teacher’s class and introduced her to a great group of fourth graders. The teacher then sent Tera with her father, who was traveling to San Francisco, California!
Tera then went to San Diego to visit friends, and then she was off to Omaha, Nebraska. She visited Lincoln, Nebraska, and this nice lady drove her back to Kansas City, Missouri. Tera finally arrived home to Martinsville in February of 1999. How lucky she was to have experience all of the wonderful places for her friends at West Middle! Meeting all of these wonderful people who chaperoned her on her travels was the best part of sharing her experiences with the students!
Billy Bear
Billy B’s first adventure began in Salem, Massachusetts, where he met with the Official "Witch" of Salem, where Laurie Cabot has practiced her witchcraft for the past thirty years. Wow! This is a little scary.
Traveling on to Cancun, Mexico, Billy B, and chaperone, informed us that this beautiful country, on the Yucatan Peninsula, which offers water fun in the aqua blue Caribbean Sea. Our Travelmate watched snorkelers and scuba divers investigate the exotic marine life. You could see even the sandy bottom because the water was so clear. They even rode a wave runner on the Jungle Tour from the lagoon to the ocean! They visited the Tulum Ruins where they learned about the Mayan culture from ancient dwellings to the pottery and art works left from centuries ago. "There were tons of lizards, too!" They also visited Xel-Ha, a theme park that includes snorkeling, inner tubing down a river, and swimming with dolphins! What fun! (Our chaperone recommended Perico’s Restaurant, while you are there.)
Billy B says, "Hi!" to Pierre, Lindsey, and Gary! You have sent us so much valuable information. Thank you. (P.S.- To Gary, Billy B has recovered from being forgotten in the spare bedroom until March. Our school project was not ruined, as you thought. We loved receiving so much from you!)
UFO-boy
UFO-boy was returned to us without anything written in the diary, and maybe some information about his travels was lost somewhere. The box was lost before we could see a return address, so anyone knows anything about him, they may write to us, or EMAIL Mrs. Moss.
Tweety Tweety went to Europe on her very first travel experience. We received a four-page letter from Amsterdam, Netherlands, telling us that she was sitting on her chaperone’s desk as he was writing to us. He told us the following facts about The Netherlands-- It is about the size of Indiana.
- There are about 15 million people living there.
- It is "pretty wealthy and liberal" (He compared it to San Francisco).
- There are over 50 different nationalities living there who are pretty tolerant of each other.
- It has heavy traffic problems daily.
- A lot of people use bikes for their main transportation since no one has to travel very far.
Tweety’s travel chaperone finished the letter stating that he was, "Gonna go on my bike to pass Tweety to a friend of mine who will take her to Portugal, another small country in Southern Europe." We have not heard from Tweety since. If anyone hears of Tweety, we would appreciate learning about her travels.
Elvis
In October Elvis flew (about one hour) from Indianapolis (We call it Indy), to Chicago, Illinois. He went to San Diego and found it, "Totally cool, Man!" as his travel chaperone called the City of the Chargers. We dreamed about visiting the beautiful Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and of course, the San Diego Zoo!
Elvis says, "Hi!" to his chaperone (We did not get a name!)
Tommy TCan you imagine searching a photo for a little green speck on the fountain in St. Peter’s Square in Rome? Our class did find Tommy T on that fountain, though, even if Mrs. Moss could not. He had a wonderful adventure in Italy! The people were so friendly that they took him to dinner with them every night and visited their favorite nightspots there. Tommy T is ready to go back!
(Tommy says, "Hi!" to Kristin and friends.
Snow Baby
In Muncie, Indiana, this little Travelmate began his journey learning about writing mysteries. The Ball State University’s guest speakers were authors who emphasized that writing is hard work, and if you want to be good, you should write a lot, every single day. He met a great mystery writer, Sue Grafton, which was very interesting. (Maybe Snow Baby can inspire her to write a mystery about travel with Travelmates.)
Snow Baby was going on to Disney World next, but the next thing we heard about was a turbulent plane ride to Whittier, California. They saw the Mighty Ducks play hockey in Anaheim, and had a lot of fun.
A schoolteacher introduced Snow Baby to her third grade classes in Whittier. In December the class took him on a field trip to see The Elves and the Shoemaker, and then they put on a play for him (and their parents) called Wake Up, Santa.
Another chaperone met Snow Baby at her church in Brea, California. She and her family took him to Canada the day after Christmas. Upon their arrival at the shores of Lake Huron, they met more family members who were celebrating Boxing Day (December 26). A lot of snow fell while they were there, but a trip to Montebello, for a wedding, proved to be even snowier! He then visited Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, and Exeter, Ontario. They then flew to Vancouver, British Colombia, before returning back home again to Indiana. They sent a Canadian flag with Snow Baby to adorn the classroom with a touch of Canada. The Canadian flag you sent looks great in our geography classroom! Thank you very much!
(Snow Baby says, "Hi!" to Karen, Ruth, Brenda, Marjorie, and Nancy.)
Tigger
Tigger first went to Orlando to Disney World’s Disney Marathon. He did not actually run the 26.2 miles, but his chaperone sweated it out while he visited with Mickey Mouse and the rest of these great characters. The class wants to thank Sally for the post card and the running tip. (Tigger says, "Hi!" Sally.)
Panzy
Panzy had a great time when another couple took her to their home in Redondo Beach, California! She went to work with her travel chaperones at the Los Angeles Air Force Base, and another business. They even took her to Napili Surf on the island of Maui for two weeks. She made friends with folks from California, Canada, New York, Oregon, Washington, and Texas.
Another travel chaperone bragged on Panzy. He was delighted to take her to in his suitcase to Flaine Ski Resort in Haut Savoie, France. They saw Monte Blanc, a very high peak in Western Europe. A friend took her to London to do some Christmas shopping. What a lucky lady she was!
Panzy returned from Europe, she stayed in Washington, D.C., but then she was off to Chicago, Los Angeles, and you will not believe what was next! They went to New Zealand. They spent almost twelve hours over the Pacific Ocean. (The class had to do some serious thinking to understand that they left Los Angeles on a Sunday, and twelve hours later, they arrived in Auckland, but it was Tuesday morning!) Three hours later they flew into Melbourne, Australia, to meet her chaperone’s family. He took a lot of pictures of Panzy at various airports, which was a good visual thing for the students to see. While there, the group showed Panzy many favorites of the Australians. They are very proud of their North Melbourne Kangaroos, a professional football league. (They lost to the Adelaide Crows, but it was exciting for Panzy anyway.) They walked in Royal Park, had coffee in Carlton, and visited the University of Melbourne, the chaperone’s alma mater. Panzy celebrated Christmas with his family in Beaumaris, about a mile from Port Phillip Bay. They were rained out of a much-coveted day of watching Test Cricket with England, which is a regular event each year, but they got to catch other games. England’s team ended up winning, which shocked the Australians and the Englanders. (Our class had to learn the difference between cricket and baseball through the Internet.)
The people of Melbourne love almost any sport, and Panzy loved their enthusiasm. The chaperones took Panzy to Sydney where they saw a beautiful view of Sydney Harbor, Botany Bay, Port Jackson, and then they flew to Coolangatta, in Queensland. They also went to a family reunion in Tallebudgera. They went to the beach and body surfed, but they had to be careful because a helicopter patrol spotted a shark. While there, they read, ate, played cricket, and napped in the sun. (They can sun very early there because the sun rises about 4:15 A.M. during the summer.) They spent New Year’s Eve there, and New Year’s Day they returned to Melbourne.
Traveling north from Melbourne on the Hume Highway, they went to Benalla, a little town known for its roses and a famous Australian Bushranger called Ned Kelly. (Panzy learned in America we call the Ned Kelly’s "outlaws", but Australians call them Bushrangers. Benalla is also well known for gliding and hot air ballooning.
They later went to Mansfield, "the gateway to much of the ski fields in Victoria, where they saw Mount Buller, but they did not do what people usually do on Mount Buller since it was too warm. They went on near Tatong, and stayed with family where they swam in a nearby creek and looked for kangaroos. (They did not see any, but they saw a lot of cockatoos, gray galahs, magpies and other pretty birds and trees. You could smell the eucalyptus oils in these trees.)
It was back to Melbourne and back to a very hectic schedule for this little traveler and her chaperone. They flew back to Auckland and then Los Angeles. (They never found that lost Monday!) Bad weather in Chicago made them change this excursion to reroute to Washington’s Dulles International Airport. He and Panzy had to say good-byes there, as she was then given to a friend.
(Panzy says, "Hi!" to Bud & Ida, Sage, Colin, and all of the wonderful people she met on her journey into 1999.)
Brownie
Brownie traveled for four months with some wonderful people! First, he went to Huatulco, Mexico, south of California, where they bought the sombrero she is wearing in the photo. The people were very friendly in this beautiful area south of our US border.
He then visited St. Croix, Virgin Islands, one of the most beautiful islands in the world!
He traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, which took almost twenty hours! It was worth it. This was very fascinating!
Brownie sailed on a windjammer sailboat through the British Virgin Islands. They stopped at Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Salt Island, Peter Island, and Jost Van Dyke. (You could see 100 feet down in the beautiful blue and green waters. There were so many fish, we wished we could have seen this!)
They went on a different cruise in December. A Princess took them through the Panama Canal, and then on to several Ports O Call, like Acapulco; Costa Rica; Columbia, South America; Aruba; St. Thomas; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. (They said the most exciting thing was the full day sailing through the Panama Canal.)
In January, they went to St. Martin/St. Maartin. This is a very small island that is half Dutch/half French. (Two countries on one island!) It was very beautiful!
Panzy and companion said it was wonderful to experience so many beautiful and exciting places, "But, it is always nice to get back home to Indiana!"
(Brownie says, "Hi!" to Nancy and all the wonderful Ambassadair people!) Thank you so much for sharing your travels with us at West Middle School.
Friday
When we first read about Friday’s travels throughout Spain, we thought his diary was written in only Spanish (Mrs. Moss’s Spanish is very rusty.), but Jorge meticulously continued the correspondence in English. He told us how he met Friday, and that he attended the University of Alicante, in Alicante, Spain. Jorge encouraged us to learn about this city.
Salomon, who works at the Fiesta Americana Hotel in Acapulco, Mexico, encouraged to surf the net about this vacation favorite. We wanted to jump on a plane immediately when we thought about the beautiful beaches and the high cliffs overlooking the magnificent waters of the Caribbean Sea.
Rick took Friday on a bus tour of Boston, Massachusetts. We liked learning about the Boston Tea Party and the many fun things to do there.
Next, Jasmin, an Ambassadair Travel Club Tour Director, took Friday to many places to meet her friends. Bon Voyage, Jasmin! Thank you for taking Friday with you.
Our new friend, Susan, also went on the Boston tour. Susan sent us Reenactment souvenirs. Thank you, Susan.
Susan introduced Friday to Don, and they began their drive to Naples, Florida. On the way they visited Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, and spent a day in Tampa, Florida. Don sent us some seashells from Marco Island and Naples. (Mrs. Moss enjoyed seeing a golf tee in the pouch. "I really love golf!" she always says. Thanks, Don.)
Friday says, "Hi! to all his new friends.
