Saturday, March 7, 2009

Peggy in California

Hey guys! I have had a fun-filled month in California with the Puppy Pals. First, I went to the Fungal Infestation of San Jose event, where I met a few other fellow letterboxers. A few days later, we went on a trip to Angels Camp, where it was rainy and cold most of the time. There was a lot of frog statues and stamps because Angels Camp is famous for its frog-jumping contest. The first letterbox we went to was at the second oldest schoolhouse in California. The picture up and to the right is me at the schoolhouse. I'm on the post next to the schoolhouse. The next box we found was right by a little frog statue, and I posed with him. He looks a little stiff, don't you think? The day after that we went to find a letterbox at a winery, really close to a museum. We stopped by, and I posed with a miner statue and a 40 pound gold nugget! That must be worth a lot!


After that, we went to the Moaning Caverns. Inside the cave, it was a bit wet and drippy because of the rain outside, and had a 100 foot spiral staircase. At the bottom, we could see the Angel Wing formation and the Mushroom. To the left is a picture of me and the Mushroom. Weird, but pretty. Our guide showed us how dark it would be if we were the miners who came searching for gold (there wasn't any, but they didn't know that.) It was pitch black, except for a small light coming from a candle. If I was a miner and the candle blew out, I wouldn't be able to see my paw even if I was waving it in front of my face. We also learned that if there was an earthquake, we would have been in the safest spot possible. The next day, I came as the Puppy Pals went sledding, and I posed on one of the sleds. It was incredibly beautiful, because it was snowing the whole time. We saw many huge flakes falling. Even though I had my nice warm robe on, I had to warm up in front of the fire when we got back to the condo. The next day, we headed back to their house, and stopped at Knights Ferry, a covered bridge. It was the longest covered bridge to the west of the Mississippi. I was accompanied by their dog, Ginger, and the rest of the Pals. I helped them find 2 boxes, one of which was their 100th find! Yay! There was a close encounter where Ginger almost bit my nose off, but she was just jealous that I was getting all the attention. After that, we got along pretty well. Oh, except for the time when I was right next to her and she squeezed her eyes shut and stuck out her tongue. I didn't smell that bad, did I? The last picture

is the Puppy Pals at their 100th find, making the number "100" with their hands. After another short car ride, we stopped at the Oakdale Cheese factory and got to sample some..mmm! That picture of me is by racks filled with cheese! A few days later we went boxing at a seminary, which had a beautiful garden, and a magnificent view at the place the box was hidden. At another letterbox, there was a neat playground, so I climbed on the monkey bars and on a rock-climbing wall. I had a great time, but I need to travel somewhere else.


~Peggy :-)