Costco Free Samples! -- Seattle, WA

You don't have to travel all the time to fun. There are exciting tourist things to do in our own backyard.  We went to Costco, and they gave us free ice cream.

High Desert Museum -- Bend, OR

After the volcano, we went to the High Desert Museum. We saw birds and cats and otters and pioneers and more.

Cromely says this is how people used to travel before airplanes.



Then we went to the WORLD OF OTTERS.



Cromely wouldn't let me play with the wet ones in the pool, but these beavers were pretty friendly.





Later one we went flying with another bird!



We had lots of fun there.

Newberry National Volcanic Monument -- Bend, OR

On our last day in Bend, we tool a bit of a drive. We went to a volcano. It wasn't my first volcano. I've been to Mt. St. Helen's and Yellowstone, but they are all different.

We did get a really nice view in the Pacific Northwest May drizzle. Here I am at Lava Butte.





A few miles later we went on a short walk with shiny,black rocks.



It was nice, but chilly and I was just as happy to get back to the car.

Old Mill District -- Bend, OR

Peek-A-Boo!

Old Mill Brew Wërks -- Bend, OR

In May we went to Bend, OR, to see some music.

I don't understand Cromely sometimes.  We could have gone out for ice cream, but instead he and The GF went out for beer at the Brew Werks Pub. He said it was really, really good stuff, but I don't know what he's talking about. It was kind of pretty though. They also had meat and other stuff, too.  I don't get it.

We Can Do It! -- San Francisco, CA

Yes We Can!

NASA -- Cape Kennedy, FL

After we got off the ship, we stopped off to see another kind of ship -- space ships!



Here I am trying out for the next Apollo mission. I fit in the capsule with plenty of extra room. I'm ready for the moon!





They even had an extra Saturn V all ready to go for me to go visit the moon and come back.



Then I tried out for a Gemini mission. The GF will got to space with me on this trip.



I really want to fly on the Dream Chaser, though. I guess I still have to wait a while.



I wonder if I can get an upgrade on this flight...

That Yoda Guy -- Phillipsburg, St. Maartin

The man who built Yoda left California and moved to St. Maartin and opened a store. I spend a lot of time in Southern California so I kind of understand.  He opened a store and museum there to sell arts and Cromely and The GF got to meet him.  I got to meet the big star, though.

Orient Beach, St. Marten

Another day, another beach. This time we went to a beach on St. Martin.  There was a scarfless resort next to the beach we were on, but we stayed on the scarf-on side.

St. Thomas Port, Virgin Islands

I did what most of those weird penguins do -- I swam underwater!  See? Here I am with a new Seahorse friend (again, like a Sea Monkey but different):



Okay. Not really. It was a trick.



The GF helped me on this one.

Butter Fly Farm -- St. Thomas,Virgin Islands

We stopped to see a Butter Fly farm in St. Thomas, and we got really close to them. My friend Max would have loved it, but doesn't travel much. Cromely says he needs his own seat and is too big to travel by pocket.

Snacks! -- Freedom of the Seas, Carribean

All the snacks a Penguin could want! Pull a lever and unlimited ice cream comes out!

But it was too early this day and the machine was closed. But...Unlimited Soft Ice Cream Snacks!  I'm spending all of the next cruise here!  Unlimited snacks!

New Friend on the Boat -- Freedom of the Seas, Carribean

I made a few new friends this trip. Some came back to Seattle with me. Another one stayed on the boat. He was a magic fellow that could only be around a few hours of the day. And he was a Shape Shifter.

When I met him, he was a crab. I think.





On another day, he was an elephant.



He let me ride him to go see a few more of our friends.

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Another night, he was a seal.





The next night, he was a monkey. Which I guess is like a Sea Monkey, but different. Which is weird because we were out at sea...








I invited him back to Seattle, and he liked the idea, but decided to stay. He already had a lot of other shape shifter friends on the boat and would miss them too much. We said our good byes and he untwisted back into the air.  You get to meet really interesting people when you travel.

Cocoa Cay, Bahamas

Cromely and the GF took me on a boat for a trip called JoCo Cruise Crazy in February, 2013.  It was a "nerd cruise" on a really big boat -- bigger even than boat we took to Victoria.



It was whole week. They day after we started we got off the boat and went to the beach.



It was warm and sunny and not like Seattle in February. I may be small, but I'm an adult, sophisticated Penguin so I sunbathed toppless!  Hee Hee.  I took off my scarf!





It was a great way to start the week.

Once Upon a Toy in Downtown Disney -- Orlando, FL

I met a bald penguin! He had weird holes with stuff stuck in them. And he had fingers. He was strange, but popular.

LEGO Store in Downtown Disney -- Orlando, FL

Grrr.  You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

Pat O'Brien's -- Orlando, FL

After meeting the M&Ms, Cromely and the GF stayed in Orlando and saw some more stuff. We stopped at a place that looks like New Orleans but isn't New Orleans.  They offered me some of their snacks but that stuff just smelled bad.

M&M World -- Orlando, FL

In February, Cromely, The GF, and I took a trip on a big boat (more about that later). We went to Orlando for a few days so we wouldn't be late for the boat.

Did you know there are parts of Orlando that are not the "Convention Center" or the airport?

I made some new friends at the M&M store. There was so much candy my friend Bunny would shake her ears off!

I trust this guy for some reason.

He wasn't alone though. Green was there, too.  She was a little snarky, but still nice.

More adventures to come shortly...