Hello, friends!

Summer really has been  busy around here, so we decided to take a much needed break and go a weekday excursion!  We enjoyed our trip to Bluefield, WV so much, that we decided to check out some other area attractions.  Mom and Dad surfed the web a bit and came up with the Pocahontas Mine Exhibit and Museum. Check it out!!! 

On the Road Again!

Our guide Amy gave us a tour of the mine, and she really knew a lot about coal!  It was 49 degrees inside the mine and Mom & Dad were cold, but I had on my favorite and ever-stylish duck-down coat!  There were even some nice little pools to splash in. 

We poked around town a bit afterwards then headed up the road and took a couple of detours to visit a nearby fishing lake (paddling lake, in my opinion) and also to check out the waterfall in the creek.  We drove around a bit, especially enjoying Highway 19 out of Princeton, WV. 

There is so much to do in West Virginia if you are the outdoorsy type (and *I* am!), you just have to see for yourself.  I’m hoping we can come back and check out this “rafting” stuff, which several locals told us about.

Hope your summer is going ducky, too!  I’ll talk to you soon!
Stuart

Hello, friends!

It has been brutally HOT around here this week.  So we decided to get creative about “beating the heat” by going for a ride on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. It was a lovely trip to the mountains, but it took about ½ hour longer than we expected due to a rather interesting navigation error (no blame games here!). We arrived just in time to see the train leaving the Bryson City station without us! 

We dashed back to the car & drove to Dillsboro, the next stop for the train.  We got our tickets and dallied around town finding a fabulous chocolate shop! Leaving Dillsboro, we immediately went into Cowee tunnel.  I have never seen darkness be so…dark!  We saw lots of wildflowers, cows, & horses.  My favorite scenes were the tunnel, the huge tomato farm, & the trestle bridge just before Bryson City.

At the Bryson City stop the conductor asked everyone to synchronize their watches to the proper time.  We had an hour layover & we would be left behind if we didn’t board the train on time!  They also mentioned if you are late, it is a $75 cab ride back to your car!

We got so involved looking at all the interesting shops in Bryson City that we almost didn’t hear the 5-minute warning toot to get back on the train. Before we knew it the train started puffing & moving down the track!!!  Acckkk!!!  We were all running…but my legs just aren’t so long!!!  I quacked & Mom & Dad knew I couldn’t make it.

One of the railroad staff saw us run for it, grabbed his walkie-talkie to stop the train & gave us a ride to the train in a golf cart!  Everyone on board clapped & cheered for us & I was just embarrassed.  But, it is hard to stay embarrassed for long with so many neat things to see! 

When we got back to the train station in Dillsboro we headed over to Franklin to have supper at The Sunset Restaurant on Highway 28.  They have the best BBQ in the whole state!  Then we meandered over to the “Pickin’ on the Square” where we had a great time listening to the local music!  We finally decided to call it a day & headed home.  What an adventure!

Your Pal,
Stu
 

Hello, everyone!
 
Let me say, I am NOT much of a television watcher.  I watch clouds, birds, bugs, and my friends and family…sometimes I even watch tomatoes grow.  But I don’t watch TV much. 
 
I went over to my friend’s house to watch the Nascar race.  Well, it is always good to accept invitations to get out and be with friends, and experience new things.  I confess, I haven’t seen many races, either.  So we’re watching the race, eating pizza (black olives and tomatoes for me, please), and enjoying one another’s company. 

All of a sudden, a commercial came on, and I see feathers!  There were some NICE ones too, they would look Great in my feather collection!  Then I see this duck driving a NASCAR car!!! 

I just have to ask all of you, how did that duck get THAT gig?!?  It looked like fun…even if he looked a little scared…and I would REALLY like to try it!  His quack was a bit off, I don’t know if it was the wind or the speed, or what.  Do any of you know him?  Hey, maybe we’re related…?
 
Wow.  I just got to find out how I can get to drive one of those cars!
 
Hope you’re having a Ducky week!
Stuart

Hello, friends!

We decided to go out for Chinese food and a movie tonight.  Supper was yummy; I got veggie stir-fry.  My fortune read, “Your life is an adventure.” Sometimes I feel like I picked up someone else’s fortune, but not tonight!  Mom and Dad let me choose the movie, and we had just had Chinese food…..so I picked Kung Fu Panda! 

You guys just HAVE to see that movie!!!  The panda’s father is a DUCK!!!  They have a restaurant together.  I quacked out loud through most of the movie!  Mom and Dad both laughed so hard they cried!!!   Check out the movie trailer at www.kungfupanda.com and see what you think.  My favorite part had to be the dumpling scene!  I’m going to have to see if I can learn to work chopsticks…

You can try my favorite Kung Fu Panda game here:  Of course it’s all about eating!!…no tomatoes though……

Gotta go for now!  I’ll talk to you soon!
Stuart

Hello, friends!
 
I hope all is well with you.  We have gotten busier now that the weather is sooo perfect! Today is obviously a cookout day.  We need it to be a rest-up day from our weekend, as well.
 
We traveled to the lovely state of West Virginia.  I can never cut another West Virginia joke; it was absolutely gorgeous there! There were a couple of tunnels on the way…how fun is that?!?  The mountains all lined up in a big long ridge row, so they just cut the road under the mountains!!!  Mini Cooper horns are so funny when they echo in a tunnel.  It quacked me up!  

We chanced across Cole Harley Davidson.  They were having an old car show and were cooking up some free food!  We lingered there a little while, meeting lots of bikers who were out on adventures, then decided to get back on the road ourselves.

We picked up a brochure about Southern West Virginia Motorcycle Tours. Mini’s are so nimble, they like the exact same roads that motorcycles do!  So we followed their suggestion to take the Coal Heritage Trail up to Beckley.  I couldn’t believe it when I saw people riding four wheelers along the roads! 

We were tired by the time we checked in to a hotel in Beckley, but were also very hungry.  A local recommended we go to Foster’s Restaurant at 121 Main Street.  I just loved the place!!!!  I had one of the best salads I have ever had in my life!  After supper it was straight off to the hotel and bed!
 
The next morning we headed over to the New River Gorge Bridge. We checked out the visitor’s center then took off down the little twisty road to the bottom of the gorge.  It was fun walking on the old bridge, looking up at the new bridge, & watching all the kayaks & rafts go under us.  I really wanted to take a swim, but Mom was a bit nervous about how fast the water was moving.  After looking at the whitewater rafting brochures, I guess it wasn’t the best river for a swim!
 
We spent the rest of the day coming back home.  What an adventure!  But I sure am glad to be home in my own pool.
 
Hope your day is duckie, too!
 
Your pal,

Stuart

Hello, friends!

It has been busy, busy around here! 

Mom has been all fired up to work in the yard, too.  She came home with some bushes to be planted.  Even though I had JUST had a bath, I came to help out.  Something as important as planting should be closely supervised by a natural, like me!

We were careful to select a spot that would offer the right amount of sunlight, along with room for the bushes to grow.  Mom started digging holes right away.  I hopped in there to be sure the dirt was rich enough for our new bushes.  I found an earthworm (always a good sign!) and munched him to be sure.  I think our bushes will grow up very healthy and happy!

All that helping made me tired! I found a good spot with a bird’s-eye view, & settled down to keep an eye on the proceedings.  I may have even dozed off, a little.

Next thing I knew, Mom was holding this green snake-looking thing that was squirting out water!  I was so startled, I FLEW out of there!  I think I heard Mom giggling.  I will give her a “bill” later!  THAT will hush her up!

Make it a ducky day!
Stuart

Hello, all!
 
It has been seriously raining around here!  What a great day to be a duck!
 
Mom & Dad had company over today. Our visitor was crazy about our house!  We live in a Victorian home that was built in 1877.  Mom & Dad have been working on restoring it ever since we moved into it two years ago.  They have gotten most of it fixed up, except for a bit upstairs.  They found bad surprises, like rotten wooden beams, and some good surprises, like old bank notes & letters that had been stuffed into the walls!

 
Mom started a scrapbook of photos as the work progressed; those letters made it into that scrapbook so fast, my head spun!  Our visitor sat down with the letters & read them to us out loud.  The letters were from a couple who were traveling in the Orient in 1913.  They were in Singapore, and spoke of their adventures & what they had learned of the local customs.  It is pretty interesting stuff.
 
Mom has been planning on opening our home up as a Bed and Breakfast someday.  That would be great!  I would meet all sorts of new people then!  Maybe I had better go dust off my feather collection?
 
Have a ducky day!

Stuart

 
 
I live in a small town in North Carolina with my family, Dwayne and Samantha and my bird buddies Henry and Charlie.  I think I already know everybody in town, actually everybody in town knows me, and knows my parents as “the people who take their duck everywhere they go!” 
 
I have been brainstorming on ways to make new friends.  I decided to try finding some “pen-pals”, so I asked the gang at JinglePets for advice on how to go about it.  They offered me space on their website to post a blog, so here I am, hunting and pecking at this computer!  I hope I will meet many new friends this way.
 
My favorite way to spend my spare time is swimming.  Dwayne and Sam got me a pool and they let me swim just about whenever I want!  I love to swim in it in the summertime when it gets really hot here.  I like to go for walks, especially if there are flowers to check out.  I also enjoy hanging out with my friends.  My favorite food has to be tomatoes.
 
Our family stays on the go.  We go to the park together, out for drives on the weekends, over to friends’ houses, and we even go shopping together.  All that family time is great because we are really close.  I notice people look surprised at us everywhere we go…but I guess it is because most families don’t have ducks in them!
 
I plan on keeping you posted about what we’ve been up to.  I’m really looking forward to sharing a slice of my life with you!
 
Your “pen pal”,

Stuartp.s. – If you would like to send me an email my address is – stuart@jinglepets.com