Voy a ser pasado otro año.

I made it to my third country in less than a year. I've been all over the west coast of the U.S and Canada. Now I can scratch Mexico off of my list! I headed down to Puerto Vallarta and spent some time with a few friends. Our room was great and had a perfect view of the ocean. I'm just glad it wasn't breezy or this could have been my last picture!


I planned on doing nothing but laying on the beach but it was so hot I started to smell wood burning. I did stop and get my picture taken with a few sand sculptures though. I had to pause for a moment and try to figure out what was going on in this first one.


I couldn't go to Mexico without checking out some local tequila. This store had so much it made my head spin. I did a lot of label reading and talking with the store keeper. After taking a few sample shots I bought a bottle and headed back to the room.


Once I had a good buzz I headed back out and got a few more pictures taken. I even met another local when I went to use the bathroom. I paid the 5 peso cover charge and headed in. I had never paid to use a bathroom before so I thought there might be dancing or women inside. No luck. Just urinal cakes and drunk tourists.





I had a fun trip and a great year overall. I contacted my owner and he said it would be ok if I spent a little more time doing the tourist thing. I figured there were a lot more places I could go if I said gone a little longer. I look forward to hitching rides and finding out where my travels will take me. I hope we all have a good 2009!

The holidays are here again so I thought I'd remind everyone to give blood.  Not only do you help out a total stranger but you also feel light headed afterward!

Cascade Regional Blood Services

Are Big and Bright

I'm back from the lone star state and figure I've recovered enough to get an update up. Talk about a trip. I made it to Texas Stadium, Texas Motor Speedway, NASA and a lot of other places I never thought I'd get to see. There are so many pictures I made a slide show of the trip, but I wanted to make sure I posted some pictures of people we ran into that were willing to pose with a nutcracker on vacation.

We ended up with a flat tire and I wasn't very much help. My traveling companions complained a little bit when they found out I didn't know how to change a tire. I might not do that well with lug nuts but I'm great with walnuts. Luckily we found a couple of guys at Kwik Kar to help us out. They look like they've never seen a stranded nutcracker before!


With our patched up tire we hit the road and headed for Texas Motor Speedway. We thought we'd take some pictures out front and keep on driving but the friendly people at the track spent some time showing us around. If it weren't for them I'd never had a chance to stand in victory lane.


We all built up an appetite walking around the track so we climbed back in the truck and headed for Sonic Drive-In. A burger and cherry limeade later we were good to go. Thanks to Brittany for posing for a picture!


A trip to Texas wouldn't be complete without stopping at The Big Texan Steak Ranch. I was going to try and conquer the 72 ounce steak but figured that wouldn't be a good idea. That thing weighed more than I do! While I might not have wanted to eat one I didn't pass up the opportunity to pose for a picture with one. My little wooden brain couldn't remember her name...but I wanted to thank her for the picture anyway!


Now it's time for my video showing all the other places we went. Thanks again to the friends who let me tag along. Keep checking for updates....I might be headed somewhere else really soon!

The Stars At Night......

It's been a while but I hit the road for an out of state vacation. I'm still not home yet so I'll post more when I make it back!

I stopped by to visit but......

I was nearby so I decided to stop by to see my owner. I haven't seen him for 8 months and was wondering how he was doing. It doesn't look like much has changed since I was here last.



I stopped by staff dining to see if he was there but the place was empty. I talked to the only person there but he said he was too busy trying to figure out why he was still wearing a Santa Claus costume.



I was thirsty so I decided to buy myself a coke. I was just about to put my money in when I realized that there were free ones stacked up right next to the machine.



The only other place I could think of looking for my owner was the locker room. He wasn't there either so I hung out for a while and decided I'd at least get a picture for my blog.



Oh well. Better luck next time. At least he'll know I was thinking about him.

The Squirrel Hunter

I got a call from a friend who was having some trouble with someone stealing his walnuts. Being a nutcracker I can't stand nut thieves. I expected to hear about some pesky kids stealing bags of walnuts and hoarding them for wild weekend parties. It was even worse. Squirrels were sneaking into his backyard and taking them one nut at a time.

After some serious planning I set up my trap and waited....and waited.....and waited.


I saw movement and watched as a little brown squirrel made it's way across the yard and over to my trap. Luckily his brain was smaller than the nuts it was hunting. Without thinking twice it walked into the cage and the door slammed shut behind it. Like a big game hunter I posed next to my prize.



I hopped in the car with my friend and headed out to the woods. We pulled over at a place that looked like any squirrel would be proud to call home. We opened the door and the one time walnut thief ran into the woods to live out the rest of it's life. (Due to my friends lack of yard space for PETA picketers this portion of the story has been edited. Actual events my have differed.)

We went back to his house and I looked across the neighborhood. There were a lot more squirrels out there waiting to steal my friends nuts. I do know one thing. It won't happen on my watch.

Whidbey Island NAS

I couldn't think of a better way to spend Independence Day then touring Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. I hitched a ride with a friend and his family and made the drive up to Whidbey Island.

On the way through Anacortes we found a police car that I insisted on getting my photo taken with.



Next we stopped to take a look at one of the better views I've seen in Washington so far. My brother and I posed for a picture but we were both pretty nervous about falling off the edge.


Our final stop was at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. We both had a great time touring planes and looking around the base. I took some of our photos and made a slide show for everyone to see. We had other pictures but they were of highly sensitive topics. I could show you those too....but then I would have to kill you.

Viva Las Vegas

I'm finally back and ready to kick off the first day of summer with an update. I went down to Vegas with a lot of friends and it took me a while to recover. When we got back they dropped me off at a "hotel". It's the first hotel I've been to with no telephones or internet access. I met a lot of counselors and guys named Bill W. Talk about a long month.

Well now I'm back and feeling good as ever. I even had some time to edit up some pictures for everyone to see. I had a great time and can't wait to start some summer travelling.

Gone Fishing

I decided I'd give fishing a try so my brother and I hitched a ride to Neah Bay with a friend of ours. I found out that I get seasick so I spent most of my time at the marina. We got our picture taken with this guy. He's not a nutcracker, but he is made out of wood, which makes him ok in my book.


While my friends went out fishing my brother took this picture of me at the fishing resort. We couldn't figure out how to use the timer so we flipped a coin to see who got stuck taking the photo.


I found out later that my brother was a little upset about losing the coin toss. I took a quick nap and woke up hanging from a hook. He found it much more enjoyable taking a picture of me with fishing line wrapped around my throat.



Once our friends made it back they untied me and we hopped back in the car and went home. I didn't have any luck fishing but I got to see a new part of the state. With the weather getting nicer things should start picking up for my travels. It makes it tough to go take pictures when it's raining. I might catch a nasty case of wood rot.

Tiptoe Through The Tulips

We had some nice sunny weather so I made a spur of the moment trip with some friends to the Van Lierop Bulb Farm in Puyallup. I hate getting teased with a nice day only to have it start raining again! One thing the sun did do was get me thinking about all the travelling I'll be doing this spring and summer.

I got to talking with a strange little guy while I was there. He seemed to think that he had a friend that did the same thing I'm doing. I think he was just jealous. I decided to make him feel better by letting him know his picture would make my blog.

Hot Off The Press

I stopped by The News Tribune today and met quite a few great people. I posed for a couple of photos and even talked to someone about my travels. Maybe one day I'll get my picture in the newspaper for everyone to see!

Ocean Shores

After my last two high elevation trips I decided to hitch a ride to sea level. I found a friend that was headed to ocean shores so my brother and I decided to hop in the backseat. The first photo opportunity came when we insisted the car pull over so I could get my picture taken with this guy. It was fun but we spent the rest of the drive thinking about fish sticks.

We made it to the hotel and we couldn't believe the view. We stood there for a half hour staring out the window when my brother had the great idea that we actually go outside.

It was a little rough at first walking in the sand. These little wood bases aren't the greatest for traction. After a little beachcombing we found a starfish. We argued back and forth about it and we finally decided that this species wasn't native to Washington State.

We walked down the beach and stopped when we came to this sign. We decided it wasn't worth the risk to go past it and it didn't appear the weather magically got better on the other side.

We headed back to our hotel and my vacationing almost came to a tragic end. I was busy staring out at the waves and ended up falling into a firepit. Luckily my brother is a firefighter and was able to put out the flames before any damage was done.

I was feeling a bit warm from my fall into the fire so we ended the night standing near the water and letting the ocean breeze cool me off. I looked out over the water and wondered where my adventure might lead me next.

The Great White North

I thought I was ready for spring but the trip over to Leavenworth made me want to get somewhere even colder. I hitched a ride across the border and headed into Canada. I'm not much of a skier so I hung out and enjoyed the town while everyone else hit the slopes.

I didn't want to forget my law enforcement history so I stopped by to visit the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I got my picture taken with a couple of them and then got homesick when I saw the display of Northwest law enforcment patches.

After a long day of sightseeing I decided to unwind with my friends that were nice enough to give me a ride here. I'm usually a Jack Daniels and Budweiser kind of guy but seeing that we were in Canada I decided to go for something a little more local.

We all got up the next morning and headed back to the United States. I left in such a hurry that I forgot my passport. I had to hide under the front seat so my friends wouldn't get in trouble. They did manage to sneak a photo of me at the border though.

That's all for now. I'm back home and even have my next trip lined up. Check in soon. I'll have more updates soon!

Willkommen in Leavenworth

I decided to make a trip to Leavenworth this week. I stopped by the nutcracker museum, crashed a wedding and even ran into my first sheep. I had so many pictures I decided to make them into a little slideshow.

Before I run here is one picture. I thought everyone would like to play the nutcracker version of "Where's Waldo".

It's Not The Size Of Your Lighthouse....

Wow. Talk about a stretch with some wet and cold weather. Now that the sun is starting to fight it's way through the clouds again I decided to get out for a quick trip.

My first stop this week was Deception Pass State Park. I forgot to bring any food. Otherwise I would have had a perfect place for a picnic.

The next stop was the deception pass bridge. I was so afraid I would accidentally fall to my untimely death I went under the bridge for pictures instead.

The last stop was the Admiralty Head Lighthouse at Fort Casey State Park. It's not the biggest lighthouse I've ever seen. I guess I have to keep my previous owners favorite adage in mind.

Check back soon for more updates. Now that the weather is getting better I'll be sure to get out more.

Feeling Much Better

I couldn't quite shake the hangover yesterday so I headed down to Starbucks for some coffee. It made me feel much better and took my mind off the fluke of a loss the Seahawks suffered. The barista was even nice enough to take a picture with me.