Finally got the Flat Joey letter done.

Just as I awoke this morning, the skies opened up, and it rained cats and dogs for what seemed forever.  Because of the weather, no work on my rig was done today.  Lots of other rigs were taken in and out of the shop, but I was happy to not be one of them.  When the rig goes in, Emma and I are stuck with finding something else to do for hours.  You can’t do much enjoying of the outdoors when it’s pouring buckets outside!

Instead, I decided it was time I finally got the letter and pictures ready to send to my grandson Joey’s first grade teacher.  I’ve got a deadline to meet on that, and it’s soon approaching.  I hope you’ll remember that flat Joey was sent to me at the beginning of the month to take on some adventures.  Tonight, I’m including the letter that I sent to his first grade class.  Not having a printer, I was finally able to figure out how to put it on a CD, and that’s what I’ll be sending out from the Scott, LA, post office tomorrow.  I hope Joey and his class will enjoy it.  What do you think?               

                  The Adventures of Flat Joey in the Okefenokee Swamp.

Hi everybody! This is Flat Joey, and I want to tell you about the good time I had visiting my not-so-flat Grandma down in Georgia.

My Grandma lives full time in her motorhome, and drives around the country volunteering at some of our country's National Wildlife Refuges. Some people think she is homeless, but that's not true. Her house just has wheels on it.

She has a dog named Emma that travels with her. I like Emma, but she sure can get excited some times.

When I first arrived, my Grandma took me for a ride around the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. She told me that a Wildlife Refuge is a place where all plants and animals are safe. (Except she told me that it was all right to swat the mosquitoes if they were biting me.)

Oh boy, was I ever excited when we saw our first alligator. There are a lot of alligators in the Okefenokee Swamp.

I wanted to have my picture taken with one of the alligators, but Grandma said we had to stay at least twenty-five feet away from them. They can run very fast, and just might want to snack on a little guy like me. I did get to pose next to a stuffed one that wasn't going to hurt anyone.

While I was visiting, I had to help my Grandma do her volunteer duties. This day, we worked on the porch of the old Chesser Homestead. We told everyone that came to visit all about the first people to homestead the swamp. This cabin was build by hand in 1927; almost 90 years ago!

On the weekend, we had more visitors come to stay that were relatives of ours. It was my Great Aunt and Uncle from Chicago. All of the volunteers got together to have a wiener roast. I got to help my Uncle (not-so-flat Stanley) cook the hot dogs over an open fire. Of course, I cooked my hot dogs perfectly just like not-so-flat Joey would do.

The next day was the most exciting time of all. I went with Grandma, Aunt Pam, and Uncle Stanley for a boat ride out in the swamp to fix the signs along the canoe trails. That's my Aunt Pam holding me so Grandma could get a picture.

I hope everyone can see that I was being safe by wearing a life jacket while we were out on the water in the boat. My Grandma made one for me to wear that was just the right size! I liked it so much that I kept it on for the rest of my visit.

We worked hard fixing the signs, so we stopped at one of the shelters out in the wilderness to have our lunch.

Grandma had packed a lunch for us, and I even had some of Aunt Pam's peanuts. With all of the fun we were having, I forgot how hungry I was.

Soon it was time to get back in the boat and find our way home. Luckily Jackie, the volunteer driving the boat, knew where to go. It would be easy to get lost out here in the swamp.

Grandma drove us all home in a big truck that pulled the boat behind us, but along the way we stopped at volunteer Jackie's house. He likes to hunt in the swamp where he has lived his whole life. He has a big stuffed black bear in his front room, and I got to sit on it!

By the time we got back to the motorhome, the sun was setting on the swamp and I was tired from our big adventure.

A few days later, I had to say goodbye to my not-so-flat Grandma and to the Okefenokee Swamp. I had a good time. I'm still excited though, because Grandma told me that this summer she will be volunteering at the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge that is close to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Do you know what that means? I just may be able to go visit her along with not-so-flat Joey Bell this summer to have more adventures! Whoopee!

                                                                              THE END!!

                                   Couldn’t pass up the chance for a ‘THE  END’, don’t cha know! 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy