I’m in Cleveland!June 20
Phew! I’m so glad to be out of that box!
PepeNY shipped me off to Tribefan. She even sent me by Priority Mail (I must be an important bear!), and I still had to spend an extra night in the box. The lazy mail carrier did not deliver me on Monday, and Tribefan stayed home all day to wait for me. Instead, the mailman took me back to the post office, where I had to spend the night in this dark, hot box. I was so scared, and hungry! I almost ate the cookies that PepeNY sent for Tribefan. But I was a good bear and didn’t touch them.
So maybe it would be OK if I took a little nibble now?
I am now in Cleveland, which is on the Great Lakes. I know enough about geography to know that Canada is on the other side. I’m so close to Canada now….and Rachel! If only I had a boat, I could go straight to Canada and then hitchhike to Toronto. Tribefan tells me that we ARE going on a boat and we’re going very soon!
But first we stop for lunch with a friend of Tribefan’s. Jackie is the lady’s name and Tribefan used to work with her.
Tribefan doesn’t work there anymore and stays home all day doing nothing! She must be very rich! But she feels sorry for the nice lady, because Jackie still has to work at that terrible place.
I have a nice cold beverage with my lunch. The glass is bigger than I am!
And I even find a bucket to play in. It reminds me of my big tub back home at the zoo. I used to like to play in the tub, but I was just a baby then! This is a big-boy tub!
After lunch, we take Jackie back to a place called The Hell Hole and then Tribefan and her friend Marge take me to the pier. This is the big boat that, I hope, will take me to the homeland of my one true love.
It’s such a nice day, and Tribefan and Marge and I sit outside on the boat and we all enjoy the sunshine and cool breeze. The water looks deep and I wonder if I can swim.
Tribefan tells me that I can’t and she makes me wear a panda leash. At least she says it’s a panda leash. I’m not sure I believe her. She says that pinkgodzilla bought panda leashes for everybody at the TARflies luncheon. I think I look stupid, and the leash is choking me! Tribefan says that if I fall in the water I will drown, because she can’t swim either – so it’s the leash or no boat ride.
But I look across the water, knowing that Rachel is somewhere on the other side. I’m so excited that I almost forget the panda leash! I’m finally going to Canada!!
But wait! The boat is going in the wrong direction. It heads down the river, instead of going to Canada! Why are we going the wrong way? Rachel is the other way!!! Marge tells me to relax and enjoy the nice ride.
I sit back and try to relax. Maybe they’re just taking a little detour (Rachel likes Detours!) or picking up more passengers. Maybe we’ll go to Canada later. I watch all the bridges go by. There are a LOT of bridges.
Look! There’s the place where we had lunch!! I wave to all the friendly people sitting at the tables.
We listen to a man talk about all kinds of historical things. Blah, blah, blah.
When Tribefan gets tired of holding me, I ride in her purse. But this isn’t very dignified!!!
Finally we turn around and begin to leave the river. We’re going back to the lake!!! We’re going to Canada!!!
But all the boat is doing now is riding back and forth on the lake so that we can all see the city. We’re not heading to Canada! What is wrong with this boat?!! Don’t they know I need to see Rachel???
And now we are going back to the dock!
Everyone gets off the boat. No Canada for any of us today! The crew is nice to me and wants to have their picture taken with me. I try to pretend that I’m not upset that we’re back in Cleveland and not in Canada where I belong!
I convince Tribefan to let me stay by the lake a little longer. I’m so sad and I just want sit by the water for awhile.
And maybe climb a tree.
*sigh* I guess I’ll stay with Tribefan for a few days. She’s nice (except for that leash thing), and maybe if I’m nice to her she’ll help me find Rachel.
After awhile we finally go home. Tribefan has promised me that we will have some fun this week. She is taking me to a baseball game (Rachel likes sports, right?) and then, on Saturday, she’s taking me to a big party! There will be Amazing Race people there so I’ve got my claws crossed – hoping that Rachel will be there too.