I wonder as I wander

Linds,

Seeing as you decided to ignore my first post, I decided that I should be photographed in a more dramatic setting. Today, I forced Bunny to drive me all the way down to San Diego so this picture (the adorable one of me, above) could be taken at Cabrillo National Monument.

Cabrillo National Monument is where Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo led the first European expedition to explore what is now the west coast of the United States. Cabrillo departed from the port of Navidad, Mexico, on June 27, 1542. Three months later he arrived at "a very good enclosed port." That port is known today as San Diego bay. Historians believe he anchored his flagship, the San Salvador, on Point Loma's east shore near Cabrillo National Monument. Cabrillo later died during the expedition, but his crew pushed on, possibly as far north as Oregon, before thrashing winter storms forced them to back to Mexico. (If you look closely in the photo below, you can see me poking my head out of Juan's sleeve.)

Also, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (aka Juany C.) is generally credited with bringing the first boatload of live turkeys to the West Coast of the United States. For some reason, I did not see this in the literature. Maybe they forgot.

Anyway, I hope you appreciate the trials and tribulations which I went through today to present to you this photograph. I scaled The Old Point Loma Lighthouse and was stranded up there for many hours when a heavy fog bank rolled in. It's a good thing that I had a small box of raisins and a Capri Sun with me. Otherwise, I could have starved to death. If you look at the photo closely, I'm sure that you can probably see me at the top of the spire.

Fortunately, after a little while of yelling and screaming, a flock of birds swooped down to rescue me. As we were flying away from the lighthouse, I let out a tremendous sneeze (I'm allergic to birds) and plummeted into the churning waters below. Perhaps you have seen some news stories about the powerful waves that are currently pounding the Southern California coastline. Naturally, I took the opportunity to do a little bit of surfing (of course, I was a gremlin at the time, because when monsters get wet, they turn into gremlins. Unfortunately, gremlins do not really photograph well, so you probably won't see me bouncing around in the waves below).

Once I grew tired of shredding up the waves, I signaled to my birdy friends to come and get me again. All of them ignored my pleas, except for my good friend Horatio. Here is a photograph of him (I can have copies made for you if you so desire):

Once I dried out and returned to my handsome state as a little blue monster, I decided to go visit the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. God bless our brave men and women that died in service of our country. Incidentally, I've learned that the curators tend to frown on making small campfires in the middle of the grounds. All I wanted to do was roast some pickin' marshmallows, for crying out loud. (If you look closely, you can see me standing next to that headstone -- 14 rows back, 7 from the left.)

In conclusion, Linds, I hope you appreciate the lengths that I have gone to to bring you this story. Please read the sign that I am holding carefully; it announces my upcoming trip to Ohio. I hope you have a warm and toasty bed prepared for me and that you are brushing up on your cooking skills. I expect that the drafty sliding glass door will be repaired by the time that I arrive. I should be there in about 2 minutes, since I will be traveling via the Monster Transport Pod.

Love, Lil' G