Fun With Zippy

So there I was, sleeping peacefully at the bottom of my tank, and in runs Dr. Bates.

"C’mon Zip.  It’s going to be a busy day!"

It was 6 AM.  Crustaceans need their beauty sleep, you know.  I was barely able to get my thorax off the ground, but Dr. B was rushing out the door urging me to follow her.  Grudgingly, I followed.

Fortunately, we went to Starbucks first.

I needed a Venti with a couple of shots of espresso added for good measure.

Once I stopped creaking at the joints, we headed off to Dr. B’s office.

Whee!!  I loved riding the wheelchair.

Then she let me do some doctoring.  I never can decide between Chromic Gut and Vicryl. 

License?  Who needs a license?  I was hoping to assist on a Brazilian Lift thingy, but Dr. B didn’t let me help. 

Who is that masked lobster?  Hey, once I met the Sturgeon General!!!!

Botox, anyone?

After a full morning of cutting a suturing, I got real hungry. 

So we got some more Bar-B-Q.  Yeah!  I got to wear a bib with a pig on it!

Then Dr. B took me on the town.

"Statehouse?"  I thought you said "steakhouse!"  I did eat well in Arkansas.

Nice statue.  They stand so still!  Is it Botox??

Then we went to the Zoo.

Hey!  What is this?  So many flamingos, you’d think we were in New Jersey!

Big turtle just stood there.  Another Botox victim…

Don’t be so coy with me!  Dang, I am funny.

Then we went on the "Over the Jumps" Merry-Go-Round:

Hi Ho Silver!  Away!!!

You think I am done?  Not even close!  I told you Dr. B was a party animal!  Just wait to see which ex-president I tried to visit…

Filed under: Arkansas, Travel, Zippy Was Here | 3 Comments »

Whoa! Nobody told me that plastic surgeons were so much fun!! Here I thought I was going for a breather after the rigors of DC and the energy of BB and his sister, but no….I got hit by Hurricane Ramona!! I can’t get all of my pictures in one blog post (I have been saving some from my previous visits, by the way), but let me get started.

First thing I did when I got to Dr. Bates’ house was to meet her dog Rusty.

Rusty is a real nice dog, but he did drool on me some. I was getting comfortable with Rust and his duck friend, when Dr. Bates said it was time to eat.

Rusty offered to share some of his food with me (although I don’t think I could have gotten some if I tried), but Dr. B had different ideas:

Corky’s Bar-B-Q!! It was fine eatin’ - that’s for sure. It was hard, though to get the little bits of corn and meat that got caught in my mandible. Dental floss is not very lobster-friendly, but we worked things out.

After filling up on Corky’s, we settled down for an evening of quilting. Dr. Bates is quite the quilter, and she thought she’d show me a trick or two so I can spread the joy of quilting to the lobster community.

First we had to plan it out. I think this is the official “I love Zippy” flag quilt.

Then we used a rotary cutter (which kind of looked like a pizza cutter to me), to cut the fabric.

Then we sewed the pieces together. I kept getting my claw caught in the machine, so I had to let Dr. B do it for me.

But then we ran out of some of the quilting supplies (and Rusty was getting hungry), so we had to make Wal-Mart run. Wal-Mart stared in Arkansas, you know. It is a very big store, but very lobster-friendly.

Here is the Wal-Mart greeter. Her job is to make all lobsters that come into the store feel very comfortable. See how comfortable I look?

I picked out the Dingos for Rusty. I even tried one myself, but personally I prefer plankton.

Always be sure to put your cart away. It can put some wicked dents in people’s cars.

Finally, we got to finish up the quilt.

Rusty thanked me for the Dingos. No problem. I am sure he would have done the same for me. I just wish he wouldn’t drool so much.

Nothing finishes off a busy evening like a watermelon salad. I am pretty good with that knife…especially after having a little Starbucks to get me going.

Here is our finished product. Yum!

Despite the Starbucks, I was exhausted. I could barely keep by antennae up. I figured we had done enough for a whole week! But boy was I wrong! The next few days were even busier!

I’ll tell you about that later.

Filed under: Arkansas, Travel, Zippy Was Here | 7 Comments »

So far, Zippy has traveled 2,208 Miles.

He has been to the nation’s capitol.

He has driven several motorcycles.

He shot some hoops, but got caught in the net.

He supported our troops.

So what is next for Zippy?

• Presently he is in Arkansas with Dr. Ramona Bates.  He hopes to get some rubber plastic surgery and see the sights of the "Natural State."
• After that he plans on going to Oklahoma, Las Vegas, New Jersey, Mississippi, Canada, St. Maartens, Wisconsin, and India.
• It is also a good possiblity he will do a bicycle ride for cancer.

Also, Dr. Wes Fisher has agreed to make and market a fashion line for Zippy so he can raise money.  If you have an idea for a logo for the shirts, let me know.  Perhaps we can have a contest.

I have been working on exactly what is involved in raising money with 100% accountability.  That is why I have not put fund-raising info on the site yet.

This is fun and exciting.

Filed under: Travel, Zippy Was Here | 5 Comments »

After his trip to Washington DC with Dr. Val (more pictures still to follow), Zippy made his way to Louisiana to visit the home of BB and Ella. You can read more about them on BB’s blog. Here is their tale:

__________________________

Zippy arrived in St. Francisville, Louisiana on May 31, 2008 for a visit with BB (and BB’s big sister, Ella). His first stops were Town Hall, the local library for a story and the old train caboose. He was hoping to meet the mayor, Billy D’Aquilla, but apparently being mayor of St. Francisville is a part-time gig and he should have called ahead to confirm that the mayor would be in.

Zippy’s Comments: BB and Ella were the best. This Billy dude? I think his opponent will run on a “Zippy is great” platform and crush him in the next election.

Next stop was one of America’s most haunted homes, “The Myrtles Plantation”. Zippy was not scared

Zippy: Lobsters are good at hiding fear. I was shaking in my little bony skin.

Next up was a ride on the St. Francisville/New Roads ferry over the Mississippi River. This much beloved ferry will be replaced by the “John James Audubon Bridge” in the summer of 2010 – this bridge will be the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America.

Zippy: I tried to spot some crawdads (my cousins), but the water was too murky.

It is very hot in Louisiana so Zippy’s next stop was Magnolia Café for a nice cool drink and some pepperoni pizza (Zippy and BB’s favorite).

Zippy: Yeah, I did love the pizza. I have never used a straw before. You can make some funny noises with it!

Next Zippy (fondly referred to by BB as the “Zip-a-nator”) wanted to get his bearings so we stopped by the big painted map of West Feliciana Parish (also known as “Audubon’s Happyland”).

Zippy: When I get famous, they will rename it “The Zip-a-nator’s Happyland.”

We saved the best for last, our most favorite place in the whole town, the “Birdman”. Sweet potato waffles and lattes for everyone!

Zippy: The waffles were incredible, but the Latte kept me up all night. What do they put in them??

Zippy: We did a lot of other stuff too. These are great people to visit! I really like kids a lot and BB and Ella were so nice to me. How cool is it to be the Zip-a-nator? Not many lobsters get that kind of name! I’ll share some of my own pictures from my trip later on (I have some more from DC as well). I think I am going to “go postal” again and travel a little north from here.

Thanks so much, Calhoun’s, you are the best!!!

Filed under: Louisiana, Travel, Zippy Was Here | 4 Comments »

Hey! It’s me again.

I got to meet Dr. Rob’s friend, Dr. Val. She’s a really great host, showing me much of the nation’s capitol.

Here I am at the White House! This is the center of power of the whole world! We lobsters don’t have a white house. Ours is red - the place where all of the lobster power resides.

Now that I am outside of my natural habitat, I thought it would be kind of lonely, but it seems like there are all sorts of people who like lobsters.

This guy even opens his home up for lobsters! Wow!

So I thought that if Jack is such a nice guy, maybe George would be as nice…

I made an appointment…but nobody came. I think my pinchers scared them.

But while I was sitting in front of the White House feeling blue depressed, I heard the rumble of motorcycles. I had never heard this before, and I was afraid it was a fishing boat (like those mean lobster fishermen use), and I got scared. Before Dr. Val could explain to me about the various modes of human transportation, up came this very nice man on a motorcycle. He said he was from the Secret Service! I asked him if it was so secret, then why is he telling me about it? But he didn’t understand lobster.

He did let me get my picture taken with him on the motorcycle, though. Cool!

He even gave me my own black thing to go over my eyes. I feel so secret now!

Well, that’s all I have time for now, but I have more to tell you and more pictures of my fun time with Dr. Val. See you soon!!

Filed under: Fun, Travel, Washington DC, Zippy Was Here | 2 Comments »