Back to work, weekend fun, and homeward bound.

It was time for April to go back to work, and since that meant traveling to a meeting, of course she had to bring Flat Stanley. The meeting would be in Burbank, California, which is near Los Angeles. This was an important meeting for April, since it was to plan part of her team's work for the whole next year, so she had to get dressed up. But Flat Stanley was a meeting guest, so he could stay in his casual clothing. This was good, as he had not packed a suit! Soon they were whizzing through airport security and settling in on the airplane for their brief flight to Burbank.

Burbank got its name from a dentist, Dr. David Burbank, who bought land on what was once a Spanish land grant. These days, Burbank is called "The Media Capital of the World," because a lot of news and entertainment companies are located there. Among them are some you may have heard of: Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and The Walt Disney Company. The company April works for also has an office there, and it's very near the airport. She and Flat Stanley got there in plenty of time to get to their meeting. With her department director, Kelli, and her coworker, Tami, she helped set up the meeting room with big, orange and white binders that held all of the day's presentations. Stanley kept out of the way by looking over one of the binders. He was happy to notice there were plenty of pictures to go with all of the words that explained the work they would need to get done. Soon the room was filled with friendly, talkative people, and Flat Stanley listened to them until it was time for lunch. And after that, he took a nap. He woke up just as April was tucking him into her shoulder bag for the trip back home, and as she walked with her friends to the airport, he was happy to hear them talking about how well their meeting went, and how excited they were about their plans for the coming year. It was an easy flight back home to San Francisco. Flat Stanley was glad about that.

The rest of the week was taken up with work, and with shopping for the coming Saturday, when April would have some friends over for a chocolate-making lesson. It was time to put that 30 pounds of chocolate to good use! On Saturday morning, April got up early and started heating cream together with lavender, and another pot of cream together with coffee beans. Flat Stanley could not imagine what she was making. Then April put five bowls on the countertop and poured one ingredient into each: dried cherries, dried apricots, almonds, pecans, and pistachios. She got out two other bowls and poured two other ingredients: walnuts into one bowl, and golden raisins into the other. She got out 10 bags of chocolate. Each bag weighed 1 pound. With everything ready, it was time to take a break and have some breakfast! Soon afterward, everyone arrived. They were excited to begin their chocolate-making adventure! April explained that first they would make mocha truffles, using the cream with coffee and some milk chocolate. After that, she said, they would make some lavender caramels and dip them in semisweet chocolate. And after that, they would melt even more chocolate, and mix in dried fruits and nuts from those heaping bowls on the counter to make chocolate bars called "bark," because they look a little like tree bark (but taste a whole lot better). Soon, four friends were trying their hand at chocolate making. They melted chocolate and carefully tested its temperature -- only mixing in other ingredients when it was just the right time. They made caramels and luscious chocolate truffles. Stanley stood by the mixing bowls and supervised. Soon the whole house smelled like a candy factory!

In the afternoon, everyone's tummies were rumbling, and so it was time for lunch. The friends ordered pizza and sat around munching and talking about the day's fun. Soon it was time to get back to their sweet projects, and they plunged their hands back into warm chocolate and made even more candy. When the day was through, everyone had pounds of candies to take home to their family and friends for the holidays, and April had a bonus: kitchen that was covered with chocolate. There was even some chocolate on Flat Stanley's shirt! But lucky for April, and much to Stanley's happiness, chocolate is easy to wipe up. Soon the kitchen was ship shape, Stanley was clean, snug and safe on a shelf, and April had her feet up on a chair and a mug of tea in her hand. It had been a good day.

A few days later, with all his journeys' photos developed, some chocolates packed in little boxes for Olivia and Nick, and their mom and dad, a map to show where he'd been and souvenirs so he wouldn't come back empty-handed, Stanley waved goodbye to April and Bob. Carefully, April folded him up and placed him in his shipping box so he would arrive back at Olivia's house on the little hill in Boston safe, sound and happy to be home.

Safe travels, Flat Stanley!

More Disneyland, and then Thanksgiving in Ojai.

Flat Stanley spent two and a half days at Disneyland with Bob and April. In fact, they went to almost every Land at Disneyland. They went to Main Street USA, where they shopped for souvenirs and ate snacks and watched beautiful parades go by. They went to Adventureland, where they took a jungle cruise where elephants waved their trunks from the shore and hippos rose up from the water with their huge hippo mouths wide open. They went to New Orleans Square and rode Pirates of the Caribbean five times! Flat Stanley liked watching the pirates singing 'Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me!" and he watched for glimpses of Captain Jack Sparrow and thrilled at the pirates' warnings about Davey Jones. They went through the Haunted Mansion three times, because they couldn't stop looking at all the Nightmare Before Christmas scenery that was there for the holidays.

When it was time for calmer fun, they decided to go to Fantasyland, and ride a little boat through one of the most famous rides at Disnelyand: It's a Small World. The line is always long for It's a Small World, because there's so much to see! The face of the castle outside is like a huge cuckoo clock, with little mechanical people coming out of quaint little doors and parading around to the rhythm of tinkling music. The wide lawns in front are trimmed with topiary in the shape of bears, deer, and other big leafy animals. Soon they were climbing into their little boat. They got to be in the front! And then they were sailing slowly through the tunnel and under the castle and into a small, small world of enchanting characters singing in many languages the message that no matter where we live, what language we speak, what we look like and how we dress, we're all, deep down, the same and "it's a small world, after all."

After they had ridden the last ride, and seen the last nighttime fireworks show, and tasted the last caramel apple, it was time to pack their bags again and drive north to Ojai (which is pronounced "OH-hi"), where April's sister Christine lives with her husband, Jeremiah, and their two little girls and three friendly dogs. It was time to think about Thanksgiving! They arrived with their Disneyland gifts in tow, and watched the little girls frolic with their fairy wings and Tinkerbell doll. Flat Stanley was happy to meet everybody, but he was afraid of the dogs, who were very big to him, and he knew the little girls would not know to treat him gently. And so Flat Stanley was content to sit on a high shelf and watch everything that happened. He watched while April, Bob and Christine cooked turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans, gravy and cranberries and pie. He watched while others came over and joined the throng, hungry for the feast to come. He watched them give thanks and enjoy their dinner. And he watched as they discovered a kitchen sink in need of repair and as they all pitched in to wash the dishes in the bathtub! Whew, what a holiday.

Before their trip back to San Francisco, Flat Stanley went with April and Bob to their favorite candy store, The Chocolate Gallery, in Santa Barbara. The Chocolate Gallery is where April got one of her first jobs, learning how to make and sell chocolate candies. It was a really fun job, and even though she doesn't work there anymore, April still makes chocolates for her friends and family every Christmas season, and she loves to go visit her friends at the Gallery. April and Bob bought 30 pounds of semisweet and milk chocolate to take home. That's a lot of chocolate! Flat Stanley had never seen so much chocolate all in one place, and he couldn't help doing a little browsing of his own. He liked the Christmas tree lollypops the best.

Disneyland!

The very next day, at 7 a.m., Flat Stanley, April and Bob got into the car in San Francisco and started driving south. They drove past oil fields and wind farms. They drove past dairy farms, where black and white cows watched them pass. They were driving through the southern half of the huge central valley of California. The Central Valley is home to many crops that are grown and shipped to grocery stores all over the United States -- even as far as Boston. Crops such as tomatoes, grapes (fresh and for raisins), almonds, asparagus, broccoli and cauliflower, lettuce and radishes and strawberries and apricots. Also grown here is cotton. Dairy farms produce milk, cheese, ice cream, and more, and ranches raise cattle and pigs for meat. The Central Valley is 400 miles long, but fortunately Flat Stanley and his friends only had to travel through half of that.

After about four hours of driving, they saw the road winding upward, through the hills at the end of the huge valley, and after a while they arrived at the top. On the other side, the highway led them into the Los Angeles Basin, a flat-land area, or plain, on which sits the city of Los Angeles as well as nearby cities. As they drove past Los Angeles, traffic on the freeway grew thick, and the air was sooty from smog and recent wildfires. Wildfires are common in California, but the ones that were in the news recently are all out now. Stanley was happy he didn't see any flames. Besides, he was keeping his eyes peeled for the freeway signs that would say "Anaheim," and then "Disneyland." His patience soon paid off, because after five and a half hours, they were pulling into the parking lot of the Paradise Pier Hotel, just walking distance from Disneyland and California Adventure Park. They all were beside themselves with excitement. It didn't take long to check in, stow their bags in their comfy hotel room, catch their breath, and then head for Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom, also called the Happiest Place on Earth!

Their short walk took them first to Disney Downtown, where they showed their tickets and boarded the Monorail for Tomorrowland, one of the areas in Disneyland. Flat Stanely watched as the scenery glided by, and soon they were walking down the Monorail station stairs and right into the park! April and Bob looked at each other, and Bob was the first to speak. "Matterhorn!" he said, and so they were off to ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds, a roller coaster that runs through a mountainous track, past looming snow monsters and tumbling waterfalls. They were lucky: Their wait in line was only 15 minutes! Flat Stanley was excited, but a little nervous. He had never been on a roller coaster before. But after he got buckled in, after his bobsled whizzed up and down the track, and after all three riders yelled "ROWWRRR!!" right back at the snow monsters, and their bobsled flew down the last water flume, Flat Stanley had to admit that he liked roller coasters just fine. Which was a good thing, because they had Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, and Indiana Jones Adventure still to come.

It's off to Santa Rosa!

On the Saturday after his arrival, Flat Stanley went with Bob and April and their friends Zuzana and Nathan to visit Nathan's grandmother in Santa Rosa, CA. But before they got on the road, they stopped at their favorite neighborhood coffee shop, Brainwash Cafe, where you can order breakfast, lunch, or dinner and then eat it while you do your laundry in the sparkling washers and dryers in the back room. It's a pretty goofy place, but they make great poppyseed muffins and hot chocolate. And that's just want everyone wants before they take a long road trip.  The hostess was really nice. When she heard about Flat Stanley's trip out to California, she wanted to have her picture taken with him. Flat Stanley didn't mind.

After everyone got their tall cups of cocoa and their muffins, they piled back into the car, and put Flat Stanley on the dashboard so he could take in the view. Then they started driving across San Francisco. They went up the steep hills and down the other sides of them, then out along the bay, until they saw the orange-red towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. Before they got to the bridge, they stopped at the scenic view and visitor center, so they could show Flat Stanley the bridge. 

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge that goes over the Golden Gate, which is the opening from which sea water flows out from the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. Before the Golden Gate Bridge was finished in 1937, people took ferry boats across the bay. Flat Stanley learned that the chief engineer of the Golden Gate bridge was a man named Joseph Strauss, and that one principal design engineer was a man named Charles Alton Ellis, who was also a Greek scholar. Flat Stanley learned that each main suspension cable is more than 3 feet thick, and composed of 27,572 separate wires. The bridge is 8,971 feet long, and 746 feet high! 

After they were through gazing at the bridge and the bay, they all got back in the car and drove up to Santa Rosa. There, they visited with Dorothy, took her out to lunch at her favorite restaurant, and spoiled her because it was her 89th birthday. Dorothy thought Flat Stanley was cute, and this made him feel quite shy. After lunch, Dorothy was tired and wanted to go take a nap, so they drove her back home, tucked her in, and then made the drive back through Santa Rosa, back across the Golden Gate Bridge, and home. It was time to pack for their trip to Disneyland!

Flat Stanley Goes to Work

On Thursday, the day after his momentous arrival in San Francisco, Flat Stanley put on his usual outfit (red shirt with white cuffs, blue pants, olive-green shoes -- perfect for most occasions) and went to work with his hostess, April. He wanted to see where she works and what her job is like. He picked a good time to go -- Thursday was videoconference day! April works in the member communications department at Kaiser Permanente, which is a health care and medical insurance provider based in Oakland, CA. The communications team is divided into two sections: One team works  in Northern California, and the other works in Southern California. Once every month, they have a videoconference so they can catch up on work and say hello.

Everyone at Kaiser was happy to see Flat Stanley. The doorman said hello. And the newsletter editor, Donna Taylor, wanted to interview Flat Stanley to learn about his trip to California. So Flat Stanley met with Donna and told her all about his journey through the U.S. mail, and his welcome in San Francisco. He told her about the adventures he knew were coming. And he asked a few questions himself.

He found out that Donna has worked at Kaiser Permanente for 10 years, and that she loves her job. He found out that her friend April has known Donna since college, and that they are very happy to work together. Another thing he learned is that Donna has a pet rabbit named James, who is very tame and who uses a litter box just like pet cats do! He asked Donna how she learned to be an editor, and she told him that she and April both studied journalism at college.

After the interview, Donna invited Flat Stanley to take a piece of candy from the mug she always keeps full of Tootsie Rolls and Hot Tamale candies. How could he resist?

Then it was time to go to the videoconference. Flat Stanley had never been to a videoconference, and he was a little nervous about being on TV. On his way to the next building over, where the videoconference would take place, he checked his reflection in a window. Yep, his brown hair was nice and neat. He joined the others on the elevator and rode up to the 16th floor.
In the meeting room, everyone was taking their seats and chattering away. Nobody seemed nervous about being on TV, and so Flat Stanley relaxed just a little bit. He even went right up to the screen to say hello to April's coworkers in Southern California. Soon it was time for the meeting to start, and Donna kicked it off by introducing their guest for the day, who would talk about new and special ways that the company is planning to communicate with its members about how to stay healthier. Flat Stanley thought that they were good ideas. After a while, though, he grew sleepy and decided to take a nap in April's knapsack. And he stayed there, snug and safe, until they got back home again.

Our little visitor arrives!

Flat Stanley arrived here in San Francisco by U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday, November 19, 2008. We didn't realize there was a house guest in our mailbox. But when we opened the mysterious envelope with the neat, hand-written address, out came Flat Stanley, all folded up.

We unfolded him, and saw that he was smiling. He had come all the way from Boston and arrived just fine. Then we read the note from Olivia: "Please take Stanley with you wherever you go, and then send him back with photos and the story of his visit," it said. Or something very close to that. 

Everyone in the house wanted to meet Flat Stanley. First, he met Gigi the cat. Gigi is five years old, and she loves to meet new friends. She took Flat Stanley right under her wing. She showed him her favorite spot to curl up and nap. She showed him her favorite toy, which is a little knitted boot. She showed him her scratching box, which is filled with catnip and allows her to exercise and stretch and keep her claws neat and trim. Stanley did not care for the scratching box, but he liked Gigi's curl-up spot and her little knitted boot. And Gigi liked that Flat Stanley was a very good sport.

Next, Flat Stanley met our parrots, Phoebe, Tyco, and Woody. Phoebe is a yellow-headed Amazon parrot. She is four years old. That's young in parrot years. Amazon parrots are natives of Guatemala and Belize, in Central America. Tyco is an African Grey parrot, and he is seven. African Grey parrots are found in the wild in the rain forests of Central and West Africa. African Grey parrots love to talk, and Tyco is no exception. His favorite things to say are "What's going on here?" and "You're the best gray bird in the whole world!" Woody, a Derbyan parakeet, is 14. Derbyans are found in India and China. Woody got his name because he loves to chew up wood. His cage is filled with wooden toys for him to gnaw on, and with wood shavings that used to be toys! Phoebe, Tyco, and Woody were all born and raised here in America and they are very tame. They let Flat Stanley play with their wood-and-rope toys.