Introductions

October 28, 2016
Hi!
I'm Bailey the Bear, and this is my travel blog.  I come from Pennsylvania, where I lived with my friend Ashely.  In October I said a tearful goodbye to Ashley and all her friends at school in New Britain, and settled into a very uncomfortable envelope to travel across the country to Kent, Washington.  Phew.  This is about as far away from home as a bear can get!

I am staying with Ashely's cousin's family for a few months before I travel again, and we are having  great adventures and learning lots of cool stuff. I've been writing in my journal but it's using up a lot of pages and I kept getting glue from the pictures and stuff on the papers.  So my host mom (Ashley's cousin) is helping me set up a blog to keep up with my travels.

First, meet my host family, the Carsons:

Wow. When I arrived and they opened the envelope that was a LOT of people looking at me.  And my clothes were all rumpled from being in the stuffy envelope, and it didn't smell so great either.  But they were excited to meet me.  Let me tell you about them:
My host dad has a long mustache.  He is a computer guy for a concrete company in Seattle.
The oldest son, Corwin, is 22. He's a horseback riding instructor and has a degree in computer animation.
Next in the back row is Ben. He is 15 and spends a lot of time doing school work, reading books out loud over the phone to girls in his class, and playing his cajon, a drum like a box you sit on.
Eli has a beard. He is 20, is also a horseback riding instructor, and is an English major in college.
Bethany is 17 and is a senior in high school. Pretty much all she does is school work. And drawing. And some swing dancing.
That's my host mom, Ashley's cousin Debbe.  She is a teacher and a chaplain, and she works as an Activity Director for a nursing home, whatever that means.
There's me and my very own travel buddy friend Fern.  You'll read about him in another post.
In front are Christopher (11) and Brady (13). They are in junior high and they like to jump on the trampoline, swim in the river, and play computer games. Christopher wants to be a wildlife conservation officer in Russia and he loves wolves and learning Russian. He does karate with his dad, Eli, and Bethany.  Brady draws dragons and performs on puppet team with Ben and Bethany and Corwin.     

Now that you know all of us, I'll start my stories: