Where's Oscar?

While Eugene and I were on our honeymoon, we met a nice couple who had a traveling companion--a teddy bear named Schlep that accompanied them wherever they traveled. We decided that would make a good tradition for us as well, so we adopted an orca whale named Oscar. (Don't tell him he was half price in the gift shop.) We will chronicle his travels on this page.

Victoria, British Columbia; and on the Regal Princess, September 2005

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On the bus for the garden.	The "family" by a totem pole.	Taking time to smell the flowers.	They're just good friends, honest!	Ready to make a wish.
On top of the world.	With our tour director.	Eugene and Oscar by a fountain.	Oscar learns how to sniff wine before tasting it.	Oscar and his buddy Schelp.
Eugene and Oscar on deck.	Relaxing on deck.	Wishing us a happy honeymoon.	With our waiters, Joel and Cris.	Oscar reads in the airport as he waits for the flight home.

 

Oscar also attended the World Fantasy Convention in Madison, Wisconsin, with me in November 2005, but he was too shy to have his picture taken with any of the authors in attendance.

 

Madison, Wisconsin, February 2006

At the entrance to Picnic Point, my favorite nature trail.	Does he want roasted marshmellows or squid?	Peek-a-boo!	Relaxing on a stump.	Watching koi at the Olbrich Botantical Gardens.
Leaf him alone!	Taking a break.	Looking for plants from the Phillipines.	Just hanging around.	He's not in jail; he's bird-watching.
At least the carnivorous plants are on the other side of the glass.	They didn't say, "No whaling around."	Oscar recommends supporting the garden with a donation.	Checking out the Rose Tower.	Making friends with a Thai naga.

 

Lilacia Park, Lombard, Illinois May 2006

 

Oscar and me.	Oscar waits for fish.	Turn around, Oscar! Someone's sneaking up on you!	Indecisive.	I bet you didn't know parrots are really tulips.
Which came first, the tulips or the whale?	Swimming among the tulips.

 

What's Oscar favorite game? Why, it's Feeding Frenzy from Yahoo!, of course.

Oscar and Eugene enjoy sushi in Madison, WI, over Memorial Day Weekend.

 

Chicago Botanic Gardens, June 2006

A whale of a cabbage.	Oscar in a tree.	With a statue.	Oscar catches a fish.	Oscar among the leaves

 

Other Pictures from Summer 2006

 

Crashing a wedding.	Checking out one of Da Vinci's flying machines.	With a life-size model of one of Da Vinci's sculptures.	Look what I caught!	Piloting one of the Tall Ships to visit Chicago.
Oscar rings the bell.	Admiring his reflection in the Bean.

 

London, September 2006

Oscar and I enjoy afternoon tea at a hotel.	Oscar leads the way for William the Conqueror.	With a Yeoman of the Guard.	Playing detective at 221B Baker Street.	Oscar checks out an aquarium.
We take time to smell the flowers.	In a prickly situation.	A shutterbug at Saint Paul's.	With Eugene at Trafalgar Square.	We pose with a lion.
Measuring up.	At the wall at Abbey Road.	In black and white.	Hanging out at Kew Gardens.	Tree surfing.
Don't eat Eugene's treats!	Oscar enjoys tea.

 

Holiday Pictures, 2006

 

The family in front of the Christmas tree at the Kristkindlemarkt.	In front of the train tracks.	The Bean in winter.

 

Las Vegas, February 2007

 

Putting words into the ram's ear.	At the statue's feet.	Enjoying the sun.	Waiting for the dolphins.	Oscar and the tiger.
In the lion's jaws.	Posing with Siegfried and Roy.	Oscar has a lot of new friends!	Eugene, Oscar, and our latest friend survey the Grand Canyon.

 

Where will Oscar turn up next? Check back to find out!

 

 

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