Day Three - Travel to Tucson II

One of the sea stars escaped and we had to search all over the desert. No luck...We did get a jackrabbit though.

Tomorrow we see 150 4th and 5th graders at Brichta Elementary in Tucson...

Day Three - Travel to Tucson

Come to find out this is NOT a restaurant sign...

Day Two - Quartzsite, AZ

Well, it was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. One hundred twenty-three students in Kindergarten through eighth grade became the first "out-of-staters" to witness the TidePool Cruiser phenomenon (thank you Spell Checker on that one). Here the kids are gathering around the Travelin' Tide Pool Touch Tank and getting a chance to see and touch some beautiful Pacific Ocean creatures. We learned how to help get the Colorado River cleaner too. In this picture I'm using Poe sign language to convey the concept of...well, let's see if you can guess. Hint: It's one of the ways to help stop pollution from getting into the water. One day to guess...Winner gets a WOOWEE T-Shirt!

Tomorrow it's on to Tucson and on April 1st we'll be seeing about 150 4th and 5th graders at Brichta Elementary.

Day One -Blythe, CA

We (Bob McClurg and I) are sitting in a Motel 6 in Blythe, CA getting ready for the first school on the Great American Sea Star Trek: Quartzsite Elementary in Quartzsite, AZ at 8:30 tomorrow morning. We'll be seeing 100 kids (K-8th grade. That's the entire school). More tomorrow on this.

The trip from Santa Monica to Blythe was uneventful (thankfully), albeit started a tad later than we had wanted. We left at 2:30 pm (instead of 10:00 am) and arrived at 6:45. Some beautiful desert scenery along the way - some high winds encountered but nothing the Tidepool Cruiser couldn't handle. Sorry no pix today.

Tomorrow the TidePool Cruiser critters will be leaving the state of California for the first time. They include five bat stars (collected six years ago) and some newcomers acquired from the kind folks at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. (Thanks Vicki and Jose.) The newcomers are some Norris top snails and a beautiful, huge red sea urchin ans some purple ones as well. I'm sure they'll be a big hit with the kids.

Check in tomorrow for more news. Right now it's back to the Discovery channel to watch wild dogs in the Serenghetti chasing impala across the plains.

For those of you wondering just what a TidePool Cruiser is...

She's currently undergoing some minor modifications (battery power added - solar is next); a little new paint here and there; new logo (there are no California sheephead in the Atlantic); things like that.

In any event, she'll be ready for departure Sunday, March 29 and will be "on the road" for five and a half weeks arriving in Mystic on May 5th. Some 1,500 kids will take part in the Great American Sea Star Trek (GASST).

Till next time...

Countdown to GASST

Tick Tock...the Cruiser's leaving the dock (Sunday). At 10:00 am the TidePool Cruiser leaves the Santa Monica Pier headed for Quartzsite, Arizona. This is the first time that the Windows-On-Our-Waters Environmental Education (WOOWEE) Program will be operating outside the state of California.

Since Earth Day of 2002 more than 50,000 elementary school students have participated in the WOOWEE Program when the TidePool Cruiser visited their campuses.

Beginning on March 30th students in in-land communities from Arizona to West Virginia will learn about conserving our aquatic and marine environments. Living sea stars, sea urchins and other Pacific Ocean creatures will make the trip in the TidePool Cruiser's Travelin' Tide Pool Touch Tank. Final destination...Mystic, CT We're due to arrive on May 5th.

Keep track of our progress by checking out this blog every day. There will be new pictures, new stories and new experiences every day on this 3,479 mile journey.

Let the "trek" begin...