Hoppers Begins His Journey

Today began a seven-month journey by Emily's special stuffed animal friend, Hoppers.

Hoppers is part of a geography experiment being done by Emily's fifth grade class. Each student's critter friend will be venturing here and there with strangers, documenting their travels through a journal and pictures. (At right, he poses with Tour of Missouri Stage 6 winner Ivan Dominguez in St. Louis.)

Dad helped get Hoppers on his way by passing him along to a couple friends at the Tour of Missouri. Hoppers will first head to California with Jodi, then he's on to Germany with Alicia. Between now and April, he will hopefully have a lot of fun tagging along with people all over the globe.

The real question is whether he'll make it all the way back to Emily's school in April - and what kind of shape he will be in at that time. Dad put a memory stick in his little backpack to help people more easily share their photos. The journal has about 15 pages in it. Dad is guessing people will have to add more.

So, if you come across Hoppers, please write in his journal, take your picture with him - or of him - somewhere and then hand him off to someone else.