Addie Armadillo sprung out of her bed in Amarillo one sunny April morning. “It’s time for an adventure!”, she said. “I’ll call my adventure buddies Abigail, Ashley, Anna, Arnie, Allen and Aaron. Abigail lives in Arizona, Ashley lives in Alaska, Arnie lives in Austin, Allen lives in Akron, Aaron lives in Alabama,and Anna lives in Arkansas.”

“A new adventure? Sure I’ll be glad to come! I’ll fly my airplane to Amarillo tomorrow morning!.”,said Abigail Antelope.

“Great!”, said Addie.”I’ll see you tomorrow in the A.M.!”

Addie called her other buddies and they all agreed to meet her in Amarillo the next morning. 

It was sunrise and all of Addie’s adventure buddies arrived at her house.

“When does the adventure begin?”,asked Anna Aardvark.

“We’re ready to help you get this adventure going!”,Allen Antelope said.

“I’ll check the aqua-automobile and make sure it’s ready to go.”, said Aaron Ant.

“I’ve packed acorns, apples, almonds, avocados, apricots, ambrosia, amber honey, alfalfa, anchovies, and artichokes to start our adventure.”,Addie said.“Let’s head south to Houston to visit our buddy, Andrew Astronaut for some maps of our adventure and a little advice on what to see and what to avoid to have a great adventure!”,squealed Addie. “Get in the aqua-automobile and let’s get away!”
The aqua-automobile is a large car that is able to move on the ground and sail in the water like a boat.

In a matter of seconds, they were in Houston at Andrew Astronaut’s door.

“Hello Andrew!”,the adventure buddies yelled. “We’re here for your famous travel planning. What do you have for us?”, they asked.

“I suggest you start with the Amazon then go to Argentina, Antarctica, Australia, Asia, Africa, Austria, then cross the Atlantic with a short stop in the Arctic, then back home to Amarillo. You should have weather in your favor the whole way! Let me use some arithmetic to add the amount of fuel the aqua-automobile will need for your adventure.”

“Thanks, Andrew! We’re on our way to the Amazon!”, yelled Addie.

The adventure buddies all climbed into the aqua-automobile and drove south to Galveston, then across the beach and into the ocean. Addie turned on the large outboard motors and steered the aqua-automobile to the Amazon in South America. When they reached the mouth of the Amazon river, they decided to sail up the river instead of driving on land because there were no roads. The river was wide with lots of tree roots in the water and plants and vines along the river.

“There is a lot of rainforest along the river.”, said Anna Aardvark. “That means there are good termites and sweet large ants to eat!”

“Hey! Watch that Anna! Don’t forget that I’m here too!”, screamed Aaron Ant.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean you!”, said Anna.

“Maybe we will get to meet some of my cousins here.”, Aaron said.”There are some swimming up the river and they are carrying leaves.”

“Hello!”,Aaron called out to the ants. “Where are you going?”

The leader yelled back,”We are taking fresh food back to our mound for our queen. A
big feast is planned for the night. Where are you from?”

“North America.”, said Aaron. “We don’t dine on the same food as you, but we work
and live in mounds that we call hills. It’s nice to meet you!”

“Adios! We have to get this to the mound while it’s fresh and so we won’t drown
while swimming!”, said the leader ant.” Enjoy your trip and watch out for giant
anteaters!”

“Giant anteaters!”,squealed Anna. “I have cousins here? Where are they?”

“Probably further inland in the rainforest.”,said Addie.

“Oh! Look! There’s one there near the bank! Hello there!”,yelled Anna excitedly.

The giant anteater waved back and continued digging for food. The aqua-automobile continued down the river passing very closely to some trees. Slithering out
of the river and onto a low branch of a tree was a long,large green snake!

“Watch out for that snake, Addie!”, yelled everyone in the aqua-automobile.

“My there are so many of you! Where did you come from?”, asked the large snake.

“We are from North America.”,said Abigail. “What is your name and what kind of snake are you?”

“I’m Asa Anaconda, at your service! I am a member of the largest and longest snake family in the world. My sisters and brothers live here also and are just as long and large as I am. You are so lucky that I ate my last meal an hour ago and I’m absolutely stuffed! All of you would make great meals for me! All of you would get a loving hug from me to thank you before you become my meal!”, said Asa. “I really love everything I eat!”

“Sorry, we can’t stay. We are out of time here on our adventure and must be going now. Adios, Good bye!”, said Addie. She stepped on the gas and sped away!
“Next stop is Argentina!”, yelled Addie.

“We’re here already?”, asked Abigail Alligator. “Look! That looks like one of my cousins, a crocodile!”

 “A cousin of mine too, a macaw!”, screeched Ashley Albatross.

 “I hear music! Let’s tango!”,  said Arnie Aardwolf.

 “Now it’s time for Antarctica! Get ready to put on your coats. It’s going to be cold.” The aqua-automobile sped up and drove from the Andes Mountains to Antarctica. It was starting to snow and everything was cold.

“I still feel cold even with these thick coats on!”, said Anna. “Look! The penguins are even leaving! It’s too cold for them too!”

“Yes, winter is coming soon. It’s autumn here. Remember?”, asked Addie.

“The seals and the walruses don’t want to get stuck in the ice.” , said Aaron.

“So much snow and ice!”,said Ashley Albatross. “It’s way too cold! It’s time to
go.”

Everyone agreed, hopped into the aqua-automobile and sped to the next stop, Australia!

“Wow! It’s really cool here!”,said Allen Antelope.” I expected it to be hot.”

“It’s autumn here in Australia. Whatever the season is at home, it is the opposite of it in Australia.”, said Addie. “It’s lunch time. Let’s find our Aboriginal adventure friends and join them for lunch.”

Alinga and Tau were quietly sitting under a large wattle bottlebrush tree on a colorful groundcover waiting for their picnic guests.

“Hullo! We have been waiting for you! Sit down and eat with us!”, said Alinga. “I have some cold fresh water to go with our food!”

Addie, Anna, Abigail, Ashley, Arnie, Aaron, and Allen all sat down to share and eat their apples, acorns, apricots, ambrosia, almonds, avocados, amber honey, alfalfa, anchovies and artichokes, while they drank the cold fresh water Alinga and Tau brought.

“Now that we have had lunch, let’s visit one of our special places!”, said Alinga and Tau.”We’re going to see Ayers Rock! We call it Uluru. It is very special to us. We are not too far from it.”

Everyone followed Alinga and Tau across the plain, down a path to a wide open area. It looked like a huge red rocky hill in the middle of a flat field. There were no bushes, trees or grasses growing on the mound. It was a big red rock.

“Wow!”,said Ashley.“That’s a big pretty rock!”

“I have never seen a single rock that big!”,said Arnie.

“There are no mountains around!”,Addie said.

“It’s my favorite color!”,cried Allen.

“We know!”,everyone said.”It’s RED!”

Everyone thanked Alinga and Tau for the wonderful lunch and for sharing their favorite place. It was now time to visit their next stop in their adventure, Asia.Everyone piled into the aqua-automobile and sailed off to Asia.  They arrived in Beijing, China at the Great Wall.

“This sure is a long wall. Did the Chinese keep in what they wanted or did they keep out what or whom they didn’t want.”,asked Ashley.

“It was meant to keep invaders out, but it didn’t do so well. They still came in.”, said Allen.

“It is big and long. It does make you think before walking in.”,said Abigail.

“It was also used as a border marker at one time.”,said Arnie.

“This old wall has lasted a long time!”, said Addie. “It’s time to visit the Terracotta Army!”

They all piled into the aqua-automobile and drove in a flash to the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum. Inside, they saw the large clay figured army.

“They look like the plastic army men my brother used to play with, only bigger!”, said Arnie.

“When you are the emperor, I guess you would expect everything you own to be bigger!”,Anna said.

“They have everything they used, horses, arrows and wagons made of clay.”, said Abigail. “They did not forget anything.”

“The emperor must have had some great artists.”,Allen said.

“All the soldiers’ faces look different.”, said Allen.

“They are the same size as humans!”,Aaron said while standing on a soldier’s arm.

It was soon time to go to the next stop on the adventure.  They again piled into the aqua-automobile and soon arrived in Africa.  They stopped in Angola at the Kissama National Park.

“Look over there! It’s one of my cousins!”,said Allen Antelope.

“There are some of my cousins, too!”, cried Arnie Aardwolf.

“There are three of my cousins over under that tree!”,squealed Anna Aardvark. “Let’s go say hello!”

All three went to their cousins and chatted about living in Africa and about living in the United States. They shared some of their foods and then said goodbye.

“We will have to arrange for them to visit us like we are visiting them!”, said Allen and Ann.

“We sure will! We will make it a great adventure for them!”, said Addie. “Now we must get to our next stop, Austria.”

“Again they all piled into the aqua-automobile and before they knew it, they were in St. Anton am Arlberg, Austria.

“We are right in the middle of the Austrian Alps! It is so wonderful!”, said Addie.

“We need to come when it’s ski season!”, said Aaron Ant. “I’m a pro on the snowboard!”

“We are here to visit Arnold Affenpinscher. He is going to show us a few things.”, said Addie. ”There he is over there at the train station.”

“Hallo everybody! Herzlich Willkommen, Welcome!”,greeted Arnold. “Let’s go to my cottage at the top of the hill over there.”

“It is so beautiful here!”, everyone said all together.

They arrived at Arnold’s cottage and ate a small snack of cheese, grass, and grubs with fresh mountain spring water.

“Let’s take turns playing the alpen horn!”, said Arnold. “I’ll show you how it’s done. Arnold took a deep breath and blew a short song on the alpen horn.
Everyone took turns blowing on the horn.  Of course, Aaron Ant was the best on playing the horn.

“The alpenhorn used to be the phone, long ago, for the farmers who lived in the Alps. The sound travels a long way in the mountains.”,said Arnold. “They also used laling or yodeling to call each other between villages or when they were moving. It’s hard to carry an alpenhorn in your pocket while you are taking a walk!”
Arnold yodeled for his guests and they all joined in on a short song.

Addie announced, “It’s time for us to say farewell and thank you, Auf Wiedersehen, Vielen danke!”

“Everything was great! We had a great time!”,said Allen and Aaron.

“You must return! Goodbye and have a safe trip!”,said Arnold.

They all piled into the aqua automobile parked at the train station and before they knew it they stopped in Iceland.

“We are making a short fuel stop here in the Arctic in Iceland. Let’s enjoy the Northern Lights for a few minutes while we refuel!”, said Addie.
Everyone sat and enjoyed looking up at the beautiful light show in the sky. Soon, it was time to go and they sailed back to Addie’s home in Amarillo.

“That was a great adventure!” ,said Allen.

 

“We must do another soon!”,said Aaron.

 

“That was just absolutely fab!” ,said Abigail.

 

“That was a repeater!”,said Ashley.

 

“Awesome adventure!”,said Arnie.

 

“An adventure of a lifetime!”,said Anna.

 

“ An amazing adventure!”,said Arnie.

 
“I must say this adventure had something for everyone. We will do it again soon!”, said Addie.”I’ll work on an Awsome August Adventure!”

 All of Addie’s friends boarded their airplanes and flew home.