Up, up and away! Visit the Museum of Flight, learn about Leonardo Da Vinci and his plans for a flying machine, and hear the story of "Zoro, the Flying Apprentice".

This week we survived a 27 mile bike ride which took us across the floating bridge and up the hills of Seattle (both ways).

Visit The Museum of Flight

Yes, there really is a flying car or "AeroCar". And have you heard of the X-jet? It's a personal transportation device - or what we've dubbed the "flying podium". It goes up 10,000 feet and 60 miles per hour. Take a tour of Air Force One, a Concorde jet and see the original Boeing factory where they made planes out of wood and canvas. And how about flying a plane for a month? Hey, where is our flying motorhome?

The Museum of Flight has an upcoming exhibit "Leonardo Da Vinci; Man, Inventor, Genius" opening October 1st (closes January 28th, 2007). Leonardo Da Vinci was a painter, sculptor, architect, art historian, natural scientist, writer and inventor. The drawings in his notebooks included designs of flying machines.

You will find the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington or online at www.museumofflight.org/

Zoro, the Flying Apprentice

Around 1485 Leonardo Da Vinci drew detailed plans for a human-powered ornithopter (a wing-flapping device intended to fly). And legend has it that a young apprentice named Zoroaste (egged on by the mischievous Salai) took the machine out for a spin.

You'll find another version of this story in a book called "Leonardo and the Flying Boy" by Laurence Anholt.

It's Banned Book Week (Sept. 23-30)

You won't believe some of the books that have banned! Such as "I Am the Cheese", the Harry Potter series, and "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes. Catch the Activated Storytellers performing a live musical production of "Alias, Don Quixote" at a library. Upcoming appearances are scheduled in Oregon and California. Check the itinerary for more information. And learn more about banned books at the American Library Association site.

Happy Listening!

Dennis, Kimberly and Zephyr

Seeking geocaches and "The Most Beautiful Thing in the World". This week the Activated Storytellers come to you from Olympia, WA with a story from China.

"The Most Beautiful Thing in the World" from China

This is one of the stories we use when we conduct one of our weeklong Artist-in-Residency programs in schools. We direct students in all aspects of theatrical production, including developing the script from a story, designing and building props and costumes, and acting.

In this tale, a king sends his three children out into the world to find the most beautiful thing. The one that succeeds will inherit the crown.

Post Your Thoughts

What do you suppose is the most beautiful thing in the world? Is it a smile? Is it a place? Something someone did? We'd like to hear YOUR story! You can post your thoughts here and we'll read the best ones in an upcoming podcast.

Geocaching & Letterboxing

Since the theme this week is seeking treasures, we decided to focus on Geocaching, the game where you are the search engine. If you are new to Geocaching, Geocaching.com and a GPS unit will get you started. Type in your zip code, copy down the clues and get ready to do some real life treasure hunting. Be careful though and don't let the muggles spot you!

Geocaching got its inspiration from letterboxing, which started about 150 years ago, and is still practiced today. But Geocaching as we know it, with the aid of a GPS device, started only about 6 years ago.

We chose to focus on Geocaching because the Olympia area has quite a number of interesting caches, some of historical interest. In addition to being a lot of fun, this game offers an opportunity to learn things while challenging your detective skills. 

Inspiration

A couple of weeks ago we presented the story of "The Apple Dumpling" and pointed out how it reminded us of the guy who swapped a red paperclip on craigslist.org for something bigger and better, until he got his dream - a house. Well a family of listeners heard the story and decided to try it for themselves! This family's goal is to live on the road like we do, but first they need a bus. So they decided to trade a little red matchbox bus for a real one! You can check their progress at A Bus 4 a Bus.

National Tour

We are bringing our live theatrical productions to schools and libraries on the West Coast through December and then we'll be heading east. Please visit our web site for more information about school assemblies and residency programs, or to find a free show sponsored by a public library to bring your family to. If you'd like to pass on information to your school you also find a flyer that you can download, print and share on our site.

Happy Listening,

Dennis, Kimberly and Zephyr Goza

From the End the Oregon Trail, we discuss pioneers and tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Also Zephyr gives a report about "Not Back to School" camp and find out a bit about roadschooling.

Back in 1843 families started heading west. They heard the stories of a better life. They saved up about $900 dollars ($100,000 in todays market) and made their way to Independence or St. Joseph Missouri to hook up with a wagon train. Loading 2000 lbs of supplies into a small closet sized wagon they were off on a 4-6 month journey following the Little Blue river northwest. They left in May headed west past Chimney Rock where they stopped to sign their names and on to Independence Rock hopefully by the 4th of July, past the Rocky Mountains along the Snake River and to the Oregon Territory. By the way, the Oregon Territory at that time included not only Oregon but Washington, Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming.

The pioneers on the Oregon Trail were primarily well educated families who brought books with them and continued to school there kids on the treck. Books by Hans Christen Andersonand titles such as "Little Women", "Hamlet", "The Robber Kitten", "Little Red Riding Hood" could be found bouncing along with the bacon, coffee, rice and churning butter. So this week we tell the story of the little girl in the red cloak on her way to grandmother's house.

Learn more:

• About the End of the Oregon Trail Museum and Interpretive Center and
• About modern day Families on the Road

Happy Listening!

Dennis, Kimberly and Zephyr Goza

Visiting Eugene, Oregon - home of University of Oregon and the jogging and bicycling capital of the country. Zephyr is away at a camp for homeschooled teens this week, while Dennis (dad) and Kimberly (mom) are visiting relatives and learning the nearly lost craft of food canning. After spending an afternoon picking apples we decided to present the English story "The Apple Dumpling". See if it reminds you of the guy who used craigslist.org to trade a red paper clip for something bigger and better and ended up with a house.

Read the MSN story about trading a paper clip for a house.

Happy Listening,

Dennis and Kimberly Goza