BillyBot’s Excellent Adventure

World Tour

2015

If I get lost . . . and you find me . . please contact my master: Walt Perko

4652 N. Rainbow Blvd. -- Suite 320 – Las Vegas, NV 89108 www.brainless.org

North America

Jan 2, 2015—February 2, 2015: Minnesota: (Minneapolis, Richfield, Big Marine Lake) Feb 3, 2015- California: (Newark)

January 2, 2015.

What a great way to start out the new year. My creator, Walt Perko, has decided I am old enough to go on a World Tour!

I’m so excited. I’m going to a place called Mini-Sota (Minneapolis, MN actually). I have never heard of it, but I’ll bet it will be really fun.

My creator has really packed me carefully so I know I will have a safe trip.

Can’t wait, I’ll write later! -- BB

January 5, 2015

I have arrived! It was a bumpy ride and rather chilly. I’m a little confused as to the temperature. The out of doors space seems almost like a freezer, except I don’t think freezers get that cold! However, my hostess, Yvonne Huffman has a nice warm home and she carries me in a very elegant gold and black bag. I have also discovered Hallmark Channel, HSN, QVC, and MSNBC and Fox News. I’ve never been exposed to this at my creator’s home . . . but I like it!

Yvonne and Bill will be taking me to the Veterans Campground on Big Marine Lake. I’m so excited, I love water! -- BB

January 10-13, 2015

Hmmm, I’m confused. You can walk on the water here!

The water is not liquid, it is solid, remarkably like ice cubes in my freezer back home.

Yvonne and Bill have taken me out to see the camp area and get a flavor or what people do in MN to have fun in the winter. We are staying in a cabin for 3 days, me, Bill and Yvonne, and two dogs, Paco and Duke. The cabin is pretty and made of all wood.

Instead of rain, they have snow (which I have seen from my window as it falls on the mountains in Nevada). I hadn’t actually TOUCHED it before, so they put me on the hood of the car, it’s very fluffy and soft and very cold, but quite enchanting!

Shock upon shock! . . .they actually drive their cars out on the ice, put up a little house, drill a hole in the ice and go ice FISHING.

Luckily I wasn’t required to go out into these “ice fishing houses” as I must admit, I’m not certain you could trust that the ice will actually not turn back into water. However with the wind chill at minus 23 Degrees F, they have assured me it will remain as ice for a long time (in fact last year, it was until the end of April). -- BB

January 17, 2015

We went to a place called Minnehaha Falls. It was quite spectacular! It is the waterfall of Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha. There is a statue of Hiawatha carring Minnehaha (based on characters from Longfelow’s poem Song of Hiawatha. This is what the falls looks like in the summer It is 53 feet high and flows from Minnehaha Creek to the Mississippi River.

We got to walk all around the falls, and many people were walking behind them. While we were there we ran into a real Viking man and woman! -- BB

January 25, 2015

We had planned to go to a frozen ice castle, that you can actually walk through!

However, the schedule got changed so I was at home when they went. Darn! I have seen the movie Frozen with Yvonne’s three grandchildren and I really wanted to see Elsa, Ana, and Olaf!

Yvonne apologized and offered to photoshop me in a picture with Olaf. It will have to do.

Yvonne also told me that I will be heading off to Newark, California next.

I must admit, this has been fun, but I was delighted to hear my next stop was sunny California. I gotta start working on my tan! – BB

It’s been great, but I’m ready for some fun in the sun!

Honored to be with our Veterans--BillyBot and Bill Home of the Brave, Land of the Free! -- BillyBot and Yvonne

Really Master what were you thinking sending me here? Thank goodness cabin floors are heated!

What is wrong with this picture? I can’t believe my batteries are still working!

See those tiny dots in the background? Those are ice fishing houses! BillyBot in snow and ice country

Wind Chill —23°F – BillyBot trying to block wind Yeah, that’s me – King of the Hill!

History of the Veterans Campground

In 1926, the Disabled Veterans Rest Camp (DVRC) started from a local farm that was donated to help disabled veterans recover from World War I. The original main farmhouse was converted to a dormitory-type house for these shell-shocked veterans. During WW II, shell-shocked was called battle fatigue; today it is called post traumatic stress disorder. Through the years the camp's main focus of providing rest and recreation for military and veterans has not changed, only the name of the disabled veterans' affliction. Today the campground is open to all military, veterans that have been Honorably discharged, their families, and sponsored friends. The campground has a wide variety of recreational activities for the entire family, to include camping (cabins, tents, and RV sites), boating, fishing, tubing, swimming, softball, volleyball, horseshoes, canteen, children's game room, and a spacious YELLOW RIBBON PAVILION for parties, gatherings, and picnics.

Yellow Ribbon Camp In January 2010, the Veterans Campground was recognized and awarded Yellow Ribbon status by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and the military's Yellow Ribbon Committee. This is significant, as Yellow Ribbon communities and organizations are those that have demonstrated the purposeful commitment to helping military members transition back to citizens while supporting military families. The Veterans Campground is proud of the Action Plan its Board of Directors submitted to Washington County (the nation's first Yellow Ribbon County), outlining events the camp has planned in order to support military members, veterans, and their families. We are confident our activities for 2011 and beyond will aid veterans in reconnecting with family life. Being

designated a Yellow Ribbon campground is both an honor and a call to keep veterans, military members, and their families the continued focus of our mission. The Veterans Campground is the only and "original" Yellow Ribbon campground, as we have been assisting military veterans with rest, recovery, and recreation since 1926.

Camping and Recreation for All Veterans Campground is open to all Honorably discharged military veterans: active duty, Guard/Reserves, veterans, retired, disabled, and military families throughout the United States. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, the campground relies on donations and volunteers to host most activities (i.e., fishing, boating, and hiking) that provide relief and recreation. With so many more Guard and Reserve deployments, more veterans and their families are turning to the camp for family fun and recreation while their loved one is deployed, and during their transition back to civilian life. This greater demand required a large expansion of the camp, which incurred increased costs to our operating budget. As a non-profit organization, donations and grants are welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Me with real Vikings at Minnhaha Park Minnehaha Falls in the Background

Scary! There was open flowing water where we were walking! BillyBot and Yvonne in front of M’haha Falls

BillyBot in Front of M’haha Falls Hiawatha and Minnehaha statue Minnhaha Park

Quite Beautiful Quite Beautiful

Me (photoshopped) and Olaf at the Ice Castle (See you again MN – ya, you betcha!)

Next Stop Newark California! http://www.newark.org/visitors/history/

History of Newark CA The roots of our community are 150 years old. By California's statehood in 1850, landings along the Bay in the vicinity of today's City of Newark had already begun to appear. In 1853, Mayhew's Landing included warehouses for wheat, hay, and coal. This activity triggered interest in the surrounding area and by 1856 the Mayhew Ranch included 1,500 acres of farmland extending inland to present-day I-880. Less than 20 years later, the Perrin brothers had acquired the old Mayhews Ranch and extended their holdings to include property stretching from today's Jarvis Avenue on the north to south of Thornton Avenue. The Perrin brothers' "development project," the Green

Point Dairy and Transportation Company, although slightly embellished, foretold of things to come for the area. It was the Perrin brothers who first drew up plans to subdivide the Green Point Dairy into a townsite (located in the general vicinity of Thornton and Jarvis Avenues).

A gentleman by the name of E. Beard started the early swamp reclamation project and patented the land in the area. Mr. Beard needed more capital and in 1872 sold 20,000 acres of swampland for $300,000 to Mr. J. Ross Browne. Mr. Browne was an entrepreneur (he was a secret agent for the U.S. government, diplomat to China appointed by Andrew Johnson, and a friend of Mark Twain). Mr. Browne outlined his swamp lands project before the State legislature on February 3, 1872. At this point, Mr. Browne referred to the proposed town site as "Cralvo" or "Cariboo." Mr. Browne created a circular that was distributed around Europe to promote the swamp lands project. An English capitalist bought an interest in the property and hired Mr. J. Barr Robertson (a Scotsman) to oversee his interests. Mr. Robertson was a director of the California Land Investment Co., Ltd., London, England. Mr. Robertson then bought out the interest that Mr. Browne had in the land. The name 'Newark' was chosen by Mr. Robertson, who named it after the castle "Newark" in Port Glasgow, Scotland (where the River Clyde enters the Atlantic Ocean).

Work actually started on a railroad through the townsite from Dumbarton Point in 1875. That project was under-financed and never progressed beyond initial grading. In 1876, the railroad, together with the Green Point Dairy, were purchased by a San Francisco capitalist, Alfred Davis, and a Comstock millionaire, Jim Fair. They not only completed the South Pacific Coast Railroad, from Dumbarton Point south all the way to Santa Cruz, but also moved the town site to coincide with the curve on the railroad where the tracks turned south toward San Jose. Soon, a railroad station, roundhouse, and railroad shop buildings were being erected in the center of Newark in the area between Thornton Avenue, Sycamore Street, and Carter Avenue. Eventually, the railroad was extended north from Newark to Alameda, providing direct ferry service to San Francisco.

The completion of the railroad precipitated additional development in Newark. Hotels and stores were soon erected, along with some of the first manufacturing industries, including a railroad car building firm operated by Thomas and Martin Carter and a foundry which later manufactured Wedgewood stoves. These enterprises joined the production of salt, which had

been underway in the Newark area since the 1850s. Acquisitions and mergers of salt production companies throughout the Bay area ultimately resulted in formation of the Arden Salt Company, predecessor to Leslie Salt Company and today's Cargill Salt.

Throughout the years, residents in Newark have retained a strong sense of independence and community. Thus, it was no surprise when, in the early 1950s and subdivisions began sprouting throughout Southern Alameda County and talk of incorporation was in the air, leaders in Newark wanted to go it alone. In 1953, a group representing the chambers of commerce of Centerville, Irvington, Mission San Jose, Niles, Warm Springs, and Newark commissioned a study to incorporate all six communities into one city. However, during hearings on the matter, the Centerville and Niles proponents began pressuring Newark into accepting an industrial zoning for the entire town of Newark. Newark would therefore be the major industrial area for the new Southern Alameda County city. Having already fought and won zoning battles with the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, Newark's Chamber of Commerce was not now ready to roll over and lose its right of self-determination. Therefore, in the face of rapid progress toward the incorporation of all six communities into one, now being called Fremont, the Newark Chamber of Commerce began its own movement toward incorporation of just Newark. In September 1955, this effort paid off with the incorporation of Newark as the first new city in Alameda County in 47 years, and defeating the effort to incorporate Newark as part of the Fremont metropolis.

Newark has retained that sense of self-determination and independence, priding itself on its ability to operate lean and fast. This trait has resulted in benefits to its residents, from its success in securing NewPark Mall, with its jobs, tax revenues, and easily-accessible shopping, to completion of the new Dumbarton Bridge and improvements on the Nimitz Freeway. While other cities struggle with internal differences, Newark continually moves forward cohesively, working for the good of the community and our residents and businesses. We have come a long way from the early visions of the Perrin Brothers and their Green Point Dairy and Transportation Company.

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January 2, 2015