“Is that another letter from Holly?” Billy asked after he had seated himself next to Emil in the big chair on the front porch.
“Yes,” Emil said, looking up from the letter. “Holly says she and Sam just got home from a long camping trip with their family. I was just beginning to read all about it. I’ll read it to you, if you like.”
Emil knew the other dolls always enjoyed hearing about Holly’s adventures. Her life is very different from theirs, because Holly needs a wheelchair to get around. Sam, the human girl she lived with also uses a wheelchair. That is a little more difficult, because Sam’s parents can’t just put Sam and her chair into a grocery bag when they want to take her somewhere, the way Sam sometimes carries Holly.
They have to fold up Sam’s wheelchair and put it into the back of the car every time they go anywhere.
When Billy said he was excited to hear what Holly was up to, Emil began to read.
Dear Emil,
We just got home from our camping trip, and I wanted to tell you all about it.
We went along with Sam’s grandparents on the trip. They have a camping trailer, but it's small, so Sam's parents set up a tent for us.
We stayed in campgrounds most nights. I found out that some campgrounds have special campsites for human people who use wheelchairs. They usually are close to the bathroom and have a paved path to it. The campsite may be paved, too.
It’s easier to use a wheelchair on a paved surface, Sam says. She took me with her sometimes when she went to the bathroom to do her business. The toilet sometimes has bars, so she can help herself get from the wheelchair to the toilet and back just using her arms.
Sometimes the bathroom has a special button you can push that makes the door open. It will stay open then until you get inside with your wheelchair.
We didn’t always have a paved path, though. One place where we camped there was a trail that went down to a lovely stream. We had to find a way to get around or over some rocks to get down to the little beach.
I really enjoyed hearing the water bubble and swoosh as it went over the rocks. Sam let me move my own wheelchair, because no human people were around to see. I like it when I can move on my own. The trail was easier for me than for Sam, because I don't need as much space to roll my chair. I got there before she did!
Emil paused his reading for a moment. “I remember that about Holly,” he said. “She doesn’t like to have someone help her if she can do it herself, and she asks them to.”
When we didn’t have a special campsite for wheelchairs, we tried to find a place that was pretty flat. That makes it easier to get around when you have to camp where there’s no pavement. Usually there’s a big picnic table close to where you can park the trailer or set up your tent. Sam’s dad put up something like a tent with no walls they call a canopy over the table, so if it starts to rain, they can still sit there and eat. It helps keep the sun off, too, if it’s too hot.
“It’s interesting,” Billy interrupted. “When we went on that trip with The Writer and her husband, they didn’t put up a canopy over the table.”
Emil thought for a moment. “I suppose that was because it was still winter,” he pointed out. “They ate inside the trailer, so they could stay warm.”
Billy agreed that made sense.
We camped mostly in the mountains and forests, so there were trees everywhere.
We saw lots of interesting animals. Sometimes in the campground we would see little animals scurrying around. Sam’s mom said they were called ground squirrels. There were different kinds of these little creatures, depending on where we were staying.
One place we visited had huge creatures called bison (BYE-sun). They are as big as cows and like to eat grass the way cows do, but they are a different shape.
Near where we saw the bison we also saw burros (BUH-rows). They are like horses, but much smaller, and they have long ears, almost like a rabbit’s ears. Some of the burros had babies with them.
All of those are wild animals, Sam's mom told us. We did see some animals that human people like to keep, though. We saw a lot of cows and sheep, and one place had a bunch of horses. Some of them had babies, too.
Emil paused a moment. Then he turned to Billy. “I wonder if Brownie would like to have me read Holly’s letter to her,” he suggested. “She’s always interested in what real horses do.”
Emil decided he would ask the dolls’ horse. Then he continued reading:
When we were in South Dakota, we got to see some interesting sights, like Mount Rushmore. What’s special about Mount Rushmore is the huge carved heads up on the mountain. It was a lot of work to carve those faces into the rock. There are four of them, and each one is supposed to look like one of the Presidents.
Not too far away from Mount Rushmore is another carved face. It is the face of a Native person who was a chief. His name was Crazy Horse. He was not a horse, so I think maybe he wasn't crazy, either. In fact, they said he was a great man, like the presidents at Mount Rushmore.
They are still working on carving the statue out of the mountain. When it is finished, it will show him sitting on his horse and pointing. Sam’s grandfather says he thinks it will still take many more years.
We got to cross the Mississippi River. I think that’s one of the longest rivers in the country. It's also very wide.
A couple of times during the trip we couldn’t find a campground, and we had to stay at a rest stop, which is a big parking lot with bathrooms for people to use. Human people who drive trucks often stay at rest stops and sleep in their trucks. Sometimes other human people with trailers or big camping vehicles like busses stay there overnight. Sam’s grandfather said it was important for drivers that have a long way to drive to have a place to sleep, because driving when you’re sleepy isn’t safe. When we got up in the morning, most of the trucks were gone.
“I remember riding in a truck on my way here,” Billy said. “There were times when we stopped for a long time. I guess that was when the driver was sleeping.”
Emil nodded. He had had the same experience. Then he went on reading.
We couldn’t set up the tent at the rest stop, so we all had to squeeze into Grandma and Grandpa’s camping trailer. The table can be lowered and made into a bed for two human people. Sam and I squeezed in between her grandparents in their bed. The next day we drove on again after breakfast.
Sam’s grandparents are already planning another trip. They were looking at maps to see where they might go. I hope Sam and I get to go again too.
Tell your family I said hi. I suspect all of you are looking forward to school starting again. I know I am! We start on Monday.
Your friend,
Holly
“Sounds like Holly had a fun trip,” Billy said after Emil finished reading.
“Yes,” Emil agreed. “It was very interesting, but one thing puzzles me.”
“What’s that?” Billy asked.
Emil looked thoughtful. “Why did she need to go into the bathroom to do her business?”
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
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Copyright © 2024 by Peggy Stuart
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