Spud's Story - Part VI

In August of 2004, the Tourist Board of West Virginia convinced Spud to come visit the rolling hills of their state. The plan was to see a covered bridge in Phillipi, but he found that there were far more secret treasures hidden in the hills nearby.

Having been cultured to warm temperatures (such as boiling water or a toasty convection oven), potatoes don't usually fair too well in the sub zero Canadian winters. In the fall of 2004, Spud decided he was not ready to face another 6 months of defrosting himself in the microwave, and made plans to relocate to the Valley of the Sun near Phoenix, Arizona in the USA.

Being a Canadian potato however, meant that he would have to face the red tape of Immigration & Naturalization Service at the US border. The INS wound up being the least of his worries.

Spring of 2005 would prove to be a very busy travel time for our intrepid potato. On the itinerary, Spud would travel to Germany, France, Hong Kong, Japan, The People's Republic of China and Singapore!

When Spud returned from his whirlwind trips to Europe and Asia, the creditors were pounding on the taters dirt mound looking for cash. His wild spending overseas drained the potato's bank account and his royalty checks from Toy Story 2 had stopped coming. The tater was in dire need of generating income to fund his global exploits!

Not being one to sell his body to make a buck, the potato turned to entrepeneurial diva, Stephanie Frank for advice on how to get the money rolling back in. Frank is the author of the hot selling book 'The Accidental Millionaire' which gives loads of tips and advice on how to generate multiple streams of income. The two met and Spud came away with loads of ideas for turning those streams of income into torrents of cash. Twas a good thing as his monthly visa bill weighs almost as much as he does!

Spud made his first visit to Maryland in the summer of 2005. He would find that Maryland has an obsession with bodily functions, which had intrigued the potato, so he set off on his 'Tour of the Unmentionables'.

Spud made his second visit to Utah later that summer. There are a ton of things to see in this great State, so Spud tried to take them all in.

The winter of 2006 would mark Spud's second in the desert, and he longed for a return to the Great White North to experience the frosty goodness of the cold Canadian winter. What better place to experience sub zero temperatures than in Churchill, Maniotba - the Polar Bear capital of the world. The tater certainly got his fix, and also needed to be fixed when he returned!

In March of 2006 Spud was served with notice that his assets had been frozen by his ex-wife. Even though his short-lived marriage was over long ago, she was fighting for alimony payments. Discouraged, all Spud could think of was getting away. That opportunity came up in April when he took a job on a cruise ship!

On April 21st, 2006 Spud welcomed his 500,000th unique visitor to the website! Staggering to know that there are that many people out there with so much free time on their hands! He celebrated by providing everyone a free link to download a screensaver of his favourite travels over the past 17 years.

In June, Spud set out on a quest to the Middle East in search of the elusive Holy Grail. The search would prove to be quite difficult as he scoured the vast desert landscape of Jordan looking for clues.

August of 2006 saw Spud return to Japan to climb its highest peak, Mt Fuji and witness the sunrise atop the Land of the Rising Sun. It was inspiring and spiritual, that is until an unwanted guest dropped in

September of that year Spud was invited by the India Tourism board to come visit their country as an honorary ambassador. Unfortunately they didn't tell him that cows are sacred in India, and thus it would pretty much be a vegetarian trip. Had he known that, he probably would have missed seeing the sites in Delhi and the Taj Mahal.

In November of 2006, it was time for Spud's second trip to the Mid West USA. He had not spent much time in America's heartland, so what better introduction could one have then to visit the working class state of Wisconsin.

In September of 2007 Spud celebrated his 10th year of being on the world wide web. To celebrate this monumental achievement, the tuber took his longest trip ever - to deepest darkest Africa to visit the desert landscape of Namibia!

After a huge trip like that, it was time to take a break back home, do up his taxes and wait for his refund, which would fund his next trip: this time to visit the first state of the Union, Delaware, and then off to the nearby city of love in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Travel is an obsession with Spud. His quest to see and explore this great world of ours is something most of us can just dream about. To Spud, it's a neverending adventure - there are a ton more tacky tourist traps out there that this tuber must patronize!

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