SOLEDAD — As Christy and Ed Bray, otherwise known as Christy B. and Dr. III, were driving north on Highway 101 after visiting their daughter at the University of California Santa Barbara, they noticed the city of Soledad was not too far from Pinnacles National Park.
Why did it matter? Well, as the adoptive parents of “Tripp the Tumbleweed,” who is traveling to every U.S. national park — all 63 of them — they needed help determining what Tripp should do in Pinnacles National Park. They thought, who better than elementary students in the Soledad Unified School District?
Over the past few months, Christy B. and Dr. III asked third-grade students in each of Soledad’s elementary schools to complete a questionnaire to help guide Tripp through Pinnacles National Park. They plan on doing the same with school districts local to every national park Tripp is visiting.
For each school’s help, Christy B. and Dr. III are giving books to the school library, sharing custom “thank you” stickers with the students and donating 10% of the profits from the book to the school district and 5% to a nonprofit association supporting the national parks.
Giving back to the schools and the parks is important to the couple.
“We couldn’t be happier sharing the benefits of Tripp with schools and associations supporting the parks,” Dr. III said.
Christy B. is even more invested in this initiative, as she’s a public-school elementary teacher herself.
In early December, Christy B. and Dr. III visited the Soledad elementary schools to read the books to the students, plus present them with thank you stickers for helping Tripp navigate Pinnacles National Park. Student reactions ranged from patting Tripp on the head to wondering what national park Tripp was headed to next to asking about Tripp’s favorite food.
Where did the idea of traveling tumbleweed come from?
“We respect and appreciate the majesty and splendor of the national parks,” Christy B. said of the inspiration behind the national park book series. “If the students can visit the national parks, great. If not, we want to share the beauty of nature with as many children across the country as we can.”
As for Tripp the Tumbleweed, “we saw a tumbleweed bouncing across the road in Death Valley National Park, he looked like he wanted to become a superhero, and he was born!” she added.
Tripp was born in Dublin, Calif. Just as every superhero has an origin story, readers can learn about Tripp’s upbringing and dreams in his first book. Unfortunately, his dreams are altered when a cow spits him all the way to Death Valley National Park, where his adventures in the park are documented in his second book.
From Death Valley, he soars to Pinnacles, the basis for his third book, and is headed to Yosemite National Park next. Check out his Pinnacles book to learn how he gets to Yosemite National Park.
As Christy B. and Dr. III were leaving one of the classrooms, one student raised their hand and asked, “are we famous for helping write a children’s book?” “Yes, Soledad students,” they said. “Yes, you are.”
To learn more about Tripp the Tumbleweed, including purchasing his books and signing up for his newsletter, visit trippthetumbleweed.com. Tripp can also be found on Instagram at tripp_the_tumbleweed.
