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neotokeo2001
08-27-2008, 08:20 PM
Search for the Skunk Ape starts with Post #2
(Post broken up over several messages due to site restrictions on pics)

It isn't a new idea, but it still was a good one: Have a 7800 cartridge be shipped all around the World, with fans of the system taking photographs with it at various places like the nerds that we are… Including local items with it so that after the final destination, it could be sold for charity. Cool. I wanted to be a part of 7800 history! The 7800 Traveller cartridge (He likes to be called Travi) finally arrived.

So what happens when you plug the cartridge into a 7800?
There are 3 screens which can be changed by pressing the fire button. The first screen is the Title screen, Push the fire button again and you see a nice graphic of Travi. The third and final press of the fire button shows a world map.

Here are the pictures and story of my time with Travi.

With the recent Tropical Storm Fay I have been forced to work 12 Hour days so I couldn't take Travi on the Palm Beach Mansion Tour that I had planned. I decided to take Travi to work with me.

http://a126.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/90/l_cec6423f2f9f18a87a2d622622c7afe5.jpg
Hanging out with the big trucks. Sorry Travi, I don't work with those anymore.

http://a341.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/31/l_758270e4f259b62fabcb0eecd4765abc.jpg
Here is my truck. Travi has the cooler all filled with ice water and we are ready to roll.

http://a693.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/106/l_af0fc8736ad3033da6d6d4c781a23934.jpg
All right, Now where did Travi go? There he is. Hanging out in the cable yard.

http://a331.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/83/l_0b7a65b0b6d1528e699d0594288e406a.jpg
Buckle up Travi. In Florida it is the Law.

http://a575.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/60/l_c1a8b53eac40054735c7ed385839f73e.jpg
Travi picks up the job and we are on the way.

http://a240.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/111/l_11e7a84096bc556872f43b574359edd7.jpg
Here is the first stop. The distribution box for the customers area. Known as a X-Box ironically. The trouble seems to be towards the customers house. Lets go check it out.

http://a27.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/89/l_648c959b11b9c9ca11cdfac638d0f172.jpg
There's the trouble. Looks like the customers terminal was flooded. Let's resplice it with new connectors. Problem Solved, Good Job Travi!

http://a273.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/124/l_cd02c22ab686e15ec4d2acd7f9cd4bf8.jpg
We really didn't need to go here but Travi wanted to see where dial tone comes from. That is Fiber Optic on the top right and everything else is the digital dial tone cards.

http://a518.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/110/l_91e135627652058d38311e02f8bd156d.jpg
On the way back to the work yard Travi started talking about Golf. We stopped by here so he could look around. The Official Home of the PGA of America.

neotokeo2001
08-27-2008, 08:21 PM
http://a524.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/7/l_7e7e76e8e581d503a35491374b73772b.jpg

Travi was really excited when he heard the news that a Bigfoot body had been found. You can imagine his disappointment when it turned out to be a Halloween costume and roadkill ice cube. To cheer Travi up I told him about the stories of the Florida Skunk Ape.

The Skunk Ape is said to be a large hairy, bipedal mammal that inhabits swampy areas in the southern United States, including the Florida Everglades. It is said that the blood line of this hominid can be traced to that of its very close relative, the North American Sasquatch.

Large adult males are said to weigh in excess of 450 lbs and stand 6 to 7 feet tall with reddish or dark brown hair similar in appearance to an orangutan or gorilla.

The smell of a Skunk Ape has been reported to be similar to rotten eggs or Hydrogen Sulfide. They are also reported to have a high pitched scream that will quickly have you finding someplace else to be.

This is the documentation of one Atari 7800 cartridge and his search for this legendary creature.

http://a764.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/36/l_4bf33013aff74cbad310d570695844f3.jpg
Welcome to the Florida Everglades. The search has begun. We don't have a boat, That may be a problem.

http://a58.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/43/l_68f4b3eda668ae1c553381a4c173b861.jpg
At this point Travi is starting to think that this may be harder then he first thought. The Everglades are just wide open marshes aren't they?

http://a775.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/37/l_edf3cb138c297d2cb24946fa4ee35256.jpg
Smell that? Smells just like rotten eggs. I bet he is in here.

http://a248.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/94/l_24a2c505fc7ca10e7077af61e141fabf.jpg
Nope nothing here. Lets keep looking.

http://a140.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/43/l_162dad47266e5d8b3811edf21c7950d3.jpg
I bet the Skunk Ape is hiding in those trees across the water. Lets go.

http://a142.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/123/l_008bde2e404f1a9c7b6e91f36f7016ed.jpg
Now this picture is really interesting. We heard some really strange sounds coming from within the trees and there was something moving around back there too. I didn't see anything but Travi swears he saw a monkey or something in the tree. After looking at the picture there does seem to be something in the branches behind the foreground tree on the right. Do you see it? These pictures have not been tampered with in any way.

http://a612.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/32/l_1514d43ede3f34d71624bf40eacc371b.jpg
At this point the heat and bugs were taking a toll on both of us. Travi was also a little jumpy after his sighting of something in the woods earlier. We both agreed that we were not going in here and we decided to call it a day.

http://a549.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/48/l_8a852e5c3b91a9bddb2e183f9079839c.jpg
We headed out a different way then we had entered and we came across this. Some type of Military Complex in the Everglades? Could this have something to do with the strange things that we heard and that Travi claims to have seen? Maybe the dish put out out some type of frequency that makes people and Atari 7800 carts see and hear things that aren't there. Maybe they have been doing experiments on primates to create super soldiers? The no photography and lethal force authorized signs made us move on.

neotokeo2001
08-27-2008, 08:22 PM
http://a538.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/109/l_4dc33d3f4722d8fb6a39a9f9a2fa6211.jpg
We finally made it back to the car and on the way out we came across these birds. Travi wanted to get out and have his picture taken with them.

http://a126.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/84/l_5002ac962fafdf0ded23caf983af77d5.jpg
This picture was taken as we were running back to the car as the birds were attacking. Maybe they thought we had food, Maybe they thought Travi was food. It has been a strange day in the Everglades. Travi later checked his Florida Animal guide and found out that these are Sandhill Cranes and they grow to over four foot tall.

http://a503.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/58/l_038986a2fab82b4f4aa7042d90f2b2de.jpg
Finally out of the Everglades we decided to look for someplace to eat and get a drink. This seems like a good place.

http://a836.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/42/l_a618d13a80634420a891b17cf6bb4b6b.jpg
It's not the Skunk Ape but this place will do.

http://a730.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/95/l_473ac76dc61e99df5c020a73e93dc791.jpg
Travi made me promise not to show this picture, But I just had to. Travi, Meet the Monkey Kings nads.

http://a110.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/63/l_b4034c810057f3c4c2f7a6c177114c1d.jpg
Later that evening we had a tornado warning in the area. Going outside we actually saw the tornado across the bay.

http://a366.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/81/l_d20ebef9b4f3ac202a6ac079a882a7cd.jpg
Here is a close up of the tornado. That whole section was rotating.

http://a825.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/36/l_51377f29eb5ceff64d540e50bfae0140.jpg
The next day I promised to take Travi to the beach. Looks like we are getting close. That is the Jupiter Florida Lighthouse.

http://a96.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/98/l_454099b4a472014ec8194494ccdb46c7.jpg
Travi had to have his picture taken with this guy.

http://a461.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/102/l_7ab5cc6bab87cd5f398e656fd690abcc.jpg
And this guy too.

neotokeo2001
08-27-2008, 08:22 PM
http://a483.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/78/l_f89d2ae181ed0ac853f111e109b3545a.jpg
And finally here it is. The Atlantic Ocean.

http://a867.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/104/l_186fc458b0e354db4e042dadbf9d964a.jpg
Wait a minute! What is that smell? And that horrible shrieking? Can it be?








http://a53.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/120/l_f842fbdcd2e3fd95d894a3d71ba85c4c.jpg
Oh my GOD!!!! It's him. We found him. The Florida Skunk Ape!


If you want to Host TRAVI just visit AtariAge and search for Travi in the Atari 7800 Forum for more info.

SpaceHarrier
08-27-2008, 08:32 PM
That is a really cool and random idea. Perhaps I should sign up to give Travi a West Coast tour..

awesome pics

modest9797
08-27-2008, 11:20 PM
I saw a show about him on Monster Quest!

neotokeo2001
08-31-2008, 11:23 AM
Something strange popped up in one of the pictures that I took above. Here is the original picture.

http://a142.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/123/l_008bde2e404f1a9c7b6e91f36f7016ed.jpg

I blew up the picture to see what was making the shape in the tree. Looks like shadows and branches. But then I found something else on the ground.

Do you see anything in this blown up detail?

http://a969.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/78/l_e6c45e5241a249835b34a5a19f68f9f0.gif

How about now?

http://a616.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/9/l_a6503e1e1c5a433992358aeeffcc59f7.gif

Was something watching me take pictures?

http://a690.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/21/l_4a91f9d792335ee526af9cf05421c3d9.gif

Looks like an ape face looking around the stump and the trees from inside the overgrowth. I don't know if it is a trick of light and shadow or if something was there. I did hear movement in the trees before this picture was taken but you always hear things moving in the glades with lizards and birds and dry palmetto leaves. Another note, There are several Wildlife Rescue facilities within a few miles. Did something escape? It gave me the creeps when I first found the face. If something was there it would have been about 50 feet away from me.

http://a838.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/82/l_87789d86989732cd4bde9cdecdb4d8fd.jpg

Here is a picture for comparison.