The plane to Houston, Texas, had already left the gate when six-year-old Owen Lake realized he’d left his favorite toy, a stuffed tiger named Hobbes, at the airport in Tampa, Florida. The tiger was one of a kind, made by Owen’s grandmother to look like the one in the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes.”

Owen’s mother called Tampa International and discovered that the staff didn’t just rescue the lost tiger, but also took it on an adventure – taking pictures of Hobbes’ travels throughout the airport and made them into a picture book for Owen.

Hobbes checked out the control tower…

…learned how to run the Operations Center…

…ate at the food court…

…helped out at the airport hotel…

…and volunteered as a firefighter…

…before finally being reunited with Owen.

The pictures were on the Tampa International Airport’s Facebook page.

Airport Operations Manager Tony D’Aiuto spent his lunch hours taking Hobbes on the tour and paid for the picture book he gave to Owen along with his missing — but very busy — tiger.

(READ more at the Tampa Bay Times) — Photos: Tampa Bay International Facebook page

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