We are back from our camping trip in the backyard, the humans are back from their vacation, and Nala is back from the kennel at the vet. I think Nala enjoyed herself just as much as the rest of us. Here are the photos they sent:
Nala may have enjoyed herself a little too much. She came home in the cone of shame because of a couple of self-inflicted scrapes (from lunging at another dog from inside her kennel) and a double ear infection. Poor Nala.
We celebrated our first full day back with an HI2 mining expedition. All the chats seemed extra quiet, and our one buddy who did log on promptly asked to be left alone when Bethany innocently said hi. So... yeah, our return wasn't exactly met with any enthusiasm from other players. Nor was it met with the plethora of mountain-dwelling wild horses and Lost Dutchies we were hoping for. All the gems and nearly all the treasure chests we came upon were untouched, though, which is always satisfying.
Quip, Rhodium, and Sassafras all enjoyed their first visits to the mountains and tunnels.
Quip and I found the only (non-fluted) wild horse of the expedition, a majestic solid black Moyle stallion.
Light gray Rhodium almost looks like a pearl or a pale perlino against the gray rocks.
Bethany and Sassafras found our one Lost Dutchie of the expedition - it contained $60k. They used our flute there too in hopes that the location would be doubly lucky.
Nope. We appreciated that she has the same crooked stripe as Cheeto, though.
And that was pretty much it. Here's hoping we'll have more exciting new to report by our next post!
I don't want to end this there, so I will share a few photos from the humans' vacation near Michigan's west coast.
Here are a few from an especially beautiful sunset over Lake Michigan:
And here is a photo of the ship Mom got to sail on this year. (Mom took this one a few summers back, but it still looks the same.)
It is a replica of a ship that sailed the Great Lakes in the early 1800's - the original was destroyed by fire during the War of 1812.
All started out well. Mom and 28 other people boarded the ship. They headed down the river towards Lake Michigan. Mom was excited to see the enormous sails unfurl and experience the feel, sights, and sounds of true sailing.
The nearer they got to Lake Michigan, however, the bigger and choppier the waves got - nothing at all like the tranquil little waves in those sunset photos! At first Mom didn't mind - she had a decent perch near the side of the ship and a firm grip on some rope. But, as it turns out, Mom would've made a terrible sailor. Within 5 minutes, the constant, dramatic rolling and bobbing had her hopelessly seasick. Unlike at least one other unfortunate person on the ship, she didn't throw up, but all the fun for her was gone. She and her sister (turns out she gets seasick too) sat together in misery, eyes fixed longingly on land, while most of the others had a wonderful time. As soon as ship returned to the river, their seasickness disappeared as quickly as it'd come. I think it's safe to say Mom won't be heading out on rough waters ever again without medication!
I don't want to end with that either, so here, look at this little guy!
Mom's family found him in a crumpled heap in the landscaping stones outside their rental house when they arrived. It looked like he'd been there for a while - he was wet and dirty, and the black on his left side had faded to dark brown in the sun.
He's also missing most of his right foreleg.
Somebody picked him up to determine what he was, then moved him to a more comfortable position on a log and left him there. A few days later when it was about to rain, Mom moved him into the garage. At the end of the week, Mom didn't have the heart to leave him there for somebody to throw out. So, she put him in a plastic bag and took him home.
Here he is after taking a spin in the washing machine:
Yay, little 3-legged bovine! He looks, feels, and smells clean again! Whatever happened to him before, at least he can breathe a sigh of relief now! I think we may call him Tripod. <3
