Back in the saddle (sort of) Part 3

I woke everyone up with the guitar and this one Egyptian melody I was trying to learn.

Cheesebum had taken Sety and Satis to the market, so the only ones left at base camp were AJ and me.  “Where do you want to go next?” I asked him.  He wanted to return to the Sphinx and this time, go inside.  So I said, okay, we’ll go. 

So when we got to the Sphinx we went inside.  I turned around because AJ was with me. 

Unfortunately, I was in a dive pool when he found me again, and again I sent him back to base camp.  He is much too young to do what I do.  Yet he insists on following me, lol.  What have I done to this kid?

Back in the saddle (sort of) Part 2

A challenge in Al-Simhara required me to go inside a copper quarry and fetch something.  So I had to report to Madbouli and receive my ‘marching orders’ so to speak. 

 

I spent most of the evening hunting for turquoise stones.  I’m an old pro at this stuff. 

 

After I returned, Andy and I took seats at this old stone table in the Tomb of Discovery.  I wondered what life would have been like had we been a pharaoh and his consort.

At the end of a trying day, Andy and I fell fast asleep in the same tent.

The next morning, AJ beat all of us in waking up.  He ate himself a jam sandwich and was off to the races again. 

 

The next thing I knew, he was chasing Amelie around base camp and had wandered inside the Tomb of Discovery. 

 

Andy found this little fishing hole in the middle of the desert.  Satis turned on the video camera and thus caught one of the embarrassing moments I’ve had since I started traveling.  Click on the last pic to see it! 

Needless to say this is why I didn’t follow my family into music. 

Back in the saddle (well, sort of)

I was reminded once again of why I love this stuff. 

When I last wrote on these pages I was a single woman.  Now I’m married with three kids. 

My growing family and I took a trip to Egypt recently.  I dragged my now-husband, Andy; my two adopted teenagers, Imsety and Satis, and my biological son, AJ, to the pyramids of Al-Simhara.  I’d settle here permanently … if I didn’t have my whole family in Sunset Valley. 

The minute he got there, Sety chatted up Amelie Tisseur, a French explorer.  I wonder about him though.  He seems to have inherited his bio dad’s… um, gregariousness, for lack of a better term. 

Then I leaned over and I overheard him talking about me.  His Simlish isn’t great, still, but I have to admit it’s vastly improved.  Apparently he was telling Amelie the story of how I found him and Satis.  “Blond lady ride on Kenspa,” I heard him say.  Apparently Sety will tell the tale to anyone who will listen.  I’m not sure how I feel about that. 

 

AJ, the lil man, wanted to see the Sphinx so I took him there.  I also taught him the mummy song I’d learnt from Satis way back when.  I actually think he’ll be an adventurer as well.  I’m not sure I’m happy about that, either. 

 

I’m ridiculously out of shape (that’s what having a baby will do) so I found myself chasing Andy through the desert.   First on Kenspas and then on foot.  Andy had an opportunity to go into one of the pyramids and I didn’t want him to go in unprepared.  He doesn’t do this stuff for a living, I do. 

 

Andy checked out the door while I watched.  Sety came by a few moments later, then I sent him and AJ back to base camp while Andy and I checked the place out. 

 

Andy wanted to learn the mummy song, and plus his opportunity only required him to go inside the tomb, so this was where we stopped.

 

And while we had the tomb all to ourselves… well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words so I’ll shut up now.

 

More later, Savannah

Oh, one more thing…

While I was in China one more thing happened. 

Yes, that is a ghost.  The ghost of an old woman who died at the Martial Arts Academy.  I noted the ghost while I was learning martial arts for my latest quest. 

The ghost had managed to spook everything and everyone in sight. 

One poor lady was practicing when she saw the board breaker move and just passed out. 

 

The ghost worked out alongside other students…

…and in easily one of the strangest twists I’d ever seen, even took a shower afterwards.

“Someone, do something, please!” one lady screamed.  So, I had to do something.

I ended up having to bring the tombstone to the mausoleum because everyone else was too spooked to even deal with the ghost. 

The Writings of Qin Shan Hu

The first room I walked into looked like it was a huge stadium where fighters learned their craft. 

 

I spotted a hole in the wall, which curiosity told me to dig through. 

 

After I unlocked a switch and pulled a statue…

 

I opened the gate which the switch unlocked.

 

That led to a floor that was yet another level beneath the surface. 

 

I found this dive well, which I explored.  I found nothing of significance in it, though I did find it useful for one other thing...

 

…keeping myself from getting burned from a series of fire traps leading to the chest where Qin Shan Hu’s papers were kept. 

 

 

Eureka! 

 

With the papers in my backpack, I hopped on my scooter and returned to the Forbidden City. 

 

“I have no more to teach you, you have passed all the tests that I have required of you.  You have proven yourself a worthy student.”

Unfinished Business

As the river runs in Shang Simla, so too are the days of my life.

Seriously, I’m in China now, this time taking care of some unfinished business.

I made myself a vow that I would return to China to locate the writings of Qin Shan Hu.  A lot of things have happened between now and then, but now I am holding up my end of the bargain and am in search of Qin’s ancient Mandarin writings. 

 

Andy is here too.  For those of you not reading my other blog, Just Plumb Nuts, he’s my fiancé.  We met in high school but didn’t start dating until we were both young adults.  He’s in heaven because of all the new types of fish he’s catching.  I do think he’s getting a little bit homesick though. 

It was about six-thirty their time when I arrived at the retreat.  I spotted a floor switch, which revealed a flight of stairs leading to some basement.  

Down in the basement I found a pile of rubble that needed to be cleared.

There was a mysterious looking switch… so I dug my hand in the hole and a hidden door opened up to my left. 

There was nothing behind the door but a chest with two ceramic Chinese bowls.  Guess they’re wedding presents from the gods, eh? 

After grabbing the bowls I took out the keystone which would let me inside the tomb, and fit it in the key hole. 

Wish me luck, I’m going in. 

Later, Savannah