Scotland Fur-Ever!!!

After our intoxicating evening last night, we were slow to wake up this morning. We're now officially in the Highlands and so we went out to the Observation Deck to drink in the gorgeous scenery. Eric decided to wear his crown, to see if his royal subjects extended to Scotland.

Auntie Martha pointed out that a sign at the train station — we were now near Bassetmoral, the official residence of the ancient Royal Basset Family.

Suddenly we realized that Auntie Bailey was no longer with us. "Oh no," said Auntie Martha, "I was afraid this might happen..."
"As you know, both Bailey and I were adopted when we were young pups. We don't know anything about our birth parents, and that's fine with me,"said Martha.

"Bailey, on the other hand, believes that she is related to the Royal Basset family, as she bears a strong resemblance to the 18th Century Dowager Queen. I was always afraid that if she got close to Bassetmoral, she might try to find some answers."

"Plus, she's always had the hots for Corgis."

Eric discovered she'd been seen heading off into the Cairngorms for some stag stalking.

(Cairngorms? I'm a Cairn Terrier and I've never had a Gorm. I have a whole mountain range named after me? Maybe I'm Scottish royalty too!)

Auntie Martha headed up the mountains along with some young cousins of Marvin's.

In fact, Marvin and Petey had decided to do some stalking of their own!

Sure enough, there was Auntie Bailey, busy stalking a majestic Highland stag, with Jake and Eric rounding out the hunting party.

"Did someone say 'STAG?'" said Lacie, spewing heron feathers out of the corner of her mouth, "Did I hear 'STAG' and 'PARTY' in the same sentence.....without the name 'LACIE'?!?!"

We picked up our binoculars and all at the same time exclaimed, "Oh, Deer!"

We made like a deer and high-tailed it back to the Royal Scotsman just before it pulled out of the station.

We joined our wise sage Hamish in the Dining Car for a nice cuppa and some Scottish Shortbread.

As we looked out the window on the dramatic Scottish coastline, we couldn't help but notice a lifeboat moving away from a beautiful cruise ship...

...They seemed to be keeping up with our train and headed right our way...

...Jake picked up a pair of binoculars for a closer look. "Look! One of those passengers seems kind of familiar...in fact, she looks quite beawooootiful!"

"Hey wait a minute!" said Petey, "I think I recognize another passenger as well!"

Sure enough, it was Kira and Mason Dixie!!! "When we heard about the big surprise birthday party for the Dughallmor Beagle gals, we had to come along to surprise our boyfriends Alfie and Snoop!"

Thank Dogness! Eric Square Dog just happened to have his semaphore flags handy so he signaled to the ship that Kira and Mason Dixie were alright and would be continuing their journey with us on the train.

We let our sea-faring friends check into their cabins while we all relaxed in the Lounge Car.

Jake checked out summer swimwear trends (he'd never been so far from his sunny Florida coast) whilst Eric read the latest issue of WIRED.

Marvin listed to some Three Dog Night on his iPup. Auntie Martha was quickly finishing up a knitting project for Rosie's birthday. (Why do I think this is Auntie's idea of a sexy nightie?)

I was making a nice cuppa for a tuckered out HRH Princess Auntie Bailey (this is how she wished to be addressed once we left Bassetmoral) when suddenly Hamish barked out..

"Hey look out the window!" There on the road parallel to the train tracks were none other than Clive and Asta! Once Asta knew her new nephew was home safe and sound, she quickly booked an AireRuby ticket to join us for the surprise party. Clive, ever happy to assist, popped over from Ireland to drive her to the party!

"We'll meet you at Dughallmor!" we shouted to them from the train.

And a few hours later, our party express train pulled into Elgin Station, loaded with presents, flowers, cake, and decorations galore!!! I hope Rosie and Gabbi (and Snoop and Alfie!) will be surprised and delighted to see us!!!