There and Back Again

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SueS

Puritan Board Freshman
A nod to Bilbo Baggins!

Our trip to Scotland was a huge success - we drove 980 miles in 10 days and saw wonderful things and met terrific people! The first day was a nightmare - we got off the airplane with no sleep and immediately picked up our rental car and proceeded to drive on the "wrong" side of the road, shifting with the left hand! Chuck overcompensated several times and bumped the ever-present curbs which resulted in a blown front tire, thankfully, on a country road, not while going 70mph highway speeds! A friendly farmer helped us locate road-side assistance and after buying a new tire, we were again on our way. Subsequent days were much better and Chuck became comfortable with that style of driving. However, Scottish drivers drive crazy-fast and the roads are quite narrow with no room for error. Speed limits were usually 60mph even in the mountains on roads that would only be 45mph here at home. Needless to say, we didn't drive that fast!

The scenery was totally awesome - I took loads of pictures and none of them really convey the majesty of the Cairngorms and the mountains on the Isle of Skye. We visited castles, saw several Covenanter sites, and had really good pub meals.

Our last 5 days were spent in a flat on High Street, Edinburgh, not far from the John Knox house. Everything was within walking distance and we usually did over five miles per day.

The return trip was grueling - I was awake at 3:30am and we crawled into bed at home almost 29 hours later. We flew American Airlines to the States and both flights were late, luggage went missing (showed up in Pitsburgh, thankfully), and the immigration process at Dallas-Ft Worth airport was the most inefficient mess I've seen in a long time.

So, now we're back home in the Ohio Valley with a huge store of memories and looking forward to hopefully, doing it again!
 
Good glad you enjoyed your trip and may you equally enjoy any subsequent visits. Having spent 3 years living just outside Aviemore I know the Cairngroms relatively well (and nearly came to grieve in them once) and am also familiar with the Cullins in Skye (which provide the cover for Sinclair Ferguson's Heart for God.
 
Just want to add in a plug for the TomTom GPS system. We had ours fitted out for European use and it was invaluable during our trip - the ever-present roundabouts would have been a nightmare without it - it even found us a gas station out in the boonies when we were returning to the airport and had to top off the gas tank. Four thumbs up!!!
 
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