Spectacular Scotland in September

-
It's been more than a month since we returned from our first lengthy vacation here in Europe.  Ten days in beautiful Scotland!  Tom had a trusty sidekick along...his best friend Phillip, aka Grey Squirrel.  My girlfriend G, who was by battle buddy in Baghdad, was planning to join us but she broke her ankle just weeks before the trip and ended up staying home.

I haven't fully decided on how to best blog about the trip.  Edinburgh probably needs its own post, as does our pilgrimage to several whiskey distilleries.  And then there are the castles, forts and museums and the Scottish Highlands.

Seven days of our journey was spent motoring around Scotland in a rented RV and the final two days were spent exploring Edinburgh.  I thought for this first post about the trip I'd share some pictures from the road to give you a feel for the countryside and the diverse landscape. 
Meet 'Scout' - our trusty conveyance
Entering the Scottish Highlands
Cold camping in Nairn
Tom's morning walk with the tide out - Moray Firth
Nearing Fort George - Battalion Headquarters of The Black Watch
Road west of Loch Ness
Scotland's Western Highlands
Loch Alsh
Bridge leading to Isle of Skye
Isle of Skye
Leaving Isle of Skye by ferry - crossing Sound of Sleat
Prince's Cairn at Loch nan Uamh
Loch near Clan Cameron Museum - Tom's maternal grandmother was a Cameron
Looking toward Ben Nevis
Castle Stalker at mouth of Loch Laich
Roadside stop to enjoy a gorgeous afternoon
Besides being beautiful, relaxing and enjoyable, Scotland was also inspiring.  It inspired me to do something that millions of people around the world have already done.  Visiting Scotland and seeing Edinburgh gave me a glimpse into the inspiration behind the look and feel of the Harry Potter movies.  I say movies because I had not read any of the books.  My mother and brother have read them all but I had not cracked a single one of the seven books.  Coming back from Scotland inspired me to give the books a try.  Fortunately Tom had loaded all seven onto my Kindle so I stared reading.  In the last few weeks I have read the Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets and I'm currently about half way through Prisoner from Azkaban.  I've been watching the movies after finishing the book.
  
Check back soon for more Scotland photos.  I'll try not to go another month between posts.

Comments

  1. Amy in StLNovember 8, 2010 at 2:11 PM

    Looks gorgeous. I've always wanted to visit Scotland since my maternal line is from there.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Letter I Never Wrote

-
Image
A draft of this blog post has been sitting in my unpublished queue for many years now. You'll see that the book I start the post with is one I read in 2020. This post is about the death of my mother's oldest sister, my Aunt Almeda.   I noticed that death, grief, and illness were themes in some of my reading in 2023. I read John Gunther's Death Be Not Proud, Laurel Braitman's What Looks Like Bravery , Elizabeth Alexander's The Light of the World , Terry Tempest Williams' Refuge , Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking , and Suleika Jaouad's Between Two Kingdoms .   Recently I've found a lot of creative inspiration from Suleika Jaouad. There is a documentary on Netflix right now called American Symphony and she recently did a nearly 2-hour-long interview with Rich Roll for his podcast . I would strongly recommend both, as well as her book.  I got the feeling that now might be the time to complete this post. So, here it is.   *** The last book I r
Read more

Walking in History...Visiting Normandy during the D-Day Anniversary

-
Image
This is probably a blog I should do in two posts but I'm going to try and do it in one.  I'll try to minimize my words and let the photos tell the story. Over World War II's D-Day anniversary, Tom and I traveled to Normandy on a 3-day USO tour.  It was a whirlwind, jam-packed trip that maximized every moment of what were 13 to 14 hour-long days.  I had been looking forward to the trip for months and believe that visiting that historic site during the anniversary is a trip of a lifetime.   In two-and-a-half days we visited three of the D-Day invasion beaches (Gold, Omaha and Utah); visited the American and the German cemeteries; visited Point du Hoc and Saint-Mere-Eglise; went to the Airborne Museum (although we didn't stay long because of the crowds) and the Museum of the Battle of Normandy (which is a VERY good museum); we saw the Longues-sur-Mer Gun Battery and concluded the visit at Pegasus Bridge.  If you've ever seen the movie "The Longest Day" it
Read more

The Joys of Nature Journaling

-
Image
Last month I went to a daylong Introduction to Nature Journaling workshop led by Roseann Beggy Hanson of Exploring Overland and hosted at the Amerind Museum . I knew nothing about nature journaling ahead of the class. It just sounded like something that might complement my own personal journaling and the House Journal I've been keeping since we moved into the new house in February 2023.  In my House Journal I record seasonal observations from Dalrymple Ranch, as my girlfriend Sydney calls our place. Since I walk the pups 2-3 times a day, I notice when a type of wildlfower first appears or when a particular cactus blooms. I also try to note when we have snow or a big rain storm. And while I don't do it as regularly, I do record some wildlife observations too. Thanks to keeping my journal last year I learned that there is an order in which our cacti tend to bloom. Hedgehogs bloom before the prickly pear. Cholla bloom after the prickly pear have started and then barrel cactus
Read more