Day? Crossing Irish Sea & Scotland

“Rock & Roll” NOW has a whole new meaning for me.  Pretty rough ferry crossing.  Whilst (British term) fixating on a sign on the wall (in an attempt to keep my inner ear stable), I amused myself by watching hardier folk than I stumble around on the violently rolling ferry.  I swear one young lady appeared to be line dancing as she took two steps to one side and then two steps to the other side and then two steps back again.  Yikes…she made me rather dizzy!!
Got to Troon (Scotland) and a short taxi ride later we were the proud renters of a lovely little BMW wagon.  THEN…the true journey began.  Getting the car door open, and then unlatching the trunk, and then fitting all of our luggage in said trunk, all whilst the rain gently fell on our poor, wee little heads, was truly an experience.  No manual in the car so all switches and seat adjustments were hit and miss.  :-)
Bri did OK driving on the “wrong” side of the road, but it was the left-handed turns coming out the the roundabouts that gave us all an adrenaline rush—especially to those of us on the left-hand side (me and Jimbo)!!  The poor BMW’s left front wheel had quite a work out as Bri consistently, and without mercy, slammed it into the curb time and time again!!  By the time we got to our first point of interest (the Falkirk Wheel), about 90 minutes later, we were all laughing hysterically and Jim kept wondering “how much is that wheel damage going to cost me?!”  When we stopped at the wheel and wondered how long we could afford to spend there and still reach our destination that night, Jim had a throwaway line that actually had me pee me pants!!  He says, “Well, we already own the car; we can take as much time as we want!!”  God, I couldn’t stop laughing…and the pee kept flowing!



To sum up Scotland….WOW…very tranquil, few bodies, and a wonderful sense of calm. Castles abound!!  Although Stirling Castle was something out of a movie set, and Edinburgh Castle was imposing, the one that had us all drooling was Urquart Castle on Loch Ness  .  It is really only a well-preserved ruin, but enough of it stood on the banks of Loch Ness that we were all fantasizing about where we’d put the morning room, the breakfast terrace, the family room, the bedrooms, etc,  What an incredible location.  I want it!!!! Badly!!


The bagpipper was on the side of the road…incredibly eerie to hear him on the side of the road in this mountain setting.  I wanted to ask him if he was the same guy in the Rick Steeve’s video, but decided not to embarass him or me!!

September 11 we hit Liverpool for the night.  Great Beatles tribute and lovely trip down memory lane.  Lots of BBC coverage of 9/11.  Happy Birthday to Charlize and Hunter.  And onto London on Sunday, September 12.