Scotland Day 9 - Glasgow and Moffat

We almost picked up some hitchhikers today.

Yes, you read that right. 

I would have thought Carrie would have been vehemently against it, but it was her idea. We've seen a lot of hitchhikers around Scotland. It seems like hiking somewhere and hitching a ride back is a fairly common hobby.

There was a group of about 6 young adult hikers outside our room who were looking for rides when we went for breakfast. We discussed it at our meal and Carrie was ready to offer on our way back to the room.

This car offered them a ride as we were about to hop into our car instead. We ended up trailing them almost into they city before our paths diverged.

Glasgow was a newer city than Edinburgh and more spaced out. We drove through some suburbs before we detoured around the city center on the highway.

I was curious as to what the 'M' and the 'A' in the road names stood for. I know about US road name/number conventions, but it's a whole new world across the pond. Those minor knowledge gaps nagged at me a little (I like knowing how things work).

Carrie and I joked that the weather warning signs around Scotland worked by always saying "Heavy Rain Forecast."

We were lucky in that we never hit anything I'd consider heavy rain, but the warnings were ubiquitous.

Today was a dream come true for Carrie: We visited Moffat.

Grandma's maiden name is Moffat and the eponymous town is in the lowlands south of Glasgow.

Carrie has attended multiple highland games and hung about with the Moffat clan (and Frank!). Several years back there was a clan gathering and they all traveled to Moffat, Scotland together.

Carrie didn't get to go then, but we made it today! It was a cute little town. Unfortunately, we showed up the one day the local museum was closed.

We had plenty of fun poking around the local streets and stores (Fidget spinners....they've spread this far and they're evolving!?).

There were campgrounds nearby and the town seemed to cater to motorhome/caravans/campers.

We wandered into an old wool mill turned sprawling store in search of a Moffat kilt pin and tartan cloth.

It was the one type they were sold out of! We talked to an Irish woman who worked at the store and remembered the clan gathering Carrie wanted to visit (She'd worked at the hotel where everyone stayed!).

Carrie didn't find what she was looking for, but I got a book as a souvenir.

Then we went by a local bakery and grabbed a pair of pies for cheap lunch (Mine was chicken tikka).

Wind turbines and clouds were everpresent on our way back.

I read that Scotland generated enough wind power in the first half of 2019 to power all their homes and then some.

We pulled off to grab Carrie some caffeine and I picked up an Irn-Bru. I've seen the soda all over. It's called "Scotland's Other National Drink" and supposedly outsells Coke and Pepsi. 

I'm not a huge soda fan, but I wanted to try it. When Carrie got her coffee, I picked up a bottle and took a sip.

Then, I encouraged Carrie to try it. She was adamant she did not want to. Nevertheless, I persisted.

I got her to at least take a whiff.

Which didn't help persuade her.

All I wanted was one tiny sip! I had a water bottle ready and as she protested, it occurred to me, "Maybe I should film this..."

I think Carrie could be a viral hit! One tiny bleep over the curse and we could be raking in the advertising money! This could have been the greatest moment of our whole trip!

We scooted back into Glasgow where I got to visit a friendly local game store. We got to talk with the employee there for a while, play Orc-Olympics, and we picked up a souvenir card game to play at home (Get the MacGuffin).

If we had more time, we might have gone by the Ikea. I had suggested finding a parking garage and walking the city center, but Carrie wasn't up for the walk.

Side note: People in Scotland parallel park without regard for facing on the road. I got a parking ticket as a kid for doing something similar near my high school in the states.

When we got back to the hotel room, I answered some of my own burgeoning work emails. One of them had been to supply a short video for an introduction to my upcoming Freshman Seminar class (I still was not sure what Freshman seminar was!)

Carrie played director. I wanted to do a single take and be done with it, but she started to develop her own vision and a sense of professional pride! We settled on two takes with some haggling over the details in between!

Then we were back to our old ways.

The sky opened up and it started to pour on us as we walked back to our room. I gave Carrie the umbrella and got to see how water resistant my coat truly was.

It didn't measure up to a good Scottish storm.

We had a pizza with chicken, bbq sauce, and haggis for dinner. It was noticeably cheaper to buy it for takeaway rather than eat it in the restaurant (~£11 --> £8!).

We ended our final night in Scotland watching the £100k Drop, packing, and munching happily. Carrie's been happy and relaxed ever since we moved the tour group along and isn't looking forward to flying tomorrow. I wouldn't mind more time in Scotland either, but I'm more eager to get back into the new house and establish a new routine, start my new job, and bring Shane home.

Scotland Day 8 - The Road to Stirling

We said "Goodbye" to Kath and John in Inverness and took the A9 south again to head to our next room near Glasgow. I resumed my role as DJ as Carrie reprised her role as Driver. 

We made a pit-stop at the House of Burar (near Pitlochry of the "pit-stoppy" fame).

I sat in a neat chair I joked would be great at a rural computer desk. I checked the price tag and popped up! I wasn't about to keep in a £2750 seat! 

There were a wide assortment of items ranging from fairly priced to "Who'd pay that for that!?" We grabbed some ice cream cones and Carrie found a deal for a gift tucked in the "Sale shop" hidden behind the main area.

It's nice to have somewhere to go, but to not be in a particular hurry to get there. We decided to stop by Stirling castle.

We wound up a crammed road filled with parked cars and found a "Lot full" sign when we reached the castle. Parking seems to be in short supply all over Scotland. We continued on into town and found some street parking Carrie expertly paralleled us into.

From there it was a short jaunt up the hill to an information center and a 15th century church, the Holy Rude.

The church has been around for nearly a millennia and is where King James VI of Scotland was crowned as an infant. 

There was no fee for entry. Instead, a bin asked for donations at the entryway. We were greeted by a volunteer who directed us to a wall of information brochures in numerous languages. We took some time walking around, reading, and enjoying the stained glass artwork.

We continued up the hill to Stirling Castle after.

Carrie was full of facts and talked about the battles of Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn.

In more recent history, the castle acted as a transit and recruitment ground during the Great War (WW1).

The grounds were beautiful and well maintained...., but also deadly defenses. The ditch we crossed over had areas for enfilade fire to make life short and unpleasant for attackers attempting to cross through.

We made it into the castle and heard it would be £16 a piece to enter. While that was not overly expensive, our pounds were dwindling and Carrie was eager to see the William Wallace monument and continue to our room for the night.

And wouldn't you know it, there was another long phone call?

We made our way back down into the city. Elevation changes in cities always amuse me.

Carrie was interested in some of the same thing, as me. "Are you taking another picture of my phone!" she asked.

"I'm taking a picture of the wall through your phone!"

I'm pretty good at dodging elbows.

We stopped at a coffee house and cafe for a small lunch. We have not had trouble finding reasonably priced food throughout our trip. There's no real way to expand your floor space when your business is in an ancient, stone building!

We stopped by a local game store (surprised?), but didn't stay long. We were on the road through more hills, pastures, and small towns by the late afternoon.

I learned that I had to be careful with how I used the zoom on my phone lest the camera switch to selfie mode.

We were scheduled to stay at the Oak Tree Inn in Balmaha off Loch Lommond tonight. Carrie promised me there would be time and space to play a game or two and relax together.

We put Carrie's new shoes to the test on a short hike.

We took some pictures and made some memories. We should have brought a blanket.

There was a much longer hike that scaled Ben Lommond, but we kept it simple. It's amazing how the grade quickly changes the difficulty of the hike.

I'm sure Carrie got some fantastic shots of the loch and the islands within it...., but I prefer my shots to have people in them.

We split a pizza with black pudding as a topping for dinner when we finished our hike.

Then we returned to our room...

...and talked with Nana, Pop, and Shane before watching some TV and calling it a night!

Scotland Day 7 - Inverness

Carrie has loved waking up to a traditional Scottish breakfast each morning. The B&B kicked it up another notch (once she figured out the espresso/coffee machine!). 

My plate looked similar, but I passed on the beans and egg. My digestive system makes enough gas without adding fuel for the fire. I left off the mushrooms and tomatoes and made up for it with toast and jam. 

When we left for the day, there wasn't any real plan. I wanted to walk around downtown, see some sights, and find some food. Carrie has gotten to be an expert at traffic circles.

The biggest problem with going downtown is parking. We found a parking garage (pronounced gair-rawge) and backed in. We were thankful we'd switched cars. The V60's nose poked out a wee bit. The V90's would have been floating out another foot!

The garage was neat in that each level was split into two. They had effectively put two levels into 1.5 stories. The elevator went to odd number floors and then there was a ramp that went up or down half a flight.

Yes, I sometimes find the most mundane details interesting.

I didn't get to see a library in Edinburgh, but there was one right outside the parking garage!

It doesn't look much like our library on the outside, but the inside was familiar.

It was a small library and I didn't see public bathrooms. If you don't want to spend pence to piss it helps to keep an eye out for such things.

I could have stayed a while to poke around, but Carrie wanted to find a bathroom. There wasn't a bathroom in the sports store, but we stopped anyway. Carrie found a good deal on some sturdier sandals she could hike in without complaint.

We stopped at the Filling Station for draining and re-filling. "You'd better not be taking another picture of me on my phone," Carrie said.

"Just getting the cards!" I replied and readjusted my camera. She'd caught me and I tried not to smile.

We hadn't planned on shopping, but Eastgate Shopping Centre was across from us to wander into it. I nixed a good deal on luggage.

Carrie spotted a cute shirt for Shane.

I'll leave what happened next to your imagination.

Carrie's reactions are very expressive!

We went through multiple stores including one of my favorites: A book store. There were fewer Games Workshop books in the Sci-Fi section and a larger true crime section than I'd expected.

There were a few board games out, as well.

It's interesting how wide American culture tends to spread whether it's media or commercial.

The castle wasn't a far walk, so our next stop was a no-brainer (Even as we passed a MacDonald's and I offered multiple times to treat Carrie to a burger).

Everyone seems to have a castle in Europe. We weren't able to go inside this one, because it's still in use!

The castle and the hill it was on made a great location to play amateur photographers.

Carrie's pictures usually look better than mine, but you can play "Where's Carrie?" in mine.

She's like Waldo only a lot prettier.

Here are some of the shots she took. Her camera is set for a higher quality picture (larger file size) and is more willing to play with settings to get a pretty shot. I prefer to keep mine quick and easy for uploading and catching quick moments.

Carrie particularly enjoyed the river.

It was very shallow and I could see the rocks at the bottom when we crossed over it on the footbridge.

Perhaps there's a way to raft or canoe along it, but I don't see any large boats coming through.

We poked our head through several shops and an indoor market as we made our way back across town. We stumbled into one store that Carrie was worried she'd get a contact high from (There was a haze in the basement...). I found the thrift store more interesting.

If your castle gets cold at night, a crochet cozy can keep it warm.

Our next stop was a castle alongside Loch Ness. 

As we pulled up, there was a large sign saying the parking lot was full, good luck! Observe the size of the road.

There was no shoulder and no place to turn around. There were a few driveways carved into the occasional hillside, but the road was 60 mph with coaches and trucks zipping by (and the occasional crazy person on a bicycle or on foot!).

Several miles down the road we pulled into a shoulder area for pictures and attempted to make a U-turn. The V60 was too big and as Carrie shifted to make a K-turn she spotted a large, 60 person tour bus rounding the corner!

We made it without issue, but her adrenaline levels spiked and tires squealed!

We spotted a park and walk a 1.4 miles downhill from the castle and said, "That was a scenic drive! Let's keep going!"

And that's exactly what we did. We drove back to Inverness and went to an Aldi to grab snacks and a cheap lunch.

Scottish cashiers are provided with chairs.

For under £7 we grabbed milk, snacks, junk food, desserts, and beer.

Like I request game stores, Carrie likes to visit horse stores. She had wanted to go riding near Urquhart Castle, but the stable said I lacked English riding training (I learned Western as a kid). She really wanted to ride while we were in Scotland, but (despite my urging) she refused to ride unless I could ride with her.

The first saddlery we visited turned out to be closed! However, the pet saloon next door was a great deal of help in finding an alternative.

I found myself standing outside with Carrie's purchase while she looked around "just a little longer."

Don't worry about me, though. The weather was nice and the hotspot was in the car, so I was able to learn against it and play on my phone. We had to leave the parking lot not too long after after Carrie came outside. The employees wanted to lock the gates and be gone by 5 PM (They were locking the gates around 4:52ish. Don't expect to find a store open in Scotland if you're cutting it close!).

Our hosts, Kath and John, had a surprise for us when we returned for the night. Before we went out, Carrie mentioned she really wanted to find a good Scotch egg. We knew we could get them in grocery stores for cheap, but she wanted something fresh. You could see the gears start turning in our hosts' minds. They mentioned Scotch egg experiences from their childhoods, but couldn't recall seeing any of them lately.

John pulled out their iPad and started to call restaurants. We were ready to move on from the conversation, but they were just getting started! They called a few more restaurants and brainstormed before we moved on.

I thought it was done with, but Kath had a Scotch egg waiting for Carrie when we got back!

We had Scotch eggs and junk food for dinner!

The rest of the night was a quiet one. We played some WoW, streamed some shows, and did a little packing to prepare for our departure in the morning.