Scotland V: the Road to Invararay

We had to return the Vauxhall on Thursday afternoon, but were in no particular rush to get back to Glasgow. Instead, we plotted a winding route through Argyle, looping down to the Campbell clan seat at Inveraray before returning to Loch Lomond and truly starting the march back to Stuttgart. Once again, I found myself both enjoying the challenge of driving on the left (my lane placement had much improved) and frequently wishing we had set up A as a second driver. It's hard to gaze up the craggy shoulders of a Ben while keeping your eyes on the road! With a frequency and style particular to Scotland, the landscape tripped us into gasps, oohs, and ahhs at regular intervals. You never knew when a castle would appear between the trees just as a patch of sunlight skidded off a hill to illuminate it! 

Kilchurn Castle in a splash of sunlight

Inveraray Castle is a famous stop-off on Highland tours, and although the structure one sees is largely 17th-19th century, its roots are medieval. The part that we (and a tour bus of Swiss tourists) were allowed to tour through included Rob Roy's sporran, displays of weapons that were probably used during Jacobite uprisings, and a supposedly haunted bedroom... next to a room full of family memorabilia. Elephant polo trophy, anyone? The house is still the residence of the current Duke of Argyll and his family.

Some of the bayonetts have notches in them...

Nearly as impressive as the house were the grounds, including a large formal garden and both wild and of woods. The clouds had broken as we walked the crushed gravel paths and wove around dripping foliage. Bits of elegant stone architecture lured us deeper into the grounds and away from the tour busses. We didn't have time to take the full Woodland Walk, but we crossed one of the Stone Bridges and followed the road towards a white tower. It was just another of those moments where we thought we had stumbled into a fantasy story, or at least into a Jane Austen novel!

A pausing for an Austen moment

 

Our Inverary wanderings were fueled by Roxy's Cafe in Oban. When I woke up that morning, I realized it would be the last "real" morning in Scotland. The focus on the next day would be getting to Edinburgh, then getting to the airport, then getting to Stuttgart. One of the joys of travelling with a coffee- and book-loving friend is the shared joy of finding a cozy space, enjoying a drink, and opening individual books to read or write. So it was that I had my last stomach-bursting dollop of clotted cream, sandwiched between Buckley-sized meringues. It was a lovely farewell to the Highlands, as we returned to Glasgow and tried not to think about the fact that we had less than 24 hours left in Scotland...

Buffalo-sized meringue, or meringue-sized buffalo? 

Scotland II - Highlands and Hiking

  "Did it rain much?" "Did you have sunny days?" "How was the weather in Scotland?"
          - Yes, Yes, and Wonderful.

Honestly, it rained every day. We had blowing rain, light mist, torrents, spits, sprinkles, still fog, and and more. We walked outside in sunshine and were wet by the time we got to our destinations. Did it matter? Not really. Only when we thought about it did it become a problem. Thinking about the hike in the rain kept us from hiking up Ben Nevis, and it shouldn't have. The times we copied the locals and said "Nae bother," we had grand adventures.

Friesland

I finally did it, one of the last travel things I've been afraid of. I rented a car and drove in Europe. Granted, we were only in Amsterdam for about 10 minutes, and most of where we spent our time was, as the guy at Enterprise put it, "much slower." It would have been a little faster had I  realized that a passport is required for car rentals and not left mine at home, but fast enough it was. On a raining sideways morning, we finally set off across the Afsluitdijk towards the land of our grandfather's fathers.

New Mexico Wanderings

After my weekend in Boston, the next stop on my trip was Albuquerque. I wasn't sure what to expect from New Mexico, except maybe to see some folks from Calvin while I was there, enjoy some sunshine, and and eat some chili. Over meals with friends, I had green an red chili in several forms (each of their suggestions was delicious!) and finally got my time in the sun on my last day, before flying out. 

Sunrise on a red snake

Flatlands Road Trip

Work sent me to Kansas... I arrived early enough to do a little sight seeing in the history-rich area around Kansas City, largely based on 1838 Missouri Mormon War sites. Then the road trip to central Kansas started... with stopovers in Topeka and Salina. 

Bend to Boise

We skipped breakfast in Bend and hit the road early, pointed towards Boise. It turns out that there isn't much along SR 26... and Brothers, OR is nothing like Sisters, OR. We made our Camp Oats at a pull out which asked us to not camp on their lawn. I couldn't find the lawn, so I don't think they have much trouble with people camping on it.

Brothers, OR

Black Butte Hike

From the Willamette valley, we drove up and over the Cascades towards Bend. Detroit, Oregon looks a little difference than Detroit, Michigan! There was still a little snow on the pass, but we dropped down towards Sisters in the sun. After a stop for roadside grilled cheese sandwiches on a nearly-empty logging road, we wound up the side of Black Butte and parked at the trailhead.

Highway 101: Oregon Coast

We drove over the towering ribbon of a bridge that links Washington and Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia river. After a brief stop to refuel at one of the old cannaries on the Astoria waterfront, we continued along 101 down the coast. 

Highway 101: WA coast

A few weeks ago, we went on a springtime road trip. You would think that I would know better than planning a road trip through several rain forests in April, but that's exactly what I did. Sunday morning, we loaded up the Toyota Adventuremobile and headed south to the Pt Townsend ferry.

First stop: LaPush. And really big driftwood logs!

Joshua Tree

One of my Swedish friend’s wishes while in LA was to visit one of our national parks. Aside from the Channel Islands, the nearest national park to LA is Joshua Tree. After sitting in traffic on Thursday, we thought that Friday would be a great day to ditch the city and head to the desert. Luckily our mustang agreed, so we hit the road.

Route planning (Thanks, Ruth, for the photo!)

MWRT part 10: Boise and the way home

On Saturday afternoon we drove out of Utah and headed up I-15 towards Idaho. It was a fairly quick drive, and we made good time in the heat and wind. At one point, we raced a thunderstorm across southern Idaho and watched lightning strike on our left, blue sky on our right. We drilled 8 tumbleweed as we drove through the dust cloud and came back into a sunny sky.

MWRT part 9: Heber Valley

The reunion was held at Soldier Hollow, the site of the XC Ski and Biathlon events in the Salt Lake City Olympic games in 2002. The site was renovated after the games to include two golf courses to give those with summer homes in Midway something to do. We took advantage of the many snow free XC ski paths for regular walks after meals. 

MWRT part 8: Over the Wasatch Front

When I'm navigating, I don't always take the most direct route. Our drive from Idaho to Heber City was a perfect example of this. I saw a little road out of Salt Lake City that wound up over the Wasatch Front, and suggested that it might be the most direct route to our destination. While it likely was, SR 190 was full of switchbacks, steep grades without guard rails, and spectacular views. 

MWRT Part 7: Idaho Falls

Driving down I-15 through Idaho, arrived at M's brother and sister-in-law's place in Eastern Idaho. We spent a while with them walking the dogs and had a great dinner in Idaho Falls. After dinner we went to where M and I were spending the night, left our cars, and walked in the cool evening air through the parks that are built along the river. In the morning, before it got too warm, M and I went on another walk through the same park. It was lovely! 

MWRT part 6: Flathead Lake Breakfast

We left Kalispell on Saturday morning, packing the tent and the rest of our worldly possessions into the Rav4 and pointing it South towards Utah. On our way, we stopped at a state park on the shores of Flathead Lake. It was beautiful. The water was warm (except where a stream poured into the lake!) and almost tropical looking.

MWRT part 5: West Glacier

After our hike on Highline Trail, we piled back into the Rav4 and headed down the long switchbacks of Going to the Sun Road. We came level with the mountains to the west, then dropped down below them into the valley. We had thought to hike Avalanche Lake on our way, but parking couldn't find a parking space...

MWRT part 4: Highline Trail

I got to check a trail off my bucket list! The Highline Trail opened a few weeks before we got to Glacier, and after hearing about it for years we finally did it. Okay, so we only did the first 3-ish miles of it, but it was beautiful. We were eye level with glacier-peaked mountains, cool rocks, and a fearless marmot!

MWRT Part 3: Going to the Sun

It was nearly too hot to sleep at Many Glacier, but we woke up in the morning ready to hike. Since we had such a solid dinner the night before, we decided to hit the road as soon as the sun hit our 3rd story window and head for the St Mary Lake. 

Good morning and goodbye, Many Glacier!

MWRT 2: Many Glacier

 Sunday afternoon, we continued the Mountain West Road Trip into Glacier National Park. We rattled up over rough state route roads and between grazing cows to the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, where we refilled our water bottles and started hiking. We walked past family groups on afternoon hikes along and above the river. Finally, the sound of rushing water got louder and we reached Red Rock Falls.

Mountain West Road Trip part 1

M and I spent last week road tripping. It was so much fun! We loaded up the Rav4 on Saturday morning with borrowed tent and camp stove, Chaco sandals, and a week's supply of Cliff bars and pepperoni sticks (thanks, friends and Costco!). Then we drove south and west to our first range of mountains, and onwards from there...