Day 8, I return home a Scot

We awoke early and tucked in to yet another great breakfast in Scotland. I chose a cheese and onion omelet that was fantastic. The cheese reminded me of the cheese D had on his cheese melt back in Edinburgh. During breakfast I got to talk more to Glenys' husband Ian who is a bit of a railfan and travels all over Scotland to photograph the many different types and ages of train equipment. He also had some information and DVD about a coal fired steam yacht that plies the waters, Lochs and canals of Scotland. Called the Puffer, it looks to be a lot of fun and a possibility for a future trip.

And tea, don't forget the tea!

Wish I had time to watch this.

We loaded up and left slightly ahead of schedule, stopping in Fort William for our first fuel up of the trip. We had done about 600 miles to that point and only needed a few gallons to get us back. The fuel economy of the Mondeo was exceptional, but I would expect that for a Euro diesel. I'm pretty sure D returned it with 9 miles of range left in the tank!

Yes, no naked lights please.

I spotted this Series I the previous day. It was apparently at a hotel for a historical vehicle rally of some sort.

Nice Mini!

Leaving out of Fort William, we followed the shore of Loch Linnhe before turning inland near Onich. From there we traveled more or less due east to reach the mountain sports town of Glen Coe. Along this trip we saw an advert for canyoning, a sport we enjoy, with Vertical Descents. Oh crap, I just looked at their website and they have all sorts of cool activities.

Barely captured on film, this is the Glencoe Mountain Rescue station. The Hi Lux you can barely see was pretty cool, I think.

Uh-oh, keep your eyes open.

Beautiful mountain scenery around Glen Coe and the Grampians.

Reminiscent of Wyoming in places.

We paced this inter city train for a short bit.

This lovely Hi Lux was spotted at a rest stop.

After Glen Coe we ascended through the Grampians and some beautiful scenery that reminded me of parts of Montana and Wyoming. We eventually reached Crianlarich where we went anti-clockwise around Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. It definitely looks like yet another spot worth a return trip. Not long after we came upon Lix Toll. I'll let the pictures do the talking and you will figure it out.

It's fairly safe to say I was in heaven, although none of these were legal to import in to the US. And Mom breathes a sigh of relief.

After that, we continued through Callander and Doune where we made a short stop at a woolen mill. It was okay but it was no Bruar so we continued on. We met back up with the M9 at Stirling, saw the Castle from another vantage point and motored on in to the airport. We quickly found the appropriate drop off point and said our good byes. D and K were to continue on to Edinburgh for several hours before returning to the airport and flying to London where they would spend the night and fly home the next morning.

The other side of Stirling.

I made it through security and in to the departures terminal. While there I took advantage of some shopping opportunities and even some whisky tasting. I did the tasting in preparation for buying a couple of single malts to bring home. It's a good thing that I asked how much I would be allowed to bring home because the nice lady recommended that I not buy it there as security would confiscate it in Amsterdam. It's a good thing, because sure enough, I was screened a second time there. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Make it happen. Great slogan.

Til next time Edinburgh.

The fire training facility at the airport.

The Firth of Forth bridges.

The flight to Amsterdam Schipol was unremarkable, but once we landed I swore we were driving/taxiing back to Edinburgh! We taxied for, no lie, 15 minutes to get to the other side of the airport. Once off the plane, I had to walk at least a full mile to get to my departure gate. And of course, once I got there they were already boarding but not before we all had to go through screening, again. This time they made me take off my belt when I've never had to do that before. We went through the body scanners and they patted us down anyways. Thoroughly disgusted with airline travel, I made it on the plane with no other issues. The seats were nice as the layout was a 2, 4, 2 and I had a window seat. I was flying KLM this time and was slightly disappointed to find a different selection of movies and that I wouldn't be able to finish Haywire. Nevertheless, with an 8.5 hour flight time I was able to watch four movies. Safe House (not bad, see it), Young Adult (Meh, it's okay, rent it), What to Expect When You're Expecting (Surprisingly good, see it) and Friends with Kids (Not terrible, rent it) were all finished and I got 15 minutes in to Men In Black 3 before landing.

Cool rainbow around our shadow.

 

Landing at Dulles with a window seat was fun after doing some evasive turns over Maryland to avoid thunderstorms with lightning (!). That was the first time I've seen lighting from up in the air, thankfully we avoided any strikes. We descended and approached Dulles along a path that I clearly recognized. For you NOVA readers, we came across the Potomac at Algonquian Park, then along Dranesville Road and Rt. 28 in to the Manassas area before turning on final approach coming over the Dulles Expo Center landing on 19R.

Customs and Passport Control wasn't bad and I quickly found my bag on the carousel. Not having a cell phone (damn non-GSM Droid) I had to use the pay phones. First though, I had to find a place to get quarters as I left all US coinage at home. The newsstand was able to help, but we had to wait for someone to buy something so she could open the drawer. Then I had to try five phones before I found one that would accept the coins and make a call. I quickly reached Mom and Sister who graciously provided taxi service. Of course the first thing I noticed was the heat, whew, I really wished for the weather back in Scotland.

Another great trip! Great fun, food and friends! I'll be back shortly with a wrap up post.