HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! (They don't observe that here in England) We woke up and were downstairs for breakfast by 7:30am, enjoying a nice meal of cereal, eggs (fried or scrambled), bacon (well, a Londoner's version of bacon which is more like what we consider Canadian bacon in the states) toast and orange juice. We also had a nice view of the back garden with squirrels scampering about, birds flitting about and a cat prowling about but, thankfully, never being successful in its hunting. Cindy's dad has 2 cousins who live in London; Jenny, who is married to Frank has a son named Harry and a younger son named Joe, and her sister Julie. Over the past few years they have been researching the family history, discovering that my father-in-law's great-grandfather George was the chief bailiff of ... read more

NOTE: A little administrative note here-in the whirlwind that has been happening since leaving Scotland and arrivin gin London, I mistakenly posted parts of 2 different entries in the last post. I have deleted that entry and am posting the correct the 2 separate posts. Sorry for the confusion :(--Jeff I awaken at 4:30am to the sounds of sheep grazing, birds singing and the ocean as its waves break against the rocks in the distance. This is our final full day in Scotland and we'll use most of it preparing to leave. We have laundry to do, suitcases to overpack (see yesterdays post, lol) and then a short trip into Oban to post the Thursday entry and have our last supper in Scotland. But for now, I just lie in bed watching the sunrise peek through ... read more

The weather as we awoke this morning was like a dream come true. The sky was clear and blue and there was a cool light breeze blowing in off the ocean. The air here seems to have the dual ability to invigorate you and to make you relaxed all the time. Cindy appears to be completely over her cold now and is feeling like her usual self. Everyone else was up before me this morning and when I got up I worked on choosing and preparing the photos for the Dunstaffnage Castle entry I would post later in the day to the blog while eating some peanut butter and jelly on toast. Our time here in Scotland is winding down and we have done and seen everything we had hoped to when we planned this trip. ... read more

NOTE: This is a long one. ANOTHER NOTE: I've tried for several minutes to upload the photos fro this entry, but Travelblog is apparently having some kind of problems in that area. I'll try again next time to upload them, even if they don't go with that particular post, or edit this one to add them in. Apologies for the inconvenience. I almost beat the sun up by rising at 4:30 this morning, but it's first, faint rays were already reaching across the early morning sky. I listened as the birds chirped and I could just barely make out the sheep grazing in the shadowy field next to the estate. I know the sheep lie down and sleep; I've seen them all gathered in one area of the field at dusk, lying on the ground. Now ... read more

If there's one thing everyone knows about Scotland (besides their whisky, golf and thriftiness) it's the Loch Ness Monster or "Nessie" as she (he? it?) is affectionately known. One of Cindy's many reasons for coming to Scotland was to visit the Loch Ness in the hopes of spying Nessie in the water. She also wanted to visit the Glencoe area to walk through the part of the land that saw the betrayal of the MacDonald Clan by the Campbell Clan back in 1692. Both were on our agenda for today, since they are near each other. Loch Ness is located about 2 1/2 hours north of Oban in what is known as The Highlands and Glencoe is about 30 minutes southeast of that. After breakfast we headed out, driving through the winding, mountainous road, passing many ... read more