Four go wild north of the border UPDATED 6/23 About This Page:

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Alaskan Mom

Wow! I'm off the boards for a week and you have a whole pre trip report for a Scotland road trip done!

Well, it has been in the writing stage for a few months now...

You are one fast and organized lady!

I try!

Your trip and places you are staying looks amazing, especially the castle hotel. What a great time you are going to have with your friends. Best wishes to your parents on their 50th wedding anniversary.

[Cam22]

You all have so many great adventures just around the corner now.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Cam22

You all have so many great adventures just around the corner now.

We certainly do!

[chezp]

Pre-trip report – part nine: it looks very barren from up here!

Wednesday 3 May

We had a close encounter with Scotland from the air on the way back from Iceland today, as we ended up flying over a large chunk of the country. All I can say is that a lot of it is very barren and there didn’t seem to be many roads or houses. It didn’t look like that much from the air, if I’m being honest. It seemed quite brown, rather than the green I was expecting. I’m sure it will look much more appealing from ground level though.

We then passed over the Lake District, and that was much greener. I can’t wait to get back here in just a matter of weeks!

As we were seeing Scotland, Mark and I ended up chatting quite a bit about this trip on the flight home. He’s convinced he’s going to be the only sober person in the car each day, but I think he’s over exaggerating. In Italy, we didn’t really drink apart from with our evening meals, and that’s what I’m expecting this time too. Yes, there might be a glass of wine with lunch, but that would be it.

We saw Manchester Airport from the air as well, and that got us talking about the fact that we’ll be picking Mari and Raleigh up from there. We need to do something fun to greet them, but what? I think Mark’s highland coo hat might just play a part and I did say that perhaps I should bring one of my toy highland coos with me. Apart from that, we didn’t get any further. Hmmm… we need to give this some more thought, as I’m sure there are some creative ideas we can come up with!

I remember seeing the couple dressed in Mexican gear at Gatwick, I think when we came back from Florida in March (gosh I feel terrible that I can’t remember that for definite! ) and they were obviously welcoming someone/people back from Mexico, and we thought that was so neat and very funny. We need something along those lines….

Thursday 4 May

Mari commented on one of the photos I posted on Facebook today. I said Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, which is in the north east of England, was sunny, and she was telling me to ensure it stayed until they got there. Well, funny she should say that, as Scotland has seriously been the hottest part of the country over the last couple of days. It’s usually the south east, where we live, but not at the moment. We’ve been seeing temperatures in the low 50s and cloudy, whereas Scotland has been sunny with temperatures in the low 70s. Now wouldn’t it be nice if we could get that for our road trip? Presumably that’s why we got such wonderful views over the country yesterday as we flew back from Iceland…

I happened to be away for work this evening in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, and I decided that it seemed like a good time to book the final two nights’ worth of hotels for this trip. Can you believe I still hadn’t done this? In my defence, this is after we leave Mari and Raleigh in Edinburgh (I don’t mean that the way it sounds, it’s just a statement of fact), so I was more concerned with getting everything sorted for them.

Ironically, the first night I booked was for Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, can you believe it? After much debate, I went for the Village Hotel, as not only did it deliver my three requirements of a free breakfast, free Wi-Fi and free parking, but it also has a spa and an indoor pool.

I’ve even suggested to Mark that perhaps we should go for dinner at Pinocchio Ristorante. It’s an Italian restaurant, as the name suggests, that I had dinner at tonight. Not only was the food excellent, but if you go between 5:00pm and 7:00pm from Monday to Thursday, you can have their set menu,

For our final night away, I’ve booked our hotel in Lincoln. We’re going to stay at the Duke William Hotel. It’s got some great reviews at TripAdvisor, and it’s right in the centre of the city, which is good, given I went to visit the cathedral and the castle.

Saturday 6 May

I figured I’d start getting ready for the trip report by creating the folders I need in Word and Photobucket, but of course I reckoned without Photobucket’s usual lack of cooperation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine when it works, but quite often it doesn’t… does this sound like any other website you know?

I’ve also started to work out our budget for this trip. The first part is working out how much fuel (gas) we’ll need for the car, so I went through our itinerary, as I know roughly how many miles our car can go on one tank of fuel, and worked it out from there. Wow, we will be doing a fair few miles… Mind you, having said that, some days we’re not going very far, whereas others, we are, so hopefully it will all be fine, and not too much for Mark…

I then went through and budgeted an amount for lunch and dinner each day. We don’t need to worry about breakfast, as with the exception of one day, it’s included with all our hotel stays. I’ve then added in any admission prices. We don’t have many, as a lot of the places we’re visiting are National Trust, so our membership will cover it. There are a couple of hotels where we haven’t paid in advance, so I’ve added those in as well. And that’s pretty much it. I don’t think I’ve missed anything, so hopefully it will be a pretty comprehensive budget we can work to, and more importantly, stick to…

I got an email from Mari later on about the Scottish friends of her aunt and uncle, who own an inn in Scotland, asking if it was anywhere near where we were going. I recognised the name of the place – Linlithgow – and knew it was near Edinburgh, so I looked it up for her. The nearest train station’s a couple of miles away, but as I said to her, I bet you can get a taxi company to take you there from the station. It’s literally a 20 minute train journey from the centre of Edinburgh and trains go every 10-20 minutes, so it should be nice and easy for them.

Sunday 7 May

I’ve been tidying up the house today, and part of that entailed putting away the carry-on luggage, but before I did, I’ve been checking things, like have I got some of my tablets I need for while we’re away? The answer is for the prescription meds, which is good, but for the herbal tablets I take, so I’ll need to go and buy some more supplies.

I’ve also now emailed the restaurants I want to eat at for our first week away, so we’ll wait to hear back from them. Hopefully there won’t be any issues with getting a table for four at them, given I’m trying to book more than a month beforehand. Disney has me trained well!

Within an hour or so of sending the emails, I’d already had a confirmation back from one place, the Loch Ness Inn. It’s close to our hotel, the menu looks good, and it’s only a short walk there from our hotel. I also liked the way they offer a courtesy bus to places within a five mile radius. What a great idea.

Monday 8 May

I’ve had a confirmation back from another restaurant, this one’s the Anchor Hotel in Tarbert. We’re staying the night there, so all we have to do is stumble downstairs to the restaurant for dinner.

Another one though, the Steam Inn in Mallaig came back to say they don’t take reservations during “the busy summer months”, which surprised me, as I didn’t think June would be the busiest time, but fair enough. They did go on to say that if they didn’t have a table ready when we arrived, there should only be a short wait in the bar until one becomes free. Ok, that’s fair enough then… There’s also another alternative, the Cornerstone Restaurant, so hopefully if one’s full, we should be able to get in at the other one.

I’ve now also emailed the remaining restaurants to request tables for four, so everything as far as dining reservations go, is now done. Just to wait for all the responses….

Next: let’s meet in the middle….

[disney_duke]

I guess Mark will just have to have a super fun time at Glenfiddich then - the one day you're driving! I hope you are able to come up with something cute to greet them at the airport!
Coming along nicely, all the final details are lining up. It is funny how after planning Disney trips for so many years, we just apply the same logical steps to all destinations now!

[Colexis Mom]

Looks like the dining plans are coming together!

[cubfancolleen]

Yes, Mark must've forgotten about your Glenfiddich day - he won't be the sober one that day!!
You'll need a picture of your welcome outfits! Maybe you can dress up as a coo. Who gets front half, and who is the back end?!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

Yes, Mark must've forgotten about your Glenfiddich day - he won't be the sober one that day!!
You'll need a picture of your welcome outfits! Maybe you can dress up as a coo. Who gets front half, and who is the back end?!

Oh my goodness, love it! Tempting, but there's no way I'm being the back end...

[SuperDave]

Nice going with booking some of your hotels and restaurants which I'm sure all of you will enjoy! Just a week now as you read this!

[Cam22]

Hope you can figure out a neat welcome for Mari and Raleigh!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by SuperDave

Nice going with booking some of your hotels and restaurants which I'm sure all of you will enjoy! Just a week now as you read this!

I know - I was literally just thinking that!

[chezp]

Pre-trip report – part ten: let’s meet in the middle….

Tuesday 9 May

Wow, one month from today, we’ll be setting off for my parents!

I heard back from another three restaurants, confirming our bookings. We’ll be eating with Mari and Raleigh at the hotel they’re staying at, Channings Hotel, in Edinburgh on our final night together. We also have dinner booked at two hotels we’re all staying at – the Lodge on the Loch of Aboyne and the Kildrummy Park Castle Hotel.

I was listening to the hourly news bulletin on the BBC later in the day, and the last story was this cheery one: Scotland set for 21 billion biting midges says forecast service. Can someone remind me again why we’re going to Scotland? I guess I’ll be ensuring I have plenty of insect repellent with me. I had hear this was a problem, so I knew it was a possibility, but now it looks like it’ll be a worse problem than usual. I’d better be sure to take my vitamin C tablets every day as well. They’re the only thing I’ve found that seem to keep midges away from me… oh and I’ll be sure to take lots of Piriton as well, just in case they do get me.

Wednesday 10 May

I’ve heard back from one more restaurant. This one is at Loch Lomond, and it’s one where we’re not going to eat at the hotel. The hotel restaurant wasn’t very well rated, so instead, we’re going to a place about 10 minutes walk away called the Loch Lomond Arms and it looks like a much better bet, plus it’s got a good wine list… an important consideration for Mari and Raleigh, who know their wines!

We got thrown a bit of a curve ball today, but in a good way, and it came from our friend Laurie (yes lauriep, that Laurie who we’re still regularly in contact with). I was saying to her that we hadn’t been able to see puffins on our Iceland trip, and she emailed back to say you can see them much closer to home, which of course I knew. What I didn’t know about was Inchcolm Island. She mentioned that puffins live there and it’s also got a spectacular abbey, so what else was there to do but Google it and find out more?

It sounds like a wonderful thing to do, so I’ve emailed Mari to see if she and Raleigh want to join us. If they do, we’ll try and fit it in somewhere, but if they don’t, as I said to her, that’s absolutely fine with us, as we’ll do it the afternoon that we’re leaving them. I just didn’t want them to say “oh that sounds good, what a shame we can’t go with you”.

Thursday 11 May

I was on Facebook this evening, and I saw a friend of ours was in Mallaig, Scotland. How cool is that? We’ll be there in just a few short weeks time… By the look of his post, he was taking the train journey, which I bet was amazing, but I’m sure our road trip will be equally neat.

Friday 12 May

Mari and Raleigh have started out on their trip! They’re on the plane to Orlando, as I write this. Can I say jealous?

It looks as if they’ll also be joining us on the boat ride out to Inchcolm Island, so we’ll programme that in for our day in Edinburgh with them. Interestingly, Raleigh apparently said he’d prefer that to going to Edinburgh Castle – wow, that did surprise me! I automatically assumed Edinburgh Castle would be top of their list of things to see, as it’s one of the “must see” things, but that’s fine. So long as they get to see what they want to, that’s the most important thing. So thank you so much Laurie for your suggestion!

Saturday 13 May

Today, Mari and Raleigh sail out on their transatlantic cruise, so they are officially on their way over to us! It’s also now only four weeks until the first full day of our trip, so it’s getting ever nearer!

Sunday 14 May

Remember a while ago that I said that when I spoke to my parents that it became obvious that picking up our annual plants from them when we returned from Scotland wouldn’t work? Well, we came up with a plan that did work that involved us meeting up sort in the middle between where we both live. I looked on the map to see what might work, and suggested Warwick Castle, which I last visited when I was a student in the early 1990s at the University of Warwick. Apparently neither Mark nor my parents had been there, so they all practically bit my hand off when I suggested the idea.

It’s about two hours drive from our house and, like every good Disney vacationer, I suggested meeting there at opening time at 10:00am, as then it shouldn’t be too busy. It also meant we should be able to get into the car park right at the entrance, which was exactly huge, but then again, equally it was a bit extortionate at £10 (c. $13) for the day. You may think that’s not too bad, but let’s just say, outside of London, this is a lot of money. We were there at 9:40am, after starting out at 7:00am, and having stopped for a nice filling English breakfast on the way up. My parents arrived about 15 minutes later, and eventually we headed inside. Let’s just say you don’t exactly do anything quickly with my parents these days… in the nicest possible way.

Mind you, I wasn’t exactly rushing around either. Up until this point, I haven’t said a word about this pre-trip report about my ankle, as I figured it wouldn’t play a role, but now I think I have to explain about it here. About 15 years ago, I fell down some stairs, and sprained my ankle. It healed. A couple of years later, a lorry pulled out in front of me on a dual carriageway, and I pretty much had to do an emergency stop. I managed it, but the tiny heel of my shoe got stuck in the car mat as I went to brake, so I yanked my ankle. Yep, same one I’d sprained those few years ago. By the time I got home, I couldn’t put any weight on it.

Now to cut a very, very long story short (seriously you do not want to know all the detail and all the problem I went through with it ) I eventually had keyhole surgery in summer 2005, which dealt with the problem. Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I started to get twinges in that ankle again. Hmmm… I could’ve sworn that they said, when they did the surgery, it would be a cure for 10-15 years. Darn it, that’s the time frame now. Not what I need.

I went to the doctor, and she reassured me she thought it would be Ok. Fine. 10 days later however, I had the freakiest of accidents ever. Seriously, this one would score a perfect 10 out of 10 for freakiness. I was unloading the dishwasher, and went to put a pan away in a cupboard. The pizza tray launched itself at me (seriously, that’s what it felt like! ) and managed to hit a small stool we have in the kitchen, and then sprang straight into my already damaged ankle. I was in agony, and knew it wasn’t good news.

Over the next couple of weeks, I got my crutch back out that I still had from all those years ago, for any substantial amount of walking I had to do, including our trip to Iceland. I went back to the doctor, and he reassured me he didn’t think it was the Achilles. Yay! However, he thought when the pizza tray hit me, it dislodged a piece of cartilage, and it was now moving around my ankle. I told him I didn’t need any further detail, unless he wanted me to a) faint or b) be sick right there and then. Can you tell I’m no good with medical things? Anyway, he put on prescription strength anti-inflammatories, and they do seem to be helping. I asked him if I’d be Ok to go to Warwick Castle, and he said but told me to have the crutch, and be careful on steps. Ok then…

So, anyway, you find me in this episode of the pre-trip report hobbling around Warwick Castle with my parents and Mark on a crutch… and that’s the story of how I ended up there. Fingers crossed this won’t impact on Scotland at all, but right now who knows?

Next: exploring inside Warwick Castle

[bonphil]

So sorry to hear about your ankle. I hope its much better now.

[purplegal]

Sorry about your ankle, I sure hope its better before Scotland. The puffin tour sounds wonderful, but it would be a hard choice between the castle and the tour.

[disney_duke]

I wonder how they know it's 21 billion midges instead of, I don't know, say, just 20 billion? It's kind of an exact estimate. But yes, indeed bring the bug spray!

Glad Laurie made that suggestion as it sounds like a winner. Great choice!

Old injuries never really go away, do they?! I wonder just how long I'll be able to keep running as I have some recurring issues too. But I'll just keep prodding along as long as I can - same as you! Good luck!