On the road again

Behind our trailer.

Well, it's been a little over a week since we've been back from our Scotland adventure.  Now we're headed south for the winter.  We left Harrisburg Tuesday 10/18 and made it as far as Front Royal, Va.  It was a beautiful drive along the way.  The trees are really changing and the colors are beautiful.  We still haven't experienced the colors of New England, but this can't be far off.  We decided to try the Skyline Parkway south from Front Royal but at the 35 mile mark there was a tunnel that measured 12'8".  We're around 12'6" so decided not to push our luck.  We exited the parkway at mile 31 and got onto the freeway.  Not as pretty but not bad.  For all you NASCAR fans who read this we spent one night in Bristol, Tn just down the road from the Bristol Speedway.  OOOOOOH / AAAAAAAH.  The park was really nice though and we decided that we could go back there.  Can't go during "race week" though cuz the rates go up.


We're now just outside of Ashville, NC and had the good fortune to meet up with a former co-worker of Bills.  Steve and Jill Gaines who have retired, bought a 5th wheel and are on their own adventure.  Had dinner with them and it sure was good to see them.  We wish them safe travels and calm seas as they continue.  Hopefully our paths will cross again real soon.

We're discovering that there really aren't any wide open spaces here in the Appalachian Mountains.  Everything is hills and "hollers."  Ya just can't get anywhere without going up and down the hills.  Oh, well that's what makes it so scenic.

We've driven around the area, hunted out waterfalls, strolled small mountain towns. Most days the weather has been perfect and the scenery very pretty. The Blue Ridge parkway is something to see and drive, not all 439 miles of it, but sections. Because of the speed limit, you're forced to go slow, stop at the dramatic vistas and admire the mountains and valleys.

So, we continue our journey south, heading for Atlanta/Stone Mountain for a week,  then on to our son's and our little granddaughter, Savannah.

Leaving Great Britian

It's now Tuesday, the 12th and we're settled into our hotel in Manchester now just waiting til tomorrow when we catch our flight back to JFK.  We've had a wonderful 3 weeks here and have seen so many beautiful sights.  We're both amazed at what we learned about castles, both building them and manning them.  The television shows seem to indicate that there are hundreds of archers and warriors defending castles but in actuallity they were defended by as few as 12 archers and a small group of workers.  Cooks, blacksmiths, a priest and other staff.  The Welsh castles of Edward I were built by a french architect and plans were made for almost any contingency.  If the marauders made it past the moat, front gate, murder holes, and doors braced with 12x12's the defenders would retreat to the next defensible position back in the castle.  They would keep going like that until they were at the kings quarters then if the king were there they would hustle him out through a secret escape route.  Very ingenious for the 11th or 12th centuries.

Some castles were built with the latest technology of the day, including running water, hot and cold. This was accomplished by the placement of the "pipes" (actually just grooved stone) behind the soup ovens, which were kept burning 24/7. The rocks and everything near was heated, including the pipes carrying water. Of course, the kitchen was the only place that had it, but I suppose it could be carried to other rooms. There were no baths or showers of course, so it wasn't needed much out of the kitchen. Some castles had extensive pantries, the stable very close (also a meat locker), a dovecote with little stone pigeonholes stacked way up, holding a lot of pigeons aka squab for dinners. All in all, the operations of the castles were impressive, a big business the kings had to run, with plenty of staff, workers and employees.

Other things we don't get to see much of, if at all, are highland cattle. They are unique to the highlands of Scotland, are shaggy and the long horns. Wales town names always confused us, at least trying to pronounce. Like Ffestiniog, Tywyn, Dyffryn Ardudwy. We took the GPS and she did a great job of pronouncing and getting us there. Street signs are very hard to find. "Sheila"(the name we've given our Australian voiced GPS) took us straight through the city streets of Edinburgh, around the roundabouts and on many country roads. Ocassionally, she took short cuts and some were more like alleys, But hey, they had a road number.

I think we'll look back on this trip throughout our lifetime as a wonderful experience.  As usual, we remember the scenery and the sights, but I think most of all we remember the people we meet and how they impacted our life.  My favorite Scot was a lady named Hazel and her Scottish Deerhound Ness.  Hazel had a little bed and breakfast waaaaaaay out in the country.  I wasn't even sure Sheila could find it but we did and had 2 wonderful nights there.  We especially like B&B's because they put you up close and personal with the "locals". Sitting and visiting with Hazel while she ironed bed sheets was something you could never experience at an Ibis, Sheraton, or any other big hotel.  It's more like visiting family than just a place to eat and sleep.  Thank you Hazel and enjoy your upcoming adventure to Australia and New Zealand. While in Llangollen, Wales we stayed with Mike and Jane at Bryn Meireion, at a wonderful old, 1850s farmhouse. While there we played golf at a local course and Mike dug out balls for us to use and the course had some "clubs" to use also. It wasn't a precision game and it wasn't pretty, but the day was beautiful and it was fun. All in all the people we meet and the places we stay are what we remember the most.

Llangollen

Llangollen was our stay for the last 3 days in Wales. The small town is in a valley on the River Dee, is popular with tourist on the weekends and has a lot happening. There is a steam train along the river for rides, canals throughout for canal boats and small town cafes and shops. Lots of people in good weather.

Aqueduct

Very close is the Fontcyssilte aqueduct, built in the early 1800's, to connect existing canals, without a lock system. The canal sits up 126', and is just an artificial canal, 5'3" deep and flows across the valley to another canal. It was quite a project and took 10 years.  He also built a weir on the river to provide water for the aqueduct! Then there are canal boats, for rent, for sale, for traveling full time. In addition, the town of Llangollen has a horse drawn canal boat to ride on. It's all very peaceful. While walking along the canal, we watched a boat come through, have to raise a small bridge, go through, lower it, then motor on. All in all, a very nice town and area and we had outstanding weather.

Will it make it?

Wales, land of words with few vowels

Caernarfon, Conwy, Llangollen, Porthmadog, Betws-y-coed just a few towns in Wales we've been in or gone thru. Even though Wales is a part of Great Britain, it has a different look and feel. Most of what we've seen in England driving through has been from the freeways (motorways) and nothing to get excited about. Wales is pretty, green of course, quiet and quaint small towns. We spent 3 days in the town of Conwy and it was a surprise driving across the river and suddenly there is a very large castle in front of us.

Conwy

 Conwy is home to an impressive 13th century castle, in very good shape and a walled city. The town has homes and business inside the walls and you can feel how it would have been back in the medieval days. The town itself sits in a valley and is quite pretty.

Caernarfon

 Then there is the biggest castle out there, Caernarfon. It protects the northwestern end of Wales, excluding the Isle of Anglesey. Both Conwy and Caernarfon were built for Edward I, by the same builder. Both have the newest and most modern things in castle building. We took tours at each and learned of special defenses built into the castles, murder holes, arrow slits, indoor toilets (really just an opening to the outside), evidence of gate tracks, shutter hinges, they thought of everything. And they were plastered inside and painted white. It was pretty fascinating although Bill wasn't crazy about climbing some of the towers. There are a lot of steps and it's a steep, spiral stone staircase.  It's not the height or the fall, it's that sudden STOP at the end of the fall!!

 While out at Caernarfon, we had to go to Llanfairpwll, also known as the town with the longest name in Europe. See for yourself. And it translates, "The church of St. Mary's in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the church of St. Tysilio near a red cave." Welsh has a lot of double consonants, or many together and very few vowels and is a living language today.

We drove up into Snowdonia National Park and the area is quite  different than the surrounding countryside. Slate is mined there and around, lots of trails, hills and sporting activities. The weather was great and we really enjoyed the whole coast and mountains.

Driving

Our last day in Scotland passed by the golf courses of Turnberry and Troon, two more of the famous Scottish links courses. Links courses do not look like U.S. courses, no trees, hilly or lumpy greens, foxhole type bunkers and look like you're playing in a pasture. Out at Turnberry, sitting on the coast of the Irish sea, it was very windy, but, because it wasn't raining all the locals commented about what a nice day it was.  Golfing in 30 mph winds is very tough golf, I don't care how brightly the sun is shining! We walked out to a lighthouse, through the course, had some tea at the clubhouse and enjoyed the scenery.  It was a pretty special place to visit.  The clubhouse had lots of pictures commemorating the championship held there when Tom Watson edged out Jack Nicholas.

This is normal

Come Again and speed limit

So a little on driving over here on the left. First, there are lots of cars we've never seen and models we know. Most are small, pickups are rare and the biggest SUV probably being the Landrover. The roads are narrow in town and big cars just wouldn't fit. It's bad enough when lorries (British for trucks) go by or pass on curvy, narrow roads. The hardest thing to remember is when turning right, you drive around or across the oncoming lane, then remember to stay in the left lane. Our car is a manual and we now shift with our left hand,which feels strange at first. At least the shift pattern is the same and the pedals are too. Road signs are interesting and most are "international" symbols but some we can't figure out. There are just 3 speed limits, called National speed limit and designated by a white circular sign with a black diagonal stripe thru it. Speed for the Motorways (M roads) is 70, 60 for others and in town 30. Most of the country roads have a 60 limit and it's almost impossible to go that fast as they are twisty and narrow. But I'm convinced the locals try.  Occasionally, a town or village will post a slower speed. The streets in town are also for parking on, even though it is an active lane and not posted as no parking. So, you go around or wait till oncoming traffic passes then go in the other lane. And you can park any direction you want to. Crazy. In Scotland, some roads are single track, 1 lane, but at least there are passing places or turnouts and drivers are generally pretty cooperative. Most roads have parking turnouts, but we haven't seen one rest stop with a restroom. A lot of the country roads have hedges right to the edge, and there is a fence or rock wall inside the hedge! But the craziest thing we've come across was driving a stretch in England that each lane was about a car and a half wide, no line dividing it into two. And then the cars would pass you from behind, in your lane but not crossing into the oncoming lane. Not sure that was right.

Country road

It has definitely been an experience and for the most part the driving is enjoyable because the scenery is incredible.

Around Scotland on the left

Falkirk Wheel

Been out of eworld touch for a few days, not every place we've stayed has wifi access. So to catch up, we spent 3 days in Edinburgh and saw several different things. One of the coolest places we went to is the Falkirk Wheel. This is a modern canal and lock system put in about 10 years ago. It connects 11 locks, just like regular locks, only different. A boat goes into the "bucket" which is filled with water and the entire wheel is rotated, like a ferris wheel, and at the top the boat motors down a channel to the next canal. We took a ride on a boat and saw the entire process, very cool.

Drum castle

We've toured more castles, ranging from ruins to restored. We tend to like the ruins better and one of the more interesting castles was what we call the Monty Python castle. Several of the movies were filmed there and the audio tape tour had extra commentary. We also stopped at a ruins on Loch Ness. This sight competes with the Nessie center but we didn't stop at the center. Alas, we didn't see Nessie on the loch either.

Loch Ness

One of Bill's favorite spots was St. Andrews and the "Old Course".   As the book puts it "sacred ground for golfers" This is the place that makes and codifies golf rules and is the #1 course. The day wasn't the best for weather, but we walked around the old town, watched some golfers on the Old Course and got some souvenirs.

To this date, we travelled the east coast, all the way up to the top, the northern Highlands and are now down in the Loch area. The east coast is mostly rolling hills, farms and very green. A lot of barley is grown here for the several whisky distilleries. The northern highlands is pretty remote, stunning coast line and what looks like barren rock and brown vegetation. The hills are covered with heather and trees don't grow naturally. Over on the west coast it is still wet, small villages and sheep. We spent a day on The Isle ofSkye  and that was very different. The mountains and hills are covered with heathers, giving a brown, no vegetation look, lots of coastline with many lochs and has a stark, barren look. It's even bleaker with the rain and dark clouds.  The rains gave us a lot of waterfalls to see that probably wouldn't have been there otherwise.

Yumm?

Huh?

So a few more days in Scotland, then on to Wales. We'll try to keep adding to the blog . These last pix are just some humorous things we've come across.