The Bois and Read Families' trip to Scotland

June 8-19, 2000



Our route in red

The Cast of Characters

The Bois Family: Danusia, Adam and Bill (that's me), from the U.S.
The Read Family: Alasdair, from Scotland, and Sarah, from England
The Read Family: Al's parent's, Patrick and Alice, from Scotland
Cheryl Galbraith, from Scotland

June 8, 2000 - From Florida to London

As we were pulling on to the highway on our way to the airport, we triple checked that we had everything.  Danusia looked at her passport and said, "I don't like this picture.  I hope this expires soon."  She then discovered it had expired three months ago.

What on Earth do you do in a case like that?  After talking with the airlines, we decided that Adam and I would continue the trip as planned, leaving Tampa for Atlanta and then from Atlanta to London.  Danusia would fly from Tampa to New York.  The next morning, a Friday, she would try to get a new passport.  If she got it, she would then fly from New York to London, arriving a day after us.  If not, well, she'd spend some time with her family in New York and Adam and I would have a father/son trip.

When Adam and I got to Atlanta, our flight to London was overbooked.  The gentleman at the gate said that if we took a later flight he would put us in business class.  Didn't take us long to make that decision.  Here's Adam in his flying Lay-Z-Boy trying not to grin from ear to ear, somewhere over the eastern U.S.

June 9, 2000 - London

Adam and I arrived at Gatwick Airport without incident, though we took the wrong train to London. We figured it out pretty quickly and changed trains twice to get to the right spot.  We called Sarah and Al from the train station and they came to pick us up.

It was Sarah's birthday, and Al's birthday had been the previous Friday, so we had a quick opening of presents - a Dave Brubeck CD for her and a screaming rubber chicken for him.  It was just what he wanted.  Don't ask.

At noon, I called Danusia in New York where it was 7:00 AM.  She said that she would call if she wasn't able to get her passport and catch the plane.  If she didn't call, we should assume that everything went as planned.  At this point, it had become funny.  We decided that however things worked out would be OK.

After that and some coffee to keep me awake, we walked around town and did some shopping.

Next:  June 10, 2000
 
June 8 & 9, 2000
 Florida to London: Danusia's side trip
London to Edinburgh: Grey Mare's Tail
Edinburgh to Luing: Edinburgh Castle, the ferry to Luing
Luing to Aviemore: Hill climbing, grey weather
Aviemore to Foyers: Glenfiddich distillery, Loch Ness, Falls of Foyers
Foyers to Glen Sheil: More of Loch Ness and Falls of Foyers, Urquhart Castle, Glen Sheil
Glen Sheil to Stornoway: Eilean Donan Castle, ferry from Uig to Tarbert
Stornoway, Luskentyre and Tarbert
Callanish
Dail Mor
Ceilidh on the lawn
Stornoway to Inverness: A quick good-bye, foggy ferry ride, bus to Inverness
Inverness to London: Hot Hamlet, Floridians get sunburned

Travelogues Home  England  Greece  Scotland  Travel Links

Our other sites:
X Takes The Square
Distinguished Women of Past and Present