This Shall Be Our Legacy

So we're back-officially. Got back earlier today and have to get the catch-up tomorrow on work.
This was a great trip and it's definitely going down in the books as one of the most fun vacations. Aside from enjoying the fact that I learned just how little I actually knew about England/Scotland/Wales...and life in general, the thing that I've always come away with from trips like these are the new friends that you are just bursting at the seams to see again. Thus we're looking into flights for a quick tour next month if it can be arranged in time for Hannah's wedding (a sister in Ad's hall).

There are loads of things I could tell you about and for the sake of being organized I'll start from the beginning...we got on a plane. Sat in Buisness Class and were given socks for our cold feet. That is traveling in style.

Moving on. Alright forget the organization...here are a few observations:

Round-abouts= Fun AND functional
You can see a full sky of stars in Scotland on a winters night.

Speaking of winter in Scotland that reminds me of the time it snowed when we were staying outside of Edinburgh in a cottage wedged in the crevices of a few mountains...or very tall hills. We woke up in the morning, got ready and within about a half hour's time there was a good 5 inches of snow blanketing the entire valley and creating a white-out effect.

Our crew-Lucy,Steve Russ, Steve Fleming, Jude, Ethan, Jess, Ad and me-hopped into the cars, and spent the day in Edinburgh city. Upon nightfall, we were giddy with anticipation of the evening "Tea" which was going to be an assortment of curried foods (note to Americans: "Tea" does not necessarily mean a hot herbal drink, it is also used to refer to the general last meal of the day, or supper...this will be something we will discuss later as I have very strong views on this). However curry would have to wait. The first car attempted the trek up the mile long hilly drive to the cottage but failed and the little engine behind us didn't make it either. In the end we all got out of the car to push, only to realize it was far too cold, difficult, and heavy.

Susan (AKA Windfarm Protestmonger and Cottage Keeper) came to our rescue with a little help from her man friend Ali and carted the whole lot of us WITH our curry up to the safety of the house. What happened next is not conducive to this element of the story, nevertheless, let it be written that "Malibu Lucy" officially won that night's round of Balderdash. Let's keep this in mind as it is a recurring theme throughout the trip...Balderdash.

Another day come and gone and now the whole lot of us were snowed into the lovely Scottish cottage. But we needed food to survive the harsh climate, therefore, Steve, Ste, Lucy and I set off for the cars and onto Tesco's whilst the others held down the fort. Stepping out into the crisp winter air, we saw what no man had ever hoped to see before. Breath-taking snow-laden hills under brilliant blue skies and clouds that look like mountains just beyond. So off we tromped to the end of the driveway, waved to a few sledding families on the lot, stalked some sheep, ran our errand, drove back, parked the car at the bottom again, grabbed our stock and made for home.

And now we can finally, in all honesty and good conscience, tell our children, grandchildren, and miscellaneous whipper-snappers, that we had to walk a mile, in the snow, up-hill, BOTH WAYS!!!

The experience was worth every moment of it, and it'll be paying me on into the future with that closing line. Happiness is in a cliche.