travelogue

I don't really know where to start...

It's been so long since I've properly blogged that I really have to just pick one thing to write about. So I'll write about my trip.

It was a rather nice trip, with the first ten days of the seventeen spent mostly in the Scottish Highlands with my mother. We were at a rather nice timeshare on Loch Rannoch, about a mile from the town of Kinloch Rannoch, and a 40 minute drive (over very small and windy roads) from Pitlochry in Perthshire. It rained cats and dogs the first few days, we had a day of sunshine and then it snowed.

There were actually crazy storms going on all over the island, but we did alright. We did some shopping, a bit of walking and lots of chillin'. We watched quite alot of television, as is was dark by about 4:15 every day. But tv in another country is not the same, so it was fun. And when we could get out, as you can see from the pictures, the scenery was amazing.



Mom went home the day after my birthday (the evening of which was spent with good friends Pete & Shirley in Reading) and I headed back to Scotland to hang with my Edinburgh peeps. It was so great to catch up with the Browns and adorable baby Zac (who we prayed would be born a good year-and-a-half before he arrived!), to see Chris, Anneleen, Emily and the YWAMmers (who let me invade their living space). It was beautiful to be back in Edinburgh and to wander about with more familiarity then ever before. I fell completely in love with the Museum of Scotland, and spent my last two available tourist hours on the 'prehistory' floor. Of course I have to go back to hit the other six floors. The rooftop garden was amazing (Chris, you were sooooo right!), and I got up there just as the sun was casting it's amber glow over all the rooftops of old town and the castle. Incredible!

From there I headed south to see my London Chick Posse. I have to say I enjoy them more every time I see them. It was really fun too, to have Pete, Shirley and Janelle meet up with me and then come along while I met up with Shenaaz and Shahid, friends I'd made while in the Galapagos last September. It amazes me how small the world really is.

It's strange that was just a week ago. How could I have been so far away and re-entered my normal life so quickly? What a crazy age we live in. I hate that such important people in my life are so far away. Funny how I consider Pete and the girls to be such a part of my community, but they live five thousand miles away. How does that work? I don't know, but it sure does get harder every time to say goodbye to them when I have to come home.

Okay, I'm done. I've rambled enough. I'll post more pictures soon. These ones are a bit grainy and blotchy. Must be because I moved them betewen computers with my mp3 player. I think it dumbed down the pixles. I'll fix it later.