Our Days in the UK

On our last full day in Scotland we took a train into Edinburgh from a commuter town. We did this for two reasons: one, we had heard parking in the city was a mess; two, Justin really wanted to ride a specific model of train that ran there (a Mark 2 something or other...) Edinburgh is a beautiful city. I was impressed with the old architecture and the beauty of all the buildings climbing up the steep hills. The castle was also beautiful, but super crowded even though we were there on a weekday, and it's not high season yet. Honestly, we like other less-crowded-but-more-in-ruins castles that we've visited. But we're glad we went! See how crowded it is? There's the castle in the distance. We got audio tours for the kids, and they did enjoy listening. The castle is very complete and well-preserved (and restored). We enjoyed the great hall, and also seeing the Scottish crown jewels (no photos allowed). Oh, and we liked seeing the graffiti from American prisoner

After touring the Isle of Skye we headed to the Scottish Highlands, which were indeed high (relatively, at least!) While looking for a cell phone tower so we could make reservations for a hotel that night (please see earlier post re: tent blowing down) we stumbled upon a gondola. Justin being a transportation-loving fellow, we decided to go up. So we took a gondola up to a ridge overlooking Ben Nevis (Scotland's--and the UK's--highest peak). From there, Becca and I played in the stream and took a little hike out along the ridge. Eric saw the final ascent looming above him and had to go up. Justin went along. Let's just say the hike was confirmation he has inherited the hiking genes that run strong on all sides of the family (and especially Eric's side.) He just doesn't get winded. It's like his lungs expand into huge balloons or something. Anyway, they went up the mountain, mostly without a trail, to the very top. It was a happy Father's Day for Eric! H

On our way back across the bridge to the Scottish mainland from the Isle of Skye we stopped to hike at a place called Fairy Pools. The kids found a side trail that meandered off through beautiful countryside. They wanted to take that route instead of the main route, so we never ended up going all the way to the series of pools and waterfalls down the main path. But the place we found was pretty spectacular and the kids loved exploring on their own, so we'll call it a rousing success! A waterfall for each kid! I don't know what these circular depressions in the ground were, but they were so pretty all overgrown with ferns. You can't see super well in the pictures, but they were a series of four concentric circles, the biggest one being maybe four or five feet across, ringed with stones. If they were fire pits, whoever made them had some serious sense of symmetry as they were almost perfect circles, and there weren't any recent s

We drove across the bridge to the Isle of Skye after our trip to Loch Ness. We didn't have reservations anywhere, so we drove to a random campsite and it ended up being the number one ranked campsite in the UK! The setting was beautiful, in a little valley by the sea on the southwest coast of the Isle of Skye. The kids didn't like it as much as the first place we camped because it didn't have a cozy building to hang out it, but it did have a beach. The kids had fun playing in the cold waters of the North Atlantic (or is it the North Sea? I think it's the Atlantic because it's on the western side...)  Here is our car. Anytime we opened the doors the car pretty much exploded outwards from being packed so tightly...This is where we set up camp. It was a beautiful place to camp, but there were midges. We had been warned about midges, and there weren't too many here because of the breeze, but we still got bitten (you can put insect repellent on, but not in y

So, what do you guys think? Is there a monster!? Justin is skeptical and Rebecca thinks she might be a dinosaur. (She as in the monster, not she as in Rebecca). We watched a documentary a year ago, before we moved here, about Loch Ness. The kids found it fascinating, so we decided to visit the iconic spot. I have to say, it's a beautiful lake, and you can see why mystery surrounds it. When we visited it was all misty and the waves in the lake going across all the rocks played tricks on our eyes. I learned two interesting things about the loch that I didn't realize: it connects to the ocean, allowing a passageway for fish and ocean animals between the two; it contains more water than all the other water in England and Wales combined (that's a lot of water!)  We also went to a museum and exhibit about the monster and the history of the area, but none of us were especially impressed by that. Just visiting the lake and seeing the beautiful scenery was definitely

After Hadrian's Wall we went to a little village near Carlisle for our first night of camping. We had heard that camping in the UK was quite different than what we were used to in America. Most places don't allow campfires, and most are typically big fields with a bunch of tents pitched right next to each other. We camped two nights and both places we found ended up being great.  The first place allowed campfires, and even provided a "firepit." So we roasted marshmallows and cooked hot dogs in proper American-camping fashion. And we pitched our huge tent. It was just on a big field like we'd heard, but there were only three other people (all on foot or bikes) camping there, so we had plenty of room. The kids loved the facilities, too. There was a nice warm dry room with bathrooms, couches, tables, etc to hang out in. If we go to the area again, we will definitely camp in this same place again!  See this huge tent? It looks perfectly set up and nicely