Category: Personal

HHR:  It is my understanding that today was the big day for the Ben A’an hike.

Larry:  Yes, we were all excited.  Do you know anything about the hike?

HHR:  Yes, I am  familiar.  Ben A’an was originally known as An Binnean (small pointed peak) but lost its name due to Sir Walter Scott calling it Ben A’an. It stands at 1488 ft and is easily completed in 3 hours.

Larry:  It sounds like you know something about the hike but do you really know the details of the hike?

HHR:  I am a hard hitting reporter of course I know.  You start at the large car park and cross the road to the path on the other side that says Ben A’an. Follow a  path up through the forest, crossing the occasional stream and the bridge until reaching a clearing that views the destination for the day. There are  muddy points when going through the forest but, these are not of any great inconvenience.   The summit cone offers a large choice of rock climbing opportunities, however for  hikers it is the path to the summit. The path to the right of the cone is the one and although steep at points is fairly straight forward.

Debbie:  Let me tell you what really happened HHR.  We started at the parking lot and dodged cars to go across the street.  We saw the sign.  We followed a path straight up the mountain.  Finally, someone pointed out that we had to climb about 100,000 steps crossing a bunch of mud and streams.  Larry kept saying that he didn’t want to go anymore.    I kept saying, “I am going because I saw someone in a kilt and thought it might be the Outlander looking for me”.  I let  Larry pass me at the end because I was trying to make him feel good.  It was not because I was thinking of flinging myself off the cliff rather than walk up it.  We lost Jerry and Joyce for a little while or maybe they didn’t want to hike with us.  I was chanting “Outlander, Outlander” as I crested the summit.

Larry:  I feel that the hike was misrepresented.  It was a rock climb not a hike.  We had to scramble to the top.  Scramble is not the word that you want to use with hike.

Debbie:  I thought that I was going to fall off the mountain.

Larry:  Probably because you were walking so fast.

HHR:  What happened when you got to the top?

. Larry:  We took lots of pictures.  Debbie tried to sit with other people and eat their food.

Debbie:  We left our food down below.  I was hungry and I heard those Mothers offering ice cream to their kids as a reward to keep hiking.  I thought, well, I made the top so why not share that ice cream?

Joyce:  I want to jump in here that the views were really great but it took awhile to get up to the top.  I had not issues but kept stopping for the views not because it was a straight up rock climb.  Three hours must be a miscalculation.

Debbie:  I got road rash on my hand.  No, I didn’t fall but these kind of things happen when you rock climb.  I agree with Larry.

Jerry:  I had to do some backtracking to retrieve some items left on the mountain so that upped my time.

HHR:  Missing items?

Joyce:  We don’t want to talk about it.  We have everything now.  Jerry needed a good work out.

Larry:  It was a good workout and it is not really true that Debbie and I were laying in the grass when Joyce and Jerry got to the parking lot.

Now that the group had been to several castles over the last few weeks, they thought that they could do more in than one a day.  Here is a run down of their day plus exciting news from Debbie

Stirling Castle – located in Stirling (Not hard to guess that)  is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs, giving it a strong defensive position.   Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots, (She is everywhere) in 1542, and others were born or died there.  It is a big castle and they liked walking around the castle.  They almost spent too much time at the castle.

Dunblane Cathedral – This is an old church that is owned by the Crown and maintained by Scotland.  It was an impressive church.

Doune Castle –  is a medieval stronghold near the village of Doune, in the Stirling district of central Scotland.  Debbie was all excited.  For our older readers, it is heavily featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.   For our young hip readers,  Doune Castle was also Winterfell for the Game of Thornes and it is CastleLeoch in Outlander.
Here is the most exciting news of all.  The star of Outlander is named Jamie Fraser.  Our accommodation owner is Jackie.  Jackie worked on the filming and she handed Jami a baby and touched him.  Jackie touched Debbie so that makes one degree of separation between Debbie and Jaime.   You know there is the Kevin Bacon 6 degrees but Debbie is one degree.  She will be giving interviews when she returns.   She already told Lindsey that she can be two degrees of desperation.

Today was a travel day.  The group was moving from Kentallen to Aberfoyle, Scotland.   Let’s ask our Hard Hitting Reporter to discuss the day with the group..

HHR:  Did you make a stop on the way?

Larry:  We stopped at the Artisan Cafe for hot chocolate and a pastry.  I just loved that store.  It is a church converted to a store.

HHR:  I heard that you stopped at a place that Mary Queen of Scots had visited.

Joyce:  Yes, we went to Inchmahome Priory.

HHR:  What is Inchmahome Priory?

Debbie:  It is a a wooded island chosen as a monastic sanctuary. Robert the Bruce sought solace at Inchmahome Priory and Mary Queen of Scots found safety here as a child.   (When she was 4 for about 3 weeks).

HHR:  So this is an island?

Jerry:  Yes

HHR:  How did you get to the island?

Joyce:  Well, you put your rain gear on and walk to the end of the pier.  Then you flip the white block to black to call the boat.

Debbie:  In about 15 minutes a little motor boat shows up.

Larry:  You put on a life jacket.  I didn’t need any help putting mine on but other people did.  There were also these three other really tall people on the boat that Debbie calls the triplets.

Debbie:  We all sat down under the little cover on the.  Then the driver introduced himself and said that he would make some people upset.

Larry:  He said that we needed to balance the boat and pointed at me.  I think that he pointed to me because I looked like I could take over the boat in an emergency.  I did have to sit in the rain with the triplets.  Jerry, Debbie and Joyce sat under the cover of the boat.  Let me repeat again.  “I sat in the rain”. .

HHR:  I heard there was a photo shoot on the island.

Joyce:   Yes, we have been watching some people take selfies shots and picking up pointers.

Debbie:  Yes, look at the shots.  You can tell we really knew how to work it.

HHR:  What happened to Jerry?

Jerry:  I was more interested in the historic value of the island than some selfie.

HHR:  Those are quite some pictures.   Did you take the boat back?

Larry:  Yes, we all got on the boat again.  Debbie and Joyce got under the boat cover.  Then Jerry came and sat between them.  Joyce had to move to the side to help balance.  Jerry got a stink eye from Joyce.  I also had to balance the boat – you know that I am the responsible one.

HHR:  Did you go to the new accommodations next?

Joyce:  Yes, we had some issues finding the place.  We finally parked and almost everyone got out of the car to look for the apartment.

HHR:  What do you mean almost everyone?

Larry:  Debbie sat in the car.

Debbie:  I thought someone needed to watch the car.  I just waited until everyone came back.  I needed to conserve my energy to drag suitcases up the stairs because Larry would be tired from balancing the boat.

Today was not sunny like yesterday.  The weather was back to on again / off again.  The group went for a drive to Oban.  Educational Moment:  Dunstaffnage Castle, an impressive but grim old ruinous walled castle, long held by the Campbells, with later tower and atmospheric chapel in a wooded spot near Oban in Argyll in western Scotland.

Here is an interesting fact:  The Campbells still own the castle but have an arrangement with Scotland to maintain the castle.  Debbie and Larry would like to own their house but have someone else maintain it.

The group explored the castle and visited all the ruins.  After the visit, they decided to eat in Oban.  Parking is at a premium in that little town.  It was very stressful to find a spot.  The group accosted several people to make sure that they were legally parked.  They are suffering from post traumatic stress from the Sweden tickets.

They found a fish and chips place that introduced them to “Mushy Peas”.    What are mushy peas?  Mushy peas are dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight in water with baking soda, then rinsed in fresh water and simmered with a little sugar and salt until they form a thick green lumpy mash.   Lumpy mash is generous term in Debbie’s opinion.  You view the fish side options and decide.

As they left, they gave their parking space  to a very polite woman let’s call Betty.  We would ask a question and Betty’s response was “Shall I tell you?”  Example:  Is Tesco to the right?

Betty:  “Yes, Shall I tell you how to get there”.  Debbie likes this  technique `and uses it a lot.

Key ingredients in Mast Mood oil, which offers one of the most important things sildenafil cheapest price to maintain contentment in sexual life. That also reduces discounts on viagra the cost of generic medicine a lot. Men will also be happy to india viagra online know that along with selecting foods for a healthier body, there are certain limitations one should know before using this anti-impotent medicine. As college students working by one self is normal and you rarely best price on viagra work in a group situation. Here is an example:

HHR:  Did you find your missing glove”

Debbie:  Yes, Shall I tell you where it was?

HHR:  Yes

Debbie:  Joyce was sitting on it.

The day dawned clear.  The sun was out so the group was going hiking.

HHR:  Where did you decide to hike?

Joyce:  We decided to do the Lost Valley hike.

Debbie:  The Lost Valley was where the Macdonalds were reported to hide the cattle they had rustled from their neighbors, or perhaps, where they hid their cattle to stop them being rustled by their neighbors.

HHR:  Was it raining?

Larry:  No, the sun was shining but it was windy.

Debbie:  Yes, hurricane gust windy.   Gusts of wind that could blow me off the trail.  Gusts of wind up to 35 miles per hour.

Jerry:  We started off as a scramble from the parking lot down into a valley.  I think the momentum and the wind forced some of the group down the hill. We were lucky that we didn’t roll down the hill like a tumbleweed.

HHR:  What happened next?

Debbie:  We started walking along a  trail and followed a creek.  We got into mud.

Joyce:  Then we lost Jerry.   He didn’t like the mud so went back to the parking lot to try to find a mud-less trail.   I caught up to Larry and Debbie.

Debbie:  The trail was hard as we kept climbing into the wind.

Larry:  We kept hiking through the mud.

Joyce:  We decided to abandon the walk as it continued climbing into the wind.  Turns out the valley really was lost.

HHR:  Did you find Jerry?

Larry:  Yes, we found him on the trail with clean shoes.  He said that he had found a dry trail.  We think he might have been napping in the car.

HHR:  Then what did you do?

Joyce:  We took a drive to Glen Etive.

Debbie:  Isn’t that where James Bond grew up?

Joyce:  Yes, Debbie and I were looking for James Bond.

Larry:  It was a one lane road with passing places.  I saw Debbie squeezing the door handle hard. I don’t think she was that worried about James Bond.

Joyce:  The road finally got muddy and smaller so we turned around.  Debbie discovered that she had lost a glove.

Larry:  We think she may have left a token for James Bond to find.

HHR:  Next destination?

Joyce:  We went to Glencoe Lochan.

HHR:  What is that?

Debbie:  Well, this guy from the Scottish Highlands married a woman from Canada and she got homesick.  So he planted / transplanted a bunch of trees/bushes from Canada just for her.  I am a little homesick so am wondering if Larry will plant a tree for me.

Larry:  I am not doing it.  I will buy you some socks like mine or maybe get you another glove.

Today was another cold and rainy day.  Not a good day to hike.  So, they went for a drive. This created an opportunity for lots of educational moments.

Educational Moment:  Neptune’s Staircase – This is a staircase lock comprising eight locks on the Caledonian Canal. Built between 1803 and 1822, it is the longest staircase lock in Britain.  The group watched a couple of boats go through the locks.

Educational Moment:  Glenfinnan is a hamlet the Highlands of Scotland. In 1745 the Jacobite rising began here when Prince Charles Edward Stuart raised his flag on the shores of Loch Shiel.  This is where Bonnie Prince Charles came ashore in Scotland to begin the Jacobite Rebellion (French name for James who had a claim to the throne).   This park is very concerned about parking without paying.  They have people to check your parking sticker as you go out and they stand around the parking meter.  They also charge for the toilets and to walk up to the monument.  Les Cheap girls did not pay to walk up to the monument but circled it.  They felt Bonny Prince Charles would be pleased.

Excitingly, this location is also the location of the Harry Potter viaduct.  Debbie was now torn up about the Outlander or the Harry Potter train.  She tried to convince everyone to walk to the viaduct but failed.  You didn’t have to pay to look at the viaduct.  They could have stood under the viaduct with all the other people. Debbie says that the rest don’t feel the Harry Potter experience.

Next stop was the Ben Nevis Distillery which is one of the oldest licensed distilleries in Scotland. The distillery is nestled at the foot of Britain’s highest mountain.   Debbie just wants to point out that it was cold and they stood outside for quite a while when they could have stood inside.  She also polled the group after the tour and they all agreed that they could only understand about 50% of what the guide said because of his accent.

The flat had limited tv access and no internet.  That night Debbie convinced everyone to watch “39 Steps” from 1978 because it took place in Scotland.  It showed the star running around in gym shorts through the fields.  The group has not seen any of this so far.  Debbie hopes that Larry does not start running around in gym shorts.  Debbie is banned from picking any more movies on this trip.

HHR:  How was the first day of hiking?

Joyce:  Well, unfortunately, we had some rainy weather.

HHR:  Did you stay at the flat?

Jerry:  No, Joyce had conquered the gravel road so we went driving and scoped out potential hikes along with all the tourist buses driving through the area.

Debbie:  I thought we were going to do more Outlander stuff.

Larry:  No, we just told you that to get you in the car faster.

Joyce:  It was cold that day and very windy.

Larry:  We did park a couple of times and walk but thought we were going to get blown over or it started raining again.  The parking also leaves something to be desired.

 Joyce:  Yes, I was not pleased with the parking.

Debbie:  I did find a restaurant, Onich Tearoom,  that served an English breakfast for a very reasonable price.

Larry:  It was fantastic.  Jerry, Joyce and I all ordered it.

HHR:  What was in the breakfast?

Larry:  It had toast, sausage, black pudding, ham, beans, potato scone, fried egg and coffee or tea all for 5.50 pounds.

HHR:  What did Debbie have?

Larry:  We just ordered here some soup and a piece of bread.  We told here that is what the Outlander ate and she was fine with it.

HHR:  I heard that you left Edinburgh.

Joyce:  Yes, our time in Edinburgh was finished.  We had walked the Royal Mile plenty of times and Larry was talking about getting a kilt.

Larry:  Jerry and I was spending a lot of time watching the car from the window and thought that a kilt would add to our fierceness.

Joyce:  I knew it was time to leave.

HHR:   Where did you go?

Joyce:  We headed for the Highlands with some stops on the way.

HHR:  What are the Highlands.

Larry:  I am surprised that you would ask that.  It is lands that are high.

Jerry:  Let me step in here.  The Highlands are the Scottish Highlands are a mountainous region encompassing northwest Scotland.

HHR:  Where did you stop first?

Joyce:  We went to the Blackness Castle near the village of Blackness.

Debbie:  It was raining and we parked a long way so we had to run up the road while other vehicles passed us on the way to a really close parking lot.

Larry:  Yes but we got to see how the boats were just left in the mud when the tide when out.  You also wanted more exercise.

HHR:  If we could come back to Blackness.

Debbie:  I was very excited when we got there because it is where Outlander, yes OUTLANDER, is filmed.  It is where the prison scenes and Jack Randall’s office is located.  Jaimie and Claire have been there.

Joyce:  We were all not familiar with Outlander but understand that it is a big deal to some people (Debbie).  I think she gasped when she saw the Outlander sign and kept trying to get in the Outlander tour group that was there.

Debbie:  Everyone knows the Outlander series of books and TV series.  I immediately texted Jennifer and Lindsey.  They wanted to get on a plane and come over.

HHR:  How did you get Debbie to leave?

Larry:  Well, we got here a free Outlander pamphlet of all the shooting locations and let her hold it in her hand.  She is busy making plans to do an Outlander tour now.  We just keep telling her that the next place is an Outlander location.

HHR:  Where did you go next?

Joyce:  Our next stop was Kelpsie
Psychological sense of oppression and barriers swept away, not false modesty. viagra without prescription Some usual ingredients that you tadalafil super active might find that you go more time and your speed and agility is clearly better. In this levitra australia online https://unica-web.com/buy-1676 procedure, a man’s sperm is introduced to the market, very recently; and received an excellent feedback by a those couples who dared to experiment it. Try discussing with your unica-web.com female viagra pill healthcare provider about the safest contraceptive option you can follow.
Debbie:  It was also cold there and we had to walk / run to the main area.

Larry:  You can’t have it both ways.  You can’t complain about steps and then not appreciate it when we plan a running activity for you.

Jerry:  Let’s be honest here, it was raining.

Debbie:  Yes, and my umbrella flipped

HHR:  To get back on track, what are the Kelpsies?

Debbie:  They are giant horse heads.

HHR:  Giant as in 6 ft tall?

Larry:  No, giant as in 100 ft tall.

HHR:  What is the purpose of the horse heads?

Debbie:  They are some artistic thing.  You can go inside the heads but it is still cold

Joyce:  It is a representation of how horses played an important role in the economy in the past.

Larry:  We did eat lunch there and I got beans.

Debbie:  We got some extra stuff because the server likes “Friday Night Lights” and I told him my Dad was a football coach.

HHR:  What did you do next?

Debbie:  We drove to our new accommodations because Joyce said that she had enough art for the day.

HHR:  Did you have any issues getting to the new accommodations?

Joyce:  Well, it was not on my GPS but I had studied the notes.  There was an uphill gravel road.  Debbie said that I shot up the road like the Dukes of Hazzard.  I did notice some gasps in the car and that the gravel shot into the air.

HHR:  What will you be doing here?

Joyce:  I have lots of hiking planned.  I will just tell Debbie that the Outlander is filming anywhere that I want her to go.

Today, the group had an appointment with Parliament.  Educational Moment:  This is Debbie’s interpretation.  When Scotland became a part of the United Kingdom a long time ago, Scotland became part of the United Kingdom’s parliament.  In 1997, they devolved and created a Parliament in Scotland.  The group leaned what devolved meant in their tour.

So, how does it work?  The Scottish Parliament at Holyrood can pass laws on devolved matters – in general, those affecting most aspects of day-to-day life in Scotland. The UK Parliament at Westminster can pass laws on reserved matters – in general, those with a UK-wide or international.

Joyce had the group there early for a tour.  Going into Parliament meant that the tourist had to go through a security check.  Below is an exert of what the group now refers to as the “Detainment Incident”.

Security:  Sir, we need you to step out of line.

Larry:  Uh-oh.  Whispers to Debbie “I think that I have my pocketknife”.  The other three turn away.

Security:  “Sir, we have to call the Police over to talk to you.”

Larry:  “No problem, no problem” (Yes, Larry problem).

Police officer: “Show me how it works”

Larry:  Yes sir. You push this button and blah, blah, blah

Joyce:  That is a big looking knife.  He will never get away.

Police Officer:  “Do you need it for fishing?  You see it is against the law in Scotland to have a knife like this unless you need it for something like fishing.”

Larry: ” No, I don’t fish. ”  Debbie thinks Larry, he just opened the door for you and you slammed it shut.

Police Officer:  “What about camping?  Do you need it for camping.?”

Suddenly, Larry looks like the light-bulb came on.  Larry said “No, I don’t camp but I need it to open my medicine”.

The Police Officer has a stunned look as he says  to Larry. “Sir, do you want to give me the knife”.

Larry:  “Yes, I want to give the knife to you badly so so badly.:

Police Officer:  I am going to have you fill out a form that says you gave the knife up to me and you will be in the database.

Larry:  Yes, sir.  It is spelled J E R R Y  W E R K I N G  and I live in Virginia.  (Not really – he gave his real name).

After all the excitement, Larry was cleared and the tour began.   The group took a tour with their guide, Tom, and they could understand what he said.   (This is more important than you may realize.  Debbie secretly listens to people to see if she can understand them.  It is about a 50 percent now).  The new Parliament building has lots of symbolic items that are not defined because the architect died before he told anyone what they meant.  So people just make up stuff about the symbols.  Today was Tom’s last day for tours.  How exciting to have a detained law breaker on the last tour.

Next, they went to Holyrood Palace.  Cultural Moment;  The Palace of Holyrood,  is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland, Queen Elizabeth II.  You can’t take pictures inside but the Royal family was really happy to see them.  The four walked around the ruins outside Hollyrood and took lots of pictures.  They also walked around the gardens where the queen has her annual garden party but no one asked if they wanted any drinks.

They had an exciting trip home.  They rode the bus home on the top of a double decker.  Larry had the front seat on the top of the bus.  An Edinburgh local, let’s call him Mac, looking like his girlfriend had just thrown him out with a suitcase, garbage bag and a duffel bag moved up to the top where there were no seats.  Mac got so excited when Larry got up to get off the bus that Mac dragged all his assorted luggage to block the aisle trapping Debbie and Jerry on the bus as Joyce and Larry exited.  Joyce stood on the sidewalk yelling “Get off the Bus!  Get off the Bus now!”  Luckily, the driver intervened and allowed them to get off the bus.

Hard Hitting Reporter (HHR):  Now that you are in Edinburgh what is your goal of the day?

Joyce:  Well, we are hard core tourists so we wanted to go to visit Edinburgh Castle first.

HHR:  Did you take John Pierre to the caste?

Joyce:  No, we decided to get more of the local ambiance and take the bus.  We even pretended that we had to look for exact change.  We walked in single file to the bus stop and huddled together in the cold.

HHR:  Did you have any issues with getting to the castle?

Joyce:  People were very friendly on the bus and gave us all sorts of advice.  One lady even got off the bus to point us in the correct direction.  Debbie thinks that we must look clueless.

Debbie:   We thought that it would be very difficult to miss a castle towering over the city. Turns out there are several ways to get to the castle and people feel that you need to know those options.

HHR:  Could you tell us a little about the castle?

Larry:  Ask Debbie, she seems to want to talk about it all the time.

Debbie:  I like to share educational moments with the readers. Educational Moment:  Edinburgh Castle was built on a bluff overlooking the city.  It is a great defensive location.  Here is where MacBeth was murdered and Malcolm married Princess Margaret.  The castle was begun in the 11^th century.  in the 14th century to the Jacobite rising of 1745. Research undertaken in 2014 identified 26 sieges in its 1100-year-old history, giving it a claim to having been “the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world”.  The castle also houses the Scottish regalia, known as the Honours of Scotland and is the site of the Scottish National War Memorial and the National War Museum of Scotland.

Larry:  Debbie, I think that you are sharing too much.
Smoking and discount tadalafil from canada consumption of excessive alcohol contracts your blood vessels. But, sometimes sphincter dysfunctions, due to which they viagra 100mg sildenafil browse that cannot perform their love making life. These drugs are also not recommended to perform those things that convert your physique levitra 20mg uk unica-web.com goes wild. But though we bear asthma due to any reason but the impacts of this generic cialis in usa dysfunction upon our daily life has made so many things easy and hassle free.
HHR:  Yes, Debbie that is really more than we wanted to know.  What did you do next?

Joyce:  We started down the Royal Mile.  This is the mile that connects the Edinburgh Castle and HolyRood.

Jerry:  I was hungry so voted for food next.

Larry:  There are several attractions on the Royal Mile and we visited a lot of them.  I liked Canongate.

HHR:  How did you get home?

Debbie:  It started to rain at the end of the mile.  I stood in the rain for quite a while.  I wasn’t really happy with the rain.

Joyce:  I knew how to get home.  So, I led them through the rain – home.

Debbie:  Yes, we walked a wet un-royal mile