Day 11

0800 GMT - It is another rainy day, and we decide to pass, once more, on the Aran Islands, much to Amy's disappointment. After some deliberation we decide to hit Galway City today.

1100 GMT - We have a little trouble actually getting into Galway City...we should have just followed the signs to City Center, but I was trying to find a specific street, which is a futile effort when your maps leave a huge gap right where you need to make your connection. We find our road finally, and it leads us to an adorable little shopping area. We pull into a parking area right next to the Jury's Inn. We are shocked by the VERY limited space in the garage. Amy makes a twenty-five point turn to get up the first ramp to level 1 (remember, we waived the insurance....!). After several more ramps, now more easily negotiated as the sudden appearance and need for wide turns at entry are no longer a surprise. Amy executes another twenty-five point turn to back into the ONLY space we are able to find, but only after Eamon and I clear out of the car since we will never get the passenger doors open from this space. We pack Connor into the backpack and head out into the walking streets which are littered with shops, pubs and restaurants. We see a pub named Riordan's which is Eamon's friend Lily's last name.



We are unable to decide whether we should eat or shop...decide finally to eat and then end up in stores shopping while we try to find a place to eat. We go into a pub, and just as suddenly exit it, something about too much of a place for grownups. We walk around some more and still don't find anyplace that Eamon wants to eat at, so I find Amy some restrooms and we decide to return to the original pub. It turns out to be perfect. Amy stands in line to order food and pints, while Eamon, Connor and I find a little table in back. Eamon spots some tapestries on the wall and says "Hey, Dad, is that the Unicorn in the Forest?" This is one of a series of 7 tapestries we saw at Stirling Palace in Stirling, Scotland. It is indeed, upon closer examination, said same tapestry. He points at another and asks if it is The Unicorn is Killed and Brought to the Palace, which, it is not. I am still in shock that he remembered either the tapestry or the entire names. I didn't even think he was paying attention at the other castle when I explained them to him. He has a bacon sandwich, he is in love with Irish bacon already, and butter, and white bread (sigh).

1630 GMT - We do quite a bit of shopping. I find my gift for Eamon. I find a gift for Amy...it is not the best example, but with only one day left, I am getting desperate. I still haven't bought THE present that I want to get. We do find some cool presents for others though. we pick up a cooked ham and some carrot cake from the butcher and baker to use for Christmas Eve dinner. We never make it far enough down the cobblestone road through all the stores to make my original destination, Eyre Square, since the mob of people we have been in the whole way suddenly begins to grow exponentially. We surrender and run to find a place to hide. Finally, we stop at an internet cafe to post some blog updates. Unfortunately, the connection to their ONE DELL laptop, is down. This is clearly another example of why people should NOT buy Dell computers. Eamon begins his daily 4pm spinout and we are unable to enjoy anything we get from the cafe. We leave as darkness begins to fall and hit the road back to the cabin. Connor wakes up part of the way back and serenades us with cries of agony and despair for the last 20 minutes of the drive. We will miss our neighbor's dog if he ever decides to NOT guide us back up the hill.

Day 10

0900 GMT - Eamon was up early today, and Amy puts on the TV for him and we sleep in until Connor wakes us up. We have a light breakfast and take note of the rain. Plan 2 and heading to Kylemore Abbey is the choice for the day. The drive is nice and the rain is off and on. We drive through some nice areas and pass a hike to a location where St. Patrick once prayed...apparently there is a statue at the top, but it is too steep for Eamon to hike.




1130 GMT - It is a nice short trip to the abbey. It is pretty stunning, right on the water and looking quite nice.



The Benedictine Nuns of Ireland were relocated several times as Catholicism fell in and out of favor in England. When their abbey in France was destroyed by the Germans in World War I, they were able to purchase the Abbey from it's owner at the time for 45,000 pounds which they, of course had to borrow. They reopened their international girl's boarding school, with 50 boarders and 150 local day students. Their particular goal as an order has been to educate the women of Ireland. We walk the exhibit, the chapel and visit the mausoleum.






We stop for lunch in the cafe and take turns shopping in the gift store where a few choice gifts are located.

1430 GMT - We head back to the cottage by a different route. We drive along the water and note a large number of buoys in the water along the coast, and some sort of trawler. We wonder if it is fishing nets or traps of some sort, but there is no easy answer. By the time we hit the town where we turn back south, all the boys are asleep leaving Amy driving on her own.

1530 GMT - As we get back on the N59, we realize that we have no dinner, and know that our light lunch is not going to hold us over. We have a petrol station store right at the intersection, but decide to try and find some take away food in Oughterard. This turns into a nightmare, as there does not appear to be anything handy. We go into a grocery store and buy some pizzas and water as well as a few other items. We drive back to the cottage for dinner and another early evening. I still have not found the gifts I want to buy for Amy, and with only two days left until Christmas Eve....I am starting to get stressed. I don't even have anything for Eamon. We have decided to have Christmas Eve dinner and open presents on Christmas Eve since we have to be out by 10am on Christmas Day. Our trusty sheepdog herds us to the cottage once more.

Day 9

0830 GMT - Everyone sleeps in today. We decide to head out to Roundstone to hit up a music store we have read about there. It is run by Malachy Kearns who is the most famous Bodhran maker in Ireland. The Bodhran is a traditional Irish percussive instrument. It is alternately raining and sunny on the drive to the coast. We pass a sign that reads... "Abandoned Village For Sale." It forces us into a double take. Roundstone is VERY tiny, and really cute. It is right on the water, and you can see small islands and farther land masses off in the distance. We park at the music store and a full rainbow appears over the town.



Eamon's friend Gate's has asked us to bring him back a pot of gold as a Christmas present...and we think we are in luck when we find the leprechaun's house.



Alas, the doors are locked, and we will have to catch a different leprechaun if we are to get Gate's gift. The music store and some other craft shops (pottery and jewelry) are housed in an old monastery.



1230 GMT - We have a great time in the shop, and they recommend a pub in town for lunch since they are hosting a local Christmas party in the music store cafe. Lunch is nice and we note the roaring peat fire, we are definitely missing some crucial knowledge in this area. We shop in a little jewelry store next to the pub, pick up some groceries from a little store, and head back to the monastery to check out the jewelry store there. Unfortunately it is closed. We do some more shopping in the music store which is more of an excuse to use the restrooms again. I surprise Amy by driving back to the cottage. This is the first time I have driven the whole trip, except from the hotel lobby to the lodge back in Scotland. It is much less unnerving to drive these little country roads which have little to no traffic on them. I don't do too bad.

1530 GMT - We are welcomed and herded home by the neighbor's sheep dog pup. Tea time again. I think this trip may see me consume more carbohydrates in three weeks than I have in two years. We cook the chicken that Amy bought on Saturday. The boys have a blast taking a bath upstairs together. We have to turn the oil heat on long enough to warm the hot water, but shut it off after their bath to keep the heating costs down.





Tonight I have a wee dram and stay up late watching some mediocre television on TV and get plot locked on some show, which I can't even remember. Our plan for tomorrow is to go to the Aran Islands if it is nice or to Kylemore Abbey if it is raining again.

Day 8

0730 GMT - Our first morning Ireland. Eamon wakes us up and we decide to let him have some cartoons to buy us some recovery time. I get up eventually and make us a traditional Irish breakfast. I make thick slabs of back bacon, pork sausages, scrambled eggs and toast with Irish butter. The sausages are OK, the eggs are as well, but the bacon and the butter are great. Amy tries to get a peat fire going, but it pretty pitiful and generates almost no heat. After checking out the amazing scenery, we decide to take advantage of the great weather and head out to Clifden. The drive is stunning...and we spend the morning dodging renegade sheep in the road.



1130 GMT - Clifden is quite cute. We shop a bit, buying a few presents. We are feeling somewhat hungry and hop into a little pub on the corner in the center of the town. The pub is nice, and the bartender comes up with something that Eamon can eat. Eamon decides he wants something to drink partway through his meal and yells across the room..."Excuse me...do you have any lemonade?" I notice the bartender smiling and he nods while I shake my head. No one will ever accuse Eamon of being shy.





Everyone seems to have a great time.




1330 GMT - After searching through town for the quaint little internet cafe "Two Dog Cafe" that we have read about, and shopping along the way, we finally ask someone where it is. They tell us that we walked right by it, and we work our way back, continuing to pick up gifts along the way. Unfortunately, when we do locate it...(across the street from the pub where we ate lunch), we discover it closed both Sundays and Mondays. Eamon is done. We pack back into the car for the hour and a half ride back to the cottage. Both boys are asleep before we are 15 minutes on the road. Our sheepdog friend once again herds us up the home stretch.
1630 GMT - Amy continues her new tradition of holding tea time. We light a peat fire, but despite our most valiant efforts, we are still unable to get more than burning embers. Eamon watches a cartoon, we read some books and are off to bed by 2300.

Day 7

Due to the lack of inexpensive or speedy internet connectivity...I will not be posting pictures until I have a lower cost way of doing it!

0400 GMT - BEEP...BEEP...BEEP. The alarm goes off and we rush to shower and dress. I take out the last garbage and load the car while Amy wakes up the boys. We lock the lodge up and I walk the keys up to the hotel to drop it off with the night porter. The whole hotel is locked down with big wooden pull down doors at the entrances. I try calling the night porter and after 5 minutes he still doesn't answer. So much for that idea. I look all around to see where I can leave the key, but end up having to drop it on the floor in the entryway.

0505 GMT - Not too bad, we are on the road close to schedule. There is no traffic whatsoever, and the rain is not too bad. All of the petrol stations are empty, so we hope that we will have better luck closer to Glasgow. We are able to navigate to the airport successfully even without the directions that I have misplaced. We find an open petrol station just before the Erskine Bridge. We drop the rental car off in the "early returns" lot and drop the key at the drop box. We then head into the departures section to find Aer Lingus who has our next two flights. The line for the Dublin flight is incredibly long and doesn't even move for the first fifteen minutes due to some sort of problem. Finally they add more agents and the line progresses. I get stressed about the time when the agent tells us that the flight boards in five or ten minutes, so I nix the planned stop at Starbucks for coffee and food. There is a sign claiming a cafe in our gate area, and I think it is better to be closer to our gate. We go through security, and find the food store, an Irish Sandwich shop. We buy some coffee and sandwiches and while we are waiting, another passenger stops me to ask if we left a black bag at security. I count and indeed we left the diaper bag, which would have been near disastrous given that the rest of the diapers are packed and checked. I retrieve it and we head to the gate.
0745 GMT - The sandwiches are horrible. Everyone is rather cranky with me. Eamon is obsessing over a video poker machine that uses Monopoly as is gimmick. I try to explain to him why he is not allowed to play it, but he just thinks I am stopping him from playing with video game. We get early boarded by Aer Lingus, who also lets us carry the "buggy" on board. The flight is quick, only 35 minutes and we are in Dublin.

0900 GMT - We deplane and make our way to the restrooms and pick up another snack. This creates a new blast of arguing from Eamon who only wants things that the stand doesn't have. We compromise on warm ham and cheese which is satisfactory, but still not good. We wind our way through customs (there is not a soul in either the declare or the nothing to declare lines) and then through the ticketing areas and finally through another round of security. Finally we arrive at our gate. A mechanical servicing delay sets our flight back 40 minutes, so we wander around the terminal. We finally are able to board only to learn that they have put Eamon and I in an exit row, which clearly he cannot be in. We wait through the whole boarding process and finally as we begin to taxi the flight attendents move us a few rows up and on the other side of the plane. I have to say that all of AerLingus employees are outstanding...the nicest and most helpful of all the Euroupean crews that we have dealt with among Iberia, British Airways and AerLingus. We fall asleep immediately upon takeoff. I awake and end up supporting Eamon's head until we land and park at the gate.

1245 GMT - We deplane and go to retrieve our luggage. Again, customs is empty of any personnel. We go to Eroupecar and start work on organizing the rental. They decide that the car we have doesn't have a boot large enough for our luggage and bring a different car. They decide that one won't work either, so they upgrade us to a Passat and make it an automatic because they want things to be easy on us. Again, these car rental folk are by far nicer than their counterparts in Scotland. The luggage does fit, and the Passat is easier for Amy to drive, although she does hit the brake rather hard the first time she tries to shift.

1400 GMT - The countryside has been interesting thus far, but somewhat unspectacular. It is pouring rain. Connor has a bit of a screaming fit at one point, and we are trying to find a place to have some food and a brief rest. He falls back asleep before we find someplace suitable, and we decide to keep driving. Eamon then starts to complain that he is hungry, so we start looking for food again. Meanwhile, I am looking through the Frommer's Ireland 2003 book we have brought along. Amy reads a sign about Oysters and I laugh to myself, because I just read a section about the two best Oyster restaurants in this area. Suddenly Amy says, "How about this place?" I have to say yes, because it happens to be Paddy Burke's which is one of the two places I was just reading about. We stop for a bite to eat and a pint. It is nice, and quiet due to the time. We pack up and head out again.

1630 GMT - We are passing through Galway, and it is getting quite late. Even with the stop and the rain, this is taking much longer than we had anticipated based on the RCI information. All this time, Amy has been telling me that the place we are staying at is in Clifden. We don't look like we are going to get there by the 1800 cut off point, we have to be more than 2 hours from Clifden. I take a look at the directions only to find that the cottage is not anywhere near Clifden, but is only 9km from the next town. I tell Amy to stop at the next grocery she finds so that we can get some starter supplies. We find a SuperValu in Oughterard and stock up. I find a bottle of Dunphy's Irish Whiskey while picking up a 4 pack of Guinness, and given this is my Mom's maiden name, I have to buy it.



1730 GMT - We miss the sign to the cottage. The sign, of course, is after the road we have to take, and in the rain we miss it. This is despite the fact that I have just said that the turn should be any minute, and "Oh, look at those lights up on that hill." Of course, the hill was our hill, and the lights were the lights on our cottage. We find a place to U-turn and head back and over "The Quiet Man" Bridge, named for its use in the John Wayne movie of the same name.



We drive up an old, narrow road, with no lighting, in fact, we can't tell if it is even paved, except that we can see tufts of grass in the center. Suddenly and pair of glowing eyes leap in front of the car and race us up the hill. When we find the office for the Connemara Country Cottages, we discover the eyes were that of a small sheep dog pup who has herded us to the offices. We go inside to meet James our host. He welcomes us and gives us a tour of our cottage which is incredibly cute.



There are doors between every room that are to be shut to keep heat in. We have a basket of peat blocks and a bucket of coal for the fire, with a box of starter chunks (smell as though they are soaked in Kerosene).



We have to pay for the electricity (not so bad) and the oil costs (these are outrageous). The oil costs 1 euro per hour which has no mark up according to James. That is simply what he has to pay and with a raised eyebrow he notes that we can thank George W. Bush for that. We laugh and tell him that by the time he hits his state of the union address we will, between Canada, Scotland and Ireland, have spent more time out of the country since his re-election, than we have spent in it. He seems to like this answer. Ireland, unlike Great Britain, is not a supporter of the Iraq invasion and occupation. James keeps calling Eamon, Connor, which Eamon never acknowledges, and we decide to just keep quiet about. He is very sweet, but in the middle of his tour, his cell phone rings, and his wife wants to know if he is coming home for dinner. We obviously came later than he had hoped. He tells us how to work the oil heater and the sauna, and tells us that our keys will open the office if we need to use the phone which accepts coins or cards. There is no phone in our cottage, however there is a satellite television with a few hundred channels. (I check later, and though they have CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, Al Jazeera, Nickelodeon, Boomerang (Eamon cheers for that one), and a million or so football stations (that is soccer to the yanks, of course, but you knew that), there is no ESPN or NBA TV or any way to find out the score of last nights Sonics/Sun game. I am pulling my hair out in wonder. Of course, if you are reading this, than I already know the score, but without a phone or internet access, I am out of luck for the moment. We can't seem to get the peat fire to do more than embers, we must be doing something wrong.

2000 GMT - Eamon chooses to sleep downstairs in the "big" bed since he decides after a try that he doesn't want to climb the ladder to the top bunk. We read some Lemony Snicket (I read the chapter Eamon and Amy read last night on the plane from Glasgow to Dublin.) and Eamon is off to sleep. Meanwhile Amy is nursing Connor to sleep. While I am waiting for her, I scan through the available satellite stations and get plot-locked on the "reveal" episode of Joe Schmoe from Spike TV in America. What am I thinking? I wouldn't watch this show last season when it was on in the states, but here I am trapped on it in the middle of nowhere in Ireland. Perhaps I needed a little brain dead American television to equalize myself. Amy comes down, gives me a disparaging look, and proceeds to become just as plot locked. Finally it is over and I shut it off. We decide to explore Clifden tomorrow and hit the Two Dog Cafe, which I found on the web and also is in Frommers, and offers good food, coffee and INTERNET access. My wait for those Sonics scores will soon be over. We decide to crash for the evening.

Day 6

0830 GMT - It is an earlier morning, and after spending a little time online, Amy and I set Eamon up to play with some toys while we start packing. After a bit of packing we head off to Aberfoyle to do some shopping and mail some postcards. There really aren't a lot of shopping choices in Aberfoyle. I buy myself a nice sweater, and pick up some small presents for Amy. She has informed me repeatedly that this trip is her present and that I am not to buy anything "big" for her.

1300 GMT - We get caught in a downpour while shopping and hop into a pub that has a "Children Welcome" sign out front. Eamon finally gets to have a sponge pudding, though it is not a treacle sponge, it is good enough, with hot syrup and warm custard. We watch an older teenager (18 or 19) and his dad play pool and drink a few pints. In the connecting room a Christmas party starts and the bar fills with people from the party ordering drinks. A few other families with kids come in and it is quite lively. This is a bit more like I expected our vacation to be like, and we decide to try and throw a few more pub lunches like this in to our schedule.

1500 GMT - We return to the lodge to do a little more packing . Eamon gets restless so we head out to the pool. We make sure to get lots of play time in with both kids and take turns with Connor. We head back up to the pub to have a wee snack and a pint. On the way back to the lodge I make sure to check out. We have to pay for all the electricity we use, and they tell me that I should drop off the key in the morning with the night porter. We have an 8:15 flight, and the airport is about 1 1/2 hours away. We also have to fill up the car with diesel and check in for our flight, so we build some extra time in and decide to leave by 5am and be up by 4. We finish the packing and I line everything up to load the car in the morning. I head to bed by 10:30 to try and get enough sleep.

Day 5

0930 GMT - Yes. I slept in again, as did the boys. It is becoming a habit. Amy was up early. It is a BEAUTIFUL, clear day, and she has already been out for a walk and pictures. We move through the early morning motions and are ready to go. I have no sore throat this morning, I think the few "wee drams" from the Deanston single malt have cured it. Nothing like a little local folk medicine. I check the guide book and I see that our trip for the day looks like a long one...about an hour and a half at least to get there. Amy insists that it is closer...even after I show her the map. She mentioned doing a lake drive today since it is so nice, and I worry that she won't get the chance. We get in the car and she tells me she wants to take a different route. I say that's fine and renavigate via the maps.

1130 GMT - Boy did Amy make a great choice on the route. We drive up steep hills in low gear and are stunned by the views as we drive through the Queen Elizabeth National Forest in the Trossachs. This is definitely the "scenic" route. After we cross the first hills and several Lochs and hiking trails we are surprised by a small castle in the middle of nowhere on a Loch.



After a wee bit of driving we are on one of those narrow roads with a Loch on one side, separated by a stone wall, and a pasture of cows on the other, separated by a wire fence.



We make a few small stops along the way, including this little turn-off on the shore of one Loch.



1300 GMT - Connor is nearing time to nurse, so we stop in a very cute little town and pick up some meat pies and sausage rolls for a snack, and have some coffee. There is a cute older building converted into a hotel and restaurant.



1530 GMT - Despite the gorgeous scenery, and cute little towns along the way. The 1 1/2 hour trip has now taken almost 4 hours. Connor has been screaming for the last 35 minutes when we finally pull in to the distillery. Amy chose the smallest distillery in Scotland, the Edradour.



Don't be fooled by the sign. In the winter it closes at 1600, we have just made the last tour. A very nice Scottish gentleman greets us and starts us off on our own private tour. We have a taster and watch a short film. Both Amy and I agree that it is our favourite single malt yet. He then walks us around and tells us quite a bit about the process of making whiskey and the value of their particular product. They are so small that they produce as much whiskey in a year as a large distillery produces in one week. Every output from the process is reused. The liquid is used by the farmers to fertilize their crops and the solids are used to feed their cattle.



We stroll back to make some purchases at the store, where they are quite helpful in explaining the "best" choices. We pick up a bottle of the "Special" which unlike the standard whiskey is not chill filtered. If water or ice is added to it the beverage becomes quite cloudy, thus it should be consumed at room temperature.

1630 GMT - We decide to head back on the larger main A9 back to Aberfoyle, rather than take the scenic route in the dark. It only takes an hour and a half, but about 20 minutes from the hotel Connor awakes and begins to scream once more. We stop for dinner, strangely enough at the same The Lion and the Unicorn as yesterday. We head back into the car only to learn that Connor was not screaming because he was hungry, but rather, he was entirely sick of being in the car. He screams the remaining 20 minutes without pause.

2100 GMT - Connor is long since asleep, but Eamon has no interest in sleeping after his hour long nap in the car. He instead plays Arabian Knight with Amy's scarf and one of his swords bought in Stirling.



0130 GMT - I make the mistake of logging on to my work email. I spend far too long answering things I should be ignoring. I do a little work on the blog and off to sleep after a "wee dram." We are hoping to hit Edinburgh tomorrow.

Day 4

0930 GMT - I am the first up this morning, but I climb back into bed with a bad sore throat. The cold the kids have had seems to have caught up to me. Today is our trip to Stirling Castle. The morning does not start well. It is pouring rain outside. Amy has a case of cabin fever and we end up in full out family row. After we get ourselves all together, we can finally head out for the day.

1100 GMT - We hit the road, which is flooding over in many places. The water from the Loch is high, and the water coming down from the hills is hitting clogged and overflowing drains. Water is entering the roadway from the hills, and bubbling up through the drains on the sides of the road. We get stuck behind a recycling truck going up hill and for a few scary moments we fear that Amy has blown out the clutch. She can't get the car into first gear. Finally she gets it into reverse and backs into an uphill B&B driveway. She is able to use the momentum to get the car into first and get back up the road.

1230 GMT - We miss a turn in Stirling and end up in dead end road trapped for a few minutes as some large trucks come down the one lane road to enter parking lots. We finally get out of there and start up the switchback roads up the hill to the castle. This castle is one of the most important in Scotland due to it's strategic location. It is very well preserved. We buy our tickets and immediately stop inside for some snacks and coffee, since Eamon skipped breakfast this morning.



The castle is interesting. Our first visit is to a military museum within the castle which includes artifacts and stories about Scotland's history of regimental soldiers from the higlanders through to modern day war. Next we visit the great hall, the chapel and almost get blown away by powerful winds as we try to get out on the ramparts.



The palace itself is closed for restoration work and Amy is quite disappointed. We explore some exhibits in the palace vaults and then hit the kitchens which have lifesize recreations of the kitchens and their workers at work. We check out the canons and climb some tower stairs to explore a stable section of one of the towers.



We taste some whiskey from Deanston in the lower highlands in the whiskey store and Eamon checks out the books in the bookstore. Apparently Disney has made a movie of Greyfriars Bobby, we'll have to check it out on Netflix when we return. We have some lunch at the coffee shop and then explore the back side of the castle. In one new building there are weavers recreating a series of seven tapestries for the palace restoration. The tapestries tell the story of a unicorn hunt. Two of them are already on display in the chapel. The one in progress is called "The Unicorn is Killed and Brought to the Castle." The story is part mythical love story and part Christian metaphor with the Unicorn representing the life of Christ. My legs have had it from carrying Connor all day in the backpack and the winds are extremely intense.



I am also feeling the effects of this cold and my throat is aching for a "wee dram." We buy a bottle of the Deanston single malt and take a quick hike up the forward ramparts before returning to the car.

1630 GMT - After 20 minutes of non-stop screaming by Connor, Amy pulls over at a pub along the way called The Lion and the Unicorn. We are the only ones there and they are very sweet to us. I have a wee dram of Jamisons, Amy has a half pint of some local brew and the kids play with toys from a bucket the restaurant keeps for kids. Eventually we head out.

1800 GMT - Back at the lodge, we pack up our pool gear and laundry and head up to the recreation center. I take the boys in the pool while Amy exercises. After her workout, she starts a load in the now available laundry room. After our swim we try to switch over the laundry, but the dryers have yet to be emptied. Another couple is waiting for us to move ours to the dryer so they can start their wash. We head back to the lodge to drop off the kids, and I return to finish the laundry. After dinner I head up to the pub for a pint while I wait for the clothes to dry. Surrendering to some level of wetness I hike them back to the lodge. I end up drying the ones that are still damp in the Sauna.

2300 GMT - After some work on the days blog entry, it is time once more to sleep, we need to hit the road early tomorrow.

Day 3

0900 GMT - I am the first to awake this morning. I fix a bowl of corn flakes, not my first choice, but it is part of the "starter grocery kit" that Amy had ordered from the Kinlochard Grocery prior to our arrival. I sit to do a quick log entry and make sure the I-C3 batteries for my hp 635 Photosmart digital camera are charged. Amy is the next to waken, but at 1030 I have to wake Eamon and Connor up. We need to get their internal clocks adjusted soon. We throw on a movie for Eamon since it was too late to watch last night and it has to be back by 6 tonight.

1300 GMT - Now we are frustrated. We need to get groceries, half the day is gone and Amy had wanted to go to Stirling Castle today...that isn't happening now. We go to the grocery store in Kinlochard to settle our pre-arrival bill and buy a second round of groceries. We intend to head back to Aberfoyle to do some more shopping, but with Connor nursing and Eamon eating lunch, somehow that never happens. We set up for a short hike around the resort instead. Much to our surprise, this short hike is apparently fraught with peril.

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There is quite a bit of warning signage around the resort, and one of the docks is clearly in great disrepair. Actually it is a nice, albeit short hike. This must be quite an active location in the summer time. The loch is very majestic in this season, but I can imagine its warm weather appeal as well.



The "garden walk" in front of the hotel includes a pond with a spouting fountain, a giant chess board, and an eroding stone stage of some sort.

1630 GMT - We decide to hit the pool again, or at least Eamon and I do in order to try and give Amy some kind of break. She has to nurse Connor, and perhaps this will give her a chance to have some peace and quiet...she has seemed tense and frustrated today. Eamon has a blast, as I agree to play "let's pretend" the ENTIRE time we are in the pool. We play Leap and Dr. Quigley from the LeapPad Learning system. He just was playing with his nice new dinosaur leap book, and so we are photographing and taking samples from dinosaurs in the past to bring back to the present for further study. I try to get him into the steam room (it doesn't get too hot) to "decontaminate" but the sensory experience of the heat, the steam and the menthol is too much for him. We decide to head back.



1830 GMT - Amy has two different types of pre-packaged quiches ready for us when we return. They are really quite tasty. Even Eamon, our resident "selective" diner, gives them two thumbs up. Connor of course gums his fair share, while ignoring his baby food. He doesn't have a single tooth yet, but that doesn't stop him from demanding a taste of every piece of food anyone else eats. I take Connor up for a diaper change and a bath. We use the big tile tub, and I get in with him, which he thinks is the funniest thing ever. We splash each other for a little while and he giggles insanely. I give him a good wash while he tries to climb over me and unplug the drain.

2000 GMT - We put the kids to bed. Amy reads a book that she bought for him today, "Greyfriars Bobby." It is a cute story about a little Skye Terrier who is a police dog in Edinburgh. His owner dies, and rather than live with the widow and son, he ends up refusing to leave the grave of his dead owner. He ends up licensed by the head of Edinburgh who is charmed by the story, and allowed to live out his life in the graveyard of the Grayfriars church. There is a statue of him at a joint people/dog fountain in the city today.

2100 GMT - Wow, we don't crash with the kids for the first night. We watch a show on BBC called MI-5 which involves two agents getting captured by Iraqi terrorists who are trying to get a woman into a British/American/Iraqi summit dinner. She has a small explosive surgically implanted in her abdomen with chemical/biological agents. The intent is to kill the Prime Minister, the Americans and the Iraqi traitors. The twist is the MI-5 agent that has to get her in is the husband of one of the hostages and the best friend of the other. Of course the MI-5 agents save the day, but the best friend gets executed as he heroically saves the other agent's wife. We play a round of backgammon on the cool game table in the living room.
 


We open a bottle of wine that came with the "starter kit," which is an adventure in and of itself. From the bottle: "At Blossom Hill we are dedicated to selecting the finest grapes," none of which are included in this bottle, "and using our expertise and experience to make a range of award winning wines," of which this bottle is not one, "perfect for drinking anytime" within the paper bag or without. In fact this wine may be the finest "Soft Fruity Californian Red Wine" I have ever had, having never actually come across this particular blend before. We can't actually remember how to set up the board, so we improvise. Amy whips me in the first game. It looks like she is going to take me out in the second, but right when my big comeback gets going in full force, the baby conveniently awakens and she bails out of the rest of the game. It is time to sleep once more.

Day 2

1000 GMT - Yes. After waking up many times to deal with crying babies, and "lonely" kindergartners, Amy wakes me up at 10am. Unfortunately she has been up since 0530 while the rest of us slept. She has eggs, sausage and back bacon warm and ready. There is also some warm, instant coffee. Eventually we finish eating and after Amy expresses her disinterest in "sitting around" the lodge all day, we pack up to head out.

1200 GMT - After I accidentally distract Amy at the start of the in-town parking in the road insanity by saying "Do you want to go up that hill?", we actually find a free parking spot. We have lunch at the Scottish Wool Center and shop around it a bit. I see some nice wool sweaters and a great jacket (polyester and rayon?), but decide that I can't possibly buy the first thing I like in the first store I shop in. If I don't find something by Friday, I'll head back here. Due to the day (Sunday) and the season (winter), there are no animals or shearing shows, merely a balloon animal man and a chance to have a picture with Mrs. Claus.

Hello all. We are here safe and sound. I am in Aberfoyle, Scotland

 
 
After lunch is completed, we stroll around Aberfoyle. We spend a good chunk of time in the visitor's center which has an interactive area history display which Eamon enjoys quite a bit. We buy our first travel stickers for our Thule rooftop carrier, but our first purchase was some postcards at the wool center. There is little else to see, and darkness is falling, so we head back to the hotel.

1630 GMT - We hit the pool. Connor is sleeping so it is just Amy and Eamon in the pool. I hit the Fitness Center for a 5K run. I have to fill out 3-4 pages of medical questions prior to exercising...something I have never had to do prior, but I guess in every country the liability laws must vary. I immediately regret forgetting to bring my hp iPod to the pool, I have grown attached to running to the soundtrack of my workout playlist. On a sidenote, if you haven't tried one yet, do. I am so attached to it now after 4 months, I bring it everywhere. I have only uploaded a little over 1100 songs with plenty of room still remaining. After my workout I head into the pool as well.

1830 GMT - Next we head up to the pub (over the pool) for dinner and a pint (or two.) I have a mediocre rib-eye, I should have said yes to the peppercorn sauce. Amy has a shrimp appetizer, Eamon has fish and chips and Connor has sherbet and melon. I start with Guinness, Amy already had a pint of "extra cold" Guinness before Eamon and I arrived. Another oddity of the UK is the serving of warm beer rather than our "icy" beer in the States. I stick with the warm "regular" Guinness. My second pint is and Ember from a local brewery, which frankly, I can't remember. Eamon goes for the sherbet as his dessert and the chef "accidentally" adds an extra scoop after I specify two, so Amy and Connor help him with the third.

2030 GMT - We return, and though I try to read a comic to Eamon, I can't make it far and end up bringing him upstairs to brush his teeth and read a chapter of "The Reptile House" form the Lemony Snickett series, "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Here we learn of the playfulness of the "deadly" snake and learn of the impending death of the nice Uncle before being reintroduced to the dreaded Count Olaf. I get out of his room only to crash in my own. Amy is already there.

Day 1

0500 PST – BEEP…BEEP…BEEP. My wife reaches out her arm across the bed to tap me and have me shut off the alarm. I do and she rises and heads straight to the shower. I think to myself, “What on earth was I thinking, staying awake until 2am?” I go back to sleep. From my light sleep, I hear the shower stop…I know it is time…so I rise and go to the shower myself. We have around 28 hours of travel time ahead of us. My two sons, Connor (8 ½ months) and Eamon (5 years) are still sleeping. From the shower I hear my wife (Amy) waking Eamon up, and together they awaken the baby. The adventure is beginning. We have planned a three week trip from Dec. 10th – 18th in Scotland and Dec. 18th – Jan. 4th in Ireland.
 
Fortunately, Amy has been packing for a week, and we had set all the bags up ready to go last night. I load up the car and we run through our final list packing the last minute items. It is off to the car to head to the airport. We have to drive the whole way to the airport in the rain with one of the windshield wipers broken. The wiper has slipped off its frame and with every swipe we hear truly annoying metal on glass scraping. I hope this is not an omen for the rest of the day….
 
0700 PST – We park the car in the garage, note the space and head inside. Check-in and security are remarkably smooth. We eat some breakfast and Amy struggles with the phone. Finally she is able to leave a message for our friends that are picking the car up from the airport. We manage to miss early boarding while Amy taps her foot waiting for her coffee at Starbucks. There is still room enough for all of our carry-ons. The flight to Chicago on Alaska Airlines is smooth and our preparations to keep Eamon occupied work well. He opens his “prizes” and we read the 10 cent comics I bought and Amy wrapped. His leap pad battery dies immediately, but the comics save us.
 
1530 EST – We land in Chicago. It truly is a nightmare trying to get all of our carry on junk gathered together and off the plane. We find our gate after quite a haul between terminals…and everything looks good. The flight is still on schedule. We grab some great pannini sandwiches from a little bakery in K terminal at O’Hare, this is the best Airport food I have found yet. Again we manage to miss early boarding as I have been sent on an errand for the baby. While on the errand I pick up water and gum and return to find us now last in the boarding line. We get to our seats to find a pair of children in two of them. The mother is seated in front of us and asks if we will move. I tell her we are four and can’t break up. We are sitting in two rows on this 7 ½ hour flight. Two in front and two in back with aisle/window seats, and this works great. I sit with Eamon and Amy with Connor, and we start the long process of entertaining. American Airlines Chicago to London is a Boeing 777 which comes with individual entertainment consoles in all classes of service! Eamon and I watch Disney’s “Home on the Range” which I don’t actually see much of. I doze off shortly after it starts and awake near the end. I switch him to some cartoons on the Cartoon Network station and he remains happy, not having this much TV in at a time ever. That is fine, he may not have any TV for the next three weeks! We get him to sleep after the cartoons finish up and he sleeps for around 2 hours. I watch the end of Collateral with Tom Cruise and Jamie Fox and then get about 30 minutes of sleep. I don’t think Amy sleeps at all.
 
0700 GMT – We land in Heathrow. We again go through the hassle of organizing and carrying all of the various carry-ons we have. My neck is tweaked from all the weight. We check with security to see if we need to retrieve bags to go through customs before connecting with Glasgow…they tell us that if our bags are checked through we will do customs in Glasgow, just to head to Terminal 1. We hop on a little bus (they let us leave Connor in the stroller on the bus??!!) and go through Immigration at the connecting flights station in Terminal 1. We pick up our boarding passes from British Airways and head to waiting room 5. Our flight is scheduled to board at 0800 for departure at 0845, but it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. Looks like a lot of flights into Scotland are being delayed by weather. We grab a bite to eat and break our first Sterling notes. Boy is the US dollar weak right now. This trip is going to feel even more expensive than it is. I detect a diaper in need of change, and start to head to the restroom with Connor…of course, they suddenly announce boarding of our flight. By the time we gather up our gear we are at the end of the line. A gate agent tells us that because the flight is full we will have to check our stroller. Amy tries to explain that it will fold easily to fit in the overhead as it has on all the previous flights. The agent ignores her and pulls me out of line to check the “buggy.” As I am finally heading down the ramp to the plane, a flight attendant passes me telling me that there is plenty of room for the stroller and he will retrieve it. He is unable to do so. Amy has snapped and is in fury on the plane. She has to change the baby’s diaper and has been waiting for me since all the gear was on my back. She gathers what she needs and heads to the rear of the plane. I set up the car seat only to find that it really won’t fit in this seat. The arms are wider than any we have been on yet and I have to provide a little “manual encouragement” to resize the seat. This configuration of plane is not as friendly either, and I take my solo seat behind the three of them. The flight attendant then tells Amy that if the car seat isn’t forward facing that we cannot use it for take off and landing. Every non-US airline we fly seems to have the most bizarre rules. Iberian wouldn’t let us use it for take off and landing either no matter which way it was facing. Amy holds back her fury but lets loose a few barbed comments. She uses the sling they provide her with for take off and landing.
 
1000 GMT – We land in Glasgow. I am in the front of the plane, but have to wait for the whole plane to empty so that I can pack up and get off the flight. Finally I get out of the plane and we head off to find our baggage. By the time we get there, the whole plane has retrieved their baggage, (we stopped at the rest room along the way) and there are no customs agents whatsoever, so we just grab our bags and head to the rental car. Our paperwork says that we rented from AutoEuroupe, but there is no such entity. Finally we track down some vouchers for Eroupecar which we do find. Of course, they tell us that American Auto Insurance and Visa Card insurance are not accepted in the UK and unless we pay an additional 17 pounds per day (almost $30) we are not allowed to drive the car in the UK. We are dumbfounded and feel like we have been cheated. We went with this deal because it was cheaper than the deal I got with Hertz or Avis and my discounts (insurance was included in those prices), now it is more expensive. With no choice and deciding that at this point money is less important than a good start to our vacation, I just pay it. Amy’s fury has returned. They do give us a free car seat in an attempt not to drive her over the edge. She tells us that our car is “quite large” and should be fine for our….was ALL of that luggage ours? She frowns and says that we should give it a try, but she doesn’t recommend installing the car seats until we see if the boot will close. After three configuration changes, the boot does close and we load the kids and their seats.
 
1200 GMT – I am squished into the passenger side of this “quite large” little European sardine can. Even if I could push the seat back further (which I can’t without significant whining from Eamon) I doubt I could actually be comfortable. Amy tells me that the next vehicle is larger. Connor decides that now is the time to nurse and Amy tries to do so in the drivers seat. Once he falls asleep, she can’t actually get out of the car, it is so small. I unfold myself from the passenger side and take him from her to load him in his seat. While she was nursing I had matched our directions to the map and we are ready to go. Amy is masterful with the left hand side of the road driving, and while we have some moments of confusion, she gets us going quite smoothly. We bump a curb on the left occasionally, much to our amusement, and actually survive the 5 or 6 roundabouts we hit in the first two minutes of driving. If you haven’t been to the UK before, they use rotaries called roundabouts in lieu of traffic lights in most places to control traffic flow. Add to this the need to drive on the opposite side of the road from what you are used to and it can be quite an adventure. The first challenge comes in Aberfoyle, where we run into the phenomenon of UK village traffic. The roads are not any wider, but parking is allowed on one side. This means that you have one tiny lane to service both traffic directions. This leads to considerable need for kindness and courtesy. I fear that in the US this would lead to a significant increase in non-accident related traffic fatalities and road rage. We hit the “scenic route” along Loch Ard, which means that you have a shear drop off into the water from the left edge of the road, and in most places a high rock wall on the right. Did I mention that these non-main roads are only wide enough for 1 ½ cars in many places?



In just one of those places we come up against two trucks and a tour bus headed the other way. We are forced to put the car in reverse (which was a challenge to find) and back up 150 yards into the driveway of a B&B we had passed. The larger vehicles move on and we head back up. Finally we arrive at our destination, MacDonald Hotels Forest Hills Resort.
 
1345 GMT – We can’t check in until 2:00, so we sit in the car for another 15 minutes, both the kids had fallen asleep as soon as the car started at the airport, so we can’t really go off exploring. Finally we head in and check in. They inform us that our unit won’t be ready until 3:30 at the earliest. We decide to go swimming. We track down our suits in the luggage and hit the pool. The pool is beautiful…it is floor to ceiling with gorgeous tile.



The wall of the building facing the Trossachs (lower highlands) is glass and we have a nice view. There is a sauna, steam room and a “spa” or hot tub. We try them all. I note the presence of a small exercise room for tomorrow. We retrieve our key and learn that the curling rink is broken and will not be open during our visit. Amy is quite disappointed as she had hoped to learn to play this wild ice sport while we were in Scotland. There will be no curling for us. We also learn that they moved us to the lower lodges from the upper lodges upon which Amy starts her fury once more. She tells them that they better be nice because we have had troubles with RCI before. They assure us that it was just a scheduling issue and all the lodges are equivalent. The lodge is indeed quite nice. We have a view of the loch that we would not have had otherwise.
 

 
It is a bit of a walk to the recreation center and restaurants, but I think it will work out fine. The bathroom upstairs is gorgeous with tile everywhere, a huge sunken tub big enough for the whole family (well almost) and a sauna.
 

 
We are exhausted. Amy tries to get a little food ready for Connor. I take Eamon on a walk up to the restaurant to order some “take away” food for us all to eat. While we are waiting in the pub, Eamon has a hot chocolate and I have my first pint, this one of Guinness. By the time the food comes, I can tell that I have little left in me. We bring the food back and all four of us are trailing…
  



2100 GMT - Ok, well three of us were. Finally it is off to bed for us all.