Finally, On the Road Again; It’s not always smooth

First thing! Never go to Europe without taking adaptors for your electrical and electronic devices! All electric or electronic items we brought were useless to us without adaptors. Once you are in Europe you can get Europe to US adaptors, but not US to Europe adaptors which are easier for us to use. It took a couple of days for us to get this sorted out and be able to charge our phones. This is a contributing factor to this being the first blog since I finally left Spokane on May 4th.  Although it is only May 9 now it feels like a much longer period of time. The journey to Europe has already been littered with challenges. I will recount some of these and some may help others to have a smoother experience in the future.

We flew Spokane to Seattle on the 4th. We had invested in TSA precheck status for the trip. It was wonderful as we walked right through the boarding process in 5 minutes max. This made up for the woefully understaffed Delta check-in station. Thankfully, we chose the 3 + hour layover over the 40-minute layover. The gate for the Seattle to London flight was about a 30 minute trek from our arrival gate. The layover was extended when our flight was delayed. Initially we were told that the cleaning was taking longer than expected. After about 20 minutes the story changed to a minor technical issue. Another 20 minutes and they finally let us board, but the minor issue became more complicated. By the time we were airborne we were about 70 minutes behind schedule. At that time I was glad I had built a long time cushion into the schedule before the train departure from Kings Cross station in London to Edinburgh Scotland.

We took a taxi from Heathrow airport to Kings Cross train station. I have learned never to take a taxi without first asking how much it will cost. A 40 minute, 70 pound ride took 70 minutes and cost 110 pounds because I ignored my “ask rule”, but, we were there in time for our train ride to Scotland. That went well but when we got off the train and went to the adjacent car rental office, National, we were greeted by a sign telling us they had moved. That meant a short walk through the station to a mostly deserted street with an address that turned out to be fictional. After wandering around for a bit I called the rental office. A young lady couldn’t manage to tell us how to get to the rental site, even though we were just around the corner from it. After multiple phone calls she sent an associate up into the street to escort us to the site.

We were given a car that was bigger than anticipated. If you have driven in the UK you might know that many roads are very narrow. It can be harrowing. Our car had GPS which should have been great. However, a one hour drive to our lodging in Leven took over two hours after the GPS ignored the direct route and wound us, seemingly, endlessly through narrow back roads. Luckily, we had an incredibly gracious and patient hostess who guided us into Leven and to The Cairns at Leven sometime close to midnight. (The featured image is the beach on the North Sea across the street from the Cairns). A final note on this, I accepted a new car and that means every little blemish will be noticed on return. Not so sure that was wise. An older beaten up car might be safer. Also, we have never owned a newer technologically advanced vehicle. The manual is no longer paper. We had to use the GPS to go online and read the manual. Figuring this out, and figuring out the GPS, was time consuming and patience testing. One of the things I have learned from travel is that I am OLD. Much of the world is passing me by. This is not a complaint, but rather an accounting of things I have learned that might be useful to others when they travel.

The Cairns at Leven is a wonderful place, just across from the beach on the North Sea. Also, 5 days into the Scotland we have yet to see a drop of rain, and it is a warm spell predicted to be warmer the next couple days. Leven is a small quaint town. It has businesses owned by locals in the old town area, and this is something we greatly appreciate. People seem to mind their own business, but every time we instigate a conversation they light up and appear to love to talk.

Thursday we drove to St. Andrews. Once again the GPS foiled my plans to take a direct route to St. Andrews , site of one of the most hallowed golf courses on earth. St. Andrews is a beautiful old town full of stone buildings built centuries ago. Two of the biggest tourist attractions are ruins, the church of St. Andrew and the castle, both built in the 1500’s, I believe. Not sure why, but, I quite enjoyed seeing them; just a typical tourist I guess. Pictures of the castle are below.

One of the reasons we were in St Andrews was to meet up with my best buddy from chiropractic college, Mark Baxter who now lives in Scotland. Mark is an excellent golfer, sometimes, and a member of one of the St. Andrews golf clubs. He was playing the Old Course after we spent a couple of hours together. He took us into one of the exclusive St. Andrews club houses as guests where we had tea and a scone. Mark is a good enough golfer to have his name etched into two of the trophies on display in the clubhouse. Bear in mind there are many trophies, and many tournaments for club members; still an impressive feat. Below are pics of the church.

Today, we drove from southern Scotland to northern Scotland to the town of Lossiemouth where our friends Charles and Serena live. Once again the GPS led us astray multiple times. I think we spent about 6 hours for a 4 hour journey. Part of that is my unfamiliarity with road signage, o maybe a lack of signs compared to what I am used to. But we are here now, it is a glorious sunny day with temps in the 60’s. That may not sound like much, but to people who live here that means hit the beach. The next blog will be about “Lossie as the locals call it and our friends Charle and Serena.