May 21, 2013 - Bridgnorth to London

I woke up early so was packed up & ready to leave by ¼ to 9. My plan was to stop at Stratford upon Avon which is about ½ way between Bridgnorth & Heathrow. I wasn’t sure whether to do the Park & Ride but in the end I drove into the town & there were plenty of places to park. I’ve never been to Stratford & in the past I’ve been put off by stories of it being very commercialised which is understandable as it’s been a tourist destination for hundreds of years. I was pleasantly surprised at how uncommercial it is. Of course there are sites such...

May 20, 2013 - The day before

So roughly 24 hours to go and my bike currently has no chain a flat tyre and one brake. On the plus side I have some lovely comfy new cycle shorts to help ease the pain of the next few weeks. Top tip for anyone thinking of riding more than 20 miles, get some padded shorts. All the other pains can be dealt with, sore-arse is with you till the end. Meanwhile anxiety levels are starting to rise, which is only normal I guess after all there is plenty to go wrong on such a trip. I just keep reminding myself I can fix a tyre, true a wheel and...

May 20, 2013 - Now & Then Edinburgh Photo

So we have this cool photo in our house of my Dad in a kilt that he had taken in Edinburgh when he was on leave during WWII. The boys & I went and had our picture taken at the same place to represent the next two generations. Then we made a toast to a great man that we all miss very much. Cheers Dad (Papa)!

May 20, 2013 - North Berwick

Greetings from North Berwick! North Berwick is a great little seaside town just 30 miles from Edinburgh on the East coast of Scotland and it is filled with golf history. It is not as popular with tourists as St. Andrews but it is my favorite spot in Scotland for scenery, Scottish hospitality and great golf. Imagine playing golf at Torrey Pines for 1980's prices then getting a 4 star hotel room right on the beach in La Jolla for $100 a night. We have a great three bedroom luxury apartment one block from the ocean and are enjoying the pub...

May 20, 2013 - Day 20 Inverness to

Up to a big breakfast again, packing and Rob off to try to get the wheel fixed again. We have more stuff to get into the car, old starter motor, more trophies, a leather jacket. Not sure how it is all going to fit. Off this morning at no rush. We made our way to the Colluden battlefield and had a short walk around.

May 19, 2013 - Day 19 Inverness

Tony had to fix our bugeye drizzling, Tony not happy, finally all fixed and off we went to chase the haggis. Got about 10 mile down the road and I lost the car on some diesel on a roundabout and reversed it up the gutter into a soft bank expecting huge damage, but on a few scratches on the passenger sill and a buckled passenger wheel. Pretty shaken up, concerned about driving (didn't know for sure it was diesel on the road until spoke to other people and they had also come off or spun or fishtailed. I had a hard time driving the car because...

May 18, 2013 - Day 18 Inverness

replace starter motor removed distributor went to get spare wheel puncture fixed got front end wheel alignment done car started to run like a dog and tried to fix it, made it all worse cold wet stuck Highland club president gave us contact number of mechanic made things better so we could get to the hotel, but running terribly no washing done, didn't get to beauly pub for Bev and missed out on the drive

May 18, 2013 - Edinburgh

Day #2 started with a great Scottish breakfast and then a long walk in the rain from our B&B to the top of the hill to tour Edinburgh Castle. Before we entered the castle we researched our lovely last name and learned that we are from the the MacEwan clan which sounds way cooler than Magoon if you ask me! Next we had photos taken in traditional Scottish garb (Photos posted soon). After touring the castle we grabbed a taxi and headed to a scotish premire league soccer match. After the game we drove to the town of North Berwick where we will...

May 17, 2013 - London crawling/travel ( also) makes the heart grow fonder

Airports are the same the world over. Places for transport of human kind. Cattle lined up and processed. Distant stares and anxiety abounds. A holding pen, where people hustle and bustle for position and small victories won by guessing the right line. George Orwell's pigs frisk and treat the common animals with disdain and at best a means to an end. The greater good determined by them not us. Human cargo mass around food, toilets and Internet ports- surely a revisit of Maslow's hierarchy is warranted as communication with those outside the...

May 17, 2013 - We Made It!

Well after 20 hours of airports, English language challenged taxi drivers and a hectic couple of hours trying to find our way while driving on the wrong side of the street, wrong side of the car and manual shifting with the left hand we finally made it to our B&B in Edinburgh, Scotland. We are very tired from the journey but that didn't stop us from going out for a great meal of Indian cuisine and then washing it down with a couple of pints of ale in the nearest pub to celebrate :) Tomorrow is a busy day as we tour downtown Edinburgh and...

May 17, 2013 - Day 17 Falkirk to Inverness (Scotland).

This morning is the start of Chasin the Haggis in Scotland Breakfast buttie photo shoot at Airth Castle Route notes to the New Drumossie Hotel via Clackmannan Bridge the Ochil Hills then the Cairngorms National Park saw snow great little roads people hit a lamb might of well of been single roads great hotel, great food went to do washing and starter motor stuffed new one organised for the morning

May 16, 2013 - Day 16 Pooley Bridge to Falkirk (Scotland)

After a photo shoot in the morning of the bugeye's driving over the stone bridge we made our way to Penrith over some more stone and hedge lined great winding roads. On making it to Penrith after one of our driving companions got lost not once, but twice we finally made it to town. Then it was our turn. No parking for us so we made our way up one way streets (the right way, past a castle, through residential streets, past the school and then back in the way we originally came. Finally parking, we didn't get to enjoy much of the city as we...