Into the Mystic

Hello folks... just heard from Chris & Suzi this morning (via email from the airport in London - impressive!) and they are officially starting their long journey back to the US. They said that the last few days have been quite sunny and warm (when we left it is so windy, rainy and cold!) It sounds like they covered a lot of territory since we left them - they took a train to Oban, ferries to Mull & Iona, and also visited Fife.

They should be back in LA this evening! They said they have lots of stories to share so we will make sure to update anyone that might still be checking in on Chris and Suzi's adventures...

I finally loaded the pictures from the other camera onto my computer, however, been back to work this week and no time to play - haven't even really been able to look at them yet! Luna, mom and i are still dealing with the effects of jet lag, although i only woke up at 5:30 this morning, which is much more reasonable than 3am...

Will update later with photos and Chris & Suzi news!

Well, here it is... 2:30 in the morning back in Spokane, WA and we are wide awake! We are having difficulty adjusting back to the time... My friend Carrie was supposed to come over to visit us tonight and Luna and i ended up falling asleep in the afternoon and could not, for the life of us, wake back up. Terrible!!!

So, i decided to check my email and received a lovely note from Xinzhou and Hai with some beautiful photos that they had taken on the trip. Thought i would share them with you all! They did an amazing job...

That photo was taken near Black Rock on the first day of our tour.

These ones were taken on the way to the Isle of Skye...

And here's a cute one of Luna they took...

And finally, one of the beach we stopped at on the Isle of Skye...

Spectacular! Great job, guys!!!

I am looking forward to uploading my photos from the other camera, which i have to do from my mom's computer. Hopefully will do that tomorrow... which is really today since it is now 3:15am. Sigh...

Diana's Entry...

We're finally home after a VERY long time in transit. Got up on May 7th at 3am (May 6th, 7pm "home" time), then got to the airport a bit before 4 a.m. for a 6 a.m. flight to Amsterdam...yes, going away from home instead of towards it! Had a 2-hour stopover there including going through another security check line there before boarding for a 10-hour flight to Seattle. That flight arched up past Scotland...oh yeah, that makes sense...didn't we just start out from there??? Then past Iceland, over Greenland, across the Northwest Territories of Canada (and a few other provinces), then down to Seattle. We went through customs in Seattle, including a cute little beagle sniffing everyone's luggage for contraband food. (And he did find an apple in someone's bag.) But the whole process included off-loading all our checked baggage from one conveyor belt, going through yet another customs check, then schlepping it all over to another conveyor belt for our final plane...a little commuter plane...for a very bumpy ride. Got home around 4 p.m. and was in bed by 6, for a 12-hour sleep in my wonderful, precious bed that I now appreciate so very much.

From Jenna:

We're happy to be home but miss Scotland. I'll be working at uploading more photos over the next few days so keep checking back for updates. Also, Chris and Suzi said they would try to send me email updates for the blog. So stay tuned...

PS ~ Here's a last few pictures taken leaving Edinburgh...

Here's some views out from the bus - the construction is for a light rail system that they are putting in.

Greetings to anyone who may be checking in... sorry there was no update last night but we did not have computer access. It is ridiculously early here and we are at the Glasgow airport getting ready to fly to Amsterdam and then to Seattle, and then finally home to Spokane. It will be a long long long day!

I'll update again after we are at home... and hopefully Chris and Suzi will email me updates for the blog for their family/friends, so stay tuned...

Sigh. We are close to the end of our grand adventure here in beautiful Scotland. Even though we've been here for two weeks, i still feel like we have only experienced a taste of all this country has to offer. We are already planning everything that we want to do next time we come to visit. Luna wants to move here, and she suggests bringing all of our friends and family with us... are you all game?

Speaking of which, i want to give a huge shout out to our lovely friends, Cheyenne and Marlyn. Luna misses you girls so much and can't wait to see you this coming weekend! Thanks so much Cheyenne for your sweet little note that you left in our comments section (and thanks to all who have commented.) It is nice to know that you are enjoying our adventure along with us.

Today we met Chris and Suzi for breakfast at the hotel and then set off to go to the yarn shop and to visit the Edinburgh Castle. I stopped by a few shops first and got a couple gifts for friends and then met the girls at the yarn shop. It is a cute little place...

And Luna was thrilled to find some petite cupcakes at the shop...

Then we headed up the street towards the Royal Mile. The shops are all so picturesque as the curve up the road...

And then... horror of horrors, mom insisted that we photograph this disgusting shop... WARNING: VEGETARIANS AND ANIMAL LOVERS BEWARE... SCROLL DOWN QUICKLY AND AVERT YOUR EYES...

I'd like to point out that i did NOT take this photo and was completely opposed to it... (but sure have enjoyed my fair share of pork related products on this trip.) I don't think i could stomach carving it off the pig though...

Moving along to non dead things... it was just a short jaunt up the steep hill to the castle from there once we got back onto the Royal Mile.

The views from the castle were amazing. From the cannon area you could see the whole city below...

Luna at the cannons...

There was so much to see that i just took another bum load of pictures... so check out the photo section for all.

We happened to be there just in time for the 1pm cannon shot... it was super loud!

We wandered around for hours, however, in a lot of the areas they did not allow folks to photograph. How rude! For example, we were able to see the Scottish Crown Jewels... and the Rock of Destiny, that all of the Kings of Scotland were crowned on. That was my mom's highlight of the trip... it was pretty darn cool.

So instead all i have to offer is the dog cemetery...

It was actually kind of neat... the dogs got their own little place of rest. Lucky royal dogs...

St. Margaret's Chapel was amazing... it is a 12th century chapel and the oldest building on the premises.

After our time at the castle we were ready for a very late lunch. We had spotted a cool place on the way up and stopped back on the way back down... it was hands down the best meal we have had in Scotland. The restaurant is called "The Witchery" and i wish Joy was there to see this place! (Seriously, you would love it!)

It was nestled back through this alleyway like a little secret place. In fact, the room we dined in was called "The Secret Garden." The restaurant is next to a cathedral and women were burned as witches outside on Castlehill nearby in the 16th and 17th centuries. The energy was palpable. They did an excellent job decorating this place, and unfortunately, my camera battery died upon entry to the establishment. Chris did get some shots of the interior though so perhaps we can get them later. Mom obtained a nice three page document from them with information to share with our friends when we get back.

Again, hands down, best meal we've had. The dessert was, as my mom says, what they serve in heaven. It was tremendous!

After our incredibly fantastic meal we headed back down the road to the hotel - it was quite rainy today and we needed to seek cover and relax for a spell.

Tomorrow we leave Chris and Suzi (boo hoo!) who will continue in Scotland for another week... lucky girls!

Mom, Luna and i will be heading back to Glasgow to prepare for our departure home ridiculously early on Thursday morning...