Glad to be home.
That might be obvious but, as much fun as we had, it was a challenging trip. Driving over there introduces an extra element of skill that we are not required to possess on this side of the pond; It is not about driving on the left hand side, it is about roads that are only barely as wide as the vehicle. Drivers over there are used to it so think little of it. When was the last time you drove on a road that was only inches wider than your vehicle? For me, never. I had driven on the left hand side before so I wasn't too stressed about that but I discovered i had underestimated how challenging i would find driving through twisty mountain or coastal roads where I couldn't see around the next bend and meeting an oncoming vehicle often meant one vehicle was backing up. Happy to say that wasn't just me, that was locals, too. The other thing was that almost every vehicle has some body damage. Getting a fender bender is stressful for anybody but there, nobody bothers to fix one because it is just a matter of time before you get another. That was the case with our rental car and virtually every vehicle we saw (except maybe big trucks!).
Both Ireland and Scotland were stunningly beautiful so I anticipate that the stress of the drive will dissipate before the memory of the beauty will go away.
We landed in Kelowna about 5:00 pm. Traveling west, we chased the sun the entire day so it is about trying to function for an extra long day coming home. By the time we got to bed at 8:00 pm last night, it was 4:00 am Ireland time.
When we walked in the door, Mingus and Pirna scattered. Sprout kept her distance for a few minutes but she was the first to acknowledge us. The other two treated us like one of their nine lives just went M.I.A. As we knew they would, they slept with Shelley, our esteemed sitter. Not sure why it is but when Shelley arrived the cats clearly recognized her and were happy to have her back in the house. When we arrive, we are pariahs.
It is 4:00 am local time. Nan and i are both awake and all three cats have found their way to our room, one by one. Redeemed!
This is the last picture I took on the trip. It is a lovely setting of the street where we had our final dinner. Thanks for following along on our journey of discovery. Thanks to Nan as the principal photographer, confidante and nuturer. We did talk, while we were away, about a prospective future trip to explore Scottish islands. No timeline on that one; it is tough to think about planning a trip when we haven't recovered from the last one.
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