Scotland

This year's 4th of July weekend was spent away from large crowds. Seeing as we were celebrating America's independence from Great Britain, we thought it might be better to lie low and head to a place that fought for their own independence: Scotland.

Scotland has an open camping law. Basically, as long as you are not ruining a farmer's crops or bothering livestock, and you are at least 150m away from anyone's house, you can set up camp anywhere. How cool is that? We took advantage of the camping laws and scenery. I think the last time I went camping was in New York in April 2009. It rained a lot on that trip and was very very cold. While it did rain while we were in Scotland, we were pretty lucky in that we were either in the car or in the tent when it was happening.

We traveled with our friend Alan. Seeing as my car had been having issues, we took two cars with the understanding that we may end up in one before the weekend was over. Despite my car operating fine the last few weeks, the oil light came on after about 30 miles of driving. I checked the oil (which was fine; in fact, there was so much coolant mixed in with it, the level was higher than needed), I added some oil, and set out again. We didn't even make it a total of 50 miles before there was a strange rattling from the engine as we crested a hill. The engine light came on (never a good sign), followed a few seconds later by catastrophic failure. All lights on the dash came on and the engine died. I was able to coast to a side road and put my car in the weeds.


We pulled off, let the farmers know our intention to return on Monday, moved all the necessary gear to Alan's car and continued north, an hour and a half behind schedule and loaded into one car.


The weekend included a lot of driving. We got to Glasgow around 1:00am and looked for a place to set up. Despite trying to find some woods before hitting the suburbs, all we could find was sketchy industrial land with fences and barbed wire. We pushed through the city and camped in a field about 10 miles north.

The next day we headed up to Loch Ness. Along the way we stopped at some waterfalls and did a short hike. We bought waterproof, windproof sweaters out of a community center. We ate fish and chips and haggis. That afternoon, after starting up the scenic road along Loch Ness, we stopped for some hiking. We found a cool waterfall and eventually wandered down to the water. Instead of driving further, we decided to spend the night on the shores of the loch.

It was a beautiful night. We set up just off the beach and had a bonfire. We ate cheese, crackers, and deli meat and drank Scottish wine. Around midnight, with light still in the sky, we went to bed.

On Sunday we headed through whiskey country towards Aberdeen. We stopped to buy some whiskey and eat lunch in a small town. Since it was Sunday, not much was open, but we were able to make it to Aberdeen just in time to miss all of the museums and sights that closed at 3:00pm. After walking around the city, we headed along the coast towards Edinburgh.

We were on the hunt for a place to sleep, but the first place we stopped very clearly said "no camping" and was a bit exposed to the heavy north sea wind. We played on the beach and on the huge dunes for a while and decided to shoot for the cliff in the distance. The GPS guided us there and it turned out to be a perfect spot.

We set up the huge 3-room tent on a cliff over the sea and enjoyed the Scotch whiskey while watching the water and sun. The cliff was one step down from a higher cliff, so the wind was not a big issue. We didn't see another soul. It was a perfect spot and is marked in the GPS in case of future trips to Scotland.

The next day we swung down to Edinburgh for a quick walk along the magnificent mile and off to get my car. I had coordinated with a local garage owner; the deal was I gave him my dead car and he towed it for no cost. I think it was a pretty fair deal.

That did, however, leave me without a car. After spending an entire week of staying up past midnight trying to find a good diesel car for under 1000 pounds, I located a Skoda Octavia just north of Newcastle. Kate and I drove up last night and I ended up with a "new" ride. So far, so good. There are a few issues, but the miles on the odometer are low for a diesel and it should get around 60 mpg on the highway. Ideal for the road trips we are planning on taking. Not only that, but the boot (trunk) is huge and, unlike my Daewoo, things seem to work on it. Still too early to tell if it was a good purchase or not, but I have a car once more. That makes transportation much more straightforward.

Today we went to an outdoor play with some friends. It was a production of Shakespeare's "As You Like It." It was a good time. It was on the grounds of an old estate. We showed up early and had a picnic. From there we followed the actors around the grounds where they would put on the various scenes. We carried our chairs with us and got to see a good portion of the grounds. All in all, a really enjoyable way to spend a Sunday afternoon and evening.