WE'RE BACK!!!
I must say that Scotland was more beautiful than I could have imagined. There is something so awe-inspiring about seeing in 3D what you've only seen in books before. And the wonderful conversations and experiences that come with seeing it with friends. This truly was an awesome trip.
Since my jet-lagged brain can't come up with anything else (all I can think about is the trip and being with my family again), I thought I'd talk about a few Behind The Scenes happenings. Since we wrote our blogs before we left, they didn't include some of the funny, embarrassing, or memorable experiences we had. I hope these entertain you a bit today:
1. Never underestimate jet lag, combined with insomnia and motion sickness. Unfortunately I did and got up close and personal with the thistles on the side of the road outside Glasgow. Puking is not a great way to start the Vacation of a Lifetime.
2. Smarty Pants + Ambien = A Surreal Eating Experience. The Ambien kicked in while we were being served dinner on the plane. It was late because we sat on the tarmac for 2 hours waiting to take off. She was very funny.
3. Note to self: I'm allergic to stinging nettle. Those emerging whelps weren't pretty. Thank goodness Smarty Pants carries Anti-Allergy meds with her.
4. It is kind of hard to sleep and eat on a schedule when the sun comes up around 4am and goes down after 10pm. But you can get in a lot of sight-seeing that way.
5. I love Scotland's version of bacon, scones with clotted cream and jam, and PC's mother-in-law's rhubarb cobbler and meringues. I don't care for haggis.
6. I abhor flying all day, and don't particularly care for the airline we used. I also don't like the idea of people going through my things, especially when they abscond with one of my packages of shortbread.
7. Scotland has a very weird taste in chips, which they call crisps. I brought my husband home Roasted Chicken, Steak and Onion, and Prawn Cocktail flavors.
8. PC is awesome driving on the wrong side of the road, except when tour buses decide to drift into her lane. That leads to some interesting curse words. She also performed some pretty nifty parking.
9. Dramamine is my friend.
10. The sight of my children's faces when we met in the airport will live with me forever. Remembering still makes me cry.
Angel
P.S. Tomorrow Kelley St. John will be visiting the Playground!
P.P.S. Thanks so much for all the comments while we were gone. Once I've recovered from the jet lag, I'll be going over the past posts and choosing a winner for my contest. Stay tuned!!!
23 comments:
Hip, Hip, Hooray!!!! It's so good to have you back, Angel! And great to know that PC, Instigator and SP are back too with Miss Rhonda in tow.
I'm so glad you had the trip of a lifetime. While you were gone I got to see my littliest munchkin and he's the cutest! We had a great time visiting and hated to leave. Plus, # 2 just left to study abroad. I was at the airport today, practically in tears seeing her go off on her great adventure. Mommys will always miss their babies no matter how old they get.
Did you try the Haggis? Did SP try it like she said she would? What did you think of William Wallace's monument? The castles? Must know more....
Kathy
Well, i'm new here...i was keeping PM company whilst you were all away having a vacation of a lifetime...
Welcome home...She's missed you all.
I've loved all your comments over the last two weeks...and still want to know - did you sing the song when you went to Loch Lomond?
Nini :)
Angel, glad you weren't sick the entire visit!! Sounds like a wonderful trip and it's good for the fam to know what life's like without you around all the time -- makes'em realize just how great it is with you there. ;)
Angel, our first stop after dropping SP off to her family was for a diet Mt. Dew, then onto Sonic for a cup of ice. :-)
Thanks, Playfriends, for being so much fun!
Like Nini, I'm new here.
Weclome back..
See, and I thought I'd taken *years* off everyone's life with my driving.
I know it took years off of mine. :-)
But I'm glad to be home. I've managed to catch up on the laundry and sort through the hundreds of emails. Now, if I could just get over the jet lag!
Hi Nina and Stacy! Welcome to the blog!
I'm so glad to be back!! I missed everyone here. Now there is no doubt just how email and blog addicted I really am :-)
PC did a FANTASTIC job driving! The bus drivers, however, need a refresher course on proper lane ussage.
The castles and countryside are absolutely beautiful. I did try haggis and white pudding - both of which were pretty good.
I was at Walmart yesterday morning at 5 AM, asleep at 9 PM and up again this morning at 5:15. At least my clock is slowly moving backwards. The trip was absolutely worth a little jet lag though.
Instigator
Welcome back!!! runs and falls at your feet, grateful she doesn't have to man the blog all by her lonesome anymore, though the Friends of the Playground did a great job keeping me company
Ugh on the nausea. Yay on the wonderful sights and PC's great driving. The jet lag will eventually wear off. I've always thought it was worse coming back than going over.
I can't wait to see all your photos and find out what kinds of souvenirs you brought back (aside from shortbread and crisps).
Well, jetlag or no, I'm getting everything setup for my move. Yay. No rest for the wicked.
We had a great trip. Much fun. I'm glad everyone kept Marilyn company and I'm excited to see some new faces out there. We love new people!
I barely remember what I did on the plane with the sleeping pills. I remember feeling goofy and saying funny things, but who knows what...
SP
Dramamine is my friend too.
Sorry you had some bad moments.
My longest flt was 5 hrs to Vegas - dont know if I could stand a longer flt.
Welcome home.
Oh, no, I can't believe I didn't tell y'all the wonders of melatonin for fighting jet lag. No joke. When you get where you're going, stay up as long as possible, then pop AT LEAST 6 mgs of melatonin and go to bed. You'll sleep about two hours. When you wake up, pop another 6 mgs. You'll sleep another two hours. When you wake up, take more melatonin. Do this until you've slept a total of eight hours, and, presto, when you wake up, you've acclimated to the time. No jet lag. The older you get the more melatonin you'll need, but the stuff works. I discovered this after spending 10 days in Hawaii and never adjusting to the time: up every morning around 3 a.m. Saw every sunrise. Actually, sitting on the oceanside deck, 37 stories high, drinking coffee, and watching the sunrise were some of my best moments in Hawaii.
If you don't have dramamine any antihistimine works wonders. I learned the hard way lol.
welcome back and I'm enjoying hearing about the trip.
Ha, ha, Rhonda!!! If your family only knew about the daily trips to the store for cold drinks...
No, Nini, We didn't sing the Loch Lomond song as we were driving by it. We were too busy praying not to be hit by a bus. The road next to Loch Lomond was one of the narrowest 2-way roads we went down--rock wall on one side, sheer cliff dropoff on the other. But the view was beautiful!
Yes, we all tried haggis. The initial bite reminded me of meatloaf and would have tasted good with gravy, except the aftertaste was too reminiscent of the actual ingredients. No more haggis for me! But like Instigator, I enjoyed the white pudding.
We did see the William Wallace monument from Stirling Castle, and made several comments about what a phallic symbol it was... he, he... I know Kathy is outraged that we didn't show the proper respect. :)
My favorite castle was Kilchurn. My favorite chapel was Rosslyn. Horseback riding was awesome, and totally worth the extremely sore booty (don't ask Rhonda what she thought). Kathy, can you teach me to grow foxgloves?
William Wallace's monument a phalic symbol? What? This is....an injustice! (We should paint you guys blue while you sleep.)
Just for that...no Foxgloves for you, Angel! Seriously....though extemely beautiful, they're poisonous and you don't want the kids to accidentally get into them. This is what digitalis is made from. But oh, they are splendid specimens!
Shame on you guys!
Kathy
Pictures must not do Rosslyn Chapel justice.
Oh, and I've got plants for Angel if you want them. They aren't Foxgloves. :-)
Kathy
Pictures must not do Rosslyn Chapel justice.
Oh, and I've got plants for Angel if you want them. They aren't Foxgloves. :-)
Kathy
I did not just stutter. I promise blogger was up to its old tricks again.
Heehee
Okay...so no one wants to answer the question of "did you sing the Loch Lomond song"? Does that mean the answer was an astounding yes?
Nini :)
im new here as well. but i would like to say welcome back to everyone and time to scrapbook while everything is fresh in your mind.
Um, Nini, I answered that earlier. Nope, no singing. We were busy driving.
Welcome back! Really enjoyed hearing about your trip and can't wait to hear more.
Sorry Angel - i missed it...my head is still filled with anger at someone's careless critique i read...and with school work!
You all don't drive and sing? Well, i guess driving on the wrong side of the road would make me scream not sing...i wouldn't be able to do it. I'd have to have DH do that.
Nini
Nini - if we had sung, it would have been a hymn or prayer that we wouldn't get hit by a tourbus and sink to the bottom of Loch Lomand. We sang 80s hits on the drive back from Inverness, but it was late and there were almost no cars out to hit us then.
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