Scotland and NC500 - Day 4 - Holy Island to Markinch

A bit if a drive today, but nothing akin to the 330 miles we did to get up from Daglingworth on Sunday, today we tackled a mere 109 miles, bringing us up around Edinburgh to the Caravan Club site at Balbirnie Park, Markinch.

We took a slight detour on the way up, a few essentials we needed, including some Ad-Blue as our VW had suddenly decided it was depleted, and a chance to refuel and do a bit more food shopping, fresh provisions this time to feed us for the next couple of nights.

Our first stop north of the border was at the fishing village of St Abbs as we had decided to talk a walk out to the lighthouse at St Abbs Head. Used as the setting for New Asgard for the filming of Avengers Endgame, St. Abbs is a lovely little fishing village and the walk out to St. Abbs head, a blustery affair, at least it was this afternoon. The Borders coast is a lovely area and St Abbs is no exception, as you walk out to the head the views are stunning, if you make the trek, be sure to take the slight detour to talk in the small and tranquil loch along the way.

We arrived at our first campsite in Scotland in the early evening, just in time to get set up and go out for a walk, not that Markinch had much on offer in that area. Seemingly a place without a purpose, though I am sure that many locals would disagree, but to a passing traveller there was not much on offer. It was a good job we had done a bit of shopping on the way up, otherwise it could well have seen us dipping into our emergency rations tonight.

But hey, we are in Scotland, we have travelled a distance of 512 miles since we left home, but we are here. Now the trip can really begin.

Scotland and the NC500 - Day 3 - Holy Island

The causeway was only open today between 9 and 16:00, so no lay in.

We are onto Holy Island for 10, at least we did not have to guess how long we wanted to pay for parking for. If we are not off by 16:00 then we are stuck here until after 21:00 tonight.

The castle is well worth a visit, the National Trust have done a good job with it, recreating a scene from its heyday as a well to do country retreat after it was saved from dilapidation by Edward Hudson, the founder of Country Life Magazine in the 1920's.

The rest of the island is worth a walk around too, though we avoided paying the entry fee for the abbey, you can see throughout the ruins from outside and we did not fancy spending time indoors as it was a lovely day. The money was much better put to use on a local ice cream. 

For lunch we had a quiche from the local post office, feta and tomato, and very nice it was too. There are places to eat on the island if you fancy a sit down meal, but we had not booked ahead and as a result of most people being on a very similar schedule due to the tide times, were very busy at meal time.

Finally, no visit is complete without calling into the local gift shop and purchasing the obligatory bottle of mead, or two in our case!

After we returned to the campsite we walked just over a mile to The Lindisfarne Inn for a bit of supper, the meal was fine, though the menu very limited due to staff shortages, a hangover from the combination of COVID and BREXIT, something I fear we will see for a while to come.

Scotland and the NC500 - Day 2 - The Cotswolds to Holy Island

Not as early a start today as we had intended, but that was self inflicted...

Today we drove from Daglingworth to Beal, Northumberland, just across the causeway From Holy Island. We are spending a couple of nights at Brock Mill Farm, a Caravan Club CL site.

The drive took us just over 8 hours, though we did stop a couple of times along the way, once for a bit of shopping, supplies for the days ahead, and once to have a look around Alnwick, and get a few photos of Alnwick Castle (aka Hogwarts). By the time we got there the castle was closed to the public, but it provided an excuse to stretch our legs and take a short walk around the town.

Still not in Scotland!

Scotland and the North Coast 500 - Day one (30th July 2022)

The title is not strictly true for today, but the trip will see us winding our way up the East Coast of Scotland to John O'Groats, across the top, down the west and then finally all the way back to Devon.

Today however we will get nowhere near to Scotland. Our first leg sees us picking up the Grandkids to drop them off at Hopwood Services and then heading back down the M5 to Daglingworth near Cirencester, including a trip back up to Birmingham to see Joe Jackson in concert. The last of our COVID postponed events.

The visit to Birmingham had the added advantage of taking us into the city during the Commonwealth games. It was a pleasure to see the centre bustling with life and had the added advantage of letting us see the giant mechanical bull used in the opening ceremony.

The concert was great, Joe still has it, the voice as strong as ever and then we finished the evening with a few drinks back in Daglingworth before crawling into bed in the early hours.

The final stretch

Thursday 20th August - Our last full day

More packing but not surprising really.

I also started working on slide shows of our photos so we have something to use to show people what we got up to when we get home. Even after being very selective the full run of slide shows extends to over an hour, and this is using a very small percentage of our thousands of photos.

We did get out, we headed up the 192 and played a game of Crazy Golf, and we even managed a swim, but most of the day was spent preparing for the fact that we leave tomorrow.

Dinner consisted of a Chinese take-out from the Chinese over by Sweet Bay, it is pretty useful having a Chinese within a couple of minutes of the house, we then watched the Hannah Montana movie, which I picked up for Baggage yesterday. I enjoyed it more than I expected I guess, though maybe I should not admit to that!

More packing in the evening and then fairly late to bed.

Friday 21st August - Time to go home

We have until 1pm to finish sorting the house out before we have to head for the airport, and for the first time since we bought this house six years ago we are leaving not knowing when we will next be coming back.

Mum phoned this morning and told us that Candy, our cat had died. She had stayed at our house whilst we have been away, she was 17 so not a young cat, but my Mum had been around to feed her every day, this morning she found her dead on our driveway, all evidence suggests it was just old age. Quite sad really that she had waited for us since we went away and dies within 24 hours of us getting home.

We did get some good news this morning, the package of wooden souvenirs we had purchased in Fiji had arrived back in the UK, almost exactly three months to the day since we had purchased then, the delivery expectation set by the Fijian shop keeper.

We left for the airport with six very full cases to check in, we had left the UK with three, all with space in them, we had already shipped one very full case back with Danny and there was our very full box of items shipped from Fiji, not to mention the various other packages we had shipped back along the way. All our six bags were either as physically full as they could sensibly be, or were on the limit for check-in weight.

Our flight back was fairly uneventful, direct from Orlando to Gatwick and leaving pretty well on time.

Saturday 22nd August - Home

The trip is now really over, we were picked up this morning by Danny from Gatwick airport and he drove us back to Devon via his house in Guildford where we stopped for him to pick up some stuff and for us to have a bacon sandwich. We got home around lunchtime, in places the roads were pretty busy, but it was not too bad, then it was straight into sorting through the cases and finding the various parcels we have bought back for people.

Katie is due back from Fort Lauderdale in less than a week, so we need to get ourselves sorted before all descends into chaos once again.

Would I do it again - ABSOLUTELY!

A couple more entries - nearly there!

Tuesday 18th August - Jonas in Tampa

Tonight we are off to Tampa to see The Jonas Brothers live in concert. Not quite my cup of tea, but Baggage is really excited.

As it was likely to be a late night tonight we did spend the day in, though I managed to sneak out to Walmart and whilst out got my hair cut, saves having to head straight to the barbers when we get back to the UK.

We headed over to Tampa late afternoon and drove straight to the concert venue, the drive across was OK though getting into the venue and finding parking was a bit slow going.

The band were actually not too bad, the stage show was good and they are good entertainers, however the little girls screaming really did my head in. There was one girl sat closely behind us who spent the entire time the band were on stage screaming how much she loved them, not only would she have had a sore throat the next day, she would have had no idea what the music actually sounded like. Supporting the band were The Honor Societ and Jordin Sparks both were OK!

It was about 12:30 by the time we have made our way out of the car park and all the way back across to Clermont, but it was worth it, Baggage had a really great time.

Wednesday 19th August - Packing and a meal out.

Today is all about packing, we have been living here for the last two months and not only do we have to put into cases what we want to take back to the UK with us, but we also have to pack up the rest of the house and put it away in our lockup. Our new improved lockup with extra locks following the break in earlier in the year.

I found out the Rip Ride Rocket opened on Saturday, just after our last visit to Universal. I desperately wanted to go back for a ride, but neither Baggage nor Lisa could be persuaded to join me so in the end I gave up on the idea, it will just have to wait until we come back to Florida, though at this time have no idea when that will be!

I did manage to write a bit this afternoon, wonder if I will be able to keep it up when I get back to the UK, I hope so!

This evening we went out for dinner with Roy and Janette to The Stonewood Grill which is out their way, we had a great meal and after went back to their place for a bit before heading back here. Baggage even managed to get a couple of last minute additions to her list of transport used, a golf cart and a beach buggy, both of which are CJ’s, Roy and Janette’s son. It was almost midnight again by the time we finally got home.

I will get this finished...

It has been nearly a year since we finished our trip and I just have not got around to finish posting my blog. The problem was that I recorded the end of the trip in note form and did not even make comprehensive diary entries so I had nothing to cut and paste in. But now I am on vacation again and back in Florida, the thunder is booming outside and the rain pouring down, so why not finish the job off, after all I nearly got there.

Saturday 15th August - A day of rest

Today we started serious packing ready to go home, we have a week still to go and after the packing have our four cases already full, one new one I have bought half full and still a load of stuff waiting to go in, looks like another trip to Walmart for a sixth suitcase will be required.

This afternoon we all had a swim and afterwards I did some preparation out on the pool deck for the last bit of painting I will do before we head for home.

For dinner this evening we went to Animal Kingdom Lodge and ate at their African buffet, Boma. The food there is great, all dishes are African themed and there are plenty of them to chose from, I had small portions of all of the following: Chicken and Coconut curry; Humus and Pitta; Melon Rind Salad; Curried Pasta Salad; Prime Rib; Chicken; Barbecue Rib; Coconut Rice; Glazed salmon with nuts; Sweet Potato Mash; Various small pudding samples. OK so maybe not so African, but a really great buffet!

When we got back to the house we watched Paul Blart, Mall Cop, on demand before it was time for Baggage to go to bed.

Sunday 16th August - feel sorry for me

Today I am feeling a little under the weather, bit of a cold I think. I did manage a swim this morning, Lisa joined me but Baggage was far too busy on her computer. She does spend a lot of time on that, as responsible parents should we limit it and encourage other activities instead?

My other main activities for today were centred around motorsport, first I watched the ALMS race from Road America and then I watched the Czech Republic MOTOGP. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon when you are feeling a little under the weather. An early night for me tonight.

Monday 17th August - On my own

Lisa and Baggage are out today, they headed off up Highway 27 to have lunch with Marlene and Cassidy, their last chance before we head back to the UK. Me I am still feeling a little under the weather. I did manage to write a bit more of the book and then all I felt like doing was curling up on the sofa and watching a movie so I watched Angels and Demons, followed quickly after by Steven King’s The Dead Zone. Lisa and Baggage got back late afternoon and we had supper together, but again I was not slow in getting myself in to bed. Need to ensure I am feeling better tomorrow as we are off to Tampa to watch The Jonas Brothers.

Friday 14th August - Off to Universal

Today we decided to head out to Universal Studios for a day at the theme park, we hoped that we got get to ride Rip Rocket, the new roller coaster, but when we got there we found it had not quite opened yet, they were running it however with invited guests only. In fact we found out on Saturday that we were at Universal just one day too early, Rip Rocket opened to the general public on the Saturday Morning. We have a good day in the park however it was not too busy and we managed to do everything we wanted to. We end our visit with dinner at Bubba Gump, our first time of eating there, Baggage loved it, in particular the stop and run signs on the table that you use to attract the attention of your server. The food was pretty good also.

Universal.

When we get back to the house Baggage and I have a quick swim.

I am almost out of beer now, that will not do I will have to get a little more, even though I only have a few more days during which to drink it. I am sure I will manage that however.

Thursday 13th August - Whoops! A bit too fast.

This morning I decided to do a final bit of shopping before we head back to the UK so I set off on my own, Lisa and Baggage just wanted to chill to drive up to festival bay.

On the way through Disney land as I cut across the bottom of it to reach International Drive I got stopped by a Highway Patrol Officer for speeding, not good in Florida and definitely not good in Disney! He pulled me over doing about 65 in a 50 mph zone. I plead ignorance and own up to being a stupid tourist and he takes pity on me as I have a clean UK license and decides to let me off. Nice Mr. Policeman.

At Festival Bay I get quite a bit of stuff including a new book The Runes of the Earth - Stephen Donaldson, the first volume in the final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, a series of books I read back in the ‘80s. I also get a Christmas present for Baggage, organised aren’t I!

When I get back to the house I chill and finish Cell, a really good read which I thoroughly enjoyed.

This evening Lisa & Baggage go to Bob Evans with vouchers for a free meal that they got from the Library when they visited recently, we decided it would be good for the girls to have a girly trip out. I am happy to stay at home anyway and cook for myself then watch a movie as I have finished my book!

Not a late night and we are really getting into the frame of mind of going home now, we have a couple more things to do before we do head home, but most of our time will be spent in preparation for our final journey to take us back to the UK and North Devon.

And a bit more of a catch up!

Tuesday 11th August

Today I did a 3 hour drive down to the West Palm Beach service station, then turned around and drove right back. Whilst I was there I did have lunch and move a couple of things from my car to Katie’s and vice versa so I guess there was method in my madness.

I got back around 4pm to arrive in the middle of an issue where Katie had been cut off from electricity in Fort Lauderdale because the power company thought the bill had not been paid when it had really. As can often be the case when dealing with big corporations Lisa and I spent probably 5 hours on the phone between this afternoon and tomorrow and really did not achieve very much, the power went back on when they wanted it to, all our shouting and complaining did not seem to move anything any further along. In the meantime Katie and Rachel had a house with no air conditioning with temperatures inside in the 90s, luckily they found elsewhere to sleep at night. When the power company did come back out to turn the power on, Wednesday lunchtime, they claimed the gate was locked and as they could not raise any attention from the house, the door bell is electric, they left/ Amazing how they managed to open the same gates when they wanted access to turn the power off. Eventually the power was restored on Thursday at around 11am.

Wednesday 12th August

Today we spent a day in, I was very happy with that after yesterday. I read a lot and did manage to do a bit of writing, but not a lot else, other than talking to Florida Power and Light on the phone of course....

Monday 10th August - Kennedy Space Centre

Today we drove over to the coast to Kennedy Space Centre, Baggage has been doing work on space exploration as part of her science school work and this is a very suitable field trip for the end of term, after all you always go on a field trip at the end of the summer term don’t you.

Space Shuttle Discovery is on the launch pad, it rolled out there last week in preparation for it’s launch at the end of August so we get a look at it from the observation gantry, though you do not get to see much as it’s launch tower is in the way and all you can really see is the top of the orange fuel tank. However it was still good to see it there getting ready for it’s launch, we will not be in Florida when it goes off, but after having seen it getting ready to depart I will try to track it's launch date and get Baggage to watch it go off over the Internet on the NASA site which streams all launches as they happen.

On the way out to the gantry where we looked at Discovery from we drove alongside the crawler roadway that is used to transfer the assembled shuttles from the assembly building out to the launch site, the impressions in the roadway being clearly visible even though the shuttle travelled over it a week before.

After having taken a good look at the tip of the tank from the gantry we continued on to the Saturn V centre where the focus is on the Apollo program and moon landings. It was 40 years ago this summer that man first landed on the moon and this is being commemorated in the centre with additional exhibits being on display from the NASA archives for the first time, it was good to go there and see some of these things that had been hidden away for so long. The exhibits included an array of prototypes for the suit for the moon walk, I guess that the suit that was worn has become part of our history so does not look out of place, some of these that were proposed and tested looked as if they would have been more at home in a 50s ‘B’ sci-fi movie.

After the Saturn V centre we headed back to the main visitors centre and watched one of the IMAX films and then took a walk in the rocket garden and paid a visit to the Robot Scouts exhibition before thinking about heading back to our house. It was a good day, we have been to the Kennedy Space Centre before, but the last time Baggage was there she was only 7 so did not remember much of it and it all came across as being new to her, she really enjoyed it, it was a pretty good field trip.

We got back to the house at 8:30, early enough to watch a bit of Torchwood before bed.