Last Post from the New World

Monday night I was sitting in my favorite English pub
having dinner and a pint and listening to Eric Clapton's
Unplugged.  Tuesday afternoon I was sitting in the first
class cabin (I could get used to it.) of a Boeing 767
watching the Appalachian Mountains go by below and
listening to Diana Krall's latest album.  Wednesday
morning I attended my brother-in-law's funeral (the
first of my generation in my family).  Saturday afternoon
I learned that in eight months I will be a grandpa (I will
gladly pay up on the bets made to many of you.).  It has
been a full week, but I am home.

To everyone that actually read some of the stuff that
I have written during the last 11 months, you have earned
a reprieve and should immediately seek therapy.  To those
of you that sent emails to me, I say thanks because they
kept me connected me to home.  I enjoyed my stay and have
hundreds of pictures to share with anyone crazy enough to
ask.  I am glad to be home and look forward to seeing you
in the coming days, weeks, months.......  To all of my new
friends in the UK, I will keep in touch and in the immortal
words of Douglas Adams, "So long and thanks for all the fish!".

I hope this finds all well where you are.

DWR

Beautiful Weekend

It was a beautiful weekend here.  After traveling
through Scotland the previous two weeks, I decided
to stay home and catch up on local stuff this weekend. 
The leaves are in full color and the whole town has a
different feel to it.  I spent a lot of time walking
around town while watching and listening to the locals. 
(Chris, they have opened an upscale restaurant in your
old watering hole!)

Yesterday marked my eleventh month here.  Mother nature
oblidged me by providing a beautiful clear Fall day. 
After work, I walked around town and then drove out
to The Honey Bee (my favorite UK pub) for some Hunters
Chicken and a pint of Timothy Taylor
(hand pumped of course).  The staff there always make
me feel at home and their mashed potatoes and carrots
are like no other.

Work continues to wind down.  The Process Group has
shrunk to half its former size and it will soon shrink
even more.  Things will not pick up for them until after
the new year when new funding is released and the detailed
design begins.

I hope this finds all well where you are.

DWR

Scotland trip comes to an end

The Scotland tour came to an end yesterday.  It is an
amazing country.
Day 11 we were in Inverness.  We stopped long enough to
do some laundry and then headed out for the Culloden
battlefield. We spent the rest of the morning and part
of the afternoon there before returning to Inverness
to continue our tour of the city.
Day 12 we departed from Inverness and headed down
Loch Ness on our way to Kingussie in the Cairngorm
Mountains.  We stopped along the way to tour a museum
and to see a castle.  The combination of the fall colors
on the surrounding mountains and the blue of the loch
were worth stopping to admire, which we did often. 
After touring the loch, we drove up into the Cairngorms,
stopping along the way to walk to a water fall.
We intentionally took the back roads and were rewarded
with more great scenery.
Day 13 we left Kingussie and dropped down out of the
Highlands to Stirling.  In Stirling, we toured the
downtown area and walked along the old city walls.
Day 14 we toured Stirling Castle in the morning and
then drove to Rosslyn Chapel (think Dan Brown) for a
tour of this incredible unfinished cathedral.  We
then drove to Selkirk.
Day 15 we left Selkirk and on our way home we toured
one of the many ruined abbeys (Melrose Abbey - built in
the 12th century) and the remains of a Roman fort on
Hadrian's Wall (2nd century).
We arrived back in Wilmslow around 1730.
Day 16 is today.  I took Michelle to the airport this
morning and she is currently winging her way back
to Atlanta. Two weeks should be the minimum stay in
Scotland to do it justice. Many places in the west
reminded me of the western US, many places
in the east reminded me of the eastern US, and some of
the landscape did not remind me of anything that I
had seen before. In many parts of the country, the
roads are not built for speed, but you will not want
to rush through these areas anyway.
The people are helpful and friendly and can even
be heard to say "y'all" from time to time.

This is the last extended trip I will take while here.
Michelle and I spent a week touring northern Wales in
February. Seven of us spent a week touring England
in June and then four of us spent the next week touring
northern Wales and the Peak District.  Michelle and
Melissa came over in August for a 10 day tour of
Ireland.  I have tried to travel every weekend that
I was not working and have largely succeeded. 
I have put a lot of miles on the rental car and tried
to support the local economies with non-stop spending. 
There are a few things that I would have done
differently, but not many.  I will now start
getting ready to come home. 
It is a little ways off, but there
are still things to do here at the flat
and at work.

I will now go to a local pub and have a
pint on y'all's behalf.
I hope this finds all well where you are.

DWR

Day 11 of Scotland Tour

Greetings from Inverness on Day 11 of the Scotland tour. In our last
episode, Michelle and David were on the Outer Hebrides looking
at standing stones and surreal landscape.

Day 7 saw them escape from Stornoway via the ferry to Ullapool
and the western highlands. The weather was extremely windy and
a little wet. From Ullapool, we drove north to Durness where we
stayed for the night. There is a lot of dramatic landscape along the
western and northern coastlines and a lot of it is viewed from single
track roads. It is hard to stay on the road, dodge sheep, and sightsee
at the same time. So, it was slow going.

Day 8 was a drive across the northern coast to Gills Bay, where we
caught the ferry to the Orkney Islands. About halfway across, the
landscape changes from high moor land to beautiful farm land. It
is a sudden and dramatic change. This drive had a slight twist in that
we had to dodge a herd of cows on the road. They blocked the entire
road and were in no hurry, so we had to detour around them. We
landed in St. Margaret's Hope and drove north to Kirkwall.

Day 9 we toured the main island with its standing stones and
historic buildings. These islands are beautiful farmland, lakes,
and dramatic coastline just like the NE part of mainland Scotland.
Kirkwall has a view sites as well.

Day 10 we toured downtown Kirkwall and South Ronaldsay
(the southern most island) before boarding the ferry back to
the mainland. Once on the mainland we drove south to Inverness.
Along the way we visited more standing stones and a castle.

Today we will go to Culloden (battlefield) and Loch Ness
(to see Nessie) before returning to Inverness for a second night.
Michelle has about 700 pictures thus far, so when she gets home,
do not ask to see any pictures of the trip or you may get more
than you bargained for.

I hope this finds all well where you are.

DWR

Isle of Skye

More specifically, greetings from Stornoway, Outer Hebrides,
Scotland, UK. Today is day six of the thirteen day tour of
Scotland with Michelle. She arrived last Saturday on an
early flight and we were off and running within the hour.

Day 1: Michelle arrived around 0830 and cleared customs
around 0930. We stopped by the apartment long enough
for me to pick up my luggage and for her to freshen up
and then we were off to Scotland. The drive up took us
by the Lake District and across the Scottish border at the
SW corner. Our first night was spent at the Queensberry
B&B in Moffatt with hosts Paul and Denise. They are retired
school teachers and she makes a great salmon omelette for
breakfast. We spent the afternoon walking around Moffatt,
which was home for a walkers convention that weekend.

Day 2: We drove from Moffatt and through Glasgow to
get to Ardlui the next day. Along the way, we stopped and
toured a local village; walked along the bonnie, bonnie banks
of Loch Lomond; and took a cruise on a tour boat.
Our accommodations that night were at the Ardlui Hotel,
which is located on the very northern tip of Loch Lomond.
The view from our hotel window included the lake and
surrounding mountains. The hotel has a good restaurant
and a decent pub.

Day 3: From Ardlui, we drove to Fort William. This is a
great drive because it takes you over the southern tip
of the highlands. It was a drive interrupted by frequent
stops for Michelle to take pictures. We stopped in Fort
William long enough do some grocery shopping for snacks,
tour the pedestrianized downtown, eat lunch, and check in
at the Glenlochy Guest House. We then drove to Glen Nevis,
strapped on the hiking boots, and started up Ben Nevis.
The weather and the time of day would not allow a climb
to the top, but we walked about an hour and a half before
sitting down to eat our snacks and enjoy the view. That
night we ate at a local restaurant with a few other
American tourists seated not far away.

Day 4: Our destination this day was Portree on the
Isle of Skye. The Isle of Skye is where pagans go when they
die to await admission to the Outer Hebrides for the rest
of eternity. It is SCENIC. Our day included a drive around a
large portion of the southern and central part of the island on
single track roads where the sheep have right of way, a tour
of a castle built on the bank of a sea loch, and many stops for
pictures. In Portree, we checked into the Rosedale Hotel.
The hotel is located right on the harbor front. We walked
around town until the restaurants opened for dinner.
Dinner and dessert were both memorable. Breakfast the
next morning was spent in the hotel dining room overlooking
the harbor.

Day 5: The Outer Hebrides was our destination for the day.
We spent the morning exploring the northern end of the
Isle of Skye (magnificent) before arriving at the ferry
terminal in Uig. While we waited for the ferry, we had
lunch at a proper tea room run by an English couple from
Yorkshire. The ferry left Uig at 1400 and arrived in Tarbert
around 1540. We did not sit down for more than a minute
or two during the entire crossing. The shorelines of the
Isle of Skye and the Outer Hebrides Lewis Island are
cliff lined and spectacular. At the end of the crossing,
we toured the southern and central portion of Lewis Island
before heading up to Stornoway and the Royal Hotel.
Again, the hotel is located on the harbor front and we
have a room facing the harbor. There is one main road
on Lewis Island. It is a two lane road. All other roads are
single lane where sheep have right of way and frequently
exercise it. The landscape here is
surrealistic. It is all about water and rock. Where there
is not water or rock, there is peat. More about peat another time.

Day 6: Today was spent touring the northern end of
Lewis Island. Again, it is all about water, rock, and peat.

Well, luckily for y'all, the library is about to close
and I am being chased away from the keyboard.
More later in the week. I hope this finds all
well where you are.

DWR

Canterbury tour

The beautiful weather held out over the weekend. 
Saturday, I left Wilmslow headed for Canterbury. 
This town was there before the Romans and is still
going strong today.  It is a university town and has
a great blend of the historic with the new.  The sites
include an incredible cathedral
(except for the stained glass), some Roman ruins,
a large portion of the original walls of the city
(built by the Romans and modified later by different
tribes and the Normans), and a pedestrian downtown
that is a pleasure to walk around.

The church was started around 597 with the current
building built a little after the Normans arrived
(1066).  One of the early kings appointed Thomas Becket
to be the Archbishop of Canterbury.  He did this to
hopefully have an ally in the church.  Mr. Beckett,
however, did not toe the line and the king soon
wished that he would disappear.  A couple of the
King's knights (kinicketts for the Monty Python fans)
overheard the wish and made it come true.  They
killed Thomas in the cathedral.  Soon afterwards,
this church became the destination for pilgrims
from around England.  The Canterbury Tales were
written as a result.  (I think I got most of the
facts right, if not, remember the source.)

After the cathedral, it was lunch time.  This is
one great place to eat.  There is a huge selection
and all convenient to the sights and sites of the
city.  I decided to follow a younger crowd into a
Pasty Shop (no, not that kind of pasty).  I have
had pasties on a couple of occasions and they have
been good, quick meals.  The shop was extremely
busy and they had a good selection.  I chose the
wrong one.  By the way, if in Canterbury, take time
to walk the walls of the city......you get the best
views from there.

Second stop was Dover, and in particular Dover Castle. 
This site has been in use for a long time.  There are
still Roman ruins there from when they built lighthouses
to guide their ships into the Dover harbour.  A large
part of one of those lighthouses still stands.....but
the Romans were not the first ones there.  The entire
area around the castle is worth seeing.  They include
the Roman lighthouse, a castle with parts of various
age (400 to 800 years),  WWII gun emplacements, and
tunnels dug back into the white cliffs of Dover and
used during the last 300 years or so.  One of the
highlights was a falconry exhibition.  I only saw
the last two birds, (an African eagel owl and a
Peregrine Falcon) but they were incredible.  One
cool thing about Dover is that you can moon the
people in France from the cliff side observation deck,
which I assume was put there for that purpose.

Sunday took me to the Heritage Motor Centre just
outside of Oxford.  I actually meant to go to Oxford,
but got side-tracked.  Lots of great cars from the
last 110 years.  To top it off, there was an MG
rally out in front of the museum
(You would love this place Michael!). 
You would have to see these cars to believe them. 
Some of the highlights were a couple of James Bond
cars used in the movies.  The first was the original
Bond car, an Austin Martin used by Sean Connery,
and the second was a later Austin Martin used to
save Halle Berry in a more recent Bond flick. 
My favorites though were the Austin Healey 3000's
and the Triumph TR6's.  Great cars in a great setting. 
To top it off, on the way home, I drove along beside a
guy in a beautifully maintained '70s vintage 442. 
It had the steering on the left side (think US not UK). 
He had the windows down and the radio turned up and
seemed to be having a large time considering the cost of
fuel here.

I hope this finds all well where you are.

DWR

Rock Climbing during a hike

It was back to northern Wales this past weekend. 
It is impossible to see too much of this place. 
The Costain Climbers and Hillwalkers Club were at
the NW tip of Snowdonia National Park to bag some
3000 footers.  This area reminds me a lot of Colorado.
The mountains are not as high, but the elevation
changes are just as dramatic.

We started off our hike in the Nant Ffrancon valley
by making a 2500 foot ascent up Pen-yr Ole Wen
 (3210 feet).  About 1/3 of the "walk up" was on all
fours; however, this time I was expecting it. 
It was fascinating, as the youngest member on this trip,
to watch these 60 to 70 year olds wedging themselves
into chutes with minimal toe and hand holds to get
to the top of a mountain.  It is not exaggerating to
say that death was a single slip away at many points
on the way up and 9 hours later on the way down to
Abergwyngregyn.

The views from the top were worth the climb. 
These broad bottomed, steep sided glacial valleys
have numerous water courses that plunge from the rim
to the valley floor in a series of pools and falls. 
The region had rain the day and night before, which
made the water action even more dramatic.

Once on top, we had some minor ascents and descents,
but none very challenging.  We were following a broad,
high ridgeline with straight drops on either side. 
While this area is green enough to support grazing
flocks of sheep and a small herd of wild ponies,
it is primarily a land of rock.  Many times on the
way up, while up, and on the way down, were were on
scree fields.

Once on top, we had views of Mount Snowdon to the
south, from which the park got its name, the mountains
of Snowdonia to the east, the Irish Sea to the north west,
and Anglesey and Puffin Islands to the west.  These
mountains help make their own weather, and during our
visit, we were alternately in bright sunshine and
enveloped in the clouds.

Our climb down from the ridge line took us along
a river's edge and eventually brought us to the feet
of two waterfalls formed by the same river.  We took
the time to walk to the base of the nearest of these
falls.  It is probably in the 300 foot range and very
popular among the locals.  From there, it was an easy
2 mile walk out to our vehicle.  I took photographs,
but like the paragraphs above, they do not capture
the beauty of this region.

I hope this finds all well where you are.

DWR