Today has been a slow day. In fact, I don’t have a whole lot to report. It was hard for me to even stay awake on the train since I hadn’t got much sleep the night before. The room in Oban was full, and two of us four were snorers. I’m glad that the snorers were able to get a good night’s sleep at least.
When I got to my hostel in Glasgow, the first thing I wanted to do, after checking in, was take a nap. I crashed hard, and I think I was out for about three hours or so. This means that it’ll probably be a struggle getting some sleep tonight. Oh well, the nap was sorely needed.
Tonight I went to see the movie, Ready Player One. Unlike the last movie I saw, I really liked this one, and will probably be adding it to my library when it finally comes out. I often log into and play around in Second Life, which is a virtual world. It’s not advanced like the virtual world depicted in the movie, but I still think it’s a blast to be able to set up the world however I wish. Maybe some psychologist would want to tell me that it’s an escape from the “real world”… I would have to disagree since I really love the real world as well. This is a whole other blog entry on a different day.
For dinner, I got reservations at an Italian restaurant called Verona. You know I eat out (more than I should) and this restaurant had the best red sauce I’ve ever tasted! I don’t know what they put in their marinara, but it was really good- I got it with some chicken dish. Amazing!
Today I’m thankful that breakfast is included in the price of my hostel. It’s not that it’s a particularly lovely breakfast, but this trip could quickly become way too expensive. I travel best when I eat a big breakfast, a small lunch (or just get something in my stomach), and a medium-sized dinner, although many people give me too much food at the night time.
I could save money by buying my own groceries, but in most of these places I’m visiting, I’m only here for a couple of days, and I really don’t want to walk around with groceries in tow- that’s just more to carry. It’s the little things that help, like the cold cereal that my hostel is providing.
I made my way again to the ferry terminal and purchased a round trip to Craignure on Mull. When purchasing a round trip here in Scotland, they call this purchasing ‘a return.’ In the states, the return is just the second half of the journey. If you ask for a round trip ticket, they know what you mean, but they may look at you funny.
I bought my ticket this morning without doing any kind of research because I was in the mood to be surprised. I figured if I googled anything about Mull, that would be cheating. The one thing that someone told me was that I would want to get on the bus to Tobermory.
Once I left the ferry, the bus to Tobermory was right in front of the terminal. It was easy, and I, once again, snagged the front seat to shoot some video of the landscape along the way. This was a double-decker bus, and every other passenger walked up to the top level. So the bottom tier was just the bus driver and me. We had a great chat on the ride.
Tobermory is a lovely little town. Now I’ve found another place that I have to come back and visit in the future! My list of “must-see” destinations in Scotland is continuously getting longer and longer! I asked the bus driver (I should have got his name) where I should bring lunch, and he directed me to the Fish Cafe on the opposite side of the bay. The food was incredible!
I wandered to an old church at the waterfront. When I entered, a woman was reading her bible in the front row. I didn’t want to distract her, but she started the conversation. She told me that she felt the need to study today since it happened to be “Good Friday.” I had totally forgotten that it was! We had a great chat, all about my travels and her life while living in Tobermory.
We were deep in conversation, and suddenly, her husband comes in with their two dogs on leashes (I had never seen a dog in a church up to this point). He announced to his wife, “Sorry for the interruption, but the time is right now!” He told me that he was referring to the very moment Jesus died on the cross- she smiled and nodded. They said that the savior was pinned to the cross at noon and stayed alive for three hours before he died. This I didn’t remember, or maybe I didn’t know. I guess I need to study the bible again.
I walked through the town, up the hill, and discovered the cemetery. Mull is one of my ancestors’ places, so I hoped to find the surname McLucas since that is my family name from this island. I know they left in the mid to last the 1700s, however, and the oldest stone I could find was dated 1810.
Oban, Scotland | 19:18
One exciting thing that was pointed out today by the lady that I spoke to within the church- not only were those who left the Scottish isles looking for religious and other freedoms, but they were actually being driven out by the English. The crown decided that they could make better use of the land by using it for sheep grazing rather than letting people live their lives. These people, and possibly my own ancestors, were slowly being pressured out by the monarchy. I wonder why the monarchy didn’t just give these families some sheep to raise for the crown.
The ride back to Oban was nice. Since it had grown overcast and the wind was getting worse, I decided to stay inside the ferry rather than go back on top as I had on the ride out to Mull. It was much too cold to be outside.
This morning went rather well. I walked down the hill into town and found some breakfast. The Crofter wasn’t open yet, so I went to the far side of the downtown area and found a Witherspoon pub/restaurant. I knew I wouldn’t be getting lunch today since I’d be on the train, so I got a big Scottish breakfast.
I’ve noticed that I am strange compared to other travelers. Some people use travel as an escape and are more reserved. I swear I will strike up a conversation with anybody. I have always been that way unless I happen to be upset or tired at the time. This morning, I met a couple from Dallas, Texas (not sure what they’re doing here because our conversation didn’t last that long), and a girl who is originally from South Korea, but she’s lived in Australia, England, the U.S., and now Scotland. Her accent was a funky convergence of all of these nations- it was inspiring and weird. I need to remind myself constantly that some people don’t really want to chat with me.
The rain started again, about the time my train left Fort William. Since then it’s been a combination of rain and snow. Beautiful, but I don’t really want to be in it at the moment. I hope Oban, my next stop, has some sunshine while I’m there.
Crainlarich > Oban | 14:27
It looks as if the bad weather is clearing up, at least for now. I just had to change trains in Crianlarich, and on my new train, they told me to sit on one of the first two cars, because on the journey, it splits and the back half goes somewhere else. This is confusing, especially when I’m doing things like reading, watching movies, or updating this blog. Ok- paying attention now.
Oban | 23:02
It’s so good to be back in Oban! This is the coolest little coastal city! When I first got here, it was still raining, so after I checked in to the hostel, I relaxed for a few minutes. Soon, it went from raining to partly-cloudy, so I was able to walk around and get a few pictures of the bay. Not a whole lot, since it was still pretty cold outside.
We’ll call today a “maintenance day”. It was time to get another haircut (it was such a great experience in Oban, that I needed a repeat performance). I found a barber shop in a nearby Victorian marketplace. He did an okay job. Not as good as the gal in Oban, but pretty good.
It was massage time. I remember the last time I was in Inverness, I got a really great deep-tissue massage and this is what I was hoping for. Unfortunately, the guy who gave me the massage last time (five years ago) was no longer working there. All that they had available was one of the female therapists. No big deal.
When I met the therapist for my “quick consultation”, just before the massage, I asked her if she could do medium to deep pressure. I told her I’d had better luck with male therapists in the past, just because they have been able to do the massage a bit deeper. I’m not saying girls can’t do a good, deep massage, but for me, it’s been much more relaxing rather then relaxing and therapeutic, if that makes any sense. She said she understood.
The massage starts and she asks me how the pressure is feeling. I’m thinking this is very, very, very light pressure, so I ask her to double it. She says ok and continues to give me the exact same pressure as before. Three separate times throughout the massage I asked her if she could apply more pressure and she said she would each time, but never did. It was weird. Usually, I only have to ask once, and then if feels like the therapist is applying so much pressure that I’m going to bleed internally. Not the case today- the poor girl just couldn’t do it. I finally gave up all hope and just relaxed and enjoyed it for what it was- a nice back rub. Bless her heart.
Next, I walked again to the River Ness since I’ll be leaving tomorrow for my next destination. I ended up back to Eden Court, where I saw a play called The Railway Children. This was put on by a company from York, England, but it was recorded, so I was watching it in the cinema. It was really good! I think I even got a little teary-eyed once or twice too. Just a fun, feel-good story.
Warning- this post gets a tiny bit religious. Read on!
Today was Easter Sunday- I celebrated by going to church. The service was quite good, with an impressive musical number by all the men in the congregation. I think about 13 guys were standing in the small choir seating area, singing a mostly-in-key version of Because I Have Been Given Much. It was great- I’m a big fan of music, as you probably know.
The bishop gave the lesson in Sunday school. He started to talk about recognizing the voice of the Savior. This was quite interesting when he used me as an example. He pointed to me and told the class that there was no way he wouldn’t recognize my voice. It was my accent, which let him know that I was from America, how he loved the sound of my voice. He went on to make his point about recognizing the voice of Jesus in other people.
After the lesson was over, he shook my hand and thanked me for letting him use me as an example (like I had a choice- haha). I told him that was fine- I explained that the things he said meant a lot because I have never liked my speaking voice. This is something that I have struggled with over the years. I told him that one day it dawned on me that yes, I hate my speaking voice, but my singing voice, on the other hand, is something that I’ve always enjoyed.
I’m not trying to sound egotistical- that’s the last thing I want to do. If you’ve heard my voice and you don’t enjoy it, that’s ok. But this lesson was for me- I love to sing. I love the sound of the singing voice I have been given, and I love to share this with others. He asked me why I didn’t come up and sing with the men in for the musical number. I told him that I didn’t want to invite myself up. After all, I hadn’t been in the area during any of the practices. I didn’t know what they were doing with the arrangement, etc. Plus, it was nice to sit back and enjoy the music with the rest of the congregation.
He then tells me that I need to sing for them and asks me if I’ll come back sometime and sing in church. Heck yes! I tried to remain calm and act like this kind of thing happens to me all the time. I’m not sure when Scotland 6 will take place yet, but I now know that Inverness will be on the route. How cool would it be to add “International Gig” to my music resume?
I had a really cool conversation with Michael last night. Apparently his chosen major of Marine Sciences is a good one. It pretty much guarantees him a job once he graduates and there are about a million places he can take it. I also found out that he is a certified dive instructor and worked for about 6 months doing that off the coast of some island. He decided after high school he would take 2 ½ years off and “find himself”.
I guess I’ve never understood the rules. There are so many people from Europe who I’ve met that have similar thinking. They take off and travel as a way of discovering who they are. Discovering who I am is a constant and daily thing. It dawned on me, years ago, that every single morning when I wake up, I get to decide the person I want to be.
09:34 | Oban ScotRail Station
My train doesn’t leave until just after noon, and I was going to hang out at the hostel, but I realized I was out of Emergen-C and thought it would be best if I hit Boots on my way over. So now I sit here waiting.
My walk from the flat back to the Colonsay Airfield started before the sun rose. I had booked the 09:00 flight and didn’t want to be late. After all, the plane only comes and goes to and from the island twice a day. Also, I wanted to plan extra walk time because of the heavy pack on my back. Nothing burns calories like 4.2 miles with a heavy pack!
The walk was beautiful! I’ve come to the realization that many of the sheep on this island are pretty much free range sheep- if that’s a thing. Some are in fences but there were so many that just walking down the road or in their owner’s front yard. It was kind of cool to see this.
There were six passengers on the first leg but only two of us on the second leg, myself and a lady named Flora. Every three weeks, Flora takes a train from Inverness, her home, to Oban. From there she takes a ferry down to Colonsay where her aging parents live. Both parents’ are in their ‘90s now and need constant care.
Flora stays with them for three weeks and then goes back home for three weeks. Durning her three weeks at home, her sister, who also lives near Inverness, takes her place and stays with their parents for the next three weeks. She says that often, she sees her sister boarding the ferry in Oban, that Flora just left.
I told her that must be difficult- she said it is, but both of her parents’ grew up on Colonsay and this is where they want to be. She says she is very grateful that both Flora and her sister have loving husbands who understand this need and support them in their constant travels back and forth to Colonsay.
Flora and I shared a cab back to Oban because neither of us fancied waiting very long for the bus to get there. When we got there, we said our goodbyes and then went our separate ways. She had business to do and I wanted to go drop off my heavy pack at the hostel.
14:07
Lunch was a really great chippy just down the street. It is incredible how good a fresh fish n’ chips is! Even though it’s fried, it’s part of experiencing Scotland. I’ve only found a couple places in the states that do it right. They throw the fries in the bottom of the box, then put the fried fish on top. That’s it. Drizzle the top of the fish with vinegar and salt… done! EAT!
18:59
Tonight I went to see The Finest Hour. Good flick but very, very predictable… I am grateful that Disney didn’t put a whole lot of crap in it. It’s one of those films that you can take the whole family to and you won’t be embarrassed.
Just met one of my roommates. His name is Michael and he is from Switzerland, here looking at a University, deciding if he wants to move to Oban and attend. He plans on going into the field of marine sciences. I wonder what jobs that will yield… working in an aquarium? Or commanding a ferry? Hopefully, he wants to talk a bit later and explain it to me. I find it interesting.
Today is a rainy day in Oban. I’m pretty sure Oban knows I’m leaving today so it’s weeping. It’s just a theory and I’m no meteorologist, but God is definitely sad about this. I just walked down to Abbie’s Cafe for one more breakfast. This time it was pancakes, bacon and I had the throw on two fried eggs. It was delicious, as I knew it would be.
Last night I had a conversation for a few minutes with my hostel mate. I found out his name is Peter. Peter is in Oban tonight to for a multi-denominational choir that he is asked to sing in each year. I told him I wish I was still in town tonight but sadly I’ll be off at my next destination. That is something I would really love to witness!
He is a very kind man who lives on the Isle of Harris. We chatted about singing and choirs we’ve been a part of. Also about places we have traveled to and places we’d like to see. He told me he envies my coming to a land of my forefathers and wishes that he had a similar drive. He’s in his 60s and tells me that he hasn’t done much of seeking out his family or his people. While I was out, he left a message on my bag:
10:54
Since I’m leaving today, the hostel receptionist wanted me to be all checked out by 10:30. I packed all my stuff this morning and came upstairs. They told me I could leave my bags while I ventured out. This is great, since I don’t have to actually leave Oban for another hour to travel to my next destination.
I walked back down to the Oban Chocolate Company one more time for another cup of hot chocolate. This time, the mix was “Ghana” which is about 40% cocoa. I liked the last of this much more than “Cuba”, which was 70% cocoa. Thank goodness I’m doing tons of walking! My constant chocolate intake isn’t the most healthy choice I’ve ever made.
17:20 | Colonsay Flat
My taxi dropped me off at the Oban Airport about two hours before I actually had to be there. The receptionist asked me to put my bag on a large scale and informed me that it was far over the recommended weight. She told me that the only reason she was going to let me take it was because I was the only passenger on the first leg to Islay. This made me feel special as if I had a private pilot or something.
For the next hour-and-a-half, I walked around the airport and took a few pictures. At this point, I was getting extremely excited. The trick is to not let them see your excitement. Try to send out a vibe that reads, “I charter tiny planes and hop over to small British Islands all the time”.
The plane was a cute 10-seater and my pilot was a gal named Julie. She was incredibly nice and told me about living in the states for 6 years where she got her pilot’s license. She remembers flying all around Utah and Arizona. Her favorite airport happens to be St. George, Utah- and she loved to fly over Bryce Canyon.
On the way up, I shot some video and made this little thing. Feel free to take a look… I don’t claim to be a great producer, but this was a fun little montage of flying down the coast of Scotland. Make sure your volume is up, after the first shot of the airport in Oban, then the music starts. Music credit goes to Mary Chapin Carpenter. Enjoy the coastline!
We finally land on Colonsay. I’m laughing to myself because the Colonsay Airport is more like a tool shed, next to a runway. It is pretty spectacular! As I was stepping away, Linda asked me if I knew where I was staying. I told her I did and preceded to make my way down the dirt and rock road that lead from the tool shed.
As I make my way down this dirt road I can’t stop laughing at this situation I’m in. I’m carrying an overstuffed backpack on my back, walking down a road. Mind you, when I asked for directions to the place I’m staying, here’s the reply I receive: Walk away from the airport. Turn left when you get to the road. The key will be in the door.
I’m walking and walking and walking. Picture the moon, but with grass. This is how I would describe Colonsay. This pack on my back makes it seem like I have walked so much further than the 2.5 miles, as it was explained to me. I start to second-guess myself and think that I may have passed the place without realizing it. I decide to take my phone out of airplane mode to see if mobile phone towers have made it to this island yet. I get two bars! Life is good. I pull up google maps and sure enough, it tells me that I’ve gone too far and needed to head back in the direction I’ve just come from.
No big deal until it starts to hail. I’m on a strange island and I’m lost and I’m wandering in a hail storm! Now I have an ice-cream headache. The thick clouds overhead are making it seem a lot darker than it is. I’m starting to worry that soon it will be so dark that I won’t be able to see the road. There are no street lights in this land. I am getting nervous and so I say a few prayers.
I decide to go back and knock on someone’s door of the nearest house. An elderly gentleman opens up and sees me dripping wet, and smiles. I ask him if he knows where The Colonsay House is and he tells me that it’s about 2 miles further up the road. So now I know that I didn’t overshoot my housing and that Google maps is a liar.
I continue my trek. Soon a car pulls up behind me. At first, I think the person is trying to get around me so I move to the side of the road. I’m standing now on a damp grassy bank because they apparently didn’t want to spend the extra money and add shoulders to the road. The car stops next to me and the window is rolled down. Another elderly gentleman asks me if I’m lost. I just ask him if I’m headed in the right direction to The Colonsay House and he tells me that I am, indeed. He then asks me if I’d like a ride. I could kiss him.
I toss my pack in the back seat of his little car and sit down in the front passenger seat next to him. Just then, the next round of hail is starting. I feel very blessed that he happened to pull by when he did. About 2 miles further down the road, I found the place I was in search of. All of a sudden, Colonsay is looking more like the mainland. There are trees and houses and signs of life. It’s very beautiful here! I find the apartment called “Drumclach” and sure enough, the key is in the door. I walk in, drop my big ole pack and run to the restroom. I have to pee like a racehorse.
After “settling in” I see a sign saying that the local general store closes in about half an hour so I head down to the reception office and ask if the man can point me in the right way. He tells me that they close early this time of year and I’d have to walk back in the direction I came from. No problem… I ask him where the restaurant is and he tells me that it’s the off-season so the restaurant doesn’t open up again until the spring.
Tonight I’ll be having water for dinner. I feel bad for those who are less fortunate, like myself for instance. Tomorrow I’ll have to hunt for some food somewhere. Surely these Colonsay residents eat food. For now, I’ll just be grateful that I’ve been eating so much chocolate… I can probably afford to miss a meal or two.
I was bad this morning and stayed in my room until about 09:00. It was quite nice, as I had no roommates last night. Definitely an advantage to traveling in the off-season. My cough seems to have gone away during the day, but sadly, is persistent at night when I’m laying on my back. Hopefully, it’s on it’s way out. I have been drinking lots of vitamin C and sipping my herbal teas, especially when it’s cold out.
Today hasn’t been too cold, however. I decided to walk down to the water and look for a place to find some breakfast. The walk was absolutely brilliant! I love Oban!
There are two things that I really love about this picture. First, the solitary house sitting on the small island. It’s secluded, but still close enough to the mainland. Such bautiful surroundings! The second thing- see the snow-capped mountain in the background? That is the Isle of Mull. This is one of the places where my ancestors are from!
At first, my attempt to find breakfast failed. By this time, it was after 10:00 and so many places weren’t offering breakfast anymore. The early bird gets the worm and the late bird doesn’t get squat. Then I remembered that Abbie’s Cafe, the place I had breakfast yesterday, serves breakfast all day! Score!
On my way over, I saw a place to get a haircut called Spruce. I thought it was time to go freshen up the head. The lady cutting my hair told me about her 3 sons and how one has moved out of the house to get a flat of his own. She gets to see him every 3 weeks when he needs another haircut. She did a great job cutting my hair!
After my cut, she asked me if I wanted to try some beard oil. I got excited because I really did- I’ve wanted to try it for some time, but the places that carry it in the states are few and far between. A few weeks back I was working a flight with a bunch of Paul Mitchell students- one of the directors, who happened to have great looking facial hair, told me that beard oil is still pretty new so most guys were having to buy theirs off the internet. I think that more and more places will start to carry it. This oil smells great!
Breakfast was great! I thought I’d go non-traditional Scottish and have some pancakes and bacon. The syrup was simply amazing! I don’t know what it had in it… definitely maple, with something else added to it. Probably some scary, delicious drug.
12:35
After eating, I walked back down to the waterfront and went into the Oban Chocolate Factory. TODAY’S CHOCOLATE OFFERING: I ordered some Cuban hot chocolate, which was 70% chocolate, so it tasted somewhat bitter, but I really enjoyed it! It’s so exciting to me when someone decorates my hot chocolate. I know that coffee drinkers are used to this, but since I don’t drink coffee, it’s a rare thing. Still, this is the most beautiful hot chocolate I’ve ever sipped. I almost wanted to cry (not really, but you get the point).
I was so tempted to go take a look at the Oban to Mull ferry schedule, but sadly this will have to wait. I’m meeting the missionaries at 18:00 tonight and taking them to have some dinner. I’d hate to miss the opportunity to meet and chat with them. A lifetime ago, I was doing the same thing- out and about for 2 years, serving others. It doesn’t matter what YOU choose to believe, religiously or otherwise. The fact is this: To give up your “real life” for two years and get lost in serving others, is highly commendable!
20:37
I just got back from dinner with the missionaries. We had a great visit! They told me a lot about what serving in this area is like. The Oban area is pretty much the western third of Scotland so they have a lot of ground to cover. They told me that the mission president wants them to focus on staying in Oban for now. Elder Crockett (left) is from Roy, Utah and Elder Atkinson is from Malad, Idaho. Both seem like great missionaries!
Happy Mother’s Day (if you’re a mother and you live in the United Kingdom)! For some reason, they don’t celebrate it when we do in the United States. That’s ok- as long as they’re taking a day to honor their mum! I decided that I wanted to try to attend church while I’m here. I’d been working so much in preparation for this getaway back home that I hadn’t the time to attend my local congregation for the past few weeks.
I checked on the internet a few days ago for the church location. Since addresses look very different than they do in America, I thought I’d never find it. I sent an email to someone from my home congregation but never heard back from him. Oh well- I’ll have to figure it out by myself. I jotted down the walking directions from the train station that was closest to the church building. My problem: When I checked ScotRail, I noticed there weren’t any trains going in that direction since it is a Sunday schedule. No worries, I’ll take a taxi. After all, it was only about 6 miles or so.
The cab driver took a look at the address and scratched his head. He said he knew the village, at least. I told him he could drop me off at the Connell Ferry train station, and I could make my way from there. Six miles or so later, he dropped me at the station, and the building was only about a 10-minute walk from there. When I got to the place Google Maps told me to go to, there was just a house. I wondered if I had the right directions, and then I noticed a sign in the window. I was in the right place.
Oban is a tiny branch of the church. I was greeted by Elder and Sister Young, who is currently serving a full-time mission and is from Salt Lake City, Utah (of course, they are). They welcomed me into their home. Soon another brother introduced himself as well. Brother Falk asked me where I was from. I told him I grew up in Southeastern Arizona but now lived in rural Utah. He asked me which town in Arizona. I told him,” Thatcher.” He looked puzzled and asked me how big Thatcher was. I told him that it was around 4000 people, at least when I grew up there. He said he had a mission companion from there.
I asked, “Is it Jr. Hoopes?” He started laughing and confirmed that it was. I get a big grin on my face! He asks how I knew Jr. I shared one of my childhood memories was when Jr. Hoopes got a mission call to Scotland. I was jealous, and I wanted to go to Scotland so bad (this was when I was about 14 years old)! Another great memory of mine was two years later when Jr. got back from Scotland and spoke in church, telling us all about his experience. Let me tell you- my love of Scotland started many, many years before I ever traveled here!
It was time to start the meeting, and there was a total of about 12 or 13 people. I guess this is an average/good turnout for this congregation. A few weeks ago, they told me that most of the members weren’t able to attend, so only one person showed up that day. Toward the start, they asked me to stand up and introduce myself. I told them my name, including my surname, and that this is one of my ancestors’ areas. They all were very kind and seemed to be grateful that I’d come to church.
I sit down, and a little girl named Maria taps me on the shoulder. I turn around, and she asks me- “You’re a ‘[my surname]’?” I nod. She then points to a girl who is sitting across the room and whispers, “She’s a ‘[my surname],’ too!”. After the meeting, I approached the girl, and sure enough. She is a ‘[my surname]’! She is from Falkirk, which is between Glasgow and Edinburgh. I’m not sure if there’s a connection or not. My surname is common in Scotland, like ‘Smith’ or ‘Johnson’ in the U.S.- there are a million or so of them. Still, it was very cool to meet Natalia, who could a descendant of my ancestors, but then again, I guess we all are kin if you go back far enough.
Sister Young had cooked some potatoes for an after-meeting dinner and prepared an excellent meal for everyone. This something that they do as a congregational family once each month. I guess this is possible when you don’t have hundreds of mouths to feed. It was great to sit back and chat with these great brothers and sisters!
I also met two more full-time missionaries there. These were the younger version… 18 or 19 years old (even though one of them looked to be about 13). Elder Crockett is from Roy, Utah and Elder Atkinson is from Malad, Idaho. Both of them looked like they were happy and healthy and glad to be serving. I asked them if they would let me take them out to dinner tomorrow night. They said they were free, so I’m excited to meet them for some good eating. The good Lord knows I can always find delicious food!
I spoke with my parents tonight, and my mom has asked me to get the missionaries’ home phone numbers so she could call their mothers’ and report that their boys are doing well. I guess it’s a mother thing, but I’ll see if I can collect their digits tomorrow night.
My walk from the flat back to the Colonsay Airfield started before the sun rose. I had booked the 09:00 flight and didn’t want to be late. After all, the plane only comes and goes to and from the island twice a day. Also, I wanted to plan extra walk time because of the heavy pack on my back. Nothing burns calories like 4.2 miles with a heavy pack!
DavTravels 