We left off...

....at arriving in Newcastle.

Well, this undocking business is always a bit tricky. First of all, all those cars, buses, vans, caravans, trailers, bikes, and bicycles are packed really close so they can fit more of them in. Which meant that not only was it a bit hard for DH to get out of the car, it was a bit more tricky to get in, when someone was also parked right up to the driver's door.

However, a little bout of morning gymnastics was once considered a smart thing, so playing contortionist with a Nissan Sunny was nothing but amusing to standers-by. Right up to the moment they had to squeeze into their cars, at which we chuckled.


Anyway, the dangerous and daring adventure started right here. Having done the driving-on-the-wrong-right-side-of-the-road thing a few times before, it didn't take us long to see this road sign...



...at which the adventure-proper would commence. If you wonder what that driving-on-the-wrong-right-side-of-the-road thing looks like to an American, well, these are two of many pictures...



Driving is serious business. Specially if you have a DH sitting next to you, simpering about roads of deathy deaths which are really quite fine and nice and offer great views of the surrounding country (and sometimes sheer drops and impressive cliffs, but more on that later).

After a while (think hours and hours of driving, well, 4 or so) we forded the Forth Road Bridge. It's a bit impressive, though not so much for driving on as looking at it from a distance



Eventually we found the campsite that the luggage was shipped to, they had a spot for our tent, so we set it up. It was still dry then, so we had plenty of time to set it up, me to give helpful advise for the DH to completely ignore, the DH the start muttering and swearing under his breath, me to stand by and watch and finally point out that by setting up the tent while keeping both doorways zipped open we (he) managed to set it up in such a way that the doors would not be zipped shut, more muttering and swearing and some smart moves from my side, the tent was finally up, zippered in places it should and our things set up inside it. Looking around, I think we didn't do all that bad at finding a nice spot...




And this is around the corner...



Portnacraig, Pitlochry and a salmon staircase, in our next installment!

I'm back, obviously...

In fact, I've been home for a long long time. About a month actually. Who knew that spending time with an ubergeek husband would cut into my online time so much as it did?

And then I was back and had too much to blog about and we went and did more things to blog about and still I didn't.

Now there's a mountain of things to blog about, close to 8gb of pictures to chose from so I don't know where to start. It's much easier to just sit and knit. The short cardigan from Filati summer is almost done, at least the first part is, before blocking, picking up more stitches and knitting the border. But that's ok.

Anyways, it all started a long long time ago, the 15th of July to be precise....


[insert woozy fuzzy twisty image for maximum effect]


DH was supposed to land at the airport. Having done this before, we kinda planned our arrival close to him exiting from the luggage hall. We didn't plan on his plane leaving early and flying fast. He was here early, but not his luggage. After he wandered around for 45 min, my parents reached him first, and when I got off the phone with the luggage guy telling him where to send the luggage on to, we had one of those not-so-emotional haven't-seen-you-in-6-months reunions. Those just make us laugh, we hug, kiss and sit down to coffee. Things taken care of, stroopwafels bought at the HEMA, we set off for the Amsterdam Arena, to find some more things at the Decathlon.

DH was sadly disappointed with the amount of things that were packed into the car, but at least we used *everything* I packed. In the end, the 2 suitcases delivered to our campsite were never really opened. *ahem*

So we shopped for a few more things ["I don't need a sweater. If you say I need a waterproof jacket, then maybe, surely no boots to keep my feet dry and warm. We can't afford cheap smaller chairs (then stop complained about the huge ones I brought)] and walked out with 2 fleece sweaters and a rain jacket. Which got used, I should add, you'll find out why. After this, we went to IJmuiden, to the dock where the boat was supposed to take us across the water. We had lunch, the parents went home and we checked in.



For once I wasn't in the lower of lowest decks (if I remember correctly, or maybe we were), but the car was on the top deck, front of the line. Which doesn't help with offloading, as the level is lowered, with our little-car-that-could right in front, not quite falling off the edge. It can't, but it's a little freaky anyways.


There was a bit of wind to be dealt with...


...but the waiter didn't spill any of the red stuff. We know, we watched.

During the night, the wind settled down, and the water was quiet when we reached Newcastle. Having someone to somewhat navigate us though the network of roads that was supposed to get us on the correct road helped, and we drove up to Edinburgh through the middle of the country.

I'll keep the next day of our adventure for another time....