Gene recently had a meeting in Portland and I took the opportunity to contact a friend and meet for lunch. We decided to try out a Vegan restaurant (yes, on purpose!) that had great reviews. (If you don’t believe me, check out the Cornbread Café in Eugene, OR.  And I...

Unfortunately, I can’t write a lot about our experiences in the Glasgow and Amsterdam airports because I’m no longer allowed to poke fun at Homeland Security and TSA . . . they carry a grudge.  I’m not even kidding.  I once poked fun at a Homeland Security newspaper...

Credit goes to Gene on this entry as he kept a journal as well during our travels and wrote down many of the phrases or words that were explained to us by our tour guide. Although the language spoken in the UK is English, they often use different terms for common...

Gene and I have long argued the subjects of vacation photography.  If you scroll through Gene’s photos, you will see scenery – no people. His perfect world. His point is that he wants to document that what we saw. My photos, on the other hand, include architectural...

Our last travel day in Scotland was a short trip from Ballachulish to Glasgow.  We had one stop along the way for a boat ride on Loch Lomond (the largest loch of the British Mainland). While the weather was quite chilly, the lake views were spectacular and quite...

The drive from Isle of Skye to Ballachulish is almost as pretty as the drive from Orkney to Isle of Skye, with fewer one lane roads.  It does have more traffic as it is an easy day trip from Inverness.  Many scenes from movies have been filmed in the area and you can...

Highland cattle are a Scottish cattle breed that roam all over Scotland. They have long horns and long, wavy, woolly coats that vary in color and look adorable.  Contrary to what you would expect after visiting all the art galleries and souvenir shops, they can be...

 When we started our tour, our guide explained that Insight Vacations prides itself on “rare authentic experiences and meaningful interactions.”  He reminded us that our tour was called Country Roads of Scotland on several occasions. We didn’t realize until today that...

We have reached the northern shores of Scotland and will travel by ferry to the Orkney Islands today . . . that is if the ferry is running.  Weather forecasts are predicting winds so severe that all fishing vessels have returned to port.  Our tour guide explains that...

The parting words from our tour guide as we left the bus were,”You’re on a tour called The Country Roads of Scotland.  That means we are going to some remote places with limited hotels.  And you Americans won’t share a bathroom, so our choices are limited. And make...