4th of July Weekend 2006

To escape the heat and visit friends (Raquel, Chad, & Nathan Muszynski) and some of my family, we decided to do a long weekend in Portland, Oregon over the 4th of July.

Friday, June 30th
We got in late and Chad picked us up. We didn't go to bed right away, but spent time catching up while Bob got to try out some of Chad's home brew.

Saturday, July 1st
Saturday, we spent the day in Portland. We went downtown to the Farmer's market for breakfast and fresh groceries...mmm, berry croissants (which are Nathan's favorite-as you can see from his face...)
Afterwards, Raquel & I spent a few hours shopping at the Saturday market, where I purchased handmade soaps and a really cool snap-button wrap-around skirt that I can use during my pregnancy and beyond. Bob, Chad, & Nathan couldn't handle the shopping, so they went to the brewery where we would meet for lunch (which had a nice play area for Nathan and TVs to watch the World Cup). After lunch, we headed back to the Muszynski home for a nap. That night, Bob & I met up with my cousins and Aunt & Uncle for a really yummy seafood dinner. After dinner, we strolled down to the riverfront, where we got to listen to the tail end of the blues festival performances from the bridge.

Sunday, July 2nd
Sunday, we drove along the scenic Columbia River gorge and went for a short hike in the forest among the falls.
We made a stop at the famous Multnomah falls as well. See below:
On our way back, we stopped for lunch at McMenamins Edgefield, a very cool estate with a brewery, winery, distillery, and pitch-n-putt golf course.

Monday, July 3rd
On Monday, we drove out to the coast. Our first stop was a cute town called Cannon Beach. For lunch we ate at a yummy fish & chips place. Then Raquel & I strolled through the shops for an hour while the boys went to the beach, where we joined them to take a walk. It was definitely chillier there, with Bob & I needing our coats.
We continued our drive down the coast stopping at scenic points down the way.
We ended our drive along the coast at Pacific City. We ate at the Pacific Brewery for dinner while watching the waves and people running down the sand dunes.

Tuesday, July 4th
Tuesday morning, we watched Chad finish his half marathon on Sauvie Island. He did great and beat his goal time. Afterwards, we went for brunch at a New York style deli and then had fun just relaxing at the house. We didn't go watch fireworks anywhere as I was too tired to go back out. Being pregnant has made me very sleepy...

Wednesday July 5th
We stayed for an extra day because Bob scheduled a business meeting with a customer. On Wednesday morning, we all drove out to drop Bob off after getting coffee and scones at one of the Muszynskis' favorite local coffee shops. We passed the time at Costco while Bob was in his meeting. After, we stopped for yummy dim sum in Chinatown before heading to the airport and back to our home. It was a good trip filled with lots of fun activities, food, and conversation.

Goodbye Scotland

We awoke, and had more haggis with our breakfast. We took one last walk down the beach, some final pictures on an absolutely gorgeous day - sunshine, clear skys... from there, it was to the airport. It is amazing how comfortable one can become driving the roundabouts and on the "wrong side" - it makes us wonder if we will even remember how to drive in the US after 2 weeks of adventure. We get to the airport, check our luggage, do some final shopping (including one last bottle of single malt) and prepare to come home. We have mixed emotions - ready to go home, but feeling a very compelling attachment to Scotland and what it has to offer. There is something here in this land that is hard to describe in a blog or any other writing. The place is truly mystic... so many times we ventured through the green glens, the stunning blue watery lochs, over hills, crossing waterfalls, the breeze hitting our face with a freshness that exudes life itself, the next view utterly aweinspiring - and you would literally have to stop for a moment, and catch your own breath to take it in. Just like your single malt whiskey, you literally breathe Scotland in - it is not so much a country... it is a special place.... a magical place... a place where dreams and legends come true and your imagination can run wild... we are truly thankful for the opportunity to experience such magic. thanks for listening....

Ayr / Isle of Arran

We both had haggis for breakfast and began to wish that we had ordered every day. We had mixed emotions - it was our last full day on our Scotland adventure. We had much to look forward to and yet it was so close to ending. We drove to Ardrossan to catch the ferry to the Isle of Arran. Bob was surprised at how big the ship was. After about a 45 minute ride, we arrived (during the boat trip, Ang kicked Bob's butt in rummy - which Bob had taught Ang the night before - even some adjacent passengers were laughing at Ang's rummy onslaught).

Upon landing, we walked through the town of Brodick and headed to the famous Goatfell mountain hike. To get there, you had to walk literally through a golf course, and we got to a cheese shop where we could sample many different yummy cheeses as well as watch them make the cheese. The actual hike was great, we got above the tree-line and could literally see the entire southside of the island below us. After the hike down, we stopped at Creelers Seafood restaurant where Ang had a yummy smoked haddock risotto and Bob had mussels, leak, and potato stew. We got back down to Brodick - Ang shopped and Bob enjoyed the view off the island and grabbed a beer. We met up for a last drink and then took the ship back to the mainland and Ang took unbelievable pictures of seagulls flying with the boat. We got back to Ayr and our B&B and we packed for the final time. We had one last dinner at the West Kirk before having to leave this beautiful country the next morning.

Ayr / Loudon

We have something very special to say about our trip to Scotland. As we planned this trip early in 2005, we played a round of golf in our Arizona 5G's league with a special person - Norm Duncan. Norm is from Scotland and retired from Motorola - he lives in the US in the winter to enjoy Phoenix weather and lives in Scotland in the summer to enjoy his homeland and the cooler temps. While we played at Maryvale in February, 2005, Norm graciously invited Ang and I to play his home course in Loudon (about 15 miles from Ayr)- based on our intinerary, we picked Friday, July 22 as the date - and Norm arranged for a golf outing for himself, his girlfriend Jessie, Ang, and myself. We were honored to be hosted by such a fantastic couple. We played 18 holes at their Loudon Gowf (yes, spelled G-O-W-F) Club with Norm and Jess. It was a great day that was highlighted by the fact that Norm tied his record round at his home course with a 75. We want to take this moment for profusely and graciously thanking Norm and Jess for the wonderful hospitality, friendship, and comraderie.

While we ate in the clubhouse after the round, Norm and Jess recommended that we take a drive to Troon Country Club (also of British Open fame) also very close to Ayr and our way home. We took their suggestion and parked right next to the famous course and took several fantastic pictures on the course (you can actually walk across it during the day) - and a couple of great shots on the beach adjacent to the course (including Bob's favorite "art-sie" pix of the trip).

As we walked the beach back to the care, we ran across up to 50 jellyfish that had "beached" themselves. They looked gross, but they were dead (even though we couldn't hardly bear to touch them). We came back to Ayr after the glorious evening for another dinner at the West Kirk and a sunset.

On the road to: Ayr

Drove down to Glen Coe, a beautiful, misty valley where a famous battle between two clans took place, and did two hikes. The first, went out on one of the "Sister" mountains. The second was a portion of the "Study" hike.

From there, we drove to romantically (and musically) famous Loch Lomand. We stopped at Loch Lomond National Park for a picnic lunch (that we had made for us when we were still in Fort William). We then stopped farther south on the lake and took some great pictures in the glorious sunshine and had a drink at Duck Bay.

We kept heading south down the west coast past Glasgow and knew we had to find a place to stay for the evening (we had no reservation). After a failure to find anything in Irvine, we had great success farther south in the town of Ayr. We found a B&B VERY close to the beautiful sandy beach and Atlantic Ocean (literally only 2 minute walk from our B&B) - and also close to the town centre where all the restaurants and shopping exist. It was the LAST room available in the entire town - we are fortunate - and they have the room available for all 3 days we want to stay to conclude our trip. We ate dinner at the "West Kirk", a church that was converted into a pub! It is a very fun place that would become our hang out while we were in Ayr. After a couple of drinks, we head to our B&B where we will sleep and plan to play our 2nd round of golf tomorrow (more details to come).

On the road to: Fort William

We woke up to a surprise - it turned out that there was a water problem, and we had no H2O for shower or bathroom - so we decided we smelled pretty fresh without a shower and headed on our way... We went to the very southwest part of the Isle to Armadale Castle - we toured the grounds and took some great pictures. As we headed back up to the road to leave the beautiful island, we stopped at Isle of Skye whiskey distillery for a free sample and inspiration.

We then headed back to the Scotland mainland - we didn't have a reservation for the night - so we decided that Fort William looked like a good place to find a B&B and call home base for 24 hours. We found a B&B quite easily and then stopped for lunch at Ben Nevis restaurant which had a fantastic view right on Lock Linnhe. Ang ate haggis for our first taste of the trip (which would become a staple later on). We hiked gorgeous Glen Nevis trail to the upper waterfalls with absolutely spectactular scenery. You even had to cross a "wire" bridge at one point of the hike - fun! We ate dinner at highly recommended restaurant called No. 4 - we at lots of seafood - I think Bob ate 100 mussels.

On the road to: Isle of Skye

We ate another b-fest of sausage, bacon, eggs, beans, tomato, toast, cereal, coffee (you get the idea, lots of food) and then headed down to Urquhart Castle leaving Lochness - great picture of the castle overlooking the Loch.

We then headed west towards the Isle of Skye and it was a beautiful valley - of mist, clouds, and a feel of surrealism.

Close to the Isle, we came to the famous castle, Eilean Donan - a quick stop there for pix and we were crossing the bridge to the Isle of Skye.

We checked into our B&B (Ashfield) and headed thru Broadford up the northeast coast of the island - for what was some of the most stunning landscape of the trip. Waterfalls, cliffs, rivers, the coastline and the landscape just kept coming towards us like a 3D movie as we took every crazy corner of the road. We stopped at the port of Portree for lunch right on the ocean and then made our way up the coast - besides a fantastic hike in the Quaraing that allowed us to see the ocean across a lake (picture shown), we saw the "Old Man of Storr" and "Kilt Rock". Fantastic views that take your breathe away... by the way, the isle is open range, so sheep would be literally on the road as you drove, you had to be careful or you might make your own unanticipated lamb chops. We made it to the castle on the north side of the island and then began to make our way back down around the loop. We stopped for dinner in Broadford at the Donollie Hotel and listened to a satirical (and hysterically funny) keyboard singer/entertainer. Then, it was time to go to sleep....