#204 Story, Photos, and News

       This post contains a story from our travels to Scotland, some favorite old photos (film that's been digitalized), and some other news. Hope you enjoy.

The World, It Is Exploding

Our first time using timeshare for lodging in Scotland was in the fall of 2003. We spent a week at Scandinavian Village in Aviemore in the central Scottish highlands. Our apartment had two bedrooms and a kitchen/dining/living room. What we missed by staying in self-catering (mostly the grand B&B breakfasts) was made up for by doing our cooking. With a stove, oven, and microwave we had plenty of cooking options.

Scandinavian Village unit in 2014

For breakfast on our first morning of cooking I planned to cook a microwave soft egg like I do at home. I had a correct size microwave proof bowl, but unlike home where I use Syran Wrap I had no plastic cling film to top the bowl. I just covered the bowl with a paper towel. I set the timer for 45 seconds on high heat (at home I use 55 seconds at 80%) and turned it on. Something made me turn and look at the microwave just in time (about 40 seconds) to hear a loud bang! The door of the microwave was blown open. Egg bits splattered everywhere and steam poured out of the open door.

Surveying the disaster scene I discovered nothing but particles of my egg were left in the oven, but that no real damage had been done in the room—the microwave was a mess, but still worked. As I cleaned up I mulled over the cause of the explosion. Were the eggs different enough in Scotland that they couldn’t be done in the microwave—after all, eggs in Scotland aren’t cleaned and are almost never refrigerated? Was the microwave too powerful at my settings? Did I really need cling wrap with holes poked in?

I never did find out the true cause of my eggsplosion, but in the more than 25 trips I took to Scotland after, I never tried to duplicate my experience.

Favorite Photos

    Astronomy: an interest of mine since Jr High days.

Telescopes on Mona Kea at over 13,000 feet. Grainy photo from 800 ASA film.

Solar eclipse from Biggs, OR, 1979--published by Sky & Telescope magazine.

Sled Dogs: Raised and raced Siberian huskies from 1970 to 1985.

Anne running at team at one of the Oregon beach races in mid-70s.

A winter run on a wheeled rig with limited snow at Beaver Marsh, view of Mt Thielson.

Forest Fire: in the early 80s we were on Mt Ashland when a major forest fire threatened a friend's home.

Backpacking with Dogs: we backpacked from the early 70s into the mid-90s.

Backpacking into Chambers Lakes basin for an article for Cascades East magazine.

Me and Myko in the Three Sisters Wilderness area.

Myko early morning in the Green Lakes area on South Sisters.

Other News

This next section of the post isn’t the fun stuff, that was all in the story and the photos. This section is a report about us. First, Anne is working hard at recovery from total shoulder replacement surgery on her left shoulder—no golf for her most of the summer. Her surgery was three weeks ago and she is doing fine, but the hardest part, physical training (otherwise called physical torture) is to begin in a week and a half. We know how hard it is going to be, she had the same surgery on the other shoulder about eleven years ago. It’s amazing how strong she is and how independent.

Anne has to wear her sling for at least 4 weeks, but rides along while I play.

 

Second, while I live with the spinal stenosis that makes walking difficult, I continue to learn about life with Parkinson’s. My symptoms are so far quite mild and mostly controllable with medication. I know that things will change, there is no cure, but one of my hardest challenges is accepting that I won’t know how PD will affect me until it happens. I’ve always relied on my old Boy Scout training and tried to be prepared. I find that it’s difficult to prepare; all I can do is adapt—it’s a new concept. I still play golf, although my balance is completely different than it used to be. All I can say is have one of the more unique swings out at my golf course.

I lose my balance when I swing the driver, but I haven't fallen...yet.

Although we can’t really do much travel planning currently, we are both thankful for all the support we’ve received from friends and family.

August 2016: Klamath Falls, Total Eclipse, Fall Trips

It’s been a busy time with some short trips, some golf, and lots of medical concerns and tests. Now, though, it is time to get back to some writing. In this post will be commentary about a trip to Klamath Falls, Oregon, and sharing of photos from the Great American Eclipse (August 21, 2017 in case you didn’t notice the traffic jams nationwide). Finally, I’ll share photos and notes on fall trips and going back to Scotland.

At the beginning of the month, Anne and I took a several day jaunt to the Klamath Falls area to visit with my sister and her husband, Dee and Chuck Foster, and visit their children, Nathan and Jennilee, and their grandchildren, Liam and Eleanor.

View of Mt Shasta and Shastina from the Foster's home in Shastina, CA.

We managed to do some hiking and play some golf as well. Besides visiting with family we don’t get to see too often, the highlights of the trip were birds and trees. 

Curly Mt Mahogany 

On a short hike in a Klamath City park Chuck spied a Great Horned Owl in a nearby tree. 

The owl let me get quite close before giving me the evil eye as only a bird of prey can. I got several good shots and then backed respectfully away. In that park we also saw smaller birds including woodpeckers, but it was on the Running Y Resort golf course that we had our next major encounter. We flushed a golden eagle out of the brush on one hole (no photo) and watched an osprey make a unsuccessful lunge for a grey squirrel (startling, no photo). 

A couple of holes later an osprey was perched on a dead tree near the tee box. It let me get a couple of quick shots before it took flight. Despite the smoke of nearby forest fires, it was a delightful trip. As an aside, congratulation to Jennilee and Nathan for the birth of their second daughter, Audrey Elizabeth Foster (8-25-17).

Salt creek Falls was a pleasant stop on the way home.

Two and a half weeks later we, along with millions of others, watched the Great American Eclipse. Oregon was the first state in the path of totality which went clear across the country. We had plans to go to central Oregon for the show, but after hearing predictions of massive traffic jams there we decided to stay more local. We set up at Anne’s sister’s house (Charleen and Dave Hoiland) in Salem almost in the center of the path of totality—the four of us had been together for the 1979 solar eclipse (near Biggs, OR). 

We got set up on their patio with grand views east before the eclipse started. Next door (300 or so yards away) was a party organized by a local brewery—at 9:30AM not too many were going to get too rowdy even though the kegs in the barn were complementary. 

The event was different than the 1979 event—not as long or as dark—but just as awe inspiring. My pictures turned out well, but nothing can match the image in my mind of the eclipsed sun and Venus in the cold morning sky. 

We also got to experience some of the traffic jams caused by the million or so tourists who visited Oregon for the eclipse—taking back roads off back roads from Salem to Canby, a trip that normally takes 45 minutes, took two hours. We’re already thinking about the next US solar eclipse in 2024 in Texas.

Last for this post is a discussion of our fall trips, including the trip to Scotland we weren’t planning to take. Our plan most of the year has been to take a trip to the American Southwest (Moab and Santa Fe) in September instead of a second trip to Scotland. That trip is planned (see the next blog post), but something happened to our plans in the early summer. As I was researching our route from Albuqueque to Moab to Durango to Santa Fe and back to Albuquerque and the various sites along the way (rocks, rock art, churches) I got more and more uneasy—why wasn’t I planning a fall trip to Scotland? It didn’t seem natural to not be planning for Scotland. After all, we’ve been taking two trips to Scotland every year (with only a couple of exceptions) since 2001. I looked at my photos and then checked prices of air tickets—they were cheaper than they’d been in years. When Anne got home from golf that afternoon I told her we were booked on flights to Scotland in October. It will be our 30th trip to Scotland since we retired in 2000. We are now scheduled for 10 days in our Crieff home base (Merlindale B&B), two nights in lighthouse on the east coast, five days of touring to and around the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides, two days of golf at Dornoch, seven days in the Highland village of Aviemore, and three days back in the Crieff/Edinburgh area. 

Why couldn’t I stay away? First, we are going because we can. Secondly, we are going because…well just look at the photos….

Quaint seaside villages like Anstruther.

A forest path in Aberfeldy.

Colorful shed in Boat of Garten.

Pittenweem is just one of several photogenic harbors near St Andrews.

Even the smallest hamlet, like Bridge of Balgie, can host an interesting tea room.

The locals are friendly.

Castles, such as Eileen Donna, can be just around a corner.

Scotland is filled with blooming heather and mountain scenery. 

Waterfalls are plentiful in Scotland. They only use a small portion of the water for their whisky.

There's a photo to be taken everyplace you look.

Scotland has interesting stories to tell--Adrvreck Castle.

Fall Colors

Great Houses

You can stay in a Stevenson built lighthouse like the one at Buchan Ness. We will.

Maybe you can trace your family roots back to a castle like Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye. 

Plenty of birdlife.

The landscape is uber-dramatic, like at the Quairang on the Isle of Skye.

Cities like Edinburgh grab your attention.

Even the smallest of villages is attractive (Leadhills).

The people are fascinating.

NEXT: A report or two from Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.