Category Archives: Scotland

We often wonder what it would be like to live here – maybe when we retire – and I suspect that it might be something very much like today.  The bright sky and dry conditions were definite signs that a run was in order so I off I went on a 4 mile loop through the town. Then Frank made bacon and egg sandwiches for breakfast. We showered, tidied up, and headed out for a day of visiting.

First to the nursing home to retrieve mum then off to the shops in Tillicoultry to pick up a rain jacket I had seen in the town but  they didn’t have my size.  We stopped in the Marks and Spencer outlet to find a cardigan to replace the one I lost in Helsinki.  Then we drove all around the wee towns (Dollar, Alva, Alloa) avoiding road works and looking for a tea room to have a sandwich and a cup of tea.  We couldn’t see any that appealed – or could handle the wheelchair – so back to Bridge of Allan and a nice bar lunch at the Westerton Arms. Baked potatoes for the ladies (mine with prawns and Helen’s with cheese and coleslaw) and Frank had the first haggis of the trip.  No drinks though:  Helen wanted to warm up with a cup of tea and with Scotland’s lower limit for drunk driving, Frank was abstaining so I did too.  Gave me an excuse to order and Irn Bru – another first this trip!

Then we took Helen back to her room to rest up for dinner out later and we went to do more visiting, spending most of the afternoon drinking tea and chatting with other Cannon’s.  Of course, the day wasn’t completely idyllic as I have begun to show signs of coming down with a cold.  Sore throat, post nasal drip, etc.  So off to the chemist to see what can be done.  And the answer is:  rest, drink plenty of non-alcoholic fluids, etc.  All the things you know but don’t want to hear because it gets in the way of your holiday.  So I beefed up my stock of ibuprofen and got ready for the evening’s revelries.

Tonight’s agenda – dinner out at the Old Bridge Inn in Bridge of Allan.  A small party of six, we had a lovely meal, possibly the best roast duck I’ve ever had – before getting Helen to bed, dropping off the rental car, and heading back to the Cannon homestead for a trip to the local pub for drinks: The Tartan Arms where several family members work on occasion.  Thus relieved from any driving responsibilities, we enjoyed several pints and blethered for as many hours with various family and friends who tend to frequent the place.

As we closed in on midnight, it was time to go so we headed out into the cool dry night for the roughly two mile walk back to our flat.  That’s probably the only way we got close to our 10k steps – 9789. We probably didn’t need to stop and pick up some takeout on the way home but we did anyway and enjoyed someone’s version of chicken biriyani while watching Gordon Ramsay tear apart a hotel owner before falling into bed.  I suspect we’ll do it all again tomorrow.

The crazy winds that blew all night began to subside this morning but the grey skies and somewhat blustery air did not scream “get on your running gear” to me.  Add to that the fact that we figured out that we had no soap for the shower and the thought of being cold and sweaty really didn’t appeal.  Oh, and we only had instant coffee.  Frank was having none of that. So off to the shops we trooped – before breakfast or showers! – to get coffee and soap.

Thus adequately equipped, we started our morning routine: showers, tea/coffee, and breakfast.  Bacon rolls!  Well, sandwiches for me on the amazing Genius bread.  Frank struggled with the induction hob cook top which took far longer to fry an egg than it should have but it’s something we can figure out.  The flat is actually quite nice: two bedrooms, two baths, a small kitchen that we are slowly figuring out, parking right out in front with a gate to boot. 

Then off to visit mum.  She had just gotten back to her room in the care home after getting her hair and nails done so we whisked her away to visit Jean and Jimmy for our annual cup of tea.  We visited for a while before deciding that lunch was in order and we headed out to The Highland Gate  – a chain-type pub of which I am normally not very fond but which pleasantly surprised me.  It had a very nice gluten free menu (including the aforementioned Genius bread) and even had a dedicated fryer for the chips!  A lovely lunch was had by all and we made a quick stop at Sainsbury’s so that Jimmy could pick up a set of keys he’d dropped off to be cut.  I thought I’d pick up some sugar since what I grabbed late last night turned out to be a mix of sugar and sweetener (ugh) and in the process of making my way to the till, there was an announcement for everyone to immediately leave the building for an emergency evacuation!  It’s the first time I’ve ever been evacuated from  a grocery store before!

All the excitement really wore mum out so we dropped her off and got her settled in bed and then headed into town.  We had a very important goal:  replace the charity shop cardigan that disappeared in Helsinki.  We hit about half a dozen shops and found a few lovely things but no cardigan (but there is still tomorrow!).  We headed to youngest brother’s house for a quick visit and had a lovely time chatting with everyone – and trying to explain American politics.  Not easy to do without alcohol!  We couldn’t stay long as there was one more brother and family to visit so it was along the road to Bannockburn for a quick visit and make plans for the next day.  It was getting late and we hadn’t yet had dinner so off to Tesco for cheap wine and ready meals.  Because really, what says holiday more than cheap French rose and chicken with bacon, leeks, and cheese sauce?  A cup of tea and some gluten free HobNobs – milk and not dark chocolate but who cares! – and we can put the first day in Scotland in the books.  You can definitely tell we have a car for transport as we were just shy of 10k steps (9,667) today.  Does it count if many of them involved pushing a wheel chair?  Maybe a run is in the cards for tomorrow.

It has taken a full 24 hours to recover enough to close this travel chapter.  We awoke at 6:30 am in Edinburgh yesterday ( that’s 12:30 AM in KC, and 1:30 AM  on the east coast) after a terrible night’s sleep.  (The Irn Bru I drank to help get rid of the hangover apparently kept me up most of the night.) But no problem – we have an 8 hour flight to Newark that we can sleep through, right?

So we wandered to the terminal to check in.  Frank can’t do online checkin for international flights because they need to see his green card.  That was where they told me that I couldn’t take my knitting in my carry on because the needles were too pointy.  WTF?  That’s a new one on me.  The new baby arriving two doors down will just have to wait for his jumper then.  Harumph.

Nothing else got the thumbs down and our cases just squeaked by under the 22kg limit. (Note:  we packed light on the way over with on small carry on each.  We just made it and had one much larger carry on and a personal item on the way back.  I don’t want to look at the Master Card bill next month!) We grabbed some breakfast and boarded the plane in a relatively timely fashion.  I was very happy that we had paid the extra fare for the bulk head seat so we had LOTS of leg room.  And then the 8 hours of boredom began.

Let’s start with the fact that I’m an idiot and forgot to order my gluten free meal.  So no food on the plane for me.  I remembered this in the airport and picked up a salad and an apple but it was still a very long flight otherwise.  I read the book Frank brought to read (Burning Down George Orwell’s House – Goodreads review forthcoming) and finished a book on my kindle (The Secret Rooms – not nearly as good as the other one).  Then I figured out where my little movie monitor was stored and watched Inside Out (so cute – I cried on the plane) and got most of the way through Far from the Madding Crowd – still need to catch the last 15 minutes or so.

And then we were in Newark.  For 3.5 hours.  Customs and immigration were a breeze.  I declared our excess of alcohol (2 liters of liquor and 1.5 liters of wine) and no one blinked. We rechecked the bags, slogged our incredibly heavy carry on’s (mine had all the shoes and hiking boots!) to another terminal and bought overpriced drinks at the only bar in the place. Until we got bored with that so we found the only TV there that was broadcasting the Packers-Bears game and started a Packer party in the terminal.  The flight was delayed by 30 minutes and for the first time I didn’t mind because I got to see the end of the game. (Packers won of course.)

Then the final leg – the puddle jumper to KCI.  I had run out of entertainment and my consciousness was starting to fade. And of course, sleep wouldn’t come.  We landed without incident, claimed the bags, called the Uber car (love that app!) and finally made it back to the house at 7:30 pm – 19 hours after we had gotten up that morning. Frank managed to drive on the right side of the road most of the way to the store to get milk and Cheerios.  Then the gourmet dinner of frozen pizza and GF beer before calling it a day at 8:30.

So now the trip has ended and so must these entries until the next trip.  If you are interested in less frequent updates on our more mundane adventures in KC, feel free to head over to cannonchronicles.com  . You’ll get interesting stories and updates but you wont get

Numbers for today:

• Number of miles flown: 4351
• Number of hours awake: 20
• Number of hours bored to tears: 3
• Number of steps around airport terminals: 5432
• Number of days until the next adventure: 165

Apparently saving the world through wine (and whisky – an empty Dalwhinne bottle was among the wreckage) has some side effects, especially if there isn’t many hours between when you go to bed and when you are required to surface from the bed if you want to still call it morning.  I would love to say that I felt no worse the wear for the lots of wine and little sleep but I would be lying.  But as always, the conversation and camaraderie was well worth it. We eventually all surfaced by noon and fortified by bacon and egg rolls and some strong coffee, we ventured out for our “we’re not hungover” photo and prepared to head back for the rest of our goodbyes.

A painfully slow crawl through traffic and rain in Glasgow and we were able to fetch Frank’s mum to go for our final family visit to Broomridge.  My nephew (12) had just finished putting together his own PC from parts and we spend some time diagnosing some wifi connectivity issues over tea and moved on to discussions of differences in mortgage markets between the US and UK and a variety of other important topics.  After a few hours, mum was ready to go back to her care home so we said goodbyes all around, made a quick stop in Bannockburn to cover the rest of the Cannon clan and then it was off to Edinburgh.

We figured out a few years ago that it is far less stressful to stay at the airport hotel the night before the morning transatlantic flight.  It make it easier to return the hire car in a timely manner, grab one more quiet drink before struggling to rearrange the contents of the cases to make sure everything is appropriately packed, and sleep just a little longer in the morning since it’s only a few minutes walk to the terminal.  So that’s what we have done again this year with a room booked at the airport Hilton (and covered by my Hilton points!) including a reasonable meal in the hotel restaurant (many GF options marked) and a last pint of cider before an early night.

Today’s numbers:

• Number of ibuprofen required to make it through today: 4
• Number of bottles of Irn Bru consumed: 1
• Number of goodbye hugs rendered: 12
• Number of steps (trudged): 5025 (2.16 miles)

Spotty sunshine this morning for our final fry up at the flat.  We had stopped at the butcher in Bridge of Allan who made some gluten free Lorne sausage and I had my first slice since being diagnosed.  It was fabulous!  Of course, the whole place reeked of sausage for the rest of the day but it was a price worth paying.

Today’s agenda:  a lunchtime outing with Frank’s mum before heading west to Troon to visit my family.  We had a lovely lunch in Callander and then popped into some of the shops.  My mother-in-law is a shopping fiend!  We did some serious damage in one of the woolen mill outlets and then I succumbed to temptation and splurged on a Barbour jacket for myself. I am now actually looking forward to some cold weather so I can wear it.

We dropped mum off and headed back to the flat to pack up.  Because of scheduling challenges, the only chance we would have to see my family would be to stay over Friday night but we knew we wouldn’t make it back to the flat to “check out” on Saturday morning so we vacated a day early and headed to the west coast.  I can’t remember when we started the tradition of solving the world’s problems over several bottles of wine in Barassie but that has now become an important part of any visit to Scotland.  This trip was no exception and we had a lovely time discussing a whole range of topics: racism, microaggressions, parenting adult children, traveling in Italy, menopause, penis enlargements, and just about everything in between.  An excellent meal was prepared and most thoroughly enjoyed: goat cheese and beet salad, venison with sweet potato fries and broccoli rabe with white chocolate raspberry cheesecake.  Then more wine and conversation followed. At some point in the wee hours, the ladies retired to their beds and the boys continued on over whisky.

Numbers for today:

• Number of bags we had to fit into the car today: 8
• Number of photographs taken: 0
• Number of types of wine enjoyed: 6
• Number of steps: 8,537 (3.68 miles)

After two grey days the sun came back – not roaring back as it was peeping out from behind some clouds  but it was definitely there.  We had another hearty breakfast (have to enjoy this good bacon while we can) and then it was time to dust of the hiking boots to walk on some Scottish hills.

We headed to Alva Glen, a wee gem in the Ochils with a well defined foot path and some challenging rock clambering.  It has one other feature that is a real draw for me:  waterfalls.  I got my fill of stained glass yesterday so today I would get to play near (read: in) the water.

It’s not really a challenging hike per se as the footpath is well maintained but there are some sheer drops and a few places where you need to climb up or down rock face so that means you do need to pay attention.  It didn’t take long before we had to shed our top layer as the sun decided to stay out and the exertion kept us plenty warm.  I had also decided to bring my rain jack to prevent it from actually raining so I had two layers to manage. But in the end it was well worth it.  We had done this hike with the kids many years ago and the decent into Smuggler’s Cave was one I remembered well. It was soooooo tempting to shed all the layers and swim in the burn but alas, we did not have a towel. (You would think with the number of times I’ve read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I would have learned.)  In clambering over some of the mossy rocks, my left boot ended up in the water and I could have used a towel then.  The return hike had the distinct footfall pattern of stomp, squelch, stomp, squelch…. It took all afternoon for the leg of my jeans to completely dry.

Sweaty but with souls recharged, we headed west toward Glasgow with the intention of visiting the Glengoyne distillery just outside Killern.  We stopped at the Old Mill in the village for lunch and that plan got a bit scuppered.  Lunch was absolutely fabulous from the excellent homemade butternut squash soup to the sharing board for two: slabs of bread, oatcakes, salmon with lemon creme fraiche, venison salami, farmhouse cheddar, and chicken liver pate. All GF and all fabulously delicious.  It is definitely on our list of places to visit again.  Who knows?  Maybe this time we’ll make it to the distillery.  But then maybe not.  Part of the reason we chucked that part of the day was because we decided that it didn’t make sense for us to pay £10 for a tasting tour when we have heard half a dozen times how whiskey is made and we really just wanted a taste.  Which we could get at the pub for a lot less and not have to worry about driving home through the hills.  So back through to town to run a few errands before the big gala.

Last time we visited, we were able to get the whole family together for a meal.  We weren’t quite that successful this time – 2 out of 3 bunches were available and we’ll see the third lot one last time before we’re away on Sunday.  So to the Torbrex Inn (which we could walk to from our flat) we were bound – a party of 10 who took up most of the back dining room, eating and drinking for the better part of 3 hours.

Today’s numbers:

• Number of times I stopped on the hike just to listen to the water fall: 8
• Number of (unique) swear words uttered during the squelchy return hike: 12
• Number of rounds of drinks the poor waitress had to fetch our rowdy bunch at dinner: 5?
• Number of tears of laughter streaming down my face during one of the family stories being recounted: uncountable.
• Number of steps: 10, 445 (4.5 miles – most of it straight up or down)

The revelry of last night led to a much longer lie in than we had anticipated but we eventually roused ourselves and made our way into town to catch a train to Glasgow.  I suspect the “normal” tourist thing to do would be to go to Edinburgh but we’ve done that loads of times so this was chance to do something different.  Forty-one minutes on Scot Rail and we were at Queen Street station.

And if you wander about 15 minutes east of Queen Street station you get to Glasgow Cathedral.  (Which was open – so there Exeter!) It’s been standing since 1136 but the site has been considered holy ground since sometime around 930.  The stained glass is fabulous – all of it in a traditional style and all created since the second world war.  The tomb of St. Mungo (aka St.Kentigern), Glasgow’s patron saint is in the lower church.  The most recent bit of the building was completed in the late 1500’s.

We then wandered over to the Necropolis – a Victorian cemetery on a hill next to the Cathedral.  The monuments are incredible and the view from the top magnificent even under grey skies.  The most prominent monument is one to John Knox, the father of the Presbyterian Church (Church of Scotland here).

Then it was off to find a spot of lunch in town.  One of the things I still find interesting is the set 2 or 3 course lunch menu that you’ll find in most restaurants.  In my youth it was colloquially known as “the businessmen’s lunch” and it’s a subset of the menu where you can pick a combination of starter, main and sweet for a set price.  We found a place that had lots of gluten free options and so I had pea and mint soup for my starter, kale salad for my main and a warm GF brownie with cream and chocolate sauce for my pudding.  All for the set price of £11.95.  (TMI:  Frank had a gruyere tart, paprika chicken on corn cakes, and a banoffee pavlova).

A short wander to Exchange Square brought us to the cultural event for the day:  the Gallery of Modern Art.  Only 2 of the 4 galleries were open so it wasn’t a long visit but it was long enough to reinforce my belief that I don’t understand “modern art”.  There were several pieces that appealed to me but others?  I just didn’t quite understand how they were considered art.  But we keep trying.

A quick tour up Sauchiehall Street led to Marks and Spencer.  I had seen a jumper in the the M&S in Exeter that I quite liked but didn’t do anything about it.  I thought it might be nice to try it on so I went to the M&S in the Thistle Center in Stirling but they didn’t have it.  So we had a minor quest to find the jumper in Glasgow.  And we did.  And I tried it on.  And I didn’t like it on me.  So I bought another jumper instead.  🙂

Then back to the train so we could have Frank’s mum around for dinner.  I whipped up a holiday version of spaghetti bolognese – which means it was pretty much all tinned ingredients because I don’t have any spices or anything here.  I got no complaints from the diners though and we even followed it up with a raspberry meringue roulade (also courtesy of M&S) which was lovely.  Then it was time to get mum back to the home.  We did a bit more visiting in Broomridge and heard all about the lovely wee flat my niece is hoping to buy (keep your fingers crossed for her!).  And we hit the hay at a much more reasonable time.

Today’s numbers:

• Minutes spent on the train: 41 outbound, 28 inbound
• Number of “oohs” at the stained glass: at least a dozen
• Number of photos of the house and KC that we bored relatives with: 125
• Number of steps: 22,760 (9.97 miles)

Our good luck with the sunshine came to an end today and we faced grey skies but  with little threat of rain.  A lighter breakfast of yoghurt and muesli was on the menu today since we were still a bit sluggish from the chippy supper the night before.  Then off to see if Frank’s mum was up for an outing.

We arrived to find her in the midst of getting her hair and make up done and so we piled the newly coiffed granny into the car with her wheelchair and went a visiting.  First stop, her sister’s house in Bridge of Allan where we had tea and biscuits and shared photos and stories from our new life in Kansas City.  And then off to lunch – we headed back to the Birds and Bees since it had all the requisite elements for an outing: gluten free menu options, quiet atmosphere, not a lot of stairs and, of course, alcohol.  We had a lovely time and Frank’s mum absolutely murdered her fish and chips – I can’t remember the last time we saw her eat so well.

But all good things come to an end and mum was ready to get back to the care home.  We dropped her off and got her sorted and then wandered into town to take care of a few things.  We had some time before our next social event so Frank caught a nap and I got in some yoga.  Then to Cambusbarron for a great catchup with great friends.  We could have reminisced more about all the old times – our engagement party and wedding and all the adventures from 30 years ago – but we have too much fun chatting about things in the present.  Which we did over Indian take away (our now traditional “box of curry”) and drinks.  Many drinks.  Maybe too many drinks.  It was after 1 am when we got home – luckily it’s just a 15 minute walk.

Today’s numbers:

• Number of incredibly kind and caring people we talked to just today at the care home: 5
• Number of jokes made about Frank’s mum dancing on the table: 6
• Number of times we’ve had a “box of curry” in Cambusbarron: 4? 5?
• Number of steps: 10, 902 (4.69 miles)

More beautiful sunshine met us when we woke this morning so it was off for a run around the King’s Park.  It was a tad chillier than I had planned for (44 degrees!) so the shorts maybe weren’t the best option but I managed to spend half an hour running all over town before returning to make bacon and egg sandwiches.  Then we had some housekeeping to do so the rest of the morning was spent unpacking and getting organized.

Then off to visit Frank’s mum.  She still wasn’t feeling great so sat and had a cup of tea and then were off to visit more relatives.  We next went round to Auntie Jean’s house for a wee visit where we sat and had a chat.  Then off to get some lunch at the Birds and Bees where I hadn’t been for decades.  It was quite a nice meal and by now the sun had warmed the air and we were flirting with 70 degrees. Now it’s off to visit more Cannon’s who can always be found sitting in the garden when the sun is out.  More tea, more conversation with various relatives as they arrived home or passed through, more sitting in the sunshine.  A very relaxing afternoon overall.  Then we stopped at the chippy on the Glasgow roach (chicken supper for me, haggis for Frank) and enjoyed all their greasy glory.

And felt like big slugs.  So we head our for another wander about the park and the town and caught this beautiful sunset from just below the King’s Knot.  A few quick phone calls and we were back to Bannockburn to watch the end of the Scotland – Germany match (grrr) and have a few drinks and a blether before the taxi delivered us safely home again in the wee hours.

Today’s numbers:

• Relatives and sundry folks chatted with: 12
• Number of times they thanked us for bringing the sunshine: 6
• Number of cups of tea consumed: 4
• Number of steps: 9881 (4.25 miles) – nearly all of which came after dinner.