Wow!

Our flight from Philadelphia to Glasgow went without a hitch and we arrived in Scotland with all of our luggage and most importantly, our golf clubs! After picking up the rental car and immediately getting in the wrong lane pulling out of the rental car company lot, we were on our way to Ardrossan to catch the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry across to the isle of Arran. The first couple of roundabouts and the first encounters with cars coming the other way on the “wrong side” were a bit nerve racking, but we survived in fine fashion and arrived in Ardrossan without any issues. After a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up water, snacks, etc., we pulled into the ferry terminal at 8:30 AM. I had some hot tea and Derek had coffee while we waited for the ferry to arrive. The ferry was quite the ship and held several hundred people along with numerous cars, bikes, golf clubs, backpacks etc. Arran is quite the recreational destination and the ferry is the only way to get there. Plus the weather was postcard perfect and it seemed that everyone wanted out of the city and onto Arran. The ferry arrives in the town of Brodick which is situated right on the water and is very picturesque. After discovering that the main road across the island to Blackwaterfoot was closed, we took the southern route down the coast through the spectacularly situated town of Lamlash (pictured above) and across a “single track” road that cut through the mountains and came out on the far coast near Blackwaterfoot.

Between Lamlash and Blackwaterfoot

A single track road essentially means that the road is wide enough for one car, with a passing spot carved out of the hillside every couple hundred yards or so. After a few stops to take pictures, we eventually arrived at the Blackwaterfoot Inn around 12:00 noon. They were gracious enough to quickly finish our room and allow us to drop off our bags and change clothes before heading over to Shiskine Golf Club. Let me take this time to say that I am not sure there are many if any more beautiful spots on earth than the isle of Arran. Now we were there on a perfect, calm sunny day, but the pictures that I took could never do justice to the unwaveringly stark beauty of the landscape here.

Shiskine is a twelve hole course laid out right along the water and was originally designed by Willie Park and Old Tom Morris.? There are several unique holes, including #3 Crows Nest, which requires a 130 yard carry to a green set 75 yards up the side of a steep hill. The next hole then plays down off the cliff to a green set against the rocks with the sea and the Kintyre peninsula in the background. It was a fun round in a beautiful setting. What a way to start the trip!

This is the view from the 4th hole at Shishkine.

Scotland!

Well, we're off to Scotland. Derek and I leave today for 10 days of fun (but not sun!). We're off to the home of golf. Scotland is where the game of golf originated about 500 years ago, and our goal for this trip is to experience a little bit of what golf was like in the beginning. To that end, we aren't playing all of the "name" courses, but we are trying to see a lot of the country and travel to some courses that are off the beaten path a little bit. Our first stop is going to be on Isle of Arran. We will ferry across from Ardrossan and stay at the Blackwaterfoot Lodge . If we aren't too pooped from traveling, we will play a round of golf at the 12 hole Shishkine Golf Club . Sunday we will ferry across to Kintyre and play at Machrihanish Dunes (picture above).


Hopefully we will have internet access everywhere and I will be able to keep this up to date as we travel.
























Shiskine Golf Club

Wintry Weather

This winter has thus far been fairly toothless. Some snow here and there, some cold nights, but generally a mild winter overall. Yesterday, however, we had a semi-rare ice storm. It started with sleet, turned to freezing raing and eventually ended up putting about a 1/4 to 3/8" layer of ice on everything. I always look forward to ice storms (as long as they aren't too bad) because of the breathtaking beauty that they leave behind. Here are a couple of my favorite ice storm pictures (both taken this winter).

The one on the left was taken December 16th. The rain had come down pretty hard during the night, and the morning had been cloudy and cold, but the sun suddenly popped out at around 11:oo, the wind picked up and the temperature shot up quickly. Most of the ice was gone within 15 minutes of this picture.

The second picture was taken today, and shows the amount of ice accretion on everything this morning. I'm not a great photographer, and don't usually take close-ups, but this one I kind of liked. I've always found it interesting how some photographs grab your attention that may not strike anyone else as interesting.

Speaking of weather, if you ever want to know what the weather is like at my house - below is the link to my weather page. It includes all of the data that is uploaded every 10 minutes from my Davis Vantage Pro weather station. I've had it in continuous use since 2002, with the exception of a month this past summer when I had to send it back to Davis to repair damage caused by a lightning strike.

I've always been a bit of a weather nut, and enjoy taking pictures of various weather, especially during the winter. There are a few more pictures linked from my weather page as well.



Here is the link to my weather page:
Maysville Weather

Well, this is my first post on my new blog, so I feel like there should be some momentous post with profound insights and deep meaning. But since that isn't going to happen, I'll just post some odds and ends on what's happening around here lately.

Christmas is right around the corner and I finally feel like things have slowed down enough to begin to enjoy the season. Our church Christmas play was last Sunday, and it was a relief to be done, although it is something that Sandy and I really enjoy and look forward to each year. The school Christmas program was this past Wednesday. Clayton's class sang "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer" and guess who Grandma was? Clayton made a pretty good Grandma!

I'm looking forward to the next couple of days. I'll be off work on Christmas Eve thanks to the bank allowing employees to work split crews the day before and after Christmas, giving everyone an extra day off! We're going to make cookies tonight and tomorrow, and hopefully get some presents wrapped! Merry Christmas to all. May your holidays be filled with good times with the people you love.
Say a prayer for all those soldiers who are spending the holidays away from home.