Scotland Story: Getting There

Our Scottish adventure had begun! An early morning flight launched us to our first ever vacation in Europe as a family. I proudly wore my Campbell tartan scarf, my gift from my Clansman for Christmas.

Did I mention our flight schedule was long? We are REALLY close to Scotland, but it took a REALLY long time to get there. We were just happy to go.

Finally, in the wee hours of the night, we arrived in Edinburgh. We were so tired, but giddy to be there! We got there so late, CC planned for us to spend that first night somewhere near the airport. We got our rental car, which was SO much smaller than the picture. To fit 7 people in a car in that price range, there ended up being basically no trunk. So, we all had duffle bags under our feet and in our laps. I couldn't even see two of my kids. Then there was CC driving a stick shift on the "other" side of the road. We had absolutely no idea how to get to the hotel from the ever-intersecting highways (though we had downloaded maps and had a GPS in the car). Finally, he figured out the maze, we took the right exit, and we drove right up to the hotel. It was at that point that CC realized he had no idea how to get the car in reverse. I am grinning as I type this, but it truly wasn't funny at 2AM. We went inside the hotel, and the man at the desk said he had no idea how to put it in reverse either, but to just leave it where it was. Then Sweet Cheeks, who does this when she gets overly tired, vomited. We got into our rooms, which were about the size of office cubicles and absolutely crashed.

The next morning, I woke early and crept downstairs to read my Bible and have coffee while waiting on the others. Soon, my sweet husband and kids trickled down. We paid a nominal fee for a continental breakfast just so we wouldn't have to try to find breakfast (and put the car in reverse). I am certain we left the continental buffet completely stripped. My kids can put away some breakfast. Everyone was perfectly fine and happy after some sleep. And even cute! CC had gone online and searched for how to put the car in reverse. It seemed the search engine popped right up, indicating we weren't the first to misunderstand. We backed out and headed down the road to beautiful Inveraray!