To Oban, September 20, 2026

 

Trossachs National Park 

We packed up after breakfast and set out north out of Glasgow, headed for Oban, on Scotland's west coast. Our route out of the city gave us the opportunity to see more of the non-touristy areas. There were many different ethnic shops along the way. It struck me that there were not many trees in the city, just rows of moldy apartment buildings. I guess that was startling to me who lives in the Rochester area. The buildings were mostly pretty dirty in the residential area we drove through, sooty and grimy. Unlike Ireland (with the exception of Dublin), litter was apparent.

Once we got out of the city, the scenery turned green, reminding us of the northeast US. Our first stop was the quaint town of Luss, along the western shore of Loch Lomond. The flower-lined streets filled with picturesque grey-stone and slate-roofed cottages are charming. One cool hotel, Loch Lomond Arms, caught our attention, as it is covered in deer antlers. 

From Luss, we headed away from Loch Lomond for a longer trip to Oban. This was. lovely country through Trossachs National Park.  Oban is directly on the western coast of Scotland and is a major tourist spot as a source of ferries to the Inner and Outer Hebrides. Our impression of Oban was the same as Glasgow. Most of the buildings need to be washed. Litter is seen on the streets. 

Pictures here

Glasgow, September 19, 2026

 

After a good night's sleep,  a bit of web surfing, and a delightful breakfast buffet at the hotel, we set off by Uber to the Glasgow Cathedral,  Built in the 13th century it is one  of the 2 medieval cathedrals in Scotland to have survived the Reformation virtually intact.  In 1560, the Cardinal fled to Paris and the church was stripped of all its Catholic images and statues. The church walls and columns are covered in soot and grime, but there is one room that has been restored to its former glory. Originally, the walls were limewashed, and brilliant white. Now, they're black. But the wonderful thing about this place were the many stories about the people and how the church developed over those 800 years. I've included some in the photo descriptions. We were struck by the numerous memorials to military men. Loved the story of the well, and the friendliness of the people we met there.

Behind the cathedral and up a hill, Glasgow's cemetery , the Necropolis is reached by a cobbled path, and a short climb. There are tombs of many celebrated Scot authors, scientists, that sit crowded together in rows . You get some great views overlooking the city and cathedral. 

We then took another Uber over to the Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow's all-in-one Smithsonian. Museum collections include natural history, Egyptian antiquities, design, architecture, medieval arms and armoury, Scottish history and the history of Glasgow. It's owned by the city and is free of charge. One notable exhibit is Salvadore Dali's Christ of St. John of the Cross, that not only displays the painting but explains why Dali painted it (being  so different from his usual style), but also highlights salient points about it. The museum is fabulous, for its collections and it's architecture.  

When we finally departed the museum, it was close to closing time, and we decided to walk the short distance back to our hotel, where we relaxed and then dined in the hotel restaurant. We both enjoyed the beer of the day: Tennant's Lager, Glasgow's own.

Photos  here

To Scotland September 17-18, 2026

 

The day before we were to leave on this trip, I received a message from Delta saying that our flights to Scotland would preclude us traveling by premium select, a class just below business. Not happy, I called Delta, and they obliged by changing us from KLM partner flights to Air France partner flights. That resulted in much more favorable flight times for us. As it was, our flight left Toronto for Paris (way cheaper than Rochester) a half hour late. Since we had to drive the 2 1/2 hours to Toronto, we got there early, and enjoyed the airport lounge for a few hours. 

Our flight to Paris (connecting to Edinburgh), was fine, but most of the in flight entertainment were French movies  with English subtitles. The food was quite good, I thought. Boarding the plane with Air France was a free for all. They had signs for each boarding group by the gate, and rather than instruct people to wait until their group was ready to board,  they allowed everyone to mob the area. It was impossible to tell which line was which, and with 350 people (it was a 777) jockeying for position, it was pretty much a mess. 

The flight from Paris to Edinburgh was uneventful, but with a note for how jammed together the seats were. I've never seen seat rows so close together. 

We were able to get through customs easily, and after a few inquiries,  find the shuttle to the car rental place. There, we thankfully got a complementary upgrade to an SUV. The drive from Edinburgh to Glasgow made us think how much the scenery reminded us of the northeast.

Our hotel is lovely, and the room is huge. It's about the size of our first apartment on Putnam Ave in Cambridge!

March 23, 2026 Casey IL, World's Biggest

As we were passing through Illinois, I glimpsed a sign at the side of the road advertising that the next exit was for Casey, IL, home of the World's Biggest... That's about all I was able to capture as we whizzed by, and we made the quick decision to check it out. At the next exit, we turned in to Casey, IL,  home to many "World's Largest" (verified by Guiness) things: wind chime, car key, mailbox, rocking chair, barber pole, pitchfork and a lot more (WORLD'S LARGEST | BigThingsSmallTown). Each item has scripture engraved or placed on it. There are also a bunch of items that are not necessarily the largest of their kind, but they're very large: antlers, anvil, cactus, glider plane...(BIG THINGS | BigThingsSmallTown)  This was a really cool find! I particularly liked the Mailbox, and the fact that each item has a Bible inscription associated with it. The town itself is lovely.

Here's the interesting story of how it all began: https://youtu.be/nK4SRBpTXOU?si=cmMmKVbod7xmBLA0

Uranus (not the planet)

 In 2015, Louie Keen wanted to create a roadside destination that captured the spirit of old-school Americana: fun, family, and a good laugh. What began as a quirky pit stop for travelers has grown into a full-blown attraction in St. Robert, MO. He now has 3 locations, including 2 in Indiana. The first sits on Route 66. The billboard on I44 was enough to pique our interest: 

That was after a billboard that touted "The best fudge comes from Uranus."

We pulled off the interstate, and made the stop on Route 66. It did not disappoint. It's somewhat recalls South of the Border, but is funnier. It actually is a Fudge Factory and Louie Keen built his business around one joke and a good product. There's a large store, mini golf, ice cream shop and other buildings that mimic a town. In around the store, a song plays that touts Uranus (too funny). The photos (https://photos.app.goo.gl/jJkcMnQdUYPpCMdt8) will give you an idea of the humor. Make sure you read the signs, labels, and inscriptions. 

We had ice cream (handmade here) and checked out the Guiness record belt buckle. 

Fun stop. Tomorrow we'll end up in Columbus, OH.

Cattle stink, lava , and more March 21, 2026

After almost 3 months away, we're heading home, 2252 miles and 8 states, driving 7-8 hour days, our stops are Albuquerque,  Oklahoma City,  St. Louis,  and Columbus, OH. Today could have been really boring, as we  passed through New Mexico, northern Texas, and western Oklahoma.  But it turned out to be both good and bad interesting.  

The bad? We encountered at least 6 objects on the road that Google warned us about. Of course when you have no idea where or what lane the object is in, it makes things interesting.  Most were large pieces of tire. There was a tandem instance when a large metal chunk was followed by a large pipe. At 80 mph (speed limit 75), that makes for a situation that begs for alert driving.

Somewhere around Amarillo, we passed a huge cattle stockyard with literally thousands of cattle. Before you see them, you smell them. I read that in this area there are dozens of feedlots, that hold Texas Panhandle’s massive, concentrated cattle-feeding industry. This area hosts nearly 2.5 million head in feedlots, with individual, large-scale feedyards often holding 20,000 to over 100,000 head at a time. The smell was so incredibly bad that I wondered how the paint on the car could hold up passing through. It took several miles for the stink to dissipate in the car.

The good: Along our way on I40, we passed the Leaning Tower of Texas, and discovered it has a pretty cool story: https://texashighways.com/travel/roadside-oddity-the-leaning-tower-of-texas-britten/

Extensive lava fields line the edges of I40 near Grant's, NM, part of the Mal Pais National Monument. 

The Peace Garden of All Faiths,  is a unique, roadside attraction in Amarillo featuring plaques, memorials, and a large peace sign.  https://www.facebook.com/peacegardenoffaith

Not far from the Leaning Tower is the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ ( in Groom, TX) erected by the Ministries of the same name. It is a 190-foot-tall, 1,250-ton free-standing cross monument that can be seen from 20 miles away.

In addition to all this, we saw lots of scrub land, goats keeping brush down on the edge of the highway, motionless windmills, and some later that were moving, and places where semi trucks (sans trailers) were lined up in fields along the Interstate. 

It really was an interesting ride. Tomorrow we head to St. Louis.

Loved NZ, and here are the reasons

This was a really special trip for us. Our first trip, even before we were married, was hitchhiking around Europe for months. We stayed in a small tent, and ate what we could buy in grocery stores. It was awesome. Our next big trip was a few years later, in 1975, when  we took our 74 Volks bug cross country for 6 weeks or so. We started by using the same tent we used in Europe, and then upgraded in Denver to a huge tent you could actually sit up in. At various times over the years, we've traveled with an 8 x 10 tent, a pop-up tent, a 19-foot hard sided trailer, a 35 foot class A motorhome, and a 28 foot motorhome. We've "moteled" it too. Usually we try to get our biggest bang for our buck, and save money where we can. 

This trip was a relatively last- minute choice for us, and as with most travel decisions we've made, settled on with little discussion. (Hey--you want to go to "fill in the blank"? Yeah, that'd be cool) What made it unique for us was that we decided to travel first class.

And rather than make all the accomodation and excursion reservations ourselves (aka me), we chose to have a tour company arrange everything: hotels, activities, transfers, travel methods. All we had to do was show up ( and pay the tour company).

So what we got was a fantastic trip in luxurious style, with activities that we loved. 

In these 3 weeks, we learned a lot about NZ , its culture, its plants, it's land, it's customs, and came away with a great deal of respect for this special place. If it weren't so far away from friends and family, and if I were looking for another country to live in, I would choose NZ. But I love the US -passionately, I couldn't be away from those I love, and I can't see myself ever leaving.

Along the way,  we had these minor observations about NZ:

• There are very few public waste receptacles in towns and cities. Yet the country is refreshingly clean. Even in Auckland, a city of 1.7MM people, there's no litter on the streets. Glorious!
• There are sheep everywhere. There are 4 sheep for every person in the country.
• In hotels, they give you 1 hand towel and 2 bath towels.
• In hotel rooms, they place 1 miniscule waste basket in the room.
• There is no tipping in restaurants. In casual restaurants,  you enter, check out the menu, and order and pay. Your food is delivered, you eat, then leave when you're done.
• Prices in the grocery store are reasonable.
• In summer (our only experience here), there are lots of tour busses and camper vans on the road.
• Other than sand flies, there are really not a lot of biting bugs here, even in the rainforest. But the sand flies are the equivalent of NH black flies, biting and itchy.
• Gas stations don't have trash receptacles or windshield wash cleaner or squeegee. 
• There are many one lane bridges. You may be driving on a 2 lane road at 60 mph, then find a one lane bridge ahead that requires you to stop and wait for a car coming in the opposite direction.
  
• Chinese tourists seem to make up over half the population.  We happened to be here during Chinese New Year, and I expect that made a difference. 
• There are signs along major road that warn: "Take care, Accident Black Spot"