Covered some ground...

That's what we did today - covered some ground! We went out from Perth into the country side of Scotland. We were blessed to have the touring expertise of a local couple, Alan and Lorraine Thomson. They are part of what I call Dad's Traveling Network, DTN. Somehow, through Fire Fighting, pub conversations, and just plain cunning, my dad has met people and built relationships through out The States and Europe. We had such a good time with Alan and Lorraine, they really made us feel right at home here. There were several things from today I want to pull out. First, it's what our accents must sound like to other people. I really wish I knew. It's so fun to share and learn new phrases even with other english speaking people. We all just have a little different way of putting things. We've been loving the Scotish tones and accents, interestingly, it takes people about 3.5 seconds to figure out that we're not from around here and from our accents, we're probably from the states. I had one lady yesterday, just after saying hello, ask, "you've come a long way haven't you?" It's just neat being in a different place from your own. The other observation is just that we all take for granted the majestic landscapes around us. In the car as we were traveling, all of us foreigners were oohing and aahing at the greenery and mountains and castle structures, but it was all so common place for Alan and Lorraine...it got me thinking about how we do the same thing in West Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina. All over the world, the earth itself is reaching upward with all it's beauty to praise the Lord...even when we forget, the earth cries out in praise.

Just thought of another fun tidbit from the day. We were out to dinner at a place where you wait

in the bar area until your food is ready. I, like most of our group, ordered a water to drink. The older lady behind the bar looked back a me with "for real?" type look and said, "you're old enough to get something else you know?". Feeling heckled I decided to order something that I at least had to pay for. Here comes one of my other observations. The U.S. is not the only one with regional soft drinks. For Example we in Kentucky have this flavorful ginger drink called Ale 8-1, and in the Carolinas we have this great thing called Cheerwine. Well, I ordered the regional drink here called IRN-BRU (Iron Brew is how it's pretty much pronounced). It tastes a lot like Double Bubble bubble gum. It's definitely (like Ale8-1 and Cheerwine) an aquired taste, but hey it kept the locals happy :)

Here's our bed and breakfast and the view from out front...It's really a great place, four floors, and we're at the top. Breakfast is HUGE and tasty! This would be a dream house and occupation for us, I think :)

Tomorrow, we're off to St. Andrews for a round of golf and more sight seeing. The scotish golfers are going to laugh so hard when they see me hit the ball...you would too.

Here are some pictures from the Scotish country side:

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