Nous sommes arrivés!

5:48 pm, GMT

Ok, that's French, and we're in Scotland, but I don't know Scottish. Anyway, we're here. I'm alive and well, and Andrew is snoring happily away in the guest room at his parents'. I have already had a glass of cider and seen Scottish pigeons, which are nothing like our American pigeons. In fact, they are rather handsome.

Neither the plane ride nor Heathrow was worth whinging about, although we made our connection to Edinburgh with only two minutes to spare! I was quite amused by Heathrow this time--they create a remarkable number of queues (that's British for pretend organization), long curvilicious hallways, and bored security people who put glass doors between you and your now-boarding flight. It's truly nuts. The best part is watching people who have learned to "game" the system by getting in the wrong line. We stood in the "right" line for at least 20 extra minutes while people who had gotten in the "wrong" line (the UK passports only line) made their way more quickly to the front, were told the errors of their ways, and then were placed in line in front of us who had queued correctly. Excellent whinging material, n'est ce pas?

The drive from the airport shall hereafter be named the "vomit comet". I know the name is already taken, but it's so appropriate I can't help but appropriate it (sorry, couldn't resist the fun with homographs moment). Anyway, if you haven't experienced driving in a country where you drive on the other side of the road, imagine this: You sit down in the passenger seat, but there's a steering wheel and you're expected to use it. All the controls are reversed. You start to get used to the idea, start the car, and pull forward, only to notice that everything in the mirrors is weird. Things flash by in the wrong spots, making you think things are coming at you in your peripheral vision. OK, OK, you can manage, right? You pull toward the intersection, repeating to yourself "Drive on the left; steering wheel to the center line." You manage to make the turn into the correct lane. Woo-hoo! You're golden! You relax and pick up speed; it's all going well--BUT WAIT! Some guy is driving at top speed towards you in the wrong lane!! OMG! Wait! Don't swerve! That's how it's supposed to be! Ack. All of your instincts are wrong! Drive safely. :)

Oh, we saw the Tardis on the way here. I'm not sure what The Doctor is up to, but I trust that he will keep the world from ending, at least in the immediate future.

Tonight? Dinner with the family: Andrew's parents, Richard and Barbara, and his sister, Gwynneth. Hopefully we'll get to see his niece and nephew, Beverly and Gregory, soon too. Tomorrow? Depending on weather, we'll take a day trip and hopefully have some real pictures to post, rather than cell-phone snapshots. After that, we have tentative plans to explore the coast and/or lochs. On Monday, the entire clan heads to Paris for three days, after which we return to West Linton to celebrate his parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Then, with suitcases filled with Scotch, we'll head back to Denver on August 3.

More soon!