Scotland - Day 8

Party Day

Since the party wasn't until the afternoon, I had decided to explore the surrounding area by foot in the morning. Lance, Lori, and I started the day by walking into Bonnybridge to pick up breakfast at the bakery. On the way, we found a damp, slimy tunnel that made a good shortcut.

After breakfast, David and Laney joined us for a walk along the Antonine Wall. The others had already done more exploring than I had, so they knew how to get to the Falkirk Wheel. Ironically, I was the first after arriving to find and explore the Antonine Wall on the cottage property, but I was one of the last to go beyond the cottage property. Anyways, the weather was nice, the early morning rain had stopped and the sky had cleared, so it was a great day for a walk. In fact by the afternoon, the high had reach approximately 78° F.


It was neat to walk along a piece of history dating back to the time of the Romans. We also walked around the area that was a once a Roman fort now referred to as Rough Castle. I suppose I should clarify that the Antonine Wall is not a stone wall but more of a very long grassy mound of earth. Rough Castle is also completely grassed over now with some vague lowered and raised areas that give some idea of how the fort was set up.

On past Rough Castle is a wooded path where we met a local Scottish farmer taking his dog for a walk. The path comes out very near the Falkirk Wheel so we took a break and watched the wheel turn to transport tour boats before we headed back to the cottages to get ready for Fred and Mary's 60th anniversary party.

Beth and Laurabelle prepared a fine spread of Scottish goodies for the party. Mary's Scottish family members started arriving and I tried to be sociable and mingle but the conversation was confusing. The walkers hadn't arrived yet so we couldn't really dance. After saying hello on the phone to Fred & Mary back in Oklahoma, I hid in the cottage playing Charades with Molly and Laney again. The walkers eventually showed up after an adventure of 2 getting off at the right stop and 2 missing the stop and having to figure out the right train schedule. I really can't do the story justice since I wasn't there.

And so anyways, that evening we... Ack!... I don't have a clue what we did that evening. There's a complete chunk of my time in Scotland missing. I didn't have a drop of alcohol at the party, so who knows?