Day 10: Dublin to Chicago

Man oh man, I kept forgetting to update the last day of this trip! I wish I'd done it sooner. Let's see, what happened that day...

We got up early and took the hotel shuttle over to the airport and tried our hand at getting a good breakfast this time, finally found that fabled McDonalds which was shocking, the food was quite different.

After that we boarded the plane which had a stopover in Shannon, Ireland for a few minutes, however it ended up being ridiculous-- they had us all get off the plane, go back through customs with all our stuff, then get BACK on the plane and re-takeoff. It was rather annoying. However, the plane was worth it! It was one of two models in the Aer Lingus line that had computers built in to each seat! I watched movies and played games the whole ride home! I watched Obsessed, Kn0wing (The latter of which sucked), and played some strange little games. After what seemed like forever we landed in Chicago, however, as it so happens to me on long flights, I wasn't feeling good, so I was dropped at home while everyone went out to eat, I was quite angry to discover that my computer had decided to break somehow, I would go into technical stuff but it'd bore everyone, so I'll just say it took about a week to fix, and by that time I'd forgotten all about updating this blog!

So in retrospect, Scotland was a ton of fun, but I don't want to do it again any time soon unless they discover a way to magically teleport you from Chicago to Scotland-- I HATE long flights!

Day Nine: Fort William/B&B

Well, this is it. We're nearing the end! This is my last real full day in Scotland! We're flying out tomorrow around 9:00 PM. Today was actually realatively tame compared to past days. We got out at normal time and drove around in the Glens-- I slept for most of the morning drive as I'm not feeling my best, coming down with a cold or something, no big deal.

We attended a Shinty match today, which no one really payed attention to, then we snuck off for dinner, which wasn't actually ready until 5:00, so we had to bum around fort william. I bought something awesome. This something awesome will be revealed in pictures on facebook at a later date. But believe me, it is A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

Dinner was really really good too, best fries I'd had the whole trip. Not much else to really report.. except, oh, well... we DID visit where Hogwarts is. >:D

It's on this hill sort of thing in Glenfinnan. It's superimposed in the movies, but it's there. Also Hagrid's Hut and the Buckbeak scenes are filmed on an island right by there. So that was fairly awesome.

Not much else than that... working on making everything fit in our suitcases and carryons and such... Bye!!!

Day Eight: Fort William/B&B

What. a. day. Normal start and all, had to get dressed up in the kilt again, headed out for the real games. We arrived at the gate early and got in and all that usual stuff, didn't stay the whole time but maaaan.

It was exhausting but hellza fun. I got to shoot a Baretta rifle at clay pidgeons, which was my first time with a real gun. I want an airsoft SO bad now. M16 or Desert Eagle. Anywho! After that I saw the Falconry seminar, and I also now want an owl. Or a Hawk. Either one!

Then there were the "Quack Commandos," which were these ducks that were sheep hearded like commandos. Sorta cool. Then more celebraty-ish pictures, as my family is famous within the clan kinda sorta. My dad being Commissoner and all. D:

We left around 4:00 after the parade and went to dinner at the hotel down the road, met up with some of my dad's presidents on accident, which was funny. Went back to Achnacarry for the Ceidleigh (Pronounced Kaylee), which is a large fun party of awesomeness.

I saw my dad sing James Taylor songs on stage live. He wasn't totally bad, actually. All the acts were mostly awesome, especially this woman who played violin. God I'm jealous, I've wished I could play Violin for yearsssss.

Midge's (TINY mosquitos in the UK which are quite painful and difficult to kill) were EVERYWHERE though. Got eaten alive. Left at like, 10:30 or something, drove back to the B&B where I am now! Oh, I also used my laptop of pure awesomeness to get my mom and brother Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band tickets, which now means she owes me Emilie Autumn and the Bloody Crumpets tickets. So that works out.

Bed time! Shiny match tomorrow, which will be boring. That's sorta like field hocky for those who don't know, however the unknowing are to be considered the blessed here. D:

Nightttt!

Day Seven: Fort William/B&B

I feel the need first to add that I say "Fort William" in the title as that is the nearest BIG town to where I'm staying. The real closest town is a small place known as Spean Bridge. It's actually a lot nicer than Fort William in my opinion, but more people probably know of Fort William. So yeah, there.

Anywho. The usual, breakfast and such, I traded rooms last night with John, forgot to mention that. I'm sleeping with Andrew now. Woo-hoo, I guess. D:

We headed out to pick up a gift for Donald Andrew, the chief's son and next in line to the Lochiel name, and his Fiance` Sara's wedding. We found a nice hand painted vase and had flowers arranged in it, as tonight would be the big reception for all the clans. After this we dropped by the big Marquee tent at Achnacarry for the official release of my dad and Dennis Mier (The Clan Cameron Museum curator)'s Locharbor Compendium book, and for lunch. It went well, I had to watch my dad awkwardly sign his first one later, which made me laugh.

We headed back to the B&B after that to get dressed in--Oh joy-- kilts. It wasn't SO bad, I guess. The upper half of me looked all classy and awesome with this snazzy jacket you can only wear with a kilt, pictures to, sadly, follow.

We drove around for a while waiting for it to be time for the reception, which went well when it happened. I'm not sure if a ton of people outside of the UK know who Lady Cecil is, but she is the Lochiel's wife, and a fairly well-known person of influence in England. She is friends with the royal family, comes from a lordship, and I believe, though I may be wrong, that Prince Charles of England is the godfather of one of her and The Lochiel's children. Anywho, I got to meet her, which was very exciting, though I don't think I made the best impression-- I was sorta ushered over to her by the Lochiel without being fully ready and was a tad quiet.

Later on Donald Andrew and his Fiance` showed up. Poor girl didn't realize she had become celebrity overnight within the clan. Sorta funny watching everyone swarm her.

We left early for a fancy-ish dinner by ourselves, but the menu was sorta bad. The chicken I ended up having was delicious, but the restaurant was needlessly garish and pricy.

Bed time now, I get to watch people embaress themselves on stage tomorrow. Video to follow I hope.

Goodnight moon.

Day Six: Fort WIlliam/B&B

Woke up later than normal for once, which I was happy about. Breakfast as usual, hung out here at the B&B for a bit, then went out for the Estate Tours/meetups at the Museum.

We got to get a tad closer to Achnacarry, though we weren't SUPPOSED to. But apparently since my dad knows him well, we got to go sneak about the grounds and have fun. It was so cool, especially the Beach Avenue. There's tons of history behind that which you can find at my dad's website . Go check it out, it's really interesting!

We then hopped in the car and picked up John from a hike he was on and left early, as there wasn't anything else to do. We drove around and hit a lot of spots that I'd been at before in 2001 when I visited, including the Gemstone museum and Ben Nevis Gondola rides.

We also had lunch at a fish and chips place I'd been to before when I was here, which was quite good for being sort of a dive in the middle of Fort William. Oh, I also got the U.K. version of my favorite Harry Potter book, Chamber of Secrets! I was quite enthralled.

After this we headed back to the B&B so my parents could head to another ultra-secret dinner that I'm not allowed to tell you about, but believe me it's secret, special, really cool, and makes me jealous that I couldn't go. D:

Oh well. Until tomorrow!

Day Five: Fort William/B&B

Festivities started! We woke up at normal time, and headed out after breakfast to look at ruins and such, and finally head to Achnacarry Castle and the Clan Cameron Museum. For those of you who don't know, Achnacarry is the home of the clan's chief, and is really freaking awesome. We didn't get to go into the castle today, nor will we-- it's being renovated-- but we went to the Museum and all, and John and I hiked up a mountain in search for Bonnie Prince Charlie's cave. No luck though, just soar legs and regret. Remind me not to do that again.

We headed back to the B&B early-- about 4:00 or so, and got ready for the Reception that night. I dressed up all snazzy, moreso than I had to, but dressing fancy is really fun and all, so whatever. We met everyone and spent a while there, and learned that, apparently, people in Scotland have never heard of a cola and red bull mix. How odd. They were fine with my 7-Up and Orange Juice/ Virgin Momosa thing though.

We then headed out with two of the regional presidents from North America-- one from Canada and the other from the New York area-- they brought their family. No one else got to know we went, nor did they get to come. It was like a little hardcore secret party. We went to dinner at a fancy restaurant/bar, and had tons of fun. The best part was the desert though-- Cre`me Brul`e! Yum.

We got back to the B&B about 11:00, told the owner that we wanted breakfast later than normal, and slept innnnn.

Day Four: Fort William/B&B

Sorry for missing this update last night, I was too tired!

We woke up at normal time, had breakfast, etc, just like normal, then learned of the day's activities. A train ride. But not on just ANY train.

Are you ready for this?

The Hogwarts Express! Oh god it was cool. We didn't get one of the cabins sadly, but it was still amazing. It took us down to a small fishing town for lunch then back up to Fort William. It was freaking awesome, it went over the Viaduct that the Flying Car went through in the movie and all that. It was GREAT!

The rest of the day sorta paled in comparison to that. We had dinner at the Ben Nevis Inn, food was great but I didn't feel like fish in the end so I wasted a lot. Got home, updated my zune, watched a show about the painting of the Drowing Ophelia, and went to bed.