theparkerfamily.org

  • Silver Sands of Morar

    [Family, Silver Sands of Morar, Scotland, UK.]
    Morar is well known for it’s sanded beaches — which are a bit of a rarity up here — but also because it’s the home to Morag, Scotland’s second favorite Loch moster after Nessie. Sighting of her are a bit less welcome by the locals, however, as legend says that a member of the local clan dies each time. I’m glad Nessie is so much more benevolent.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Silver Sands of Morar, Scotland

  • Ardvasar-Mallaig Ferry

    [Ardvasar-Mallaig Ferry, Scotland, UK.]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Ardvasar-Mallaig Ferry, Scotland

  • Armandale Castle

    [Armandale Castle, Sleat, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK.]
    [Armandale Castle, Sleat, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK.]
    Given how the Donald clan is one of Scotland’s four largest, you’d think there would be a bit of an industry of places for expat MacDonalds to visit but — not so much.

    The one big exception is Armandale Castle on Isle of Skye, where there is a Clad Donald museum and the ruins of very late (and questionably significant) family castle.

    That aside, now that we are on the Isle, it’s hard to argue with beauty of the land that surrounds us.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Armandale Castle, Isle of Skye, Scotland

  • Sleat, Isle of Skye

    [Road to Elgol, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK.]
    [The Cuillins, from Elgol, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK.]
    [Knock Castle, Sleat, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Sleat, Isle of Skye, Isle of Skye, Scotland

  • Lochalsh

    [Five Sisters, Lochalsh, Scotland, UK.]
    [Eileen Donan, Lochalsh, Scotland, UK.]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Lochalsh, Scotland

  • Inverness

    [Family, Old High Church, Inverness, Scotland, UK.]
    [Old High Church, Inverness, Scotland, UK.]
    Inverness was the one part of the trip that we just couldn’t really work into the plan. My mother’s Grandfather was born there, but it was so far north, not much to see, and not exactly the most scenic city of the lot.

    Turns out we were wrong on the first part — once we got to where we were staying in Drumnadrochit, the innkeeper listed some places in Inverness as good dinner options, and said it was just under 30 minutes away.

    So we drove in for a bit — nominally to find the Old High Church, which would have almost certainly been by Great Grandfather’s Church during his lifetime. We found it eventually (after a small detour to an unmarked neighboring church) and found some MacDonalds in the cemetary.

    It’s nice going off the plan every once in a while.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Inverness, Scotland

  • Loch Ness and Castle Urquhart

    [Loch Ness, Castle Urquhart, Drumnadrochit, Scotland, UK.]
    [Loch Ness, Castle Urquhart, Drumnadrochit, Scotland, UK.]
    [Family, Loch Ness, Drumnadrochit, Scotland, UK.]
    My father had a grand total of one request on this trip — to see Loch Ness, something i was more than happy to do based solely on my favorite roller coaster ride of all time (the Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg).

    Love it. Especially the part when we were sitting in Castle Urquhart’s orientation film and five minutes was dedicated to how the hated MacDonalds laid siege (like viking mercenaries!) to the beloved castle on the Loch, several times over the centuries.

    I don’t remember hearing about that from my Grandmother.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Loch Ness, Castle Urquhart, Drumnadrochit, Scotland

  • The Trip North

    [Loch Lochy, Scotland, UK.]
    [Ben Nevis, Scotland, UK.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    The Road to Loch Ness, Scotland

  • Glen Coe

    [Glen Coe, Scotland, UK.]
    [Glen Coe, Scotland, UK.]
    [Glen Coe, Scotland, UK.]
    [Glen Coe, Scotland, UK.]
    the mountains around Glen Coe are officially on my list of most beautiful places on the planet. there is an strange quiet and sadness that permeates the landscape, which might be why it’s (erroneously) translated as the Valley of Weeping.

    for those playing along at home, Glencoe is where several dozen of MacDonalds (ancestors on my maternal grandmother’s side) were killed in their own home by the guests who had accepted their hospitality, because the MacDonalds had not yet pledged their allegience to new monarchs William and Mary.

    (yes, THAT William and Mary.)

    it really is stunning here — so stunning, we’re going to stop again on our way back from the Isle of Skye, too.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Glen Coe, Scotland

  • so, a funny thing happened

    [Castle Stalker, near Port Appin, Scotland, UK.]
    so, a funny thing happened at the car dealership.

    i rented a car from whatever the nationwide/generic car rental place was, and the only thing i asked for was for it to be an automatic. i’ve done the wrong side of the road thing before, but had little interest in doing it on hills with a clutch.

    turns out that the only automatic that they had on the lot was a Mercedes E-Class Wagon, which the guy described as being worth more than his annual paycheck (it costs $49,250 in the States).

    he gave it to us for the rate we already agreed to for what we thought was going to be a crappy Scandinavian four-door, and tossed in a GPS to boot. the lady sparkler said to decline the insurance to use our own, and i drove the really expensive car off the lot like a scared little boy.

    when we got back to the apartment (we’re in a two-bedroom for our stay in Edinburgh) i made my wife call our insurance, just to be sure we were okay. it went something like this:

    We just rented a Mercedes wagon, and want to make sure it’s covered under our insurance.

    What do you mean when you say that you don’t cover “certain” luxury vehicles — like what, Ferrari’s and Lambroghinis?

    So, I started walking back to the rental place — and told him either to give us insurance or to walk over and pick the car back up himself.

    Long story short, we got insurance — and my parents just got upgraded from riding around in the back of a Ford Mondeo for a week.