The other side of travel

We’re in Aviemore, Scotland at the moment. It is a small town in the Cairngorms National Park, in the Scottish Highlands. We booked one full week here -7 nights - which is the longest we have stayed in any one accommodation. While we have stayed in some cities longer than 7 days, we typically move hotels or airbnbs every 3 nights or so. I like to explore different areas of cities, so changing accommodations really makes this simple. We did this in Paris last summer, 10 days, 3 hotels, and loved it. But, for Scotland, especially where we are in the Highlands, transportation is tricky, especially because we don’t have a car. So, we booked this for 7 nights and figured we would ski, hike with the reindeer or alpacas (this really is a thing!), take the bus to search for the Loch Ness Monster, watch the sheep graze in the rolling hills, catch up on work, schoolwork, laundry, cook, etc. Good plan, right?

Oh you know what they say about making plans! First hiccup: Bill needed to go back to SF for work and it would be this week. A bummer for him since he chose Scotland and unfortunately, we would be literally out in the middle of the Scottish countryside when he needed to leave. Should we cancel? Should we rebook somewhere else? If I had known I would be solo with the kids I would have much preferred to stay in the city. But, I did want to see the countryside, and the train ride was part of the journey I was looking forward to. And of course, the 7 nights were non-refundable and when you are traveling for an entire year doubling your nightly housing cost is not ideal.

We decided we would stick with the plan and all take the train together on Saturday. Bill would only be able to stay for 1 full day and then need to make his way to the airport but he would at least he would get to see the area. Tickets purchased, Saturday came and so did hiccup 2 and hiccup 3. Melina woke up with a fever and bad cough. Travel day, not a whole lot we could do, Tylenol and rest until it was time to leave. We took an uber to the train station, found our track and after many repeats of the announcement (yes I know it is English but the accent takes a bit to catch on to especially with town names you don’t know) we realized our train would be stopping 1/3 of the way through our journey. What? Turns out, due to all the rain, the tracks were flooded. So now what? We asked and were told, “no problem!” Get off the train and follow the directions to the bus. The bus will drive you to your destination.

OK, how long does that take? Depends on the roads, weather, etc. Estimate? Nope. Well let me tell you, it takes FOREVER. Especially past 4pm when the sun sets and you can see nothing in the darkness and the rain hitting the bus’s huge windshield. It wasn’t so bad when it was light out, lots of sheep, rolling green hills, a picturesque Scotland. But those small villages, one lane bridges, no idea where you are and darkness, not fun. Now that was outside the bus.

Inside the bus, Melina was burning up with a fever, blowing her nose as loud as a goose while I was starting to feel not so great. Zach was on his second Travelwell for motion sickness, vomit bag in hand, and Bill had headphones on trying to drown out the Scottish pop music that the driver was playing at an unbelievable volume. 7 hours after leaving Edinburgh we stumbled off the bus, got our umbrellas (we are down to 2.5 now), and started the 10-minute walk to the hotel. No taxis and certainly no ubers. Normally not a big deal at all, but in the state I was in, boy did I need a pep talk. I gave myself the old, “This is a hard moment right now. But, you have done hard things before. You can do this too” talk and gathered up Melina from the rock she was sitting on. I helped Melina along as best as I could, at that point she was beyond delirious with a fever and could only take a few steps without having a coughing fit.

We made it and I checked in solo leaving the rest of my crew just outside the door with whatever germs were bringing. The place is great, 2 story, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, large living/dining and kitchen. Washer/dryer, everything we could need. And there is a slider that opens right up to open space where Zach can run free until his heart is content. Of course I saw none of this because I didn’t leave my bedroom from Saturday night until TUESDAY!

Poor Bill, he worked it out and was able to get to an airport, do an overnight in London and then get back to SFO but he had all of 36 hours here. In that time, I am not sure what he did but I do know he stocked the fridge for us for the week, figured out a way around the impossibilities of getting to the airport with the trains down and buses not running before 10:30am, and did several loads of laundry. Melina also spent most of her time in bed and Zach went off to make friends but not before taking his responsibility of being “in charge” very seriously and setting his watch to check on both of us every hour. He kept us hydrated with tea, water, and replenished our nightstand stash of cough drops.

The day Bill left I do remember asking him what the weather report said the wind speed was because it felt like our place was going to literally blow over. “Gentle winds” is what it said. I checked later on and it was a blustery 65mph. Definitely a different take on the meaning of “gentle” between CA and Scotland!

Wednesday morning we woke up to snow which was fantastic—Zach was occupied ALL day! He made friends with the neighbor and they built snowmen, went sledding, played hide and seek and went through every piece of clothing we brought. Bundled up, off we went into town which is thankfully very close. It took all the energy I had to actually get up, shower, get dressed and go outside to walk to town. Melina was a little better, but not much. Our first stop was the local pharmacy where we bought tissues and cough drops. As soon as we went from the freezing outside into the warm pharmacy I had an epic coughing fit which included my nose literally dripping on the floor. So gross. I couldn’t even speak without coughing and Melina was not much better so thankfully Zach did all our pharmacy ordering for us. Next stop was one of the many outdoor stores for some warmer clothes. We got Zach snow boots (he had been wearing mine), ski pants, gloves, more socks and back home we went for more snow play.

This vacation resort is so ideal. There is a huge slider that opens right up to a patio and open space. I have been sitting in the same chair by the window watching him while bundled up in a blanket with my tea, tissues and cough drops.

Today is Thursday and Mel and I are definitely on the mend. These chest coughs are no joke. I don’t remember being sick since I had chemo. I sometimes joke that it killed so much that it has kept me super healthy. I am thankful to be feeling better and slowly starting to get back into the swing of things. Melina is working on finals and I taught Zach how to iron during one of his “warm up” breaks back in the house. Tonight he’ll be working on his Mission project and he is less than thrilled that I am feeling better enough to require subjects other than PE and “nursing.”

I am delighted to report that Zach’s vocabulary has expanded the last couple of days. Although I am not sure it is in a way that is proving beneficial anytime soon. If he ends up going into law and becomes a judge or border patrol agent, then the many episodes of unsupervised TV time watching Scottish Border Patrol and Judge Judy may just pay off . For now, all I ask is that what he has watched does not come up in conversation at our next airport security screening.

So while we are one family member down and accomplishing almost nothing of what we originally intended, we are just fine. And, so very grateful to be where we are, resting and enjoying the beauty. It really is beautiful here. This is my view from my chair.

Oh and the cheese wax Loch Ness monster was Zach’s art project. Certainly is resourceful that one.