Cairngorm Mountains

As you leave Edinburgh by car and head north past Perth northward you eventually get to Pitlochry which is a scenic (do not miss) kind of little city. However, for me when I first came to Scotland of my forebears on my mother's side (she is full blooded Scottish but born in the U.S.) the Cairngorms was where I heard my ancestors welcoming me back the most. Coming back to Scotland is once again a homecoming experience for me, even though because of the economic crisis of the last few years people seem a bit sadder now than they did pre 9-11 and pre global recession which isn't going away but may return now for the second time. However, we finally made it to the Cairgorm mountains once again. I was a little worried about getting a room without a reservation ahead of time on a Saturday night. However, my wife and older daughter said, "The rain is so bad and remember the 3 hours we waited to go over the Forth Bridge out of Edinburgh going north by car." And 3 hours later when we actually were allowed to cross the bridge with our car we also saw miles of cars bumper to bumper on the other side as well. In fact going only 2 miles in 3 hours appeared to be ending the marriage of the people in the car next to us. It was bad enough for us on vacation but as Americans we could not believe that they would actually make people stay stationary and not moving that long anywhere because the medical costs and liability costs of all the people who would sue because of something like that in the U.S. would be cost prohibitive. However, here in Scotland people just seem to put up with not being treated very well. I really don't understand it. Imagine thousands of people stuck on a freeway and going 2 miles in three hours in the rain. No bathrooms, no food, no nothing. I felt sorry for the couple on their Saturday off spending from 12:30 pm until at least 3:30 pm sitting and arguing on the freeway stuck with no help in sight. Finally, a few people just couldn't take it anymore or their cars broke down waiting like that or overheated and just pulled to the side and started walking down the freeway. So, anyway after leaving the Raddison hotel about noon in Edinburgh we got to Perth about 4 or 5 pm that night.

Even when it is raining the green grass, the sheep and furry cattle are beautiful to watch as you drive north toward first the Cairngorm mountains and if you go far enough north, Inverness and Loch Ness. (Loch means Lake by the way). My memories of the Cairngorm mountains are from 1999 when I came here with my then 10 year old daughter and my mother who was then about 81 years old. She was starting then a little to slip mentally but was sort of okay to travel with one last time. She passed away in 2008. I went hiking with my daughter a lot around the lakes of the Cairngorms and drove up into the mountains where we saw Reindeer that live there. We wanted to get on the ski lift to take a ride up higher but it was to windy and so they had shut down the lift that day. It was in the middle of October like now 12 years ago. And now I have both my daughters here and my wife too and my older daughter's boyfriend is also traveling with us this time.  Even with the three hours stuck in traffic it is still a really amazing experience to be in Scotland once again. There really is nothing like it to be where some of your ancestors lived for centuries and centuries before you were born.