So we’re here, after nearly three months of Travis and I being together, numerous day trips, procrastinating about sorting my stuff out and various engagements in the south, we finally made it to Scotland. So what’s it like so far?
In true Doru and Travis fashion we had almost made it to the border when it occurred to one of us that we didn’t actually have any idea of where our first destination in Scotland was going to be, we had a list of a few places to go but didn’t really know where they were in relation to each other or whether we’d be driving past something we would really enjoy seeing. This was clearly suboptimal so we applied the brakes and abandoned the motorway just in time before crossing the border so that we could have some planning time and enter Scotland in a purposeful fashion the following day.
This did mean spending a night on an industrial estate in Carlisle. It’s not all glamour and scenic views out of the back doors and I’ll talk more about that in future. Nonetheless, despite the less than attractive vision that may conjure up, it was a perfectly decent spot with the main noise coming from some exceedingly loud seagulls who must be the life of the avian party as they don’t seem to shut up when other birds do. Once they’d finally stopped squawking, or I’d just blanked them out, I slept fine until about 7:30am when people not unreasonably started to turn up for work.
So off to the library we went to do a bit of planning. I’ve already started to appreciate some of the amenities I’ve never really needed to use before. Libraries are amazing places, the one in Newbury was an incredibly nice place to spend a couple of mornings and Carlisle’s was also very pleasant. Free wi-fi and no need to buy endless caffeinated drinks makes for a good alternative to the usual coffee shops for working or researching and it makes you appreciate the valuable service they offer.
The result of this research was that our initial destination north of the border would be, as for many people I’m sure, Loch Lomond. However, before that I needed to go to a launderette so identified one with good reviews in East Kilbride (technology really can be wonderful at times) but even before that somewhat unromantic way to start our Scottish adventure I wanted to visit a village on the way that I spotted on the map because, just like me, it was called Douglas!
This all seemed perfect and off we went. We stopped briefly at a supermarket on the outskirts of Carlisle where the lady parking next to me asked if Travis was a regular van or a stealth camper. I was a bit taken aback by this, nobody had ever openly identified Travis as such before or at least hadn’t said anything about it if they had. Awareness of campervans and stealth campers was something I would have to come to terms with north of the border too. We’re a lot less stealthy here than we were in the south of England.
Douglas turned out to be really cool. That’s the village not me, although… fine make your own mind up about that. It had a free car park and a little nature reserve and figure-of-eight shaped route of a few miles which went past the remains of Douglas Castle (oh yes) now commonly referred to as Castle Dangerous after the Sir Walter Scott novel. I mean that is all pretty impressive stuff for a first stop which was based solely on the name of the village being the same as mine. And wait, there’s more!
First I walked a bit of the route, then I went back and got the bike and cycled it. And seriously I am not making this up. I cycled past a small wooded area on the way around. As I went past a little clearing marked by a single foxglove there was a bit of a commotion in the trees and suddenly this huge bird of prey comes flying out of the clearing right behind me. It’s enormous and as it goes past I get a good look at it’s shape and colours and even remember being impressed by its talons. Upon returning and researching my bird books and apps I’m convinced it was a golden eagle. Which is such a ludicrous thing to claim I accidentally came across on my first day in Scotland but I really think it was. In a village and on my way to a castle that bears my name. I’m not a great believer in signs or things being meant to be, but it certainly made me feel good and made for a memorable first excursion for me and Travis north of the border.
I just hope I didn’t scare it too much!