Scotland, here we come

We (Sarah and I) managed to find a reasonably priced ticket to go to Scotland in September to visit Karen. It isn't Labor Day week, though, but the following one, so I'll have to take an extra day off work, which I don't exactly have, but I guess that's what comp-time is for! While I'm at it, I'm not exactly sure how I am going to afford this trip without racking up debt again (and after I just paid it off...). But I'm sure it will all work itself out, if I just close my eyes and wish really hard that my bank account will balance itself and I'll still qualify for a mortgage on the yet-unnamed, un-found, but still stress-causing house I want to buy in the fall.

Ok, but enough ranting. I am going to Scotland! Yippeee! I promise this weekend I am going to spread out all my maps on the floor and plot several possible routes to sites of interest. Since Sarah is coming, I think we will have to do a little more city-ing than Karen and I would normally do, but that's ok. Looking at the trip itineraries I found on the Internet, it will probably look something like this - with about 100 miles or less a day of driving, except for a couple of really long days:

Saturday - Drive to Edinburgh (8 hours)

Sunday - Start drive to Aberdeen in the afternoon. Drive to Aberdeen (description of possible routes: "To reach Aberdeen from Edinburgh, you can take the fast A/M90 route toward Perth and then via Dundee to the Grampian area, famous for its castle trails and malt whisky trails. (It is motorway or dual carriageway all the way from Edinburgh to Aberdeen.) Alternatively, take the scenic A93 route north of Perth via Glenshee to Royal Deeside, and past Balmoral Castle - this is a beautiful drive especially in late Spring and Autumn. If you like the sea, an alternative on offer is the scenic coastal A92 through places like Arbroath, Montrose and Stonehaven and the beautiful Dunottar Castle.")

Monday - Aberdeen to Inverness (home of the Loch Ness Monster)

Tuesday - Drive towards Highlands and either John OGoats or Scrabster for the Ferry to Orkney

Wednesday/Thursday - Orkney Islands

Friday - Back to Perth (about half day of driving)

Saturday - Perth to England. (full day of driving)

Its not a very rounded trip right now, with a lot of driving on the tail end. It may be that we could go strait from Aberdeen to the ferry point for Orkney, skipping Inverness, and then stopping at Inverness on Friday on the way back to Perth, for instance. We'll give it some thought after I look at a more detailed map.

Ok, I should work and stop planning now.