Brian enjoyed his play on Callum's shiny bike.

Venturing Outside Edinburgh with Rachel - 17/9/2007 - 18/9/2007

Monday was a bank holiday and Tuesday seemed a good day to take off, so I showed Rachel some interesting parts of Scotland outside of Edinburgh.

On Monday, we cycled out to Cramond. We made the first pitstop at the Shetland ponies just beside the River Almond. The babies were more shy this time around, though we did get to pet a few of them. One bit me when he got jealous of one of the other puppies. At the pony stop, the rain started spitting at us. We cycled along the River Almond, took a detour to not carry up the steps and ended at the Firth of Forth coast. The tide was in our favour so we cycled/walked to Cramond Island for a look around. Then we ventured to the Cramond Inn for lunch inside in the warm and dry. We cycled back to Brian's through a short urban stretch and then the Water of Leith, only getting lost once along the way, again attempting to avoid some stairs.

Tuesday morning, after much pouring over random forecast generators, we headed north toward Perthshire. The RFGs suggested it was most interesting place likely to stay dry. A stop at the visitor centre when the A9 traffic started stacking up yielded a useful book of nice walks in Scotland. We chose one of the Beatrix Potter walks in Birnam just across the river from Dunkeld.

The Birnam Hill summit was supposed to offer nice views of Fife, Angus and Perthshire. We got lost along the path mainly because we were attempting to do it backwards. Once on the right course, the steepness led to winded Rachel and eventually winded me. I'm more used to ups and downs. TN can be hilly, but not Scotland hilly. Some midges welcomed her as well.

We reached the first rocky overlook and could see down to Birnam and Dunkeld. An older guy with two cute puppies wasn't far behind us. One of the dogs, a Bearded Collie, seemed more muppet than dog. After some photos, including creative placement of cameras on rock, we followed the trail around to reach the true summit and its sweeping views around the countryside. A steep and then long and windy downhill brought us back down to the start, but not before Rachel found more blackberries and a few red raspberries for me.

We had a late lunch or early supper at the Atholl Arms Hotel in Dunkeld. I thanked Brian for his (well) extended family's hospitality -- the hotel menu had **choices** for me, not just chips and juice. We got back to Edinburgh about dark with a couple of good sized storms chasing us home. Our day out was well-timed!

Rachel made friends with a Shetland pony. This pony later bit me when I tried to pet one of the other ponies at the same time that I was petting him. Jealousy!

Rachel found some blackberries on Cramond Island, an island that is a short walk from the Cramond coast at low tide.

Not Really Round the Forth – 25/8/2007

With Sarynna and Chase not planning to be free until the evening, we had a glorious and free summer day on our hands. We decided to follow the first part of “Round the Forth” cycle signs to Blackness Castle then divert to the canal and either pick up the train back from Linlithgow or cycle back to Edinburgh along the canal.

The usual route to South Queensferry treated us to baby Shetland ponies at Cramond. They were very cute and not very shy, eating grass from our hands not-quite-gently. After the ponies, we stopped at the Cramond Brig Inn for chips and juice at our first break of the day.

Back on the bikes for a wee while and we arrived to the Firth of Forth and South Queensferry. We got slightly lost in South Queensferry trying to find the RTF cycle signs. Lost isn’t the right word. We knew where we were, just not where the signs continued.

Third time’s a charm and we were en route to Hopetoun House and the beginning of where the route went really wrong. I should have brought my Spokes map for West Lothian because it would have helped. Next time. Some helpful soul at Hopetoun House decided they preferred cyclists to go around the house grounds rather than across them, so we were routed out an entrance that faced the Forth Bridges. We traced the perimeter of the grounds and found the NCN signs on the other side.

A second lounge break followed and then we officially diverged from the RTF trail by following the NCN signs. Perhaps Blackness Castle was the flag we saw in the distance in the direction we thought we should be going.

The NCN signs led us farther astray until we crossed bridges over some train tracks and then the telltale still water of the Union Canal. We decided to follow the canal home rather than backtrack to Blackness. Brian thought we were just west of Ratho, so we headed east. My doubts grew and then a little over a mile into that, a sign corrected his perception. Fifteen miles to Edinburgh heading east or six miles west to Linlithgow. I chose Linlithgow.

We backtracked, took a third lounge break and rolled into Linlithgow all in less than an hour. The train whisked us back to Edinburgh where we eventually met up with Sarynna and Chase for a late evening at the Sheep Heid Inn.

Shetland ponies are cute. Baby Shetland ponies are cuter.

More cuteness.