Author Archives: Martha Elliott

Going to the Sun: Bike Trip in Glacier National Park

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July 26, 2026

I have wanted to ride the famous Going to the Sun Road for many years and finally arranged to do it in July. The riding was fantastic, the travel, eventful. I thought my direct flight from Newark to Kalispell, Montana at 8:30 in the morning would surely get off before the predicted afternoon thunderstorms. Alas, the travel gods had other plans, and the day did not go as expected. It started when I arrived at my reserved spot at a parking lot I have used many times before: “we’re full…but I have a reservation …doesn’t matter, we’re full.” Yikes, a Saturday morning in the summer. I drove around the airport and miraculously found another place to leave my car, more expensive than my reserved spot, but a relief to find. Arriving at the terminal, the United computer system was down, and my boarding pass had disappeared from my phone – sheesh. We somehow managed to board the flight and got in line on the tarmac, waiting for our turn to take off. Two hours later we headed back to the gate. Smoke from the Canadian fires and the approaching storms had severely restricted the NY area airspace. We were in for a long day. Several movies later, getting on and off the plane two more times, waiting on the tarmac for hours, getting a new flight crew, almost going home and cancelling the whole trip, we boarded the plane for the third time at 10:30pm. Countless flights had been cancelled, but ours was hanging in there, as were most of the passengers. There was really no other way to get to Kalispell, this was the only direct flight of the weekend, and the small airport was going to be closed for runway construction on Monday. I fell asleep immediately after returning to my familiar seat and woke up to the sound of everyone on the plane applauding as we accelerated down the runway. It was 11:30pm.

OK, this would be like flying to Europe. I can do that. Everyone on the flight was friendly after our 15-hour ordeal, and I had connected with a woman who was on my bike trip. She had cancelled her hotel reservation at some point during the day and now had nowhere to stay when we arrived. I offered to let her share my very expensive motel room. We arrived at 2:30am and Ubered to our hotel, falling into bed by 3:30ish mountain time. I had been texting with one of the guides for the trip all day, updating our uncertain plans. Her responses were not terribly encouraging. “Can we have a few more hours to sleep in the morning? – No, we have to pick you up at 6:30am,” grrrr. After two hours of sleep and a quick shower, we met the guides and the other folks on this Lizzard Head Cycling Tours trip. There were only seven of us: an older couple from Rochester riding ebikes, another single woman from Buffalo who had been on our flight, the woman who shared my room, also from NJ, and the Hull brothers, slightly younger than me, one a serious birder, and the other, Princeton class of ‘88. We had an orientation talk at the Whitefish Lake Lodge, then shuttled to Hungry Horse to fit our bikes and set off for our first ride.

The weather was beautiful, clear blue skies, warm and dry. I liked my road bike and loved riding towards the mountains of the National Park. We had a wonderful picnic lunch at a camp-ground on beautiful Lake McDonald. It was pleasant to chat with my new riding companions, but I was pretty jet lagged and didn’t have a lot of energy for social connection. On the ride after lunch, I was alone most of the way and a bit concerned about bear encounters. I sang and talked loudly and turned around a mile or so short of the end of the route and headed back to the hotel at Apgar Village. We were staying in lodges and hotels in the park, and they were charming and atmospheric even if they lacked some modern amenities. The first hotel was right on the gorgeous lake. I almost went swimming, but the water was cold and the stone bottom was slippery, so I just waded and enjoyed the view. The guides made a delicious dinner at the van. When I finally sat down and stopped moving, I realized how wrecked I was, but it was a great day. I’m so glad I didn’t cancel the trip!

The next day was the big ride up Going to the Sun Road. The guides prepared a wonderful breakfast of oatmeal and fruit at the van. We made sandwiches for lunch and packed snacks and bars for the climb. We set out at about 8am. The first 20 miles of the ride was along the lake with some easy rollers and gradual inclines. The Hulls were in front and while I couldn’t keep up with them, I kept catching them when they stopped. The big 10-mile climb started at mile 19. The weather was perfect, clear blue sky, dry and cool. I had slept enough the night before and had trained well in the weeks before. I felt good the whole way and the spectacular scenery carried me along. While it was certainly long and hard, it never felt impossible or daunting like Mount Ventoux last summer. I stopped frequently to take pictures and eat a bite. I kept seeing the Hulls, but not many other cyclists. There were lots of cars and vans and the goofy park shuttles on the road, and I had been instructed to stop and let them pass if there were more than four behind me. That was a bit nerve wracking, especially as I approached the summit, but the cars were careful and respectful for the most part. I met the Hulls at the top and we took pictures, ate snacks and walked around a bit before the exhilarating down-hill. We stayed together on the second part of the ride and enjoyed breaks for birding and lunch. We passed cars stopped by the road looking at bears. They were easily visible out in the meadows, but far enough away to be observed safely. At mile 47 we arrived at the St. Mary’s Visitors Center and relaxed with a beer at the van while we waited for the others. A spectacular ride! Eventually we shuttled to the Many Glacier Hotel, a grand old place in a Tyrolean style. The lederhosen clad bell hops brought our luggage up to the top floor – no elevator – and we eventually met for dinner in the hotel restaurant. The plans for the next day seemed vague. These two guides are definitely several notches below the level of guides on other bike trips I have been on. But today, at least, was awesome!

Day three we were supposed to ride across the border into Canada. Everywhere on the information about this trip it said in bold letters – make sure to bring your passport. We guests all had our passports. The two guides didn’t. What!!!???? They gave us the news at breakfast and explained various contingency plans. We did a short easy hike around the lake at the hotel in the morning, checked out, and then drove to the start of the ride. The weather was perfect, cool with a high hazy cloud cover. The first part of the ride was a nice climb on a beautiful, quiet road with a wide shoulder and good surface. The van met us for a snack stop at the top and then we had ten more miles to the Canadian border where we stopped for a picnic lunch. Then we unloaded all our luggage and walked across the border with our bags and our bikes, a strange site. An American guard came over to me as I was navigating the awkward crossing: “What’s going on here?… Our guides forgot their passports.” He made a face and went back into his office. The guides had arranged for someone to meet us on the Canadian side and take our bags to our hotel. But wait, as they were helping the women from NJ with her bags, the Canadian guards let them cross with just their drivers’ licenses. Really? Well, we’ll see what happens when they try to get back into the US! So they loaded all the bags back into the trailer and met us at the very elegant Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton. We had a lovely two days in Canada despite smokey skies. I declined the advertised 12-mile hike in the itinerary and opted for something a bit shorter up to Bertha Lake. Sue and Joe from Rochester chose that option as well and we had a great day together, enjoying beautiful wild -flowers, fun switchbacks, sparkling waterfalls and spectacular scenery even with the smoke. Back in town, we treated ourselves to dirty sodas, pie and ice cream, and then beer and munchies at a wonderful brewery. We had been relaxing for several hours when we saw the Hulls and Linda from Buffalo stagger by after the long hike. They joined us for beer and food and we all made our way back to the hotel together – 10 miles all together for me. 

Not surprising that I didn’t sleep much after sugar, beer and fried food yesterday afternoon. The morning ride out to Red Rock Canyon was beautiful and fun and amazingly I felt good on the bike despite bad sleep and smokey air. The ride on the main road back to the US was not as fun, up a long and boring climb with no views due to the haze. We stopped for a picnic lunch at a hot pull off, still in Canada, and loaded all the bikes on the van. Fingers crossed, we approached the border. We all handed over our passports and the guards were friendly enough. When the guides said they didn’t have theirs, the mood turned serious. “No passport, no entry, pull over and step out of the vehicle.” Yikes. I turned to my biking companions: “does anyone know how to drive a van with a trailer attached and ten bikes on top?” We waited in tense silence. The guards searched the trailer, confiscated some fruits and vegetables, threatened to search all our luggage, didn’t, and eventually, maybe it was 10 or 15 minutes but seemed a lot longer, let the guides through. Good thing they were white instead of brown skinned with Hispanic or Arabic sounding names. We were all relieved but shaken as we drove to East Glacier and the Glacier Park Lodge.

The last day of the trip we did a spectacular out and back ride over a gorgeous pass to a fun bakery The ride was two thirds up and one third down on the way out, and the reverse on the way back. Only 24 miles but 2400 ft of climbing, that’s 100ft a mile, a lot, but fun and beautiful. We checked out of the hotel, still grand but a bit more tired and tattered than the others, and drove back to West Glacier for an afternoon river rafting trip. There were some fun rapids, but thankfully no one fell out of the boat, and the guide was very knowledgeable, entertaining and professional. The smoke had cleared and the weather was sunny and warm, though a bit hotter than they are used to here. We were starving by the time our guides made us a delicious late lunch at the van. They drove us back to civilization, picking up their passports which had finally arrived at a UPS store along the way. Back at my crummy motel in Kalispell, I said good-by to my new riding friends and gave the two guides their tip, even after their less than impressive service. They did work hard and got us back safely.  My trip home the next day was smooth and uneventful. Dog and husband were fine and happy to see me. I’m so grateful I got to do this trip after all, and maybe I get some travel Karma points to use in the future.

FR: Everything Belongs – even the ice and the EMS guys

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March 15, 2026

I returned to Forest Refuge for another two-week retreat in early March. Over 20 inches of snow covered the ground when I arrived, but as usual, with the drastically changeable early spring weather in New England, it was all gone by the time I left. In between we had two ice storms, wind, fog, rain, and two sunny beach days with temps near 70. A familiar cast of characters was in attendance to practice with Rebecca Bradshaw and devon hase, and I once again signed up to lead the metta chanting at the early morning sitting. Devon seemed to remember me from two years ago as she looked right at me in the hall and announced “we have singers here” in her opening instructions on chanting. In my first interview with her, we had a lovely reunion as I described the interesting things that happened in my final days on Maui over a year ago. I was interested in her take on it. “Oh, that sounds like deep equanimity” she said, seeing things just as they are without attachment or pleasant or unpleasant… “no wonder Steve and Kamala got excited. Try to notice when there is an absence of pleasant or unpleasant.” I settled into a relaxed and even state of calm, with a good amount of equanimity and enjoyed the cold, grey snow and ice.

         When I met with Rebecca a few days later, we also had a lovely reunion, and she remarked on the deep equanimity which she had heard about from devon. Hummmm, teachers usually stay neutral about the “special” experiences students describe. Was this so much more special that they had actually talked about it??? I was practicing with the “no one not doing anything” I had experienced the last time I was here, also the “welcoming everything” that Ajhan Sumedho recommends in the talks my Dhamma Farers reading group are discussing. It felt pretty normal and easy, even as I had the usual body aches and eating  challenges wth too much delicious food. I was also having a lot of sleepiness. Rebecca said that equanimity is one of the more low-energy enlightenment factors and I could turn up the joy or investigation factors to find more balance. In her first dharma talk, devon had ended with the question “is emptiness empty, or full of love?” I have loved that question for a long time and invited it into my practice. One night after that, I awoke to a clear understanding that the awareness that welcomes everything is metta, or allowing, or unconditional love. It felt cool and bright, like the full moon that was shining down on the frozen landscape. Another night when I was awake in the wee hours, I had an experience of my body vibrating and dissolving into a quantum soup of the stuff that makes up everything. When I described this to devon, she said that the universal stuff could be called love. Humm, I’m not quite knowing it like that yet. It was interesting to walk around seeing solid objects and quantum soup existing at the same time. It wasn’t scary or disorienting, but more like “of course!” Everything belongs – how could it not?

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Winter Get-Away to Costa Rica

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January 17, 2026

Some biking friends had done this trip a few years ago and recommended their travel agent, so Michael and I booked a 10 -day adventure for January. It was a fantastic itinerary with varied destinations including jungle, mountains and beach, private transfers, upgraded luxury hotels and a wide array of fascinating activities. All the moving parts fit together smoothly thanks to the expert arrangements of Costa Rica Travel Exchange. All the guides were amazing and the hotel staff and drivers were incredibly helpful and took good care of us.

We flew to San Jose, not my favorite place, and stayed one night in town. We tried to walk around and explore a bit but the sidewalks were narrow and busy, and we didn’t feel entirely comfortable. The next morning Juan Carlos picked us up and drove us three hours on spectacular mountain roads to La Fortuna, in the Arenal Volcano area. Our hotel for three nights, Arenal Kioro Spa, was elegant and grand and our room had a fantastic view of the volcano. There was a beautiful winding path through the rain forest to the restaurant, hot springs and pool area. Michael had a bit of trouble with the up-hill parts. Sometimes we walked slowly and sometimes we called for the hotel shuttle to come get us. The breakfast buffet was sumptuous with fantastic coffee, fresh tropical fruits, pastries and sweets and of course beans and rice to go with your eggs. Lunch at the pool café was wonderful as well and I loved having a frozen cocktail in the afternoon while relaxing in the cascading pools of hot springs. I booked a pedicure in the spa, and we even found a ping-pong table and had fun playing on several afternoons. Our activities in La Fortuna included a guided walk through Mistico Park, where we saw birds and snakes and sloths and bounced on hanging bridges, a hike up to the Volcano, and a fun zip line adventure for me, while Michael relaxed by the pool.

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Summer Travel: CT and ME

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July 27 and August 10, 2025

Sorry, I’m writing this many months later. We had several fun family get-aways over the summer. In late July, Emily, Michael and I headed to Connecticut for a Dickens family reunion. We rented a lovely house in Mystic for the weekend while Louie stayed home with a new dog/house sitter. My cousins Mike and Kathy Dickens managed to assemble all of their kids and all of Harry and Linda’s kids to descend from all over the country on the farm in Preston for an amazing weekend of eating and visiting. With seven adult children, eight including Emily, six spouses, twelve grandchildren and six senior cousins, it was quite a gathering. Michael and I have seen Mike and Kathy various times in the past few years, but it has probably been since my mom’s sister Isabelle died in 2017 that I have seen my other Californian cousins Harry and Linda. It felt wonderful to be a part of a large welcoming family. It was fantastic for Emily to reconnect with all the adult children in her generation and their spouses. They have so much in common and really enjoyed reinvigorating their friendships. Leah, the youngest, arranged all sorts of fun activities including swimming at a local pond, ice cream at a favorite roadside stand, and a wonderful breakfast crawl around Mystic. Michael and I did the fantastic tour at Mystic Seaport – hard to believe we have never actually been there – as well as a visit to the Nautilus submarine museum in New London. Mike arranged for a pizza truck to arrive at the farm Saturday afternoon to feed the hungry mob. The weekend flowed easily and smoothly with many heartfelt conversations between young and old.

A few weeks later Michael, Louie and I drove to Boothbay Harbor, Maine where we rented a lovely house on Appalache Pond. The drive up on an August Saturday was grueling as expected, but Louie was a great traveler, and the house was a quiet refuge. The week was relaxing as we hung out on the deck, or drove into town for lobster, or found a short easy hike around a beautiful rocky point. Louie and I took more strenuous hikes on fantastic trails through the woods right near our house. We both enjoyed swimming in the pond and though Louie didn’t like it, I had fun paddling around in a kayak. Michael got to rest and relax while I took care of most of the driving and arrangements. Too bad my friends Kerry and Kip weren’t at their family home in Boothbay the week we were there. Next time!

Bike Trip in Provence

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June 15, 2025

I have been hearing about this People Cycling trip from numerous friends in Morris Area Freewheelers for many years. Everyone has raved about the beautiful hotel, the charming town of Vaison la Romaine, the beautiful bike routes and the amazing opportunity to climb the iconic Mont Ventoux. Because the trip is popular and fills up quickly, I booked it almost a year ago after I got home from Crete. As I described the proposed climb up Ventoux to various non-cycling friends – 15 miles gaining more than 5000ft – they all looked at me dumbfounded and said, “why on earth would you want to do that???” I guess the answer is peer pressure, of the best kind.

Getting ready to go on this trip and training for the challenge was a bit rocky. I got a cold or flu in April that kept me from riding for a week or so and sapped my energy. Many windy, rainy days also got in the way, and just when I was starting to build back some strength and momentum in May, I twisted my knee running in agility class. It didn’t seem like a bad injury, no swelling or discoloration, but I still took more days off and started the rehab exercises right away. Running wasn’t comfortable but thankfully It felt OK to ride. I was certainly not at my strongest as I boarded the plane for Paris, but I figured I would be fine enough. After all, I have enjoyed climbing on all the other bike trips I have done.

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Return to Paradise – another month on retreat on Maui

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January 30, 2025

I love being on retreat! I love the structure and focus of the schedule, and I love the way my mind feels when it gets calm and concentrated. I am filled with immense gratitude that I was able to get away for a month again in December and January to dive into the solitude and support of the Dharma Sanctuary in Kula. Of course, my experience was very different from the last time I was there two years ago. As an expression of the law of change and impermanence, the land was brown and crunchy after a long dry spell when I arrived a few days after Christmas. After one severe thunder-storm and many days with rain, everything was once again green, lush and blooming by the time I left at the end of January. This was true of my heart as well.

Another big change was Steve’s health. I had seen him occasionally online, smiling and waving to the faithful attendees of the Wednesday morning sitting group. It is still a miracle that he is alive almost 8 years after a glioblastoma diagnosis. In person, I learned that while still cancer free, he had suffered some collapsed vertebrae about a year ago, which left him stooped and twisted, walking slowly with a cane. He still came down to the hall for the group sittings twice a day but had more difficulty getting up and down from his sitting cushion. I watched my mind and heart want to help him, as I often do with Michael. I also watched and learned as Kamala let him fend for himself. When I met with him for the  twice-weekly teacher interviews, or “check-ins” as they called them, he seemed to have more cognitive difficulty with short term memory and superficial worldly chat. But when we talked about meditation and my practice, he was as clear and sharp as ever, always giving me an instruction that was exactly what I needed in that moment. Kamala, at 77, seemed as strong and healthy as ever, handling everything with apparent grace and ease.

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MPP214 Singing American Musical Theatre – again

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December 14, 2024

I am so lucky that I get to teach a musical theatre performance class every few years. There are easily enough students interested to offer it every year, but not enough resources in the Music Department, alas. It is always a treat in any case. For the Fall semester I had a class of five women and five men, many Triangle Club members, some my personal students some not. After the competitive auditions last spring, I thought it was a strong group, but as we got into the first few weeks of the syllabus, I realized that they had a lot to learn, both in terms of the 20th century repertoire and many basic skills. Fortunately, they were all open to trying new things and investigating the unfamiliar songs by Irving Berlin, Kurt Weil, Jerome Kern, Porter and Gershwin. Yikes, it is hard for me to believe that they don’t know these composers, or legendary performers like Fred Astair and Ethel Merman, but they were game to dive in and they loved what they found. The chemistry of the class was also very supportive, and the students brought in fun duets in many combinations of voices. We had one student pianist in the class and were fortunate to have the fantastic pro pianist Vince di Mura playing for every class as well. Vince brought a wealth of experience and great flexibility to the work with the students. After Fall Break all the students started making real progress and each class saw one show stopping performance after another. As they got into the more recent rep that they knew, their performances became even better, supported by all the new tools they were honing and the increased confidence they were building from singing in class each week. The final performance in December was fantastic, and though hard to believe, perhaps this bunch of performers were even stronger than the last time I taught the class. I think all the students had a great time and I had too many wonderful tunes swirling in my head all night and day!

Fall Break on Cape Cod

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October 20, 2024

Instead of going to London again for Fall Break – I didn’t write about that but last October Michael and I spent 4 days in a lovely hotel in Kensington, had some great meals at fantastic restaurants, saw three wonderful West End shows, an amazing special exhibit at the V&A, and met with the folks at the Royal College of Music for Princeton Music Department business – this year we rented a dog friendly house in Brewster, near the beach on Cape Cod Bay. The weather was cool and windy but it was wonderful to walk on the beach a block away. We had many wonderful meals, including lots of oysters from the local oyster farms, and visited all our favorite places. I guess we haven’t been here since we spread my mom’s ashes in Blueberry Pond and at Nauset Beach ten years ago. Some things have changed a lot, like the parking lot and entrance to Nauset Beach, and the campus of the now gone Cape Cod Sea Camps, but many things look exactly the same, which is comforting in such a changing world. Our schedule was very relaxed which was good for Michael. We usually spent a quiet morning at the house, set off for a short outing in mid-day and then found a place to walk on the flats at low tide, which was at 3, 4 and 5pm this week. Then we would come home and relax before finding someplace for dinner. Very chill. 

Louie had injured his neck again in agility and was on two weeks of restricted activity. It was fine not to have an enclosed yard and was good to keep him in the car for a lot of the time and take him on short walks in his new harness. He seemed to be feeling good, and by the end of the week we did let him run on the beach with a long 30’ leach. He even made some new dog friends in the neighborhood. It was sweet to revisit the old familiar places, and lovely to make new memories, visiting the beach below the lighthouse in Chatham, Cotuit harbor and marsh in Dennis, the Grist Mill and Herring Run in Brewster. It was also good to break the routine of being at home and just be someplace different.

On the way home we stopped at the Battleship Massachusetts in Fall River.  Then on to Preston, CT to visit cousins Mike and Kathy Dickens at their farm. After a bit of grumpy barking and growling, Louie and Tessa had a nice reunion and enjoyed being together. Mike and Kathy were warm hosts and we shared delicious food and fun conversation to complete our lovely fall get-a-way.

Bon Ton Roulet in the Finger Lakes

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July 20-27, 2024

To complement the very relaxed Michael-pace trip to Scotland, this was a Marty-pace “kill-yourself-everyday” bike trip. I have been hearing about this longstanding seven-day event from many bike friends for a while and this was finally the year to do it. Ten members of Morris Area Freewheelers were participating so I would have some known friends to ride and socialize with. But as these kinds of things usually go, you could always talk to any of the 250 participants and find many common and interesting things to share. This trip was mostly camping, though a few of our friends arranged to stay in area hotels, Instead of borrowing camping gear from Emily, I opted for the “comfy campers” service which included tent set up, air mattress, chair and clean towel every day. It was a good value and mostly well done except for the hot and crowded “tent city” arrangement. Folks with their own equipment could choose a shady and secluded spot. I’m never a good sleeper in these kinds of situations, so I did the best I could with ear plugs and sleep mask, and my tent and mattress were very comfortable. The tour stayed in some lovely state parks, and on small college campuses. Some places had access to indoor bathrooms with flush toilets and running water. We always had the shower truck, and a charging station where we could recharge our phones, lights, computers and other electronics. Most days we had to have our bags on the truck by 7:30am, but there were two locations where we stayed over two nights, making for a more relaxed morning routine.

The biking was fantastic! I rode 40 something or 50 something miles each day except for the day I completed my first century!!! I mostly rode with Manny from MAFW and Mike, a friend he had made at the Bon Ton the year before. Our pace was comfortably matched and they were incredibly supportive, especially on the century day. Sometimes we rode with John and Dawn from our club, and occasionally we would cross paths with the B riders from the club who were staying at hotels. Maureen, a friend from the Sourland Cycles women’s riding group was also there with her husband Tom, and we rode together one day and swam together at various waterfront locations. There was a lot of talk about algae bloom in the lakes which was a new phenomenon for me. I was thinking of renting a house up here next summer, but if you can’t swim in the lake what is the point of having a house on the waterfront???  

We were very lucky with the weather. After days of dangerous temperatures in the high 90’s at home, it was much cooler and beautiful most days, high in the low 80’s. We would usually be on the road well before 8am and done before noon. The scenery was beautiful with lots of farmland, including robust corn, gorgeous fruit orchards and voluptuous vineyards. It was always thrilling to crest a hill and get a view of the next finger lake, sparkling, long and narrow into the distance. It did get hot in the mid-afternoons, especially in the tent city, but it usually cooled off when the sun went down. I was even cold some nights. I was constantly amazed at how much I was eating: eggs and bacon and home fries and yogurt and granola at breakfast, fantastic treats at the rest stops including fruit and pickles and cookies and bars and chips. We enjoyed good cafeteria style dinners and I inhaled protein and carbs and stayed away from sweet deserts, because I usually had ice cream and beer during the lazy afternoons. I felt stronger as the week went on, and even though sleeping was not great, I guess I was getting enough. I was usually unconscious before 9 and felt fine during the day.

I think this is one of the more demanding bike trips I have done: with the camping, packing and un-packing, lugging your gear, no quiet and air-conditioned hotel room to retreat to, and seven days of riding, almost 400 miles total with one day of 103 miles up to Lake Ontario and back. Everyone cheered and made a big deal out of my first century, which felt really gratifying. The week was a lot of riding and socializing, but wonderful. I’m so happy I got through it with no bike or body problems. I hope I’ll be able do it again some day.

Driving Adventure to Shetland and Orkney

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June 16- 27, 2024

It is Greece and Scotland again this summer! I think this is my 3rd trip to Scotland and maybe 4th or 5th for Michael. Each time we go farther and farther afield. I found a wonderful tour company that arranges self-drive itineraries to Shetland and Orkney – perfect for us. Since Michael did so well with the car on Naxos and Crete, I thought it would be fine here as well. Yes, we had driven in the UK on the wrong side of the road years ago, but for whatever reason, this time was harder. We flew to Heathrow and connected to Aberdeen where we picked up the car. We had upgraded the hotels and I guess they upgraded the car as well because it was a very fancy and huge Volvo SUV. We decided that Michael would do all the driving, which was probably a mistake, as was not asking for something smaller. Within 15 minutes of leaving the rental car lot, we got confused at a round-a-bout, avoided a head-on collision with a firetruck, clipped the side mirror of a parked car and got a flat tire as we bumped a curb. Luckily, we came to a stop near a local police station. The driver of the car we clipped was very kind helping our jet-lagged brains figure out what we should do, and a handful of brawny, highland police officers came to help us change the tire and make our way to a nearby tire store to replace the blow out. We missed getting lunch but thankfully made it to the ferry on time for our overnight sailing to Shetland. Yikes, what a way to get started.

Our ferry cabin was small but comfortable and we slept deeply in the gentle rocking after a filling dinner. The ferry crews were extremely helpful at guiding the loading and unloading of cars, and we learned how to use the fancy cameras and proximity warning lights on our Volvo. Luckily there was very little traffic at 8am when we drove into Lerwick and parked at the town wharf. We strolled around in a cool drizzle and eventually made our way out to Hillswick and the St. Magnus Bay Hotel. Once out in the countryside, the roads were wide with very little traffic. The landscape was rugged and desolate, but beautiful in a gray misty way. Michael took a nap in our homey and comfortable room while I went out for a walk around the Ness of Hillswick. With no trees anywhere, I could see the hotel most of the way walking around the sea cliffs and following the gently trodden footpath in the grass. There were sheep everywhere and many times I think I was on a sheep path rather than a hiking trail. Dinner in the hotel dining room was simple and delicious. The sun finally dipped below the clouds at 9pm and didn’t set until almost 10:30 but it never really got dark – the “simmer din” they call it. 

The next three days on Shetland, thanks to all the wonderful information provided by the tour company, we drove to various recommended places to hike and walked along dramatic cliffs. There were also gorgeous and unexpected beaches that were mostly deserted. It was usually windy and cold with occasional sprinkles, and I was glad I had my winter riding jacket, raincoat, scarf and hat. We found the “Cake Fridge” a self-serve bakery in the middle of nowhere, met some fellow musicians with common friends at a wonderful restaurant in Brae, took four ferries out and back to the northernmost island of Unst, saw Gannets and Puffins, tasted whisky and gin, ate local fish stew and muscles, and saw Viking villages and Neolithic ruins. We also took naps and kept a relaxed pace.

After navigating the crowds in Lerwick from the Viking cruise ship in the harbor, we boarded the late afternoon ferry to Orkney and enjoyed a relaxing dinner and six-hour journey. It wasn’t really dark when we arrived at the Storehouse Restaurant and Rooms at 11:30pm, and we found our room arty and luxurious. The next four days in the Orkneys we walked on more beautifully deserted beaches and cliffs, ate local fish in lovely restaurants, tasted more whiskey, and poked in arty shops in Kirkwall town. On one amazing day we fit in ranger talks and tours at all the Neolithic sites: the Stones of Stennes, Ring of Brodgar, Maeshowe burial mound, and Scara Brae Prehistoric Village. It was a lot to take in but fantastic. The weather was warm and dry and Michael was finally relaxing with the driving. 

We took a morning ferry from Stromnes back to the mainland and then had to drive three hours to Inverness where we would stay overnight. The drive was beautiful but stressful because there was more traffic and we had to manage the complicated and busy round-a-bouts getting into town. Inverness was cute and touristy with all the regular Scottish tartans and tweeds. We saw none of that up north where everything was much more Nordic in style. 

The next day on the way back to Aberdeen, we actually got stopped in a small town by a policeman for not yielding in a round-a-bout. He yelled at Michael but let us go without a ticket. Yikes, we were so relieved to return the car and get on the plane to come home. But, shortly before we were to land in Newark, our flight from London got re-routed to Bangor Maine because of thunderstorms. Urgh!!!! We ended up spending the night in a Comfort Inn and getting home more than 24 hours later. Our checked bags took three more days to arrive. Sigh – I think I won’t go to Scotland again.