Spring Break 2018 in Soctland

We decided to try something different for Spring Break this year.  We rented a couple campers with some friends and road-tripped it around Scotland. We flew into Edinburgh, picked up the campers and hit the road. We saw a lot of awesome country side, ate some good Scottish food, went to a CrossFit gym for a work out and put 700 miles on brand new campers. It was quite the experience, far different then the hotel/bnb living we typically do while traveling. I think the kids got a kick out of it more than Shannon and I. The camper was a bit small, and the weather was cold enough where the kids couldn't just stay outside all day. Overall, another great trip in the books. Here are some photos!

A few weekend before our trip to Scotland we ventured out to Matera and Alberobello. It is on the "heel" to Italy. Matera is known for its caves and also where Passion of the Christ was filmed. It is also a UNESCO World Heritige site since it has been inhabited since the 10th millennium BC. 

We then went to Alberobello. This town is known for their "Trulli Houses" which are uniquely shaped homes. 

And then it we took a visit to the Safari park where you drive your car through all the roads amongst all the animals. 

You are not supposed to feed the animals, but in Italy that means you are not supposed to feed the animals *wink wink*. So of course, we brought hot dog buns.  The animals think every car that drives by has a hand out so they all come up to your car and if your window is open, they reach inside. The girls were a little freaked out by this and stayed in the back when the windows were down. We saw Zebras, giraffes, camels, elephants, mountain sheep and a lot more. 

They also have a zoo and an amusement park, so after the drive we went inside to see the other animals and sights. 

The base hosted another Easter Egg-stravaganza where the kids loaded up on candy for the next few years. They also met the Easter bunny. 

Alright, here we are, off to Scotland. The kids loved every minute of it because they had friends to play with everywhere we went. Our good friends have 3 boys that are similar in age so the kids were essentially on auto pilot throughout the trip. 

We had a day in Edinburgh. The first order of business was to find the local Crossfit Gym. We had a nice workout, met some nice people and got some recommendations on what to go see. We didn't stay too long because we were itching to get on the road in the rigs. It was also a bit chilly (35-40 deg) and constantly raining or drizzling. We saw the Edinburgh Castle and all the old architecture. We parked the rigs at the park and ride by the airport and took the train in.

We had a 1.5 hour drive up to Stirling where we stayed the night. Stirling has a notable castle as well as the William Wallace memorial (in the background). 

Here's the rig. Brand spanking new. Only had 7 miles on it when we picked it up. It was tough to get the hang of driving this pig.... its big, slow and driving in Scotland is on the left side of the road while the steering wheel is on the right side of the car.... oh, and it was a manual transmission too. The Japanese roads back in the day made for a quick transition. The rig had bunk beds in the back and a pull down bed that dropped from the ceiling. The kids thought it was the coolest thing! We had walkie talkies to communicate between rigs... pretty awesome. 

This is William Wallace's monument. It has stairs that go all the way to the top.

And inside was his sword!

We could have made stops every 5 minutes to take pictures and soak in the beautiful countryside.

We saw a lot of snow and even encountered some white out conditions through some of the passes. 

I remember being bitter cold in the photo. We hopped out quickly to take a pix and it was back in the car. The topography reminded me a lot of Alaska actually. 

This was our next stop in Glencoe. This was collectively all of our favorite place. Just a beautiful place completely surrounded in mountains.  

The kids enjoyed throwing rocks into the lake (but not at the swans)

The next morning we decided to take a hike around Glencoe. We parked the rigs and hit the trails. It started out cold with snow.....

But by the end of the hike, the sky cleared

The following day we took another hike towards some water falls.  
The hike was supposed to be short but we kept saying "lets go a little further." It ended up being a few hours. But, we did get to see the water falls. 

E with a little gnome house she found. 

The next stop was in Fort William. 

The next day we decided to drive the Isle of Skye. We heard good things and heard the scenery was unmatched. Little did we know the roads were single lane only and covered in pot holes. Luckily, the nice people of Scotland always let the two rigs pass through. 

We stopped here for a picnic stop. 

The next day it was to Doune to see the Castle. This was the number one priority for Shannon and Amanda. They have been reading the Outlander series and this is where it was filmed. 

The last night was also spent in Doune. 

This was back at Naples where we participated in the super hero "run". We kind of tricked the girls into the full 5K.. they were excited at first, especially since they got to wear costumes, but pooped out.

More memories were made in Scotland and the camping was something different. Don't know if we would do it again in something that small but that added to the experience.