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Not to get too deja vu, but flashback to about 14 months ago to my very first LiveJournal entry and you'll see a similar itinerary! No performances or competitions to worry about this time, no choir outfits to lug around, and the only music coming with mrmouse and me is on our iPods or in our heads to burst into spontaneous song (hey - it happens!). However, it also means we're free to do & see what we want, including what we didn't see last year - the beautiful Scottish Highlands, the Lake District, and more than just 20 hours in London this time.


Why? Weren't you just there? Why not go somewhere else?
Well, ever since I went camping and hiking around Glencoe back in 1997, I have wanted to go back again, but I kept thinking I had been to the UK too often already, plus had no one to travel with who could actually afford such a trip. All the Harry Potter films having location scenery so obviously in Glencoe and surrounding areas sure haven't helped the longing, and neither did getting sucked in to Monarch of the Glen reruns on BBC America over Christmas 2003! So anyway, being so close but yet so far last year when we were only in Edinburgh on tour wouldn't let me shut up about going back to Scotland, so mrmouse said "Let's go!" Since he only had a whirlwind glimpse of London on tour, which isn't nearly enough, the trip became half-Scotland, half-London, with suggestions from a couple Brits along with our own research.


Here is our itinerary:

Friday, Sept 2nd: leave San Francisco for Heathrow via Virgin Atlantic
Saturday, Sept 3rd: arrive in Edinburgh via BMI domestic airline
Sunday, Sept 4th: Edinburgh (Clarendon Hotel)
Monday, Sept 5th: drive to Torridon, Scottish Highlands, near the Isle of Skye
Tuesday, Sept 6th: Torridon (Ben Damph Lodge)
Wednesday, Sept 7th: drive to Glencoe (Macdonald Hotel in Kinlochleven)
Thursday, Sept 8th: tackle Ben Nevis!
Friday, Sept 9th: Glencoe
Saturday, Sept 10th: drive to Cumbria, Lake District (The Snooty Fox Country Inn!)
Sunday, Sept 11th: Lake District
Monday, Sept 12th: drive to London (Holiday Villa Hotel, Bayswater)
Tuesday, Sept 13th: Guys & Dolls starring Ewan McGregor! :D
Wednesday, Sept 14th - Sunday, Sept 18th: more London sightseeing, using a 3-day London Pass
Sunday, Sept 18th: leave Heathrow for San Francisco via Virgin Atlantic

mrmouse is bringing a 12" PowerBook with a modem plug adaptor cord, plenty of power adapters, and I found www.free-dial.co.uk to try if we don't find anything else, so we'll be trying to blog along the way to keep track of our adventures...especially Ben Nevis! At 4406 ft Ben Nevis is the highest point in the UK, and even just the tourist trail is an all-day hike...wish us luck getting to the top! :)