hull in my head

I feel confident in saying that my second plunge into Scotland yielded more greatness than the first. This is for a few reasons. One is that I was there longer. Two is that I went further (geographically speaking). And three, the overall increase in whisky and haggis consumption.  (After having craved haggis for months on end I made sure to get my fill while there. I think I ate it every day.)

Anyway, the adventure begin with me meeting up with my friends all the way from Yakima, Washington: Tony, Tina, Josh, and Tim.  Who’s Tim you ask? Well he is none other than Josh’s old Bethel friend from Somewheresville USA. This was my first time meeting him, I found him different but likable. Oddly enough though my most vivid memory of him is he trying to convince me of the origin of the acronym: Ship High In Transit. “You see,” says he, “manure was shipped dry (which weighs less) in the lower decks of those old wooden ships, but once water (at sea) hit it, the process of fermentation began again creating methane gas. Soon that would build up and then some silly crewman with a lantern would come too close and blow the whole thing up!”  Tina looked skeptical. I think we both thought the aspiring etymologist was full of… well… ship high in transit.

To be fair however, my second most vivid memory of him is he being generous with his delicious whisky fudge… So it evens out.

We 5 took in as much of a Scottish experience as possible. We toured Scotland’s smallest distillery, saw the sights of Edinburgh and Glasgow, went up north to Loch Ness to spot the monster of the lake, did some Scottish dancing in Inverness, and more. It was great. And successful. Largely because Tina is THE MOST ORGANIZED traveler on the planet. Were I rich I think I’d hire her as personal secretary.