Our flight was at 8:40 so that meant getting up early and getting to the airport on time. We had decided to fly back because of timing for the wedding of Lindsay and Mitchell. But alas we couldn’t get a flight until 16 October. I was aiming for 14 October. Okay another pivot it will work out. We also decided to check Noël’s backpack because of walking poles. All of this went smoothly.

Ou next stop was Rotterdam Den Haag airport and on to the Rotterdam train station. Again this went very smoothly. We used our ov-chipkaart. So nice for easy travel on train and bus. The train was a bit loud and wobbly but still fun.

Next stop Goes train/bus station for a bus ride to Terneuzen and 100 meters from our door. Again super smooth and easy and we were home by 2:30.

We dropped our bags and looked around. Our cat Shady had made the dining room table his place while we were gone. We quickly grabbed it and threw it in the wash. Next we went to the garden and harvested tomatoes, peppers, basil and two strawberries.

Noël was not feeling great. He woke with what we thought was a cold. We decided that a test was in order before the wedding just in case. After taking it, it immediately showed positive on both our tests. We made an appointment for a pcr test hoping beyond hope that it was just a false positive.

I had to tell my children immediately.

Lindsay came by today to pickup all the things for getting ready that we would do tomorrow together. Her brother is stepping in. I sanitized everything twice and put gloves in so they could again. A few tears were shed as we kept our social distance.

We found out that we are indeed positive for COVID. So no wedding for us tomorrow. I’m heartbroken.

My sweet Lindsay sent me a text earlier saying it wouldn’t be the same without me there. No it won’t. But you are marrying the love of your life and your best friend!! I wrote back “I will be there. I’m always with you. It breaks my heart not to be physically present but I will be there. In your heart. Watching through a lens of joy and fulfillment. I’m so glad your dad and William are here.”

Sometimes circumstances are beyond our control. I believe tomorrow will be a beautiful day for Lindsay and Mitchell. And I will be present with my love for her.

We had breakfast at our hotel and took our time getting ready because we were simply going to walk a bit around Edinburgh. We had no plans to visit the castle or other sightseeing. At least that’s what I thought.

We took the free bus to town, bought our train tickets, boarded and were in our way. Funny story we had the option for first class for £2 more so we took it. We got on the back of the train to be told that first class would be at the other end. So we walked all the way to the other end only to find that this train had no first class. 😂😂 but we were essentially alone in the car so it worked out.

Our next adventure came by way of a discussion on how we were getting from Edinburgh city center to our hotel. Or should we take the stop before. Usually we have all this figured out before starting out for the day. But apparently we hadn’t really decided. We started scrambling to find busses, trains or taxis. It was a humorous discussion that had us ready to jump off the train a stop early to just going into Edinburgh Waverly. Then we start looking again. We were informed that bus stop P3 would take us to our hotel. Nope. There was no easy way to get there except by taxi. Decision made.

It was only noon so we couldn’t get into our hotel so we decided to go up to the royal mile and look around. We climbed about 150 meters to get there, with backpacks. An older couple walked with us and he shared interesting information about the city. Then we found our way to St Giles Cathedral. It was surreal being there after all the coverage of the Queen’s death. It was like we were paying homage as we walked through the cathedral. It’s so beautiful and I remember worshiping there many years ago.

We sat down in a pub for refreshments. We went to Deacon Brodie’s pub. Deacon Brodie was a real person who inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write the book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Deacon Brodie was a respected and wealthy councilman by day but at night he was a gambler and thief, dissipated and licentious. The annals record “His cunning and audacity were unsurpassed.” He was hanged from the newly designed gallows. Ironically he designed the gallows that were to seal his fate.

From there we made our way back down to Waverly Bridge and found a taxi. Traffic was quite bad, especially going in the opposite direction thank goodness!! Our hotel was nice, we ate an early dinner in the pub and then went back to our room where I promptly fell asleep early again. Oh well.

Our learnings are that at times being spontaneous is exciting and fun and other times planning is helpful. ALSO: always have a sense of humor and be ready to adapt and shift as needed.

Hope your day is full of fun and adventure and a little spontaneity!! ❤️

Noël decided to go pay before our departure time. When he came back to the room he said how much it was for two nights , plus one dinner and one breakfast. 😳 I told him that wasn’t right. Sure enough they overcharged us £60 per night. We pointed it out in our way out and they apologized and took care of it immediately. It was a very nice place to stay though on the very outskirts of Fort William.

Because of taking care of the hotel bill meant that we had to hurry to the train. We made it just in time. The man who sold us our tickets made sure we had reserved seats next to each other. In fact he gave us table seats on the aisle. I realized later that he did that so we had all four seats to ourselves and could have both window and aisle seats. ❤️

The scenery was beautiful as we took a similar train ride back along the West Highland Way rout as what we had just walked. The day started sunny and as we moved south the rain joined us for our train ride. When we got to Stirling it was raining so we decided to take a taxi to our hotel which was also on the outskirts of town. We were trying to save some money. Our taxi driver wondered why we chose to stay here. I let it go.

When we arrived at our hotel it was too early to check in but they put our bags away. We ate the sandwich we bought for lunch, had a drink and then headed to the bus stop that the hotel suggested. It runs every 15 minutes and is free. Of course it was raining. 😂

But when we made it to town the rain stopped. We made our way up the steep climb to the castle. We had our tickets and we’re just a bit early so we popped into the Portcullis restaurant for a quick drink. It was recommended by the hotel. Super quaint and fun. It stays crowded from morning to night. The staff was wonderful.

The sun came out for our castle tour. Stirling Castle is so amazing. It’s history is so much a part of the conflicts and challenges Scotland has endured. Both Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle are magnificent.

We walked back through town and found our way to the bus stop, found our bus and waited in the queue with others. And when we got to our bus stop it started raining again. We put up our hoods, laughed, and splashed our way to our hotel.

We had a nice dinner at the pub next door. And then came back to the hotel to relax and watch tv. I was asleep by 7:30 pm. I think the week finally caught up with me.

What an amazing week. As Noël said, “It has been a nice journey indeed. It was fun, challenging, sometimes real hard and especially very wet. But we had a ball. See ya soon guys 😀” we learned a lot about perseverance, resilience, pain, adventure, friendship, and joy.

I hope today you open your mind to learning and growing. ❤️

My friend David Mills and I are hoping by January 2023 to launch our podcast “Everyday Pilgrims Podcast”. Our definition of pilgrimage is a bit more expansive. Our definition is: “A journey of thoughtful intention with an unknown outcome.”

On the day before the last day, people started asking “how do you feel about the journey ending?” For me this is an interesting question. When you finish a school year your learning doesn’t end, your friendships don’t stop, your journey doesn’t end. A chapter is complete but the novel goes on. Everyday is a new beginning and continues the journey onward.

Many of the people we have met are continuing their travels. Many of the young people are taking the opportunity to explore and learn and travel. Others are exploring changes in relationships, jobs, opportunities. The journey continues.

We had a nice day. In the morning we got to see many of our West Highland Way family. The people we met along the Way. Then we walked around town and relaxed. Much fewer steps today 😂😂😂

One of the frustrations we have had is with internet access. But yeah that’s on all trips like this. Oh well. Adapt, Adjust, Accept!

We had dinner with our dear friends Jackie and Khristeena tonight and then off to Stirling in the morning by train, where we can see a different view of the West Highland Way. It’s been a wonderful adventure. One where we will be gleaning the learning for a long time to come

I encourage you to realize that life is a journey, it has its ups and downs, high and low points, mountain top experiences and valleys of hard times. I encourage you to embrace them all and learn from them. Look back occasionally and realize how far you have already come, accept where you are and prepare to journey onwards. ❤️