Where Ever I happen to Go...

Many of you know that in my professional life I was ruled by the calendar and clock. I supervised multi-million dollar projects making certain they were in budget and on time. So when I went on vacation, I did not want to be ruled by the clock. Quite the opposite in fact. It was bad enough that wherever I went I looked for ideas and opportunities for my clients or projects. But there'd be a small plan what was to be accomplished during the trip. My over-achieving work life is one of the main reasons why I don't do long tour things with big groups. Not only do I prefer to experience things in small groups, but I also do not like to be tied to a strict structure - like getting up too early (I'm a night owl) or having to rush off to the next thing I suppose it's the reason why I do enjoy traveling alone so much.

One of the biggest blessings of my adventure is that I don't have to be in a hurry - having the luxury of not needing so much structure.

Now that I'm based in Oban, I've taken the time to see where the car will take me around this area - enjoying other communities and coming upon wonderful surprises. Not really having a big plan beforehand. Although, I do have have some goals. Like heading to Glasgow & volunteering at the local theater. More about those later.

So I got into the car and decided to drive north - to Inverary again (remember cute town with the pub built in 1777?). Oh, and I came upon this abandoned castle on the way. Kilchurn Castle.

It was so pretty & the time was earlier in the day than my trip before. I did make it to Inverary, but kept going down the coast a bit. I then found myself in Lochgilphead where I stopped for a snack in the local Co-Op grocery and re-oriented myself on the map. I had taken a wrong exit on the last roundabout - but decided to keep going ending up in a church yard/grave yard in Kilmartin.

I really like visiting graveyards. They can tell many stories about a community.

The weather was good this afternoon and I ran into a lovely couple. He was from Scotland and his wife originally from Belgium. They were eager to be back in Scotland after all the COVID travel restrictions. He also was at the graveyard for photos..

In my walk, I took these pics. And boy what a history this place has! Almost all of the grave stones had engravings that were worn with time and weather. I found the ones I could read extremely interesting. Family history appeared on the stones - not just one person's name, birthdate, and date of death. But all the family members too. Fascinating......

There was a stone building and this sign appeared on the outside.

Inside were very tall and old grave stones dating from the 1200's to the last around 1712.

It turns out that following the road I landed back in Oban entering from the south - driving in a circle. Good to know!

I stopped in a wonderful restaurant for lunch (second trip) in Lochgilphead called Smiddy Bristro. The food was fantastic and the staff were working their tales off!

During the week I also volunteered to be on a garden clean up crew at the local theater. I had recently seen "No Time To Die" at Oban Phoenix Theater which is managed by a local council of supporters. Before the movie there was a slide asking for volunteers. So I thought, "Why not?" It was a good opportunity to be useful and meet local folk. However, the job turned out to be clearing a plot of land from trees, garbage, and brush for a planned outside entertaining area. It was a little beyond my capabilities but I stuck it out the first day and was glad of it. And of course, it rained hard that day!

Holly growing wild

I have been offered a volunteer position at the theater ushering for free movie passes - I will probably do it!

I decided to drive to Glasgow which is about 98 miles taking just about 2 1/2 hours each way. Big traffic on 2-way twisty roads. But the drive was beautiful as it followed Loch Lomond for miles. My destinations were Costco and IKEA.

This local Costco was more about items and things than food. Obviously catering to their local customer. However, BIG biscuit, tyre center, and meat sections. were in abundance. Low produce available to choose from, no vitamin section to speak of, not much in the crisp (chips, etc) category, and overall just fewer selections of everything. I have found that in most grocery stores. There are not the multiple line items in each category (17 different toothpastes, 8 different categories of tomato products, etc.) that we find in ours. Also, the food items were really intermingled with the tools, pots & pans, and Christmas faire. They really didn't sell furniture or the appliances compared to ours. Ans most of the clothing was for men. I was just interested in the comparisons and didn't buy much. Across the street was a HUGE Tesco Extra store, which I am guessing is the reason there wasn't the food selection in here.

Off to IKEA. I was hesitant at first - It was 5 miles away and Fiona said it would take 25 minutes. Big city driving still intimidates me a little. My friend Jody told me to go for it. After all, we've gone on IKEA adventures together before not really needing much, but for the experience of it! Oh and Fiona was incorrect - the drive didn't take 25 minutes.

I have always loved this store with its Scandinavian flair, modern designs, cool kitchen stuff, and low pricing. Here are some of my favs.

Maybe I knew this, maybe I didn't. But the directional signs pointing to "exit" on the floors are actually lights. Of course this is so they can change the "room" designs and layouts and not repaint anything. Duh!