So we are home!  It was an incredibly long day!  We left our lovely hotel at 9 am to make our way to the airport, allowing time to get lost, which we did, get gas, which we did and got directions and take our car back and head in to check in and go through security.  We arrived at our line to check in, which must have been 1/2 mile long to find out that our flight was going to be 3 hours late... not 12:15, but 3:15!  The line was long so that they could rebook everyone on the flight with their connecting flights.  We made it to the desk by 11, found that we would now arrive in Newark, NJ at 5 instead of 2 and would be leaving for Houston at 7 - Not.... that flight was also an hour late and had some difficulty along the way which slowed us down some more, so we landed at 11:30 and our terrific friends, Barry and Shelly were there to greet us.  1:00 AM we cruised into our driveway and Rick rushed to bed as he was on duty at 7 am the next morning. I unpacked and waited for Elissa to come home from a night out with friends... needless to say, a short night.  But little Sprinkles was here to greet us and was happy to be at the foot of our bed again....

The next day greeted us with brilliant sunshine and we headed back to the international airport to pick up Katy (my older daughter) from Montana.  Its been a whirlwind affair since then, getting ready for Elissa's dear friend Raechelle's wedding this weekend.  Baking and cleaning, shopping and baking... we did fit in a dinner with James, Amber and Riley (my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter) and also had Riley for some play time in the pool this afternoon.

Our trip was a fabulous one and we have been left so many memories of a lovely land and many nice people.  Of course the reason for the trip as you have read in these last few weeks, to meet the family of the brave young scotsman who risked his life to save our Dad's, only to perish himself a week later, was the most remarkable event!  To meet and get a real sense of not only who Alexander Barrie was, but how proud he would be of the family he left behind.  We are so blessed to have met them!  If there are any updates to this story, I will add them in, but for now, I will close  with something I read at the RCAF Museum in Trenton, Ontario:

High Flight Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long delirious, burning blue, I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew - And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod The high untresspassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee No 412 squadron, RCAF Killed 11 December 1941

So appropriate in honor of those two brave young soldiers of World War II - Flying Officer William Sprinkle and Sargeant Alexander Barrie and the countless other young men who fought for the freedom we enjoy today.

May 21

I hope you all can read this as since I signed on and the blogspot headings are in German! Anyway, we are back in Edinburgh after a long day from Oban. We awoke early to a lovely Scottish breakfast served by William, the host at Dunheanish House. We the set out by foot to see the fishing village of Oban by daylight! Lovely! Lots of sailboats and fishing boats as well as timely ferries going to and from the islands there. We did some shopping and yes, Elissa, I did finally find a Scottish cupcake! Vanilla with blueberries on top, good but not quite like the one you bought in Toronto and of course nothing surpasses Sprinkles Cupcakes at home!

Rick at breakfast at Dunheanish House, Oban

Anyway after a little visit to the Oban Whisky Distillery, we jumped back in our car headed back up the coast and eastward toward Edinburgh. It was different scenery all over again.... From waterfront villages to Loch Awe and those forested areas and past the second largest hydroelectric plant in the world at Ben Cruachan. The scenic trail through The Trossachs fabled for its idyllic landscapes as well as having been called the commonwealth of "elfs, fawns and fairies" back in 1691. I payed close attention to the forest rails beside us, but no fairies or elfs were to be seen today! We continued on toward Stirling, knowing Rick did not want to see another castle (but Stirling Castle is quite amazing, seen from the highway atop a huge mountain - it dominates the area.

Bluebells on the path to Wallace Monument

I did persuade him however, to stop and look to see the Wallace Monument just south of Stirling where some very important battles were fought at the Stirling Bridge that had been close by. It was too late to get a ticket for the tour inside the monument, but we did hike the 250 feet to view it and get some fa ulous views and pictures of the area. Much to our surprise, we found a knigh in armor up outside the monument, portraying William Wallace for a German tv station, so of course I had my picture taken:)

View from the monument

The impressive Wallace Monument, Bannockburn, Scotland

Liz and "William"

We walked down in time for closing and headed for Edinburgh and the Balmoral Castle. Oh my word, is this place glamorous and thanks to our friends at Travel and Transport, we were upgraded to an incredible suite - words cannot describe it and I don't think my pictures do it justice, but let's just say, I feel like a queen for the night. We had a lovely dinner and now need to repackage for our trip home, plus my one hour of free Internet is almost up:) I hate for this holiday to be over, but what wonderful memories I am taking home with me and some new and very dear friends, thank you, Neil for bringing us together and thank you Wendy, Chris, Cheryl, Cathie, Keir and Ewan for making the effort to meet up with us - happy to call you all our Scotland Family! Goodnight all, and I'll be seeing you soon! Liz

Our "Tay" Suite at the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland

The room was ready for us!

May 20th 

Well, as you can clearly see from my photographs, we have had another fun-packed, gorgeous day in western Scotland. Started the day with another wonderful Scotish breakfast, said goodbye to our Lawriestone B&B hosts and went to a few stores that were open in town and then headed to the Ben Nevis Park. We picked up a map, loaded Rick's backpack with water, gloves, my iPhone (for pictures) and two chocolate bars (called Yorkies - in honor of my puppy Sprinkles at home:). It was a fun walk - quite rocky for quite a bit and we maybe walked about 700 or 800 feet up before we headed down. Lots of sheep to keep us company as well as a few tough hikers making their way down from the steep cliffs of Ben Nevis. We came back to the car a bit tired but a whole lot warmer than when we started out!

Lawriestone B&B - Ft. William, Scotland

Rick in front of the Lochaber Yacht Club in Ft. William -
right across the street from our B&B

We climbed back in the car and headed south to the small fishing village of Oban in the Argyll area of Scotland Again, a beautiful drive, this time mostly along the water, seeing lots of sailboats and fishing boats and cozy cottages nestled by the sea. We arrived in good time, but it took us a bit to find our B&B, the Dunheanish House - but finally did and what a magnificent looking place, a tall and grand stone home way up a hill overlooking Oban Bay and looking down the Firth of Lorne. We settled into our lovely room, with fresh tulips on the windowsill and rested before dinner. We took a great walk a way down the hill to the waterfront area and had a terrific seafood meal at the Waterfront Fishouse Restaurant - lobster bisque, crab, clam and corn chowder, langoustines (shrimp) and crabcakes. Needless to say, I had no room for Sticky Toffee pudding tonight! We took a stroll around the waterfront, checking out the wooden hulled fishing boats land one very large "tall ship" from Sweden that is actually a student training ship! Quite impressive to say the least. Of course, what comes down must go up and up the steep hill to our B&B we went.

Tomorrow we have our last full day in this lovely land and will head back to Edinburgh, traveling through the historic area of Stirling - most notable to me for William Wallace's battle at the Stirling Bridge (there is Stirling Castle there as well, but I think Rick has had enough of castles:). Will finish up the blog tomorrow night before we head home on Tuesday! Cheers!

Ben Nevis Glen Hike

From the bridge - Ben Nevis way in the back with snow on the peaks!

The beautiful glen of Ben Nevis

Thank heavens for Rick reading the map! On our way down.

Need a rest!

This is not easy to walk on!!

Up the rocky trail we go!

No heather yet but lots of bluebells!

Liz and Rick at the path to Ben Nevis

The picturesque scenery on our hike to Ben Nevis

The Highlands of Scotland

May 18th 

We set out from Edinburgh having said our goodbyes to Bill and Danette who flew to Dublin for a few days in Ireland. Robin at the Ardmor House on Pilrig street loaded us up on a fantastic Scottish breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausages, tomato, fruit and bread, gave us great instructions to get to the Firth of Forth Bridge and off we went.

Breakfast at Ardmor House

The day was off and on sunny and cloudy but our first stop was Balmoral Castle, the summer residence of the Royal Family. It was lovely - quite "homey" for a castle, but man, what a place to spend time with your grandchildren! The gardens - both flower and vegetable were gorgeous, can't imagine what they will be like in summer. We were able to see the grand ballroom with pictures of past years as well as some of the queen's gowns. It's amazing how many people it takes to run an estate like that, but they do a fantastic job!

The River Dee at Balmoral

The Flower Gardens of Balmoral

Rick in the play area of Queen Victoria's grandchildren

Liz in front of Balmoral Castle

We climbed back in the car and spent the rest of the day on beautiful windy, hilly roads surrounded by very green forests - the kind of area you envision great knights and lovely princesses traveling through in day a of old. We made it to the northern village of Fochabers where we spent the night with a new friend we met in Edinburgh who is a distant relative of Rick's good friend, Bill Leslie of Barrie, Ontario. We drove to the neighboring town of Keith for Indian Cuisine and then Anne took us arouned the surrounding, charming villages and out to the coastal area of Spey Bay. We returned to her home, had a "dram" or two of local whiskey (we were in the heart of Malt Whiskey country) and hit the sack.

The road to Fochabers - the cutest little guys!

Anne in front of her home in Fochabers

Stone Bridge at Spey Bay

There you go, Patrick!

Morning came early for me as it is light at 4 am! I did manage to get back to sleep and awoke at 8 to a lovely breakfast and coffee and we set out again. Anne shared many Scotish stories and a lot of history with us and we were able to see a lot of that on our way west. May 19th When we left Anne's, the first stop we made was to the Glen Moray Distilery for a look at some scotch (promised Patrick I would:). Soon we came across Cawdor Castle that has been linked to Macbeth, but since we had toured Balmoral, here we just got out and walked the grounds.

Standing outside the gate at Cawdor Castle -
Macbeth was the "Thane" of Cawdor!

Baa Baa Black Sheep...

We then continued west to the city of Inverness, but not before stopping at the centuries old Culloden Battlefield. The sight of the last war in Britain in 1746. It was here that the English defeated the Jacobite army who were trying to return the Stuarts to the throne. It was a fantastic museum and the fields where they fought looked pretty much the same as they did back then, the weather was even a bit similar, cold, windy and rainy!

Culloden Battlefield

The thin red line at Culloden Battlefield

We left Culloden and headed south to Urquhart Castle - must be the oldest in the land - settled originally in the 500's! Amazingly, in good shape and we wandered for quite awhile through the ruins of the many different areas of the castle. The drive there was quite spectacular as it goes along the water of Loch Ness - yes, the one with the supposed monster! Didn't see one, but did pick up a little green one for Riley! We drove from there through more lovely hillside areas with the loch on one side and the mountains with waterfalls every 50 feet or so, trailing down to the roadside.

Loch Ness from the road

Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness

Liz at Urquhart Castle

We stopped and took a look at The Caledonian Canal that connects the locks as well. We were headed to Ft. William, also on the coast, but stopped first at the Commando Memorial just north of Ft. William. Awesome memorial to the commandos that fought in all the wars, but especially sad to see all the young guys names and ages!

The Caledonian Canal

Tonite, we are in a lovely B&B - enjoyed a lovely dinner overlooking the water (had sticky toffee pudding for dessert - to die for!) Tomorrow we hope to hike the glen of the big mountain of Ben Nevis and then continue south to the waterfront village of Oban.

The best dessert we've had here - sticky toffee pudding!

For James & Patrick - all the way from Philmont Scout Ranch
to the highlands of Scotland

Liz in front of Lawriestone B&B in Ft. William

Sprinkle Journey: May 15-17, 2012

May 15

We arrived at the Old Bell Inn in southwest Edinburgh and found a place in the corner where we anxiously awaited for Neil, the RAF researcher we had been communicating with since last August, to arrive. And arrive he did, with a 12 "stone" (160 lbs.) Newfoundland dog named Torin (which means chief in Gaelic). We immediately ordered some ale, Danette, tea and Liz, Pimm's:). Then the fascinating stories of those lost and missing as well as those whose names and wartime histories have been located by Neil and his partners at the 51 Squadron Historical organization.

Neil and Torin

Their work is so important, not only to us and the members of the Barrie family, but to so many families whose loved ones fought for our freedom and were lost to us in that war, never to return home. The 51 Squadron Historical organization and others like them are preserving for future generations, the sacrifices made in World War II. He was able to share with us just how things "worked" during that time when our Dad was over here in 1943. For instance, did you know that only 3 out of 10 pilots survived that war? In retrospect, our Dad's crash actually allowed him to live and return to his wife and baby (Jayni was born while he was recuperating in England). His injuries were life changing and quite debilitating and certainly in part, contributed to his early death at age 43 but we all would not be here if it weren't for Sergeant Barrie and his heroism on that late night in April 1943.

Halifax Bomber found in the North Sea. The gun turret at
the back is where Sgt. Barrie would have been seated.

We have heard both from Neil and his family members what a brave, feisty and quite strongly determined young man Alexander Barrie was - the young master baker from Cupar, Scotland with 2 young children himself - Michael and Wendy. He gave the ultimate sacrifice when he did not return from his last mission. He was a rear gunner on a Halifax bomber sent on a mission to bomb the German munitions plant in northern Germany. We were able to pay our respects at the War Memorial in Cupar where he was from.

RAF Patch

Amazingly, we learned a lot from Neil about many brave young men from that time and it's quite humbling! The evening flew by and before you knew it, the "last call bell" had rung, our taxi was waiting and we said our goodbyes to Neil and Torin and headed back to our place in Old Edinburgh. It was hard to sleep that night, trying to process all those stories, and we will continue to do so for some time to come.

What a night at the Old Bell pub! We closed the place up at midnite but not until after
hearing some incredible WWII stories! A night none of us will forget!
This Bill and I with Neil.

May 16 

Here we are ready to meet the other members of Sgt. Barrie's family: his brother's daughter, Cathie and her son Ewan and Sgt. Barrie's sister's son, Keir. We met them at the Garden Restaurant at the National Gallery and were soon chatting like old friends. They were a wealth of information about where Alexander came from and his family connections in Scotland. They too have been in touch with Neil and have anxiously awaited for any news of what had happened to their "Uncle Sandy" as Keir so affectionately referred to him.

Met with the Scottish members of Sgt. Barrie's family today at the National Gallery
(which also was wonderful) pictured are me, Cathie McGinn (Barrie) niece of Sgt. Barrie,
Ewan McGinn ( her son), Keir (Sgt. Barrie's other nephew) and my brother Bill

They shared memories of Alexander growing up in Cupar and going to school with him and Cathie shared how special she was to him as the only girl in the family at that time. In fact Alexander thought so much of his family that he brought his two children to them when he joined the RAF - Wendy said she thought of Keir as a brother. This part of the Barrie clan shared much about this great country, both historically and culturally and gave us tips on driving the coast to St. Andrews. We feel that we have a whole new set of friends in Scotland and England. When asked if the Barrie's had a clan affiliation, they said that "Granny Barrie" was a Simpson, so would belong to the Fraser clan!

May 17

Today we head to Cupar to pay our respects to the War Memorial where we found Alexander Barrie's name right away on the plaque to the left of the "angel's wing". Lovely little town nestled in the rolling hills if Scotland. We continued onto St. Andrews and braved the damp, drizzly weather to walk around the ruins of St. Andrew's Cathedral and the St. Andrew's golf course. Bill and Danette took a tour of the golf museum while Rick and I walked a bit more and then settled in at 1 Golf Place for a cup of coffee. Bill and Danette joined us and we headed back.

What a week it has been! Like Bill has said all along, the trip of a lifetime! I don't think it was any coincidence that Neil Smith found "the other Bill Sprinkle" - it was meant to be. My siblings and I have always had a thirst for more knowledge of our parents and certainly this trip has managed to answer a lot of that.

Rick and I continue on tomorrow to the Highlands of Scotland and Bill and Danette to Ireland - more adventures for all four of us!