Planning this year's vacation in California....

[Schtum]

Happy to help. Hell, I got married in a kilt, so it's required.

-jim

Ahh right, ok....

Funny how often that one works. Last year we flew from Edinburgh into Newark where we were taking a domestic flight to SLC. The whole of the Eastern seaboard of the US was under a thick blanket of very low cloud so we were very late getting in. The automatic check-ins in Newark wouldn't recognise our codes or passports and the help desk was about 4 or 5 deep. We thought that we were seriously short of time to catch our connecting flight.

At one point a member of staff came out from behind the desk and made to go off across the concourse. I stopped her with an, "Excuse me but I wonder if you could help us...?" To my surprise, she smiled and said, "Sure -you gotta help your own - right? My folks were..." (I honestly can't remember which clan she said now but you get my point....)

Not quite sure about that tartan of yours - it could be Prince Charles Edward Stewart but, then again......

Here's mine.....

 

[jrace]

Not quite sure about that tartan of yours - it could be Prince Charles Edward Stewart but, then again......

It's a MacLean tartan, thank you very much.

http://houseoftartan.co.uk/scottish/itempg.asp?itemid=889141481&pc=452&TartanID=0057&Subcatid=8216

James McLean Race

dba: -jim

 

[Schtum]

It's a McLean tartan, thank you very much.

-james mclean race

Oh well, never mind - better luck next time around. In the meantime, here's one for you....

http://www.maclean.org/

You might like this as well....

http://www.duartcastle.com/

I know Duart Castle quite well having been there several times. Also, the son of the Chief of the clan, MacLean of Duart is a member of Honda VFR Club where I'm a member of the Admin staff - although we don't seem to have heard from him in a while.......

http://www.bikersoracle.com/vfr/forum/showthread.php?t=71701

I see from that thread, I've made exactly the same mistake before, thinking that the MacLean tartan was Prince Charles Edward Stewart.....

 

[jrace]

Small whirled, eh?

While I have never visited, my Mum (bless her soul) spent some months at the castle and in the region over a period of years.

Some day...

-jim

 

[Schtum]

Small whirled, eh?

While I have never visited, my Mum (bless her soul) spent some months at the castle and in the region over a period of years.

Some day...

-jim

My outlaws (ex in-laws) used to live on the Isle of Mull, just up the road in Salen, where they ran a B&B.

As for it being a small world......there was the time when we were up at Glacier Point in Yosemite in '99 and the woman who I heard talking in a Scottish accent turned out to have been the telephone operator in my home town of 2,500 people in South West Scotland, near the English border.....

But then, if it hadn't been for a Scot there probably wouldn't have been any National Parks.....

 

[Schtum]

Bugrit...!

E-mail from Wolfgang at Dubbelju last night saying that for 2 day rentals they can't confirm the availability of a bike until 3 days before the date of rental and can I call them then.

To quote the bard...

The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men
Gang aft agley,
An'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

In other words, we can make all the fine arrangements for motorcycling adventures, purely in the interests of International understanding, but if I can't rent a bike then I am...what's the term you guys use.......HOSED..!

 

[motoproponent]

I find that a lot of things come together last minute. I'm sure it will happen for you.

so how far north ir "points north"?

Check out Mattole Road and The Lost Coast .( we did )If you're in Ft Bragg check out the Glass Beach and hit up Egghead's for a bite. Get there before they close at 2pm though.

 

[Schtum]

I find that a lot of things come together last minute. I'm sure it will happen for you.

so how far north ir "points north"?

Check out Mattole Road and The Lost Coast .( we did )If you're in Ft Bragg chack out the Glass Beach and hit up Egghead's for a bite. Get there before they close at 2pm though.

Yeah thanks, I'm sure you're correct.... This vacation is a pretty big deal for us. Increasingly I find that the prospect of a trip to the Western USA and some West Coast sunshine is one of the things that sustains me through a cold and dank Scottish winter. If we could find a way, I'm pretty sure that SWMBO and I would move home to the Western USA in a heartbeat.

How far North...? After a week in Sonoma County we're going up into Oregon and I had hoped that we'd then be able to make it up into Washington State. Last year we started off in Salt Lake City, toured Western Colorado before coming back to Bonneville for some of Speed Week and then driving up through Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana as far as Glacier National Park at which point we were very close to the Canadian border.