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Monday 2009-06-01
 People
always say that with any constant physical activity, the third day is the
hardest day. Well I believe them. Today was the worse day for me physically and
mentally. I was so tired all day and the sun never gave us a break. Clouds
never blocked the sun from sucking the energy completely out of us. I also have
gotten more blisters since yesterday which is always fun…NOT! Stacey did much
better than me today. She was very encouraging and helped me when I was feeling
a little sick around 5:00 PM. We’ve
run into some interesting weather around here. Typically in Scotland
it doesn’t go two days with raining. The day before we got here it was pouring
down rain. But once our plane landed it was bright and breezy. Ever since then
it has been sunny. Four days of no rain in Scotland!
That’s a miracle, so they say. And they say it won’t start raining until the
day after we leave this country. What a blessing that God has stopped the rain
from falling on us (at least for now). I can’t live a fantasy that we will be
able to walk the entire UK
without getting a lick of rain. So we’ll see.
We stopped
in a town called Stonehouse for dinner. We were planning on continuing after we
ate because today had been really slow. But once we sat down we couldn’t get
back up. We were just dead. We ate at this place called Mia’s Bistro. It was
tasty. But the perfect woman stepped into our lives right when we needed it the
most. Our waitress, Lisa, asked us about our walk and she instantly opened up
her home for us to stay tonight. It was such a relief. Like I said, we were
thinking about moving on but when she said she always takes hikers in, I
realized it was a good idea. So we ate our dinner and then she took us to her
place which was only right around the corner. She was also overly hospitable
and very loving. She helped us with laundry (we hang-dried our clothes!), gave
us drinks and food, she sewed up my shoulder strap on my pack, and she even
gave us HER bed and she slept on the couch. I was so honored to be her house.
So for the rest of the night we hung out with her neighbors Tin and Stewart and
talked about random stuff. It was really fun and relaxing. I am so glad we were
able to find a place to stay in a bed tonight because we really needed it.
Tuesday 2009-06-02
 So as we
were getting ready this morning at Lisa’s house, Lisa invited two of her
friends over to meet the two crazy Americans that she hosted. It was really
funny. One of her friends (I forgot her name! Sorry!!) tried on Stacey’s
backpack. I wish I got a picture because this woman was so small that she could
actually fit inside the backpack.
We headed
out a little late this morning. But it’s okay because we made it at least 20
miles today! And that is officially our first 20 miler! Today was so much
easier. All you ladies out there, praise Stacey! She was awesome today. She is
the first woman to hike a significant distance of the Earth Expedition and she
is representing the female race quite well. There couldn’t be a stronger girl
out there I don’t think. She is only 20 years old! What a blessing she is to
have her out here with me.
We made it
into Hurlford, Scotland
for the night. We had no clue where we were going to stay so we thought we
might start asking people since we’ve had great “luck” the pass few nights
(thanks to God). So we idea farmed around on the streets and no one offered to
let us stay with them. So we decided to grab a bite to eat at this Chinese
restaurant called “Wild Blossom.” When we walked in, it was a little more
elegant than we thought. But fortunately, the prices were affordable for our
budget. So we sat down and began to order. And while we were eating, two
different groups eating in the restaurant talked to us! We told them what we
were doing and they were so supportive, which felt really good. Both of them
ended up giving us money for the journey, which was such a huge blessing!!!
Thanks guys! They said they would have let us stay with them for the night but
neither of the groups lived in town. They were both traveling through. What a
coincidence!
So we left
the restaurant still in need of a place to stay. So we went to an inn to ask
about how cheap their rooms were, to see if we could barter. But as we got in,
we realized the “inn” part of the name was just a name. It was a pub…But there
was a guy in there who wanted to help us and he told us that we could stay at
the caravan park that he lives in. His name is William and he lives there with
his wife Elizabeth. We were relieved. Though we had to sleep on the ground
after a long day, we didn’t mind it. So he showed us down to his site and we
got to pitch our tent in a nice, flat, safe area. He let us use his bathrooms
as well. He was very gracious and caring. So the night is over and it’s time
for some sleep.
Wednesday 2009-06-03
 So sleep
this morning didn’t go as well as we thought. Up here in Scotland
the sun doesn’t go down till 11:00 PM
and the sun rises at 3:30 AM. So at 7:00 this morning these BLOODY SEAGULLS above
us were squawking like a bunch of cats in heat and the sun was beating down on
our tent. So we went ahead and got up early.
William and
Elizabeth were even more gracious today. They helped book a room for a hostel
in Belfast for tonight, they gave
us breakfast, and even sent us off with food (which we already ate)!!! We only
had to walk 10 miles today to finish up Scotland.
So we are officially done with Scotland!!!
We hung out in Troon for a few hours and then hopped onto the ferry to Belfast.
But good ol’ Northern Ireland
threw us a curve ball once we came into the port.
Our ferry
set off 10 minutes late which got us to Larne 10 minutes late. Well the last
train to go into Belfast left at 10:30 and we didn’t get in till 10:35. We missed the train by FIVE MINUTES!!
So we got some help from a man named Joe about how else to get to Belfast.
He said all the buses were finished for the night as well. We almost were going
to have to sleep in the ferry terminal until he found a number for a taxi. We
couldn’t stay at the terminal because we had a reservation for a room at the
hostel in Belfast, and if we didn’t
make it then we would get charged. So Joe was very helpful and even gave us
money for the taxi because he felt sorry for us. While we waited for the taxi
we talked about country music! A local Irish lad who is in love with old
country music. I was so happy. So the taxi came at about 11:30 PM and took us to the hostel. The taxi driver was
also very nice and we talked all the way to the hostel. We got to the hostel
and all was well. Tomorrow is our day off and we could sleep in! Woot woot!
Thursday 2009-06-04
 Sleeping in
feels so good out here...well if you think 9:00
AM is sleeping in. But that’s plenty for me. We met a Canadian
named Dena at the hostel and we hung out with her and had lunch with her for
half the day. We just took it easy in downtown Belfast
for pretty much the whole day. We also treated ourselves to a movie, Angels and
Demons, which was entertaining. We picked up our groceries for the next few
days, got a map of Ireland,
and now we’re just chillin in a coffee shop. Hopefully Ireland
will treat us well. I already like this country. But that’s about it for now.
See ya!
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