Scotland Travel Day: Days 0 and 1, August 25-26, 2017
Just after 3:00 pm Friday August 25, 2017 we took an Uber to Dulles Airport.
Going through TSA there was no issue with my refrigerated growth hormone injections.
The Omnitrope was in its own case from the manufacturer.
I put that in that new iCool weekender case I’d bought for this trip. I chose this one for these reasons:
- For vials or pens (insulin, growth hormones, L-Thyroxin, polyarthritis medication)
- Keeps your medication between 36°F – 46°F (2°C – 8°C) for 12 hours (I knew this trip would be about 20 hours, start to finish)
- The iCool bag uses a new generation of chemical gel pack that generates very little condensation and have a slower thawing period than traditional ice packs. This allows patients with diabetes or those using temperature sensitive medications to transport their medications for a longer cooling period. The iCool Weekender keeps insulin or other temperature sensitive medications cool for up to 12 hours at 36°F – 46°F (2 to 8°C). This bag can carry either pens or vials. There is enough space inside to store needles.
I had the gel pack from the iCool frozen solid and put that in a small Rubbermaid lunch bag with 2 thin ice packs, 1 on top and 1 on the bottom. If you don’t want to read all the way to the end, this system kept the growth hormone cold for the 20 hours going and returning but the 2 thin blocks had completely thawed. The inner iCool was mostly frozen and the growth hormone was still cool.
Hooray!
I had the sharps separately in a little square container with just enough for the week.I used the side pocket of the lunch bag to store my doctor’s note and clipped the whole thing with a carabiner to my backpack.
I also found a smallish sharps disposal container, although this was still kind of big for my needs, it was better than taking the whole huge one that’s in my bathroom. This worked well and I have enough for 5 more trips 🙂
And that’s about it for medical information, at least until we get to Heathrow 🙂
Our first flight out of Dulles there was a lot of turbulence over the ocean. Possibly due to Hurricane Harvey. Apparently, they flew faster to get out of the turbulence and we landed early in London Saturday morning.
We walked for what seemed like forever to get to Customs. Then, since we were coming from outside the UK we had to leave security area and go through TSA again.
I told the agent I was carrying refrigerated medications and she read the doctor’s letter. Everything seemed like it was going well until I was flagged for more screening 🙁 I had to take all the stuff out of my carefully packed Growth Hormone bag and everything else was taken out of my backpack to be swabbed down.
Not fun.
The next plane to Inverness was announced at 9:00 am (Saturday morning) so we moved to that gate. Tom went to the restroom. Turns out that gate was actually down an elevator. I texted Tom that we had to move along. Then they said the flight was closing. Another text to Tom.
He arrived and we hustled down 2 escalators and onto a bus that said “Final Passengers”. We were among the last people on the small plane.
We had to walk up stairs to get on the plane, then back down when we arrived. I could already feel my knee hurting. There was no turbulence on the short flight, though.
We arrived in cold/rain. Of course.
The luggage arrived and we got our rental car and headed off.
We saw lots of sheep, of course.
We arrived in Aviemore and saw lots of bikers. This is their answer to Sturgis, I guess.
Thunder in the Glens
Aviemore
Thunder in the Glens has become one of the major events in the UK for Harley-Davidson fans, with people traveling from all over the world to enjoy the event. It is now officially the largest Harley Davidson rally in the UK with an ever growing number of loyal fans.
Enjoy over 60 trade stands supporting local charities and groups, H-D demo bike rides, Jeep demo drives, Custom bike show, Outside entertainment, Scottish Knights battle scenes, Off road motorbike riding.
Saturday Mass ride out to Grantown on Spey starts at 12.00 noon. Sunday 2.00pm to 4.00pm – charity rides on the back of a Harley-Davidson in Rally Village.
We arrived at our place. Luckily, we knew where it was because we’d been here before. According to RCI (the timeshare company that got us this place, it’s called Macdonald Craigellachie Chalets. According to the place, it’s called Macdonald Spey Valley Golf and Country Club, or Dalfaber Golf and Country Club or Dalfaber Village or…???
We couldn’t check in until 4:00 pm so we had a bite to eat while we waited. 
I had Scotch broth. I haven’t had that for years and years – yummy!
Scotch broth is a filling soup, originating in Scotland (DUH!). The principal ingredients are usually barley, stewing or braising cuts of lamb or mutton (hopefully not relatives of those sheep we saw earlier), root vegetables (such as carrots, swedes [rutabaga], or sometimes turnips [aka neeps]), and dried pulses (legumes, most often split peas and red lentils).
Cabbage and leeks are often added shortly before serving to preserve their texture, color and flavors.
Tom had a club sandwich – and lost a crown 🙁
The club room had a Snooker table. I didn’t know what snooker was, although the table looks like a pool table. It sounds quite complicated according to Wikipedia.
We finally got the key and started driving around trying to find our chalet. Then we went back to main desk for better directions and finally found it.
After 20 hours at 4:15pm (11:15 am at home) I finally removed the growth hormone from the cases. The 2 ice packs had melted but the GH in its weekender case was still cool and that gel pack mostly frozen. A good solution except for issues at Heathrow.
Then, the usual unpacking, charging electronics, short naps.
Then off to Tesco for some grocery shopping. The streets were crowded with bikers, drinks in hand, oblivious to traffic. There was a long queue in the grocery near their customer toilets. Lots of folks wandering around the store, not necessarily with any items in their carts.
We spent 52.60 pounds (67.88 US Dollar in Sunday’s exchange)
Coconut rum and tropical juice (orange, apple, pineapple, pomegranate, banana, and mango) makes an interestingly passable drink.
We watched a show on BBC about royal life, divorces, Diana and Captain Phillips, a movie we saw on a cruise
I didn’t read my Kindle at all first night. Instant sleep!
New Orleans, LA, January 11, 2013
We had the breakfast buffet at hotel and went to the little shops. Then, for only $3.00 we got an all-day streetcar pass. We took the streetcar to the French Market and back.
The streetcar driver was very helpful and knowledgeable. We first got on at the Poydras Street Stop and he said that he had only one more stop – Julia Street – to go before he had to go to his terminal to turn around. But he would ask us to leave in the “most polite and respectful manner”.
Along the way, he pointed out the Harrah’s casino, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, iMAX theater (“The Largest IMAX screen in the Gulf South”), the Mississippi river, paddlewheel boats (including ours) and more all the way to the French Market.
The French Market is a series of commercial buildings, stalls and tents in the French Quarter. These days, it’s mostly food and flee market and most of the stalls sell similar goods. The food includes stuff like alligator kabobs and other novelties.
It stretches just inland from the Mississippi River downriver from Jackson Square, with the famous Café du Monde at the upriver end, down to the flea market stalls across from the New Orleans Mint building.
The New Orleans Mint operated as a branch mint of the United States Mint from 1838 to 1861 and from 1879 to 1909. It was closed during most of the American Civil War and Reconstruction.
After its decommissioning as a mint, the building served a variety of purposes, including as an assay office, a United States Coast Guard storage facility and a fallout shelter. Since 1981 it has served as a branch of the Louisiana State Museum. It was damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and reopened in October 2007.
The New Orleans Mint has been designated a National Historic Landmark, and is currently the oldest surviving structure to have served as a U.S. Mint.
The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park office and visitor’s center is in the French Market.
The French Market market is included on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.
We got on the streetcar and rode back to the Poydras stop.
Waiting for the paddlewheel trip met 2 couples who were also going on our cruise. One was from Devon, UK – they’d flown to Chicago then Amtrak to Memphis/Graceland. Another UK couple behind them was doing the exact opposite. The couple in front of us was Canadian and they’d just come off a cruise and after ours were going on one in Dubai.
We boarded the boat and headed downriver. The guide pointed out several of the same sights we had seen from the streetcar.
The Creole Queen
The paddlewheel
I just liked this message 🙂
A pier that was damaged in Hurricane Katrina
We didn’t get off at Chalmette battlefield. This was the location of what is often called The Battle of New Orleans, where United States forces under Major General Andrew Jackson defeated the British, led by Lieutenant General Sir Edward Pakenham in January 1815. The battlefield is preserved as a national monument, and the military Chalmette National Cemetery is adjacent.
For those who are too young to remember:
Or the more popular:
In 1814, we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip’.
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British in a town in New Orleans.
We fired our guns and the British kept a-coming
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more, and they began to running,
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
We looked down the river and we see’d the British come
and there musta’ been a hundred of ’em beating on the drum.
They stepped so high and they made their bugles ring
We stood beside our cotton bales and didn’t say a thing.
We fired our guns, and the British kept a-coming
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to running,
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
Ole Hickory said we could take ’em by surprise
If we didn’t fire our muskets ’till we look ’em in the eyes.
We held our fire ’til we seen their faces well
Then we opened up our squirrel guns and really gave ’em… Well..
We fired our guns, and the British kept a-coming
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to running,
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
Well they ran through the briars, and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn’t go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn’t catch ’em
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
We fired our cannon ’til the barrel melted down
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls and powdered his behind,
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.
We fired our guns and the British kept a-coming
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to running,
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
Well they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn’t go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn’t catch ’em
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
~~
We went by the Domino sugar plant which was in operation. Susan was fascinated by the process.
We disembarked and headed for the hotel. After we crossed railroad crossing signs, the bars came down and Kansas City Southern went rolling by very close…too close for comfort! No time to get back under them but time to whip out my phone:
Kansas City Southern. Too close for comfort!
Back to Gordon Biersch for dinner. Pineapple mojito was less pineapple-y. I got sweet and spicy cashew chicken. Wonderful. Susan had half a turkey sandwich. Last night’s BBQ pulled pork had been too spicy, even though the waitress said “no spice”.
Susan found an interesting movie on TV, Perfect Pitch, so we watched that then off to sleep.