Riding 150 miles in June to raise money to fight kids' cancer!

This month, I am taking part in the Great Cycle Challenge to fight kids' cancer!

My goal is to ride 150 miles and I have been pedaling throughout the month to reach my target - I reached 75.8 miles today!

38 kids die every week in the US from cancer. I was shocked by this statistic. Kids should be living life, not fighting for it.

So far I've raised $628 to fight kids' cancer - THANK YOU to all those who have generously supported my challenge. But if you haven't sponsored me yet...

Today (June 13, 2018) is Kick Cancer's Butt Day, where ALL donations will be boosted by supporters of the charity up to $500K - sponsor me today and your donation will be MATCHED!

Simply click the link below to make a donation:

http://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/DarlaAnglen-Whitley

All funds raised will support Children's Cancer Research Fund to continue their work to develop innovative treatments and find a cure for childhood cancer.

Thank you for your support.

And to Cottonwood

Spent most of today in a train station or on trains to Glascow. Heading back to the US tomorrow.

Lovely mural near George's Square.

Dinner at this Victorian eatery.

See you all soon!

Hadrian's Wall and Housesteads

Ready on a rainy day to conquer Hadrian's Wall with a walk to Housesteads.

Rain. Rain. Driving rain. Misting rain. Wet rain. But amazing to be here doing this thing.

The highest point on the wall.

Only 4 more miles!

The famous Sycamore Gap,  just before my famous fall off the stone path. Mud everywhere!

Some arches remain at this Milecastle.

You can walk on the wall here. 

A Winged Victory statue unearthed at Housesteads Roman Fort. Seemed a propos after our 6 hours in the Wall. 

Goodbye Islands - Tuesday

Left the beautiful Islands in a raging wind and rain storm. Goodbye lovely Islay.

Some cool stores near Glascow's Central train station. Thinking of my family.

Snow in the hills!

Haltwhistle, Northumbria, England. 

Jura to Islay

A stormy windy morning.  Heading to Islay today.

The ferry crossing to Islay.

Waiting for a bus in Bowmore.

Lochindaal roiling.

Jura

Good Easter morning from Craighouse, island of Jura!

This was a day of walking and observing. We started with walking up to Market Loch, the source of water for Craighouse and the Jura Distillery.

Along the way we passed the requisite stone circle.

Feasted on amazing views of the Paps of Jura.

Saw acres of these plastic tubes "planted".

They were protecting tree seedlings.

Market Loch. Could you ask for anything prettier?

A view of the ocean and mainland Scotland from the heights.

Follow the stone wall up the center of the photo - the Market Loch was at the end of the wall - 189 meters above sea level.

They say "Jura" means deer, so here is the requisite stag. He's a beauty so enlarge the photo and admire.

A view of Small Isles Bay just north of our hotel.

This is the view from our hotel.

After a quick cuppa tea and a biscuit (ginger cookie), we headed north along the shoreline to Kiels, an old croft once abandoned, but now rebuilding itself. We visited a cemetery there where St. Columba's (from Iona) brother was buried. It included the requisite medieval burial slabs.

Back to our hotel in Craighouse.

We decided not to tour the distillery tomorrow as there are rumors we may not be able to leave the island due to a severe storm heading in overnight. We figured we should head to the ferry at Feolin which will take us to Islay - perhaps the chances of crossing will be better earlier in the day.

The Wee Boat to the Big Isle

We bid adieu to Oban under another blue blue sky and boarded the bus to Lochgilphead.

In Loch Gilphead there was a lot less to do than we thought there would be ... like nothing to do, so we froze on a park bench, wandered in and out of shops, and waited for our cab to Tayvallich for our ferry to Jura.

See the tiny 12-passenger boat at the end of the dock ... ?

Leaving land. Hope to see you again soon~

 

Our funny, competent captain of the good ship. He passed around a bag of mints for all of us to share.

Craighouse, Jura. Happy Easter tomorrow, everyone!

Oban Distillery and Dunstaffnage Castle

Good morning from Oban. See the Isle of Mull in the sun across the water. A lovely start to the day.

You can see our B&B just to the right of the distillery smoke tower in the middle of the photo. Also note the coliseum looking thing on the top of the hill - McCaig's Tower. It is said he had it built to keep the stone masons employed, but I wonder if this is another Nessie, and it was done to memorialize himself ...?

A view from McCaig's Tower.

The Oban Distillery. Great tour. We were barred from taking photos inside. This is the 4th smallest distillery in Scotland with two stills. Small due to the landlocked nature of the company. Built against a stone wall, town grown up around it, ocean on another side of it.

A quirky display of art - knitted covers over the poles. This is a cool house we pass going down to the town.

After missing our bus because I didn't listen to Blue when he said, "This is our bus," we finally made it to Dunstaffnage Castle, purported home to the Stone of Destiny (Google it) and the ancestral home of the Lords of the Lorne. See how it was built on a stack of stone? The photo below is of the well inside the castle. How did they dig down through that rock to get their water?

The well inside the keep.

Interesting imagery on the chapel at the castle. A pair of these skulls protected the last resting place of the Campbells.

Another unique image to find on a memorial stone in a church.

Blue broke down and had a hamburger with his pint tonight versus fresh seafood. It was good!