Saturday Summary - Week 8-10 - Holiday Interlude: Scotland, Family Fun, and Finding Our Road Rhythm Again

(Weeks 8–10 | Dec 20 – Jan 9)

Week 8: Winter Garden, FL (70’s) → Edinburgh, Scotland (50’s)

Week 9: Edinburgh, Scotland (50’s) → Grand Island, FL (70’s) → Ocala, FL (50’s)  → Tallahassee, FL (60’s)

Week 10: Tallahassee, FL (60’s) → Fountain, FL (70’s)  → Gulf Shores, AL (70’s)

The holidays temporarily pulled us off our bus rhythm, as Scotland isn't accessible by road.

Florida Grounded, Scotland Bound

We split up just before Christmas to minimize Lucky’s time at the kennel. Don headed to Scotland with Henry while Lucky and I stayed put in Winter

Garden, Florida. My days were warm, slow, and grounded: biking the West Orange Trail, wandering Christmas

markets, getting work done, and answering endless questions from curious kids about Lucky (who soaked up the attention like a pro). Leaving Lucky at the kennel wasn’t easy. She rarely goes, and I know separation anxiety hits her hard. But the staff were wonderful, communicative, and kind—and when Don picked her up, we spoiled her shamelessly. Scotland delivered a different kind of magic.

A Scottish Christmas

I joined Don, Henry, and Hanna in Edinburgh just before Christmas, arriving jet-lagged and immediately swept into motion. We shopped together at Christmas markets (destination gifts only), explored Mary King’s Close, attempted axe throwing and wildly creative mini golf, wandered a botanical garden light walk, and ended the holiday with Mamma Mia!—complete with a post-show sing-along.

We traveled north to Inverness, rented a car (stressful left-side driving included), and explored everything from the Fyrish Monument to the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye. We navigated one-lane roads, boggy trails, early sunsets, and very real hangry moments—balanced out by soup, tea, and the kind of views that make you forget the cold.

The trip ended back in Edinburgh with Hogmanay’s torchlight parade—thousands of people carrying real flames through the city ending beneath the castle. Completely insane. Completely unforgettable.

Back to the Bus

Returning to Florida felt strange. Usually, after travel, I'm used to returning home, and Home, for now, is Skuhlie. Seeing Don pull up in Skuhlie at the airport was indeed strange, but welcoming too. Lucky was as excited as I was to see her. We rang in the New Year at a drive-in movie theater, bundled in wool, sleeping through most of Avatar. January 1st brought laundry, pickleball that definitely wasn’t quite a game (let's call it practice), and a picnic at the park.

Birthday Reflections & Back on the Road

We headed to Tallahassee for my birthday, revisiting my old college stomping grounds, empty, rainy, and oddly nostalgic. With students away for winter break and steady rain falling all day, the campus was quieter than I ever remember. I wandered familiar paths, popped into the School of Business, and hunted for alumni gear before honoring old times with a tequila shot at Bullwinkles (for you, Vanessa). I also made a stop at The Fountain (a tradition I didn’t even know existed when I attended FSU), apparently climbing it on your 21st birthday is a thing. I opted to simply walk into it instead (not climb… age and smarts), a small nod to college traditions discovered decades later.

My birthday itself was exactly what I asked for: no driving, no spending, a hike, a hot shower, a campfire, and paint-by-numbers. Perfect.

From there, we moved west again, meeting a friend in Panama City, flying the drone at a quiet farm stay, and finally landing at Gulf Shores State Park.

Three nights without moving the bus. Gulf Shores made it easy to enjoy my bike with miles of beautifully paved bike trails. We biked from campground to beach, post office to grocery store, brewery to dinner, without ever turning the key. It's nice to find our rhythm on the bus again. Gulf Shores State Park was a perfect place to do our laundry and some deep cleaning. We'll continue heading West from here, next up, Mississippi!

Onward. Slowly. Intentionally.