Travel Day

My body doesn’t know what day it is. I dropped off the dog with the sitter at 9:30a on Thursday and got a little teary eyed to let her go. Went home and puttered because I was almost completely packed. I was doing the dishes when I got a frantic call from the dog sitter they Edie had escaped her harness and was running loose in the neighborhood. I ran out the door, shoes in hand, put them on, on the stoop, and ran down the block, lucky enough to catch Edie running down the avenue. She was trying to get home. I held it together but broke down when I got home. I absolutely do not blame the sitter—E has never done this to anyone because I’ve never left her with anyone but family. I’m glad it happened at that moment while I was still around so we could all learn what she was capable of.

Talked down from bagging the whole trip, I finished apartment chores so my landlord and neighbor who are taking care of the plants and cat respectively, do not think I am a slob (relatable content). I ate half a sandwich while watching Fellowship of the Rings because I was about to begin a big walking quest. Too nervous to eat the rest. Got a Lyft to the airport and the driver and I were quiet the whole time save for him insisting I should have one of those small pod-bottles of water. He was right. Water is everything.

Met my hiking buddy at the terminal and went through check in and security hoops. We got SmartWater bottles, 1 liter each, for the trek because that’s what through hikers do. We spent the flight comfortably—it might have been the most low key international flight I’ve ever had save for counting down the hours. I watched that Robbie Williams Better Man because he was one of many English crushes in high school. I watched Monty Don walk through Scottish gardens because gentle watches for the airplane are essential. I didn’t sleep at all but tossed and turned listening to music. I took some Sudafed and did not get those terrifying headaches I sometimes get on descents.

Customs was quick, grab the bag, Heathrow Express was 15 minutes, Circle Line running one stop before a platform change on the Underground. We walked some ten minutes to meet old friends of mine who are lending us their flat the night we come back to London. The flat white was life restoring and good company from old friends even better. My friends walked us over to Euston Station and helped us print our tickets. The trip to Glasgow felt chaotic the whole time, a lot of people not communicating well about their seats. Two girlies having the most asinine conversation behind us and/or we were too tired to tolerate anything. Another girl in her early twenties very sweetly used Google Translate to help a woman who couldn’t speak English and was standing on the moving train as her small kid sat and played with his iPad. The Yorkshire Dales (or the foothills or neighbors of the dales) were just as beautiful as I dreamed they’d be. I fought sleep for most of the four and a half hour trip, dozing for short stints but trying to keep myself awake.

We schlepped our stuff to our hotel and then went out again, going to not one but two locations of a Glasgow outdoor store to get last odds and ends for the trip. I love outdoor stores, abashedly sometimes, unabashedly today. Got hopefully enough to keep the midgies away along with some hats and gloves in case it gets cold, along with Kendal Mint Bars, which I learned about from a writing workshop a long time ago and could only describe, as my hiking partner put it “like the inside of a peppermint patty without any chocolate.” We went back to the hotel and I really wanted to pack it in, say we should get takeaway pizzas, but we’d been eating airplane food for the first part of the day and will be eating fuel-style food on trail, which could mean anything, but light proteins and vegetables may not make much of an appearance. Don’t know yet. We found casual and rustic bistro with a small menu of Scottish greatest hits and I had some halibut which made me really happy. I am really taken with Glasgow, uniform architecture in the city center with these booming bricks that are made of…sandstone? Nothing an ignorant tourist can talk about yet, just feel and be curious and google as I go along.

We did it. We made it to the end of this insane forever day, and can really start our trip, the hike, tomorrow. One more train to go and then the adventure begins.